more from virginia

the view from historic harpers ferry

thursday i embarked for harpers ferry, west virginia, only about 30 minutes away from purcellville. harpers ferry was chosen by george washington back in the day to house the second federal armory because it was so well-positioned, and further developed into an important railroad stop in the 19th century. in 1859 john brown, an abolitionist, and several of his sons and followers attacked the armory, hoping to gain munition and incite a slave revolt. he was captured and executed that same year, although his actions helped to bring slavery to the forefront of national debates. during the civil war, the small town changed hands no less than 8 times, and was burned several times in the process. today, it is a historic park, and the town has been rebuilt as it was. like appomattox, it was over-run by school kids on field trips--no less than 6 bus loads of them. they've done a great job with the park, and it has something for everyone.

it turned out to be quite appropriate that i decided to visit this particular park. lewis and clark went through harpers ferry on their cross country trip, picking up weapons and collapsible boats from the armory on their way out west. while i am still hoping to follow part of their trail a little farther on in my trip, it was neat to start out with them as well.

while at the park i got a call from jordan, an old friend of mine from back home. he had just finished up a wilderness first responders course at james madison university, down in harrisonburg, virginia, and invited me to drive down and join him for the afternoon and evening, which i promptly did. it was further away than i had anticipated, but i got there eventually. i met the two guys he was staying with, and we decided to go swimming at a hole not to far away. after about a half hour's drive we got to our destination.by strange and lucky coincidence, some of the other people in his wilderness class were also there! the water here was very cold--mountain water, as jordan says. i suppose it makes you big and strong. at any rate, it was a great experience, and something i certainly wouldn't have done on my own. after about an hour of jumping off the rocks on the left side of the above picture, we headed back into town for dinner at a cooperate restaurant in harrisonburg called 'the little grill.' first off, i love the idea of a cooperate, especially when it is applied to food. basically this means that it was farmer owned and operated, and that they get as much of their raw foods from local farms as possible. it was breakfast for dinner (yes!) so i got an omlette, and jordan got eggs and delicious coconut pancakes. it was also open mike night, so a couple of the guys got up to perform as well.

after dinner and some music, we headed over to an apartment where some of the guys from the course lived. it was great to meet them--they were so far out of who i normally talk with. they were all the eagle scout, outdoorsy types, much like jordan. after a campfire, some jamming on guitars, mandolin, and harmonica, jordan and i headed back to our crash pad, where thankfully a second roommate was gone, so i had a bed to sleep in. friday morning we woke up and headed our seperate ways--he back to north carolina, and me back to purcellville. not only was it really great to see jordan, but it was nice to get out of my comfort zone and try something adventurous. thanks to our hosts for showing us a good time! and for the record, harrisonburg is much like all of the other cute towns i've seen in virginia. it's a little bigger and with a little more of a college feel because of james madison, but still awesome.

the drive back up to chris' house was uneventful. thankfully it had cooled down, so i was able to roll and windows down and get good gas
mileage out of my car.

the rest of the day i spent doing nothing, although i did babysit for chris' parents: they are foster parents for newborns who are up for adoption. they usually don't have the babies for that long, but they got one this week. she is precious, and not very fussy. i was just glad that i was able to do them a favor in return for letting me stay in their home. she is only 5 or 6 days old now, so she really is a newborn. it's been quite a learning experience taking care of a baby that small, and has been a lot of fun as well. don't let the picture deceive you--i did all of the actual work.