Creepin' along

  DAMASCUS, Va. - The Virginia Creeper Trail goes 33 miles on an old railroad route used for taking logs out of the Appalachians in the early 20th century.
  It's referred to by the chamber of commerce types as the best bike trail in the state, and it may well be. It's scenic, goes through woods along a nice river, and it's fun. It's also pretty easy, riding on this mostly smooth path.
  After riding it 19 miles from White Top to Damascus, almost all downhill, I can definitely say that this trail is popular.

Need an ID

  GRAYSON HIGHLANDS STATE PARK, Va. - I've asked several locals and looked in a couple of tree books, but I can't seem to figure out what this is from.
  It looks like a cone but feels like a fruit. Those barbs are not at all sharp.
  Can anybody tell me?

Have Things Changed?

  MONTICELLO, Va. - I never had the chance to write a letter to James Madison, but if I had, I wish I could have penned something similar to what his friend Thomas Jefferson wrote to him on June 17, 1785:
  "... my God, how little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy."
  I found that quote in a sample of Jefferson's letters at the gift shop at Monticello (pronounce it "chello"), his home the last 40 years of his life. You find Monticello not far from Charlottesville, Va., and the University of Virginia, which Jefferson helped establish in 1819.