...but it won't appear in Vermont for some time. We drove down Interstate 89 from Wilkes-Barre, PA, where we usually overnight when we head south. We drove through Maryland in the blink of an eye, over the Potomac River, and into West Virginia. Almost immediately, we had a change in climate with redbud trees (or were they plums?), daffodils, and forsythia blooming everywhere. The sun was shining and we took off our winter coats in favor of lighter fleece.
We spent a night in Harrisonburg and visited the Green Valley Book Fair (a warehouse full of books!) and the Virginia Quilt Museum in its new quarters. The renovated mill was a nice backdrop to display antique log cabin quilts, "micro" pieced quilts (smaller than mini!), and modern quilts by Kevin Womack. I'll try to post photos of a few of the quilts tomorrow if I get a chance.
From there, we headed just 25 minutes south to Staunton and the American Shakespeare Center where we had tickets to two plays, The Comedy of Errors, and Little Women. Both were excellent! We love that theater, and the actors are amazing, playing multiple roles throughout the season's three plays. We ate well, too, and enjoyed our stay at historic Hotel 24.
My favorite part of the trip was the backstage tour of Blackfriar's Theater, a recreation of one of Shakespeare's two London theaters (the other was the Globe). Here we are on stage during the tour. We went upstairs to see the balcony and downstairs to tour the rehearsal and costume areas. Our guide had a few activities for us to try as well.The ride home was somewhat nerve-wracking as there was a great deal of noise emanating from under the car. Could our suspension be failing? I'll find that out when I take it to the garage on Thursday morning.
In addition, it started to snow when we arrived in the Adirondack region, and it continued almost the rest of the way home. Driving over Mendon Mt. was tricky, but we made it. We were home by noon yesterday, and I even got a load of laundry done before dinner.
Today we are back to our old routine, more or less. It's great to get home even though we had fun on the road and during our brief time in Virginia. It was nice to get a taste of spring, too, although our yard seems to be a gathering place for robins today. They are everywhere, so I hope they are a true sign that spring will come here soon.