Day 55 – Lexington, VA
Wow, what a day! We really got around! Everyone was up early, and we got on the road before eleven, a record for us. We headed for Natural Bridge, a landmark attraction south of our park. We had to stop, though, at another landmark, Foamhenge. Don told me about the ancient place of worship in England that consisted of some massive stones standing on end in a circle; well, Foamhenge is an exact replica of the English place, Stonehenge, but the rocks are made of Styrofoam. A local artist designed and erected it on a level spot next to a hillside. Don went up the hill and took some photos, which I’m sure he will post. When we got to Natural Bridge, Don promised me that they would try to get permission for me to come with them on their walk to the Bridge. Just a few minutes later, they came out of the building and got me out of the truck! I was in! We walked down a whole bunch of steps alongside a very pretty creek until we got to the bottom of the ravine where the creek flowed into a larger one. Then we walked along the larger creek until we got to the Bridge; it was awesome! It was very tall, but just a little wider than the creek, and there was a highway going over the top. A nearby sign said that it had taken 350 million dog years to create the Bridge. Don showed me where George Washington had carved his initials into the rock on the side of the Bridge, when he was a young surveyor of the Virginia Territory. He took a lot of pictures, and I’m sure he’ll share some with you. We walked on beyond the Bridge, and found an Indian village alongside the trail. Don says that some would call it a Native American village, but that wouldn’t be accurate because everyone born in this country is a Native American, and the people that were here before the Europeans were named Indians by Columbus, and they’ve had that name for a very long time. I don’t really care. Don talked to one of the Indians, and asked him if the people that lived in the area before the Europeans came had dogs. The Indian said he didn’t think so, there were no stories from that time that said anything about dogs. He also said that if they had dogs, they most likely would have eaten them! I shivered at the thought. Anyway, it was a fun walk, with beautiful scenery, and I got to meet lots of people who had the good taste to realize that I was handsome and nice to pet. I got a lot of attention, and I was the only dog there!
When we got back to the truck, we headed for the little town of Glasgow, which Don suspects may be named for some of his grandmother’s ancestors. We stopped there and Geri and Don had lunch at a little restaurant. When they got back to the truck, Geri told me that Don had eaten something called a Bologna Burger, which was a big, fat piece of fried bologna, served on a bun with lettuce and tomato. I think she was embarrassed. It sounded pretty good to me. We headed for the hills then, and went up a windey highway over to Lynchburg. We found our way to a place called Poplar Forest, where Thomas Jefferson had built another house as a place to get away from all of his visitors at Monticello. I couldn’t go in the house, which I understood, but I could see that it was very unusual and attractive. Geri told me that it was an eight-sided house, and all of the rooms except one, the big dining room in the middle of the house, were also eight sided. They are still in the process of restoring the house, and Don was very interested in seeing how they were doing the restoration.
We headed home over the same windey road, and I got a little uncomfortable, with the truck going so fast around the tight curves. Geri had to remind Don that he wasn’t racing sports cars any more, and he ought to slow down. He tried real hard to keep it slower, but I could I could tell that he was having trouble. We finally made it back to the rig, and Don cooked up some curried chicken and rice, which Geri thought was too spicy for me, but I really liked it. Don’t know what’s happening tomorrow, but nobody else does either, so I don’t feel bad. See ya!