We're in Joisey already!

Wow! Time sure flies when you are driving to new states, playing golf, camping, getting lost and finally asking for directions, cooking and cleaning, writing about the trip, sending emails and calling the kids.

We visited Pearl Buck's birthplace in Hillsboro, West Virginia after leaving Pipestem. She wrote The Good Earth about China which was the best selling book for two years in a row in the 1930's. We proceeded to Virginia and Robert E. Lee's last resting place at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. He was a great general and actually was asked by Abraham Lincol to lead the North, but felt more loyal to Virginia so chose the South. Jefferson's Monticello was next where we had a nice tour of the gardens, then Montpelier and James Madison's house.

Our golf experience in Virginia was great fun at Meadows Farms near the battles of the Wilderness and Chancellorsville. It felt a little strange to be playing golf near such great battles, especially with a house on the property which was used as a hospital (any house near the battle was used as a hospital, though). They have the longest hole in golf, 871 yard par 6, plus a beautiful waterfall hole and one par three shaped like a little league diamond. I would like to say I hit a line drive to centerfield with my tee shot, landing a few feet from the flag, but I really hit a dribbler down the third base line. Now I know why I didn't make it to become a star baseball player.

We went on to Gettysburg where we toured Dwight D. Eisenhower's home. We decided we did like Ike, who played golf at a local club with only 9 holes. He was the first president we remembered and didn't do much during his administration, but that's okay because he sure did a lot during World War II. I played at The Links at Gettysburg, but they wanted to charge us $20 so Gloria could ride in the cart, which I thought was very expensive, though Gloria is worth every bit of $20 -- even more! It was on to Pennsylvania Dutch country which is actually German and Amish and Mennonite - quite a change from the hectic east coast we were used to. We saw a horse and buggy tied up at the local Costco. It felt very calm and serene to see these wonderful people clip-clopping by. The beautiful rolling hills and neat farms with barns and silos reminded us of our childhoods in Wisconsin --very nostalgic. Maybe these weird looking people with funny clothes and straw hats have the right idea after all and we don't. We certainly don't miss TV which we haven't watched for a long time, though the Amish do work a lot harder than we do and don't play golf much as far as we know.

Only 3 states to go! Maryland was very nice -- Berlin was where they filmed Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and it was also where the turn signal was invented. Remember the movie Seabiscuit? Well, his opponent War Admiral was raised on a farm just outside of Berlin. His grandfather was Man O War who was Seabiscuit's father, so Seabiscuit actually beat his cousin once removed. It gets rather complicated in horse racing. The weather turned hot, but the course marshal at Eagle's Landing pointed out a Great Horned Owl which helped a lot. In Delaware we explored Milton (our second Milton, after the one in Florida), and played at The Rookery, again emphasizing birds. We finally took the ferry to Cape May, New Jersey today and played at Cape May National which is fantastic for birding. We have gotten so much into it lately that I got to buy a new pair of binoculars which was my birthday present from last year, plus the next six fathers days and birthdays to come. The course today was great with lots of water hazards and birds, though we got lost on the back nine and wandered around for awhile. When we started out we were told it was 105 degrees out, and we certainly felt the heat which is the reason we didn't get a par on every hole, or maybe a few birdies, we are sure. However, we have now cooled off some this evening and are looking forward to Connecticut and Rhode Island and then Maine where we will leave our motor home for a month and a half with Gloria's mother when we fly back to Oregon, then Alaska, Uganda, and finally back to Maine to resume this crazy, fun, wonderful trip. By the way, we still love each other more than ever and feel so very lucky to be together, especially since I stopped giving Gloria advice on every hole of how to play this silly game. She still beats me at Rummy, though.