A COLD WINTRY TRIP TO ELKINS, NORTH CAROLINA!

Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Fairfield by Marriott
Elkins-Jonesville, NC
27F

 

TK's very dirty truck--he keeps it so immaculate

with a wash every other day at home

Flatwoods, WV

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!

Welcome to West Virginia

"Almost Heaven"

By the time we crossed the border into West Virginia we had only seen one car in a ditch (except for the car on Grandview and Zuck when we left).  Our route is always I-79 to Route 19 to I-64 to I-77 S.  As we passed the Monongahela National Forest, I was comfortable enough to observe the snow laden tree limbs, icicles on rock “shelves,” and the slushy roads.   This was Civil War country! TK observed that some of the travelers on the road were probably returning from the Bills/Steelers game.

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 love this Fiesta Store

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.

TK and his special tuna pita

We were hungry! No time for breakfast!

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.

Good thing we did not  forget our E-Z Pass!

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.