Six States and Unexpected Beauty

Our trip starts in Miller Place, New York State, on Oct 2nd at 6:15 am, when we are heading out west, slightly tired from our late travel preps last night, but full of expectations of our dawning adventure. After about one and a half hours, we have crossed the George-Washington bridge, and we find ourselves in New Jersey. On the I-78, we decide to make our first stop at Dunkin' Donuts to shake off the fatigue and, more importantly, for a second breakfast, including the first (!) cup of coffee/tea of the day. Back on the interstate, we continue our drive to Pennsylvania, switch to the I-81 South, which leads us further on through Maryland toward West Virginia, where we finally feel life starting to slow down a bit. Humming to the country tune we all know so well, we decide to deviate from the main route in Virginia and put in an "extra loop" through Shenandoah National Park following the Skyline Drive, rewarding us with absolutely awesome vistas at almost every corner of the winding road. We really did not expect to see something as beautiful as this at this early stage of our trip, so we did not mind spending 25 bucks for the travel guide after all. With the last rays of sunlight, we make our way back to the interstate, and finally park our car at the Econo Lodge near Christiansburg, VA, where we spend the night, tired but happy.