I realize I'm crossing the vacation posts here, but I am Lord Emperor of the Universe of This Blog and so I shall since it amuses me.

We just managed to do so many things in two separate twenty-four hour periods that it's impossible to cover it all in a single post (or two, or three).

Or maaaaayyybe it's just that it's been over a year since I actually found more than twenty minutes to do something by myself that didn't involve work, cleaning house or being ordered around by two less-than-four-foot-tall dictators and suddenly, I have been able to do that TWICE in ONE MONTH so I'm just a little bit giddy.

Or perhaps it's because I was recently referred to as a local "Momblogger," which initially felt how I imagine it feels to a cat to have its fur pet the wrong way, so any non-children-related posts are a plus today.


Thomas Jefferson, during a visit to Harpers Ferry, noted the meeting of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers and the encircling mountains as "worth a voyage across the Atlantic." The scene Jefferson described is visible from several of this more than 100 year old hotel's rooms. The hotel was built in 1888 and its first proprietor and manager was Mr. Thomas S. Lovett, an African American native of Harpers Ferry. (I stole that directly from the website - look at me and my plagiaristic tendencies!) While we were at the other B&B, the father of the family staying in one of the other rooms told me that he and his wife got married at Hilltop House and now they were bringing their adult children on a biking trip along the C&O Canal and had wanted to stay there again. Currently however, it is closed and undergoing an extensive reconstruction project - which I can aver that it desperately needs; I'm not sure I'd even change walking around inside in it's present state.


It was while we were walking around Harpers Ferry and the currently condemned Hilltop House Hotel that Monica announced, "I think I just saw a German Shepherd out there in the woods... or... maybe it was a bear."

Then we laughed and laughed.

That led to a complete retelling of this routine, which I do not think the tourists from outside the U.S. understood in the slightest. Their loss.

Later Monica announced that she saw "a bridge that went straight through the mountain" on the other side of the river. And then we pondered whether or not that thing might in some circles that thing be called a "tunnel." And people wonder why I like to spend time with her.

Other memorable quotes from the day include:

"How do I love you. Let me count the cheeses"
"Six. I only count six cheeses. That's not very much love."

"Always plan your getaway with a Mormon - guarantees the whole bottle of wine for yourself."

"Look! I even brought a corkscrew. Do I have a glass? No matter." *glug* "Oh wait, there's an empty glass in my hand."

"Just a minute, let me get my luggage." *pulls two Wegman's grocery bags out of the car.*

"Do you think people will think we're a lesbian couple meeting for a tryst?"
"Well, we are both driving station wagons."

*said to proprietor* "Hey, I heard you were from my home state."
"Really?"
"Betcha don't want to know how I know that."

"I was going to try to take home this desk, but I couldn't figure out how to get it into my purse. You're lucky." *written in the B&B Guest Book.*

Tourist to restaurant owner: "Are you closed already?"
Restaurant owner: "Well it IS eight o'clock."