Day 1 - going crazy after 2 hours....

Day 1 of our trip took us into Pennsylvania Dutch country. After several jokes about the nearness of the Amish to the town ofIntercourse, PA, we passed by Hershey, where Erin promptly plastered her face to the window trying to catch a glimpse of the Holy Land. We didn’t stop. We thought it would be wise for her sanity, and ours.

After a Cracker Barrel lunch, we crossed the Mason-Dixon line into Maryland, and it turns out, Chris was not kidding. Immediately all the signs for Ihop turned into signs for Waffle House. A new North-South divide is born!

I’ve found a good alternative to books on tape: podcasts. I’ve been downloading slate.com’s daily article podcasts for a week now, and we spent awhile listening to how Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was based on real-life competitiveness in the candy industry. Those with itunes should check it out. Yay, free stuff.

We managed to stop for dinner in appropriately-named Christianburg, Virginia. There was a guy next to us wearing a shirt with “Dixie” on the front and a Confederate flag on the back. The rather overweight guy in front of us got up twice to go to the buffet to get more biscuits. Ah, the South. I look forward to more artery-clogging goodness in the next few days.

Very, very late, we finally pulled into our accommodations. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the super-cool hostel in Asheville, but found a lovely dingy little room in Bristol, Virginia with internet access and cable, so we can blissfully shut off our minds for the rest of the night. Good night folks, be talking to you soon.