Date: 2013-06-22
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Monticello
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

'He was 6'2 1/2", backbone as straight as a rifle barrel, and his body had a leanness of a fine horse - no extra flesh anywhere.' No, this isn't a description of Guardian! It is a description of Thomas Jefferson. At the age of 33 Jefferson penned the American Declaration of Independence. He was a delegate to the Virginia General Assembly, and to the American Congress, Governor of Virginia, Minister to France, Secretary of State, Vice President, and President from 1801 to 1809.Those of you who remember our 2005 Lewis and Clarke Bicentennial canoe trip down the Missouri River will remember Thomas Jefferson as the creator and supporter of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Today at his home in Monticello we learned so much more about this American genius.For the last several weeks we have been hiking off and on with Tennessee. Today we were able to meet his family who had driven from Chattanooga to Waynesboro to visit with him. Tennessee and his family took us along with them to Monticello the site of Thomas Jefferson's home and experimental farm. As we walked in the front door of Monticello, directly over our heads was a two faced clock. This clock, that could be viewed from inside and outside the house, was powered by two chains and weights that, instead of hanging down in the doorway were made to go out to the side walls of the room and then via pulleys, down into the basement through cut-outs in the floor. When fully wound, the weights would fall next to the Sunday marker on the side wall. As the week progressed the weights would mark each day of the week. In the same room as the clock there were artifacts from the Lewis and Clark Expedition prominently displayed. Thomas Jefferson must have been quite proud of his sponsorship of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.Our guide showed us every room on the ground floor and explained their special features. On either side of the dining room fire place there was a dumb waiter designed to bring up wine from the cellar below. There was a door with semi-circular shelving on one side. The door rotated so that serving dishes and then used dishes could be placed on the shelves. By turning the door the dishes could be removed from the shelves in the next room. We found the two most interesting rooms to be Thomas Jefferson's study and bedroom. His bed was located in an alcove between the two rooms. In his study Thomas Jefferson had many scientific instruments which he used in his study of horticulture, ethnography, palaeontology, archeology, and astronomy.Even more intriguing were the grounds that surrounded the estate. Thomas Jefferson experimented by growing 330 varieties of 99 species of vegetables and herbs in his Revolutionary Garden. He accomplished this by terracing the gardens to provide various exposures to the sun.Trees were undoubtably Thomas Jefferson's favourites. Visitors to Monticello would often find him working at a portable desk shaded by their spreading limbs. He documented the planting of 160 species of trees on his property.Monticello a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We were inspired by its design and purpose in the time that we spent there.