Sunset with Water Tower

Strasburg, Virginia

This is not the first time I’ve taken a picture from this spot. When I lived closer to Strasburg, I often shopped at the Food Lion, and the parking lot has a great view to the west. Actually, it confused me because it did not feel like I’d be looking west from there. I was standing parallel to the Valley Pike, which is thought of as a north/south route. Yet it actually runs at an angle, and the valley itself runs at an angle, so you are generally traveling northeast or southwest. To complicate matters, the Valley Pike (U.S. 11) is an old road that made turns almost constantly in order to avoid river crossings and ridges when possible.

You can see the Allegheny mountains from here, which are part of the Appalachian mountains. If you drive west across that mountain range, you find yourself in West Virginia.