Hewitt, NJ to Charlottesville, VA

Mike and I have been talking about this trip for a good two years and yet loading our bags in the 4Runner in the 14 degree cold on the morning of Wednesday January 3 felt completely surreal. 

Maybe it was because I was experiencing everything through a foggy veil of cold and flu medicine. Maybe it was because our entire 2 bedroom Brooklyn apartment had been packed up and unceremoniously dumped in the living room of the lake house. Maybe it was because we rushed out the door of my parents house the morning of the 2nd, got to the lake, and packed everything we thought we'd need in a matter of 4 hours.

After we reminded ourselves a handful of times that we could always stop off and buy anything we forgot, we jumped in the car and headed on down the road toward Charlottesville, VA. 

Our first stop was at the Happy Trails dog park near Harrisburg, PA where Merlin tired himself out running around with another pup!

After we were back on the road and headed through Virginia we decided we would take a short detour to check out Mike's old residence during his internship with Shenandoah National Park (summer 2006).  It was dark by the time we got there but it was fun to see the site and the mountains that he talks so fondly of. Mike told me lots of stories and got to take a trip down memory lane while we walked Merlin around. 

Then we were back in the car driving past Virginia estates and pastures that were beautiful and impressive even at night.  We arrived in Charlottesville at about 9pm and checked into La Quinta - dog-friendly nationwide! We were tired from packing and driving all day so we ordered some pizza, watched a movie, and tucked ourselves in with Day 1 officially under our belts.