Pimple goes to Washington

 I pulled the blind up this morning to see rain falling. Fortunately by the time we had finished breakfast it was at least dry. Destination today was Pricketts Fort, a civilian fort created during the colonisation of the west by settlers to protect again attacks by Native Americans. As the settlers took more and more of Native American land they faced attacks by tribes whose hunting grounds were being taken. To combat this the Prickett family constructed a wooden fort around their home. Families in the area would "fort up" when there were raid nearby until they felt safe to go back to their farms. Up to 250 people could end up in the 100 metre square fort. A local militia of around 90 men was formed and based there. The grandson of the original Prickett family built a house next door in the mid 1800's and a re-enactor showed us around it. Several re-enactors are based at the fort although sadly today there were only three today. The lady who was making baskets was very in...

 Strangely in Morgantown every single person I met without exception told me how wonderful my accent was. They could listen to me for hours apparently. It was funny because nobody has said that on this trip yet. I don't think they get many foreigners in Morgantown West Virginia. Folk were very friendly and chatty. Charlie thought I had been abducted as it took so long for me to reappear from the gas station when I was paying for fuel because I was treating them to my adorable accent. First stop today was the West Virginia Botanic Gardens. These are a bit different to the average botanic gardens. It is situated in an old reservoir and instead of several formal gardens it has some small areas set out as gardens and the rest of the site is a sort of nature reserve come wetland. There were some nice touches such as the fairy area where you are encouraged to build houses for the fairies. There is also the remains of a dam which diverted water from a stream into the reservoir. Whilst we ...

 A change of scene and scenery today as we head through Maryland into West Virginia and the Allegheny Mountains. The mountains were very hazy all day and the weather noticeably cooler as we climbed higher. Our first stop was Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The first thing I did when we got there was change out of my shorts and into my jeans as it was quite nippy! The visitor centre was shut but there was a nearby map so I directed us to there nearest short trails. The first one led us down to the Blackwater River through pretty woodland. At the river there was a very rustic bridge! I tested it out and it proved able to bear my weight, plus that of Charlie and Pimple. The next trail went through a more forested area and we saw plenty of birdlife and I spotted a deer in the shrubbery. It also tracked a dragonfly though some long grass and eventually got an ok picture of it. They thin out the forest every so often to create different habitats for migrating birds. It was a love...

 Last night we went to Dominoes for a pizza. It was a bit rumbly with thunder and the sky very black. Still only a very short walk. Whilst we were waiting for it to be ready I thought I would nip back to the hotel to get our coats. Just as I got to the door I felt a few spots of rain. By the time I got back downstairs it was absolutely hammering down. I decided I would drive the car to Dominoes. It was raining so hard the street had turned into a river with thunder and lightning all around. I managed to get it to Dominoes and was absolutely soaked just getting out of the car and into the takeaway. We decided to eat in! We waited until the storm had blown over and the flooding outside had subsided to manageable levels. This morning it was off to The Gettysburg National Battlefield. We bought tickets for the film show, cyclorama and museum. The film gave a really good overview of the causes of the war and the specifics of the battle. The cyclorama is a 360 degree painting dating from...

 Off to Gettysburg for a couple of days. First stop was Eisenhower's house and farm in Gettysburg which he left to the nation. Pimple posed outside by a bell that had the presidential coat of arms on it. I posed gazing thoughtfully over part of the Gettysburg battlefields. A random bug. A park ranger gives you a talk on Eisenhower and the importance of the farm in his life. He essentially used it as a sort of countryside White House. He bonded with Nehru and Churchill over prize cattle apparently. All went well with Khrushchev here until the whole U2 spy plane disaster rather put a spanner in the works. You then tour the house, which tells you they really loved tacky little ornaments (there are cabinets full of them), and Ike read a lot of classic 50's thriller paperbacks. We stopped off briefly so Pimple could pose on a cannon. We are going to the battlefield museum tomorrow so expect more photographs in the same vein. We parked up at our hotel in town and walked to The Shrive...