Traveling East: West Virginia and Virginia

On the 4th we visited the West Virginia State Museum. It's very well done, but I remember a lot of creeping in darkened short hall bits from one well lit exhibit to the next. A head lamp might have served me well for the dark bits. I did learn how West Virginia got to break off from Virginia. West Virginia had been a disgruntled neglected backwater part of Virginia and had long wanted to go their own way. When Virginia seceded from the union, West Virginia voted to stay and the US Congress and Lincoln ratified their decision.

West Virginia State Museum (bldg 9 for the confused visitor)

That night we camped off the grid at Summit Lake in the Monangahela National Forest. Nice to have the occasional off the grid $5 night.

We just hung out in the day use area and walked around the lake a bit until time to go to our camping spot that was fairly enclosed by vegetation.

West Virginia wastes a lot of money by the way they mark curves on secondary roads. First they put up the standard windy road sign then instead of reflectors they put up stand alone curve signs about one every 10 feet. We counted as many as a dozen in a row.

On Friday the 5th we headed to the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia. A series of farms with homes were imported and reconstructed to represent the various people who came to live in the Shenandoah Valley. Native American, Irish, German, West African (slaves) and English.  Then they built reconstructions of American farm houses from 1740, 1820 and 1850 plus an early schoolhouse. There were docents in period dress demonstrating life on all the various farms. Quite a bit to hike over we were lucky to catch a ride in a covered wagon drawn by two lovely Percheron.

Our covered wagon and driver

In the covered wagon

William in the German farm house

I finished reading a great book I had picked up at an earlier campground and left it in the book trade at the Staunton Campground. The Invention of Wings. Appropriate, since it is about slavery and we are doing civil war history now. I have now begun a book recommended by Cousin Nancy, Confederates in the Attic. Glad I downloaded it. 

The gardens of the house before the rain started

On Saturday we went to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. Basically a rich guy who had inherited a lot of Oklahoma oil money lived here with his partner. They were into entertaining and art. They collected pie safes and miniatures. Since there were no heirs, they set up the museum and the grounds as a public benefit. Enjoyable to visit. The lunch at the museum cafe was fantastic and huge. We saved half for dinner later.

a pie safe- they had perforated metal panels
to allow for ventilation and to keep insects out

Saturday night we checked into the Harpers Ferry KOA. We usually don't go for the higher priced kid-centric KOA campgrounds. But the location is so right. We are actually in a battlefield, Bolivar Heights, on the edge of the National Park. There is a line of earthworks right in back of the Pleasure Way, our RV.

Sunday after the free pancake breakfast, we drove into Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Best to take the shuttle bus as there is limited parking in town and what there is you pay for. The town reminds me a bit of Skagway, since it is basically a park town with lots of restoration and exhibits. We spend all day and my legs are tired. The weather is balmy, but there are hills and stairs. A factory town at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, but there were floods and history to bring it down. John Brown's abortive raid on the federal arsenal was just a spark. The town changed hands time after time throughout the course of the civil war effectively obliterating it.

Harpers Ferry

Restored firehouse. Last stand of John Brown

River confluence

1903 ad "Mennen's Borated Talcum Toilet Powder"

Hiking the Appalachian Trail

I was fascinated with the cooking demonstration. Eels and songbirds cured for storage in clarified butter.

The volunteer doing the demonstrations gave me these tiny sour cucumbers to plant at home.

We're heading up to the top

We made it

The Catholic church came through the war okay.

 I don't think we'll go up to Jefferson hill.

My legs are getting tired as we come down these steps carved out of the rock.

The RV park is pretty deserted when we get back. Just the way we like it.

Traveling East: Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia

On the 2nd we made another vehicle repair stop. Another new front tire and a lube and oil change. The left front tire had a broken belt inside. So in Alaska we replaced the two back tires and since Alaska we replaced the front two. It was that last bad road to visit that last glacier that I blame.
On the last part of the highway in Illinois we were amused by the antics of a drunk or disgruntled highway crew. They had obliterated the lane markings and replaced them with drunken markings almost in the middle of the left lane!

This went on for miles and miles.

In Indiana we spent all afternoon in Boonville visiting with cousin Jim and his wife Nancy. They were wonderful to visit with and their house is charming. Nancy just happened to have a delicious cake made for our visit.
We spent the night not far away in Scales Lake Park.
As we speed east we see more and more trees and fewer fields. The land gets hillier as we head into Kentucky. The highway construction is exasperating. The right lane may be blocked for 20 miles at a time for one small stripe painting machine. Another 20 miles for a bit of minor edge repaving. Another 20 miles for some work on the other side of the huge grass median. Another 20 miles for a back hoe cleaning a ditch.  They just figure what they will do in a month and block it all off at once.  Hard on the driver.

We have stopped for the night not far into West Virginia, the wild and wonderful state. Tomorrow we will slow down to stop and tourist a bit.

Traveling East: Litchfield

Both my parents grew up in Litchfield. So here we are visiting for a few days.
A family luncheon was scheduled for Sunday the 31st.

Family came from near and far. From around the corner, Springfield, Chicago area and Indiana.  It also happened to be the 51st wedding anniversary of a special cousin.

Another cousin arranged for the cake and flowers.

After 3 hours of chat and a little eating we left to spend another 2 hours with Aunt Ruth.

I have enjoyed riding around town. Picking out the old route 66 signs and the old train station where my sister and I got off the Wabash train. We were going to spend the summer here. My job at 12 was to assist Grandma Nettie who had broken her arm.  My sister had to come because normally I would have been her baby sitter. She spent the summer with Aunt Ruth and her family.

Monday we headed over to the other side of the family and visited with Aunt Alice and her family, more cousins. We had a couple of great meals including some fantastic homemade German sausage, then dashed back to the RV park to set back up before the rain. It is currently pouring with much thunder and lightning.

Traveling East: Illinois

This is the post for Saturday August 30th

More fields of corn and soybeans with signs next to the fields. Just figure all are GMO. Farmers become dealers for a seed company and get a deal on seeds and chemicals. They put out the signs and encourage others to use these seeds.

We pass a field of sorghum. These are non GMO. I like the syrup. Used to watch my Grandpa Whitlock pour it all over his plate at breakfast. I only used to have it in Illinois, but now you can find it in the occasional farm stand in California.

Field of Sorghum

The big yellow flowers at the roads edge are wild sunflower relatives. Sunflowers are a big family. You see these along the farm roads in the central valley also. Same plant.

Wild Sunflowers

I start to see small homemade signs along the edge of the road. (1.) Born 1974. Then 5 miles later there's another. (2.) Hornets Cheerleader. Just when you think there are no more.  (3.) CHS Flag Corps. (4.) Track Star? (5.) You are 40 years old. No Way! (6.) Happy Birthday. Shelley (in a heart)

Shelley's husband went to a lot of trouble to let his Chillicothe High School sweetheart know he still loves her.

We pass a pickup hauling a long trailer with about 6 of those big rolls of hay stacked end to end.

We pass 2 ethanol plants out here close to the supply of corn.

Hannibal, Missouri, the boyhood home of Mark Twain. Then we cross over the mighty Mississippi River into Illinois.

The Mighty Mississippi

I72 looks deserted. This is part of the Eisenhower Interstate system the same as I80, but it is not a well traveled truck route to Springfield, Illinois.

The verge and divider are not mowed in most places and the edges are filled with grass growing out toward the roadway. No rest stops, no picnic spots and little traffic.

A sudden rain storm hits reminding us that's why its green, green, green here. When we pass houses they all have big lawns. Here all you need is a mower.

The trucks are on I55 from Springfield to St Louis.

At Litchfield we decide to visit Aunt Ruth first.

She looks very healthy for 100 years old. Her color is good. Not a wrinkle on her forehead or cheeks. She is on Oxygen now. She looks quite spry, up in a wheelchair. She is a bit forgetful. Kept wondering who Bill and I were. I am glad I made the picture book for her. She kept referring to it and liked it very much. Cousin Jim, Ruth's eldest, and his wife Nancy were there visiting also. I can't remember when I last saw Nancy. They are planning a visit to their daughter Anne in Seattle and may also visit us.

Traveling East: Missouri

Because of one thing and another this is Friday's Post. I may catch up sometime.

Traveling East: Missouri August 29^th

We awoke at 7:36 this morning and remembered we had an appointment at 8am at the North Platte Firestone store to have our alignment and tire balance checked. We think we threw something out yesterday when we hit a pothole on the highway. We got dressed, made coffee, broke camp and arrived on time. It turned out we had a bulge in our right front tire, I blame Alaska, and we had to buy a new right front tire.

While sitting in the Firestone store, I decided to Google Baker North Platte Nebraska, since Grandpa Al came from here. Bill doesn't know any local relatives. What Mr Google suggested was an assortment of miscreants, politicians and the local police chief.

Back on the road riding very smooth now, we noticed the clouds getting darker. Then the deluge began. Many people pulled over to the side of the road, some put on hazard lights and others got under the overpasses. I remembered Al telling stories of grapefruit sized hail. He said if you were caught out you could get in a culvert or under a dead cow. Finally the rain lets up.

Car stopping under an overpass

Some places have so many large round bales of hay scattered in the fields that they look like huge deer droppings.

Then the fields change to mostly corn and soybeans. A huge field of corn and a huge field of soybeans.

After we cross the Missouri river into a corner of Iowa I notice small signs next to the fields. Pioneer and Golden Harvest with numbers on them. These are DuPont and Syngenta brands of GMO seeds.

In Missouri along with the continuation of the huge corn and soybean fields, we see wooded areas. All of this area from the Atlantic to the plains was a vast thick woodland until it was cleared for farms.

Ever since we left the tinderbox state of California we have seen lots of fireworks stands. William has fond memories of bad tricks done with fireworks as a kid. Here in Missouri I see one fireworks stand labeled Factory Outlet. Do they sell seconds and rejects here? How safe is that? But then how safe are things like M80's in perfect condition?

William went on a long walk around the developed and undeveloped parts of the RV park. We had to pull on the other side of our electric plug in so we would not be getting out right into the face of the neighbor's chained up dog. They are long term residents with a rusted out truck with gun lover bumper stickers. While William was on his walk he ran into the neighbors walking their dogs. He was told that the big dog was a rescue dog that was not well socialized yet. While they were chatting he discovered why there is no internet for us. This guy and 3 others are internet gamers. Also the neighbor has an internet business. Probably the others do too. So they suck up the free internet, leaving none for anyone else. The park will catch on after a while.

Traveling East: Nebraska

We left on Tuesday morning the 26th. Our first night was in Wells, NV. Then on to Rawlins, WY. Wyoming was very cold and we broke out the down comforter. Glad I washed it after Ben and  Toby borrowed it camping at Fallen Leaf Lake.
Today we caught up with the storm we have been following . Heavy rain and poor visibility in Wyoming. We see lots of huge oils tanks and a Sinclair processing plant in Sinclair, WY.
The land looks like it does not usually get this much rain, short grass and scrub, occasional black cows, one group of long horns and some dusky gray horses.
We hope for sun as we enter Nebraska, but it is still overcast. Out of the rain for now.
Lots of fleet trucks on I80 and all of them are hiring drivers. William says long haul truckers often don't last long.

This is a trailer tail. We see them on a few trucks. Something to improve aerodynamics.

Seems like most of I80 is under construction. At least a quarter of the time we are traveling on a two lane road.
Corn as far as the eye can see and then a feed lot.  The corn does not look too tall and the plants are very crammed together.
We stopped at a rest stop in Ogallala for lunch. Warm and humid here and lots of flies. A little lady Fed Ex driver admired our Pleasure Way van. She was on a break, driving a double trailer truck back and forth across the country. Said most of her social life is at truck stops or rest stops. A hard life.
As we pull out I spot the flies tap dancing on the table searching for crumbs.
Tonight we are in North Platte NE. Grandpa Al came from here, but we don't know anyone who lives around here anymore. Just saw another Pleasure Way pull in to the Holiday RV Park.

Our Pleasure Way, the PW.

Return to the Salmon River

The Salmon River in Northern California that is. We lived on the North Fork of the Salmon River in Sawyers Bar for 5 years from December of 1974 to the summer of 1979. We've been back a few times, but will probably be going back every year now. The new owners of the saloon in Cecilville, on the South Fork have begun a disc golf tournament on Father's Day weekend and our children play disc golf.

We began the trip with a visit to our friend Sarah Colvig in Finley Camp.

Down the side of the mountain to the valley below. This road used to be dirt but is now paved and wide enough for two cars in most places. Finley camp is right at the bottom. Quite a few people I know or am acquainted with live down here. Not all year round. We parked the RV and had a lovely picnic supper and visit with Sarah.

Thanks to Sarah for this cute picture of Bill and I. It gets cool in the evening in the woods. Sarah's Jambalaya is famous all the way to Bali. 

The next morning we head into Sawyers Bar.

A few more people live around here than the last time we came through in May of 2006.  The Town Hall we helped build is still here. The stores are all houses now and the school is a community building. We drive on down to Forks of Salmon and as far as the school where I taught special education for a year. The road is all paved. Fewer ruts but we question whether it is safer rounding blind curves on a one lane road without the ability to see the dust of an oncoming vehicle.

Across the bridge where the north and south forks come together and up the road on the south fork side. Some familiar names on mailboxes here too. We had decided to have a family camp out at Mathews Creek Campground. There was a free campsite at Cecilville, but no dogs were allowed and daughter does have her Golden Retriever puppy Toby. This is a beautiful area. But few people use this campground. No one is here, there are no visible ground squirrels or chipmunks and the butterflies are bold. 

The California sister butterflies are very friendly. Landing on us and lapping at our skin with their tongues. We save campsites at the end overlooking the river.  There is a nice path down to the river. A bit steep for me since I forgot my hiking stick. By the afternoon all the family has shown up. Son and family, daughter and family and daughter-in-laws brother. Son heads on into Cecilville for a money round of disc golf which he wins. Others head to the river.

 Grandson swimming in a deep pool of the south fork.

 Daughter-in-law and her brother.

The view of the river from our campsite.

The next morning everyone except the two youngest, my daughter and I and the dog, take off to play disc golf. Bill has just has a skin cancer removed from his upper right shoulder area and he is not able to throw. But he wants to go anyway. So he acts as son, Jonathan's caddy. The stay at homes have fun playing in camp and in the river.

Everyone does quite well in the tournament and say they will be back next year. 

Sunday we all drive down to Sawyers Bar and park at the former school to use the community swimming hole. My daughter remembers where the path to the river is.

It's an easy walk down. We enjoy a picnic and swim. And meet a local who went to school with the children long ago. Ty Bundy is older than Jon and Valerie and has just recently come back to his family home in Sawyers Bar. No one had been living there for quite a while. He was down at the river with his girlfriend and her daughter and his daughters. Great to make some contact from long ago.

 Some have to head back home. Bill and I and Valerie and her family camp at Idlewild Campground not far from Finley Camp Sunday night. We head back home Monday morning after a very enjoyable weekend in the wild lands of far Northern California.

From LA to Home the Long Way

5/25/2014
We headed toward 395 and the east side of the Sierras, our favorite way to drive home.  We had made reservations at Boulder Creek RV Resort. Good thing, as it was crowded with people from all over the world, well USA and Germany, celebrating Memorial Day.  Our usual spot, #12, was taken, but #10 was OK.  We joined the crowd at the pool and hot tub.  The staff is not much on crowd control. They just hope everyone behaves.
The 26th looks like it will be too hot for going to the Alabama Hills so we head out Lubken Canyon Road to Horseshoe Meadows Road and then up the mountainside. We are very high up at over 10,000 feet. There is a large nice parking area at the end of the road where we set up for the day.

 William goes off for a hike in search of Golden Trout. When have I heard that before? Probably 1976. Not enough oxygen up here for me to be hiking. Even William admits to having to sit and rest on his way back. But he went on a long hike and says he spotted the elusive trout.

While we are sitting in the RV with the door open and William is reading and telling me about his adventures a golden mantled ground squirrel jumped into the RV. William yelled and I screamed as it ran toward me. Luckily I had my legs up. It was running fast, but I could see the stripes on its back. It seemed huge. As I screamed GET IT OUT, GET IT OUT, it ran back out the door. 

On the way back we stop at a memorial spot in the road. Back in the 50's when they were building this road an equipment operator had a heart attack. Nothing could be done back then. Horseshoe Meadows.

Newspaper letter about Walt's Point.  Sierra Paragliding. You can float 60 miles from here to Bishop.

The view is pretty scary for me, so naturally William stops and goes climbing.

On the 27th it was cooler so we head to the Alabama Hills.  Amazing to think of the times we have come here and found the ground covered with flowers. Too late for flowers here. But it is still lovely.

We have seen some flowers on our desert travels the last few days. Mariposa lilies,

 indian paint, lupine, pussy paws,

sunflowers, princes plume,

globe mallow, and white poppies.
We had paid for a third night at the RV park, but they forgot to mark us down for the same spot. So we would have had to take #9. I noticed that #12 was empty, so we told them we would take that one.  Up to the pool and spa. But the spa is not hot. A couple there who had been at Mule days in Bishop said that the resort had turned off the heat when too many children were playing in it. No children now so we got them to turn the heat back on.
On the 28th we take off for the Bristlecone Pines. We had driven up here before, but the road was blocked by snow.  I wonder when the visitor center is open. Maybe only on the weekends?

Our campsite for the night is down in the pinion pines outside the area of the bristlecones at Grandview campground.

The 29th we head to Lake Tahoe to check out some campsites we have reserved at Fallen Leaf Lake for this summer. We thought we might spend a night at Tahoe. If it had been Nevada Beach, I would have said yes. But we decide to head on home.