We decided to get away from the D.C. Memorial Day crowds, so we drove 90 minutes west to the town of Woodstock, VA. That name will be familiar to those of you who have read The Wedding Letters or The Wednesday Letters, by Jason Wright.
We stopped first at a statue of Peter Muhlenberg. From Wikipedia: Toward the end of 1775, Muhlenberg was authorized to raise and command as its colonel the 8th Virginia Regiment of theContinental Army. After George Washington personally asked him to accept this task, he agreed. However, his brother Fredrick Augustus Muhlenberg, who was also a minister, did not approve of him going into the army until the British burned down his own church in front of him. Then he joined the military himself.
According to a biography written by his great nephew in the mid-19th century,.[2] on January 21, 1776 in the Lutheran church inWoodstock, Virginia, Reverend Muhlenberg took his sermon text from the third chapter Ecclesiastes, which starts with "To every thing there is a season..."; after reading the eighth verse, "a time of war, and a time of peace," he declared, "And this is the time of war," removing his clerical robe to reveal his Colonel's uniform. Outside the church door the drums began to roll as men turned to kiss their wives and then walked down the aisle to enlist, and within half an hour, 162 men were enrolled.[3] The next day he led out 300 men from the county to form the nucleus of the 8th Virginia Regiment. Though it is accepted that Muhlenberg helped form and lead the 8th, historians doubt the account of the sermon, as there are no reports prior to Muhlenberg's great-nephew's biography.[2][4]
Multitasking
We drove into the hills, entered George Washington National Forest, and hiked 100 yards to the Woodstock Tower, which overlooks much of the valley.
We didn't want to transfer the sleeping Baby O to another carrier, so we just took the whole car seat up to the top.
Woodstock Tower
View from the top of the tower
I had "water tower" in my head when I made this video, because we both thought that the tower mentioned numerous times in Jason Wright's books was a water tower. We also saw two large Woodstock water towers as we entered the town, so we just assumed it was a water tower. Not so. We were corrected by a kind local lady who gave us great directions to the actual Woodstock tower.
And then we left George Washington National Forest
How could I create another blog post without including a few more photos of our cute little man?
He loves to have his hands next to his head.
He did really well for us today. He only squawked when he got hungry, even though we didn't turn the A/C up high enough on the drive back and he was sweating when we arrived. Oops. I'm glad we learned that lesson before summer really sets in.
Fun!! I just can't get enough of your pictures of Douglas! It's so fun to watch you being a dad (and Sam being a mom, though that seems more natural than you being a dad :D). Sam, you look fantastic, by the way! You are doing way better than I am with post-pregnancy weight loss. This old body of mine retains fat too well after seven pregnancies! :) (Yes, I'm counting my two miscarriages. It makes it sound more impressive. :D)
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