Montpelier and Natural Bridge

Had a relaxing and interesting ride south thru Md., across the Potomac to Va. We then drove west to Fredericksburg and then due west on Rt 20 to James Madison's home, Montpelier. His original home had eventually been purchased by members of the duPont family who greatly expanded it and made it into an equestrian center and home. They eventually donated the whole property to a foundation which investigated renovation. They decided to restore it. Madison's father had built the original home in 1760 or so, and Madison added on and elaborated the home in 1797. The duPonts had doubled the size and changed the look considerably. They tore off all the duPont additions, and began an investigation of how the 1797 was configured and decorated. The house exterior is complete, but the interior is still under renovation and they're still finding interesting detail, some going back to the 1760's. Windows to the sides of the front door were discovered to be pocket windows, that is they slid into the wall to be open in warm weather. These windows had 30 some coats of paint. They had no parking for buses or rvs so I had to park across several car spots, and the entry roads were extremely narrow. On the way out, I took a wrong turn and ended up in the working area of the estate where the roads were as narrow as sidewalks and took about half an hour to get turned around. The locals had a good laugh. After that, we hit I64 at Charlotteville, and drove over the Blue Ridge into the Shenandoah Valley, then south on I81 to Natural Bridge, Va. We are staying in a Jellystone camp ground there for two nights. Because the forecast was so bad for the next two days, we got set up and went over to Natural Bridge, which turned out to be a hidden gem. The walk thru the area was beautiful, and it sure is raining this am.