April 2024 – Page 2 – Our Travels

We arrived in Charleston – West VA, not the other one – Monday afternoon and checked into the house we’d rented for the week of family activities related to the upcoming wedding of our grandson. It’s a doozy! Built in 1976, we think…

We’d been without internet or cell service at our friends’ cabin the week before, so after settling in, we spent the evening catching up on emails, downloading photos, etc. After all, we’d promised to be back in touch Monday.

And laundry, we also did plenty of laundry.

Turned out to be a good thing we’d jumped right on it because Tuesday morning, a tornado touched down in Charleston. (More time spent in the basement with the washer and dryer.) We were safe, but in the dark, along with approximately 125,000 other Appalachian Power customers.

After the storm passed, we explored the damages to our temporary neighborhood on the mountain.

Only a small tree hit our rental – noisy but no damage

We topped off the gas tank and spent Tuesday night by candlelight, charging tablets and cell phones in the car when needed, so we could keep up with the forecast and power outage predictions.

Wednesday night, however, was supposed to drop into the 30’s. Discretion being the better part of valor, we found a hotel for the night. Took some research and a few calls to find one with both availability AND power. After all, plenty of locals were seeking shelter, and more than 2,000 line workers from ten states outside of WV also needed rooms.

Per Appalachian Power, damage assessment teams have so far discovered 1,279 spans of wire down, nearly 300 broken poles, 148 broken/damaged crossarms, and 65 transformers down. Most of the damage was due to trees.

As the estimate from the power company was pushed further and further out for restoring electricity to our little mountainside area (five days) – and with hotel rooms becoming more and more “Sold Out” – we quickly changed our hotel checkout all the way to Monday and returned to the rental house to collect our belongings (yes, back under the tree hanging on the wire).

We made the 47 trips to put everything back in the car,

In the end, no one in the family even saw the quirky house with the great view we’d rented so we could get together. But, hey, our hotel room has a nice view of the Kanawha River…

PS – It’s tornado season. Don’t sleep naked! 😉

…so the song goes.

After several days at End of the Road Retreat in Broadway, Virginia, we wound our way back down the gravel country road headed to West Virginia.

It didn’t take long before we hit the steep grades, some marked at 55 mph. 55? That’s a laugh.

Although the day was a bit overcast, the drive was amazingly pleasant, along those winding roads.

_{Germany Valley Overlook – site of Hinkle’s Fort 1761-62}

Our friends had advised us that the last five miles to the cabin would be on a gravel road. We timed it perfectly to travel those final miles in the rain! ha! (Well, at least it wasn’t dark…)

We had high hopes we wouldn’t need dentures when we arrived

It had been almost two years since we last saw James and Carol when we had the pleasure of spending a few days aboard their (former) boat, Excalibur, our own adventures having kept us south. So, warm welcome hugs were exchanged before stepping inside for the grand tour of Al’s Lone Pine Camp, i.e., the family cabin built by Carol’s father.

The next day, the weather cleared, and the exploring began. First up, a meandering circular hike through Al’s land, then on to the nearby property James & Carol own, then through a chunk of the Monongahela National Park Forest, and finally back to the Camp! Whew! Next, we climbed into James’ truck to go to Blackwater Falls State Park.

The stones are stacked where James & Carol might build a cabin

There was plenty of soaking in the incredible scenery, watching the robins work the grass, and “let’s take that circle walk, again!” The walk is partially on National Park land with other more serious trails that we weren’t up to (“yet!” adds the one of us with the limp and the new hip). But it’s amazing to relax chatting and catching up, and not to mention games! Okay we won’t mention those. Especially since the guys kept winning… (Hey, Carol, do you think there was any cheating going on?? Nah. Next time, guys. Next time. )

High Falls Trail! (Alas, perhaps another time)

Blankets? Why in the world are we sitting in the cold?

On one of our driving trips, James surprised us with a stop at the Bowden Fish Hatchery before we explored Graceland, the historic Victorian home of Senator Henry Davis on the campus of Davis and Elkins College. At 16,000 square feet and built in 1893, she is beautiful. Her 10 rooms and suites will open very soon, complete with a restaurant. Heck, we were only about a week early. Had to go find our own lunch.

Carol is learning a thing or two, while Susie is totally distracted, gleefully feeding the fish

Back at the cabin, Carol showed us the spring up the road a piece, where we gathered water daily for the next morning’s coffee.

The days of eating too much, walking (thank goodness), game playing, and healthy laughter, lead up to Easter Sunday, our final day together. Once the rain stopped, we set out to gather the aforementioned ramps to add to dinner. What’s a ramp, you say? Think a cross between a small wild leek and an onion. Some say pungent; others say yum!

After a week of gastronomic indulgence put on by our talented hosts, what did we do for Easter dinner? Well, we ate too much once again, of course! BBQ chicken, fresh veggies, homemade sourdough bread, black raspberry jelly, pickles, peach cobbler… The list goes on. What a feast!

Monday morning, we waddled out of bed to help clean up the cabin, packed the vehicles, and headed off in our separate directions. Back out on those country roads, we twisted, turned, and did plenty of that up and down travel Todd enjoys, making our way to Charleston.