Day 4: DC to WV via Monticello (300 miles, 6 hours)

On our way to Monticello we unexpectedly began to encounter historical placards reading things like "Jackson's Wounding" and then a little later, "Jackson's Amputation". When we came to the Wilderness Battlefield, we pulled over to take in a bit of Civil War history, as did this butterfly (above).

Monticello, home of Jefferson, is truly an inspiring place. I am especially smitten with this (his) garden pavilion/reading room, set at the edge of vast, orderly kitchen gardens and overlooking terraced vineyards and orchards of figs, peaches, apricots, apples, and cherries with the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond (above). Drool.

The house itself was also very impressive, as its presence on the U.S. nickel would suggest (below).

After enjoying Monticello, we drove on through Virginia (more mountainous than I'd expected) and West Virginia (also quite mountainous and gorgeous). I harvested some "weeds" from a Charlottesville, VA parking lot and a nearby Shell station to make these boutonnieres and earrings on the road (below).