Tuesday,
January 16, 2024
Fairfield
by Marriott
Elkins-Jonesville,
NC
27F
Awakened by “Travelin’ Man” by Ricky Nelson this morning, I jumped out of bed anxious to get on the road. TK has been asking “Alexa” to play a favorite song each morning for my wakeup call since just before Covid. I love that he does that.
Packed and ready to go,
last minute details attended to like turning down the heat, turning off the
water to the Great Room, and travel mugs filled with coffee, and we were in the
truck before 8:30 a.m. Erie’s
temperature was 11F.
For an hour and a half,
the driving was not good. Snowplows and salt trucks were on the roads. Wisps of
snow blew across the nearly plowed highway; visibility was between 2 car
lengths and 10 car lengths. I realized my hands were clenched and I did
not dare talk to TK. The news played on the radio.
By New Castle,
Pennsylvania, conditions improved somewhat, and I relaxed enough to start doing
crossword puzzles and reading magazines. TK
kept on driving, that old driver of big fire engines was not daunted!
As an aside, my nephew
R works at that national forest. I am not sure what he does there, but I know
he has an important job. The Monongahela National Forest, established in 1920, covers
over 920,000 acres/10 counties and is considered one of the most ecologically
diverse areas in the United States. In 2023, the Forest contributed two pine
trees (The People’s Trees) for the White House and the U.S. Capitol for
Christmas.
At 1 p.m. we stopped in
Flatwoods to go to the Fiesta store. We were good and only bought two mugs for
TK. Our daughters in law have benefited from our many stops here, but they have
plenty of dishes now.
We ate our tuna fish pita sandwiches—TK’s specialty when we travel—in the Walmart
parking lot nearby. No stop at New River Gorge this year.
Now I was really
getting comfortable, the weather was not so threatening. I read articles about
colonial meat and seafood preservation in the American Spirit magazine
(May/June 2022) and how deputy husbands (wives) kept the fires burning while
the men were fighting for the American Revolution (American Spirit,
Nov/Dec 2020)—catching up on my magazines.
By the time we reached
Ingleside, West Virginia, it had warmed up to 18F as we drove to the songs of
Sirius 70s music, “Ain’t No Sunshine
Since You’re Gone,” “Layla,” Cat Stevens, and so on, all helping to pass the
time.
By almost 4 p.m. we
were in Virginia for a gas stop, and at 5 p.m. we were driving into North
Carolina. Hardly any evidence of snow, a
few splotches, and a warm 27F when we checked into the hotel. We ate another tuna sandwich and after that I
went to the lobby for a DAR Zoom meeting while TK decompressed.
It’s almost time for
bed! After nine hours on the road, we are tired. It was a good day thanks to TK’s
safe driving!
TK’s Takes: West Virginia keeps its roads up
better than Pennsylvania.
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