Saturday, April 16, 2011
I am writing this from the Comfort Inn in Lexington, Virginia. We've spent two days on the road and have travelled fewer than 350 miles. You might want to say we're moving at a senior pace. It's OK......we're on the road, out of town, away from obligations.
I pulled into the garage after school on Friday to find that Randy, alias "Mr. Packer," had staged all the bags and cases on the garage floor and was ready, sleeves rolled up, to pack my Rendezvous to the gills. He did. We started the car, pulled out of the driveway, pulled back into the driveway, pulled out, pulled in, drove two houses up the street, turned around, pulled back in, out.............and then I had my glasses, and we were ready to roll.
It was a very quiet drive. My nerves were shot from school....(Governor Kasich should come and try to keep 93 eighth graders under control on the day before spring break starts............he might revise his SB5.)
After an hour or so, we talked.................and haven't stopped talking since. That's the best thing about our road trips: There's no distraction, nobody else to converse with, and since we're in the car together we TALK about everything and anything. It's good for our marriage, and good for us as individuals.
We only drove 150 miles to Marietta, Ohio, where we stopped at the Comfort Inn there and pulled in for the night. Not far, but definitely far ENOUGH to feel the "vacation" starting.
We'd had a stop at McDonald's en route, and had an "extra meal" at the hotel restaurant before working on a blog entry for my Shoestrings blog and then sleeping deeply until 6 AM this morning. My internal clock is still set for 6 AM...............and by the time it resets itself, it will be time for it to go back to 6 AM.
Today we woke to pouring rain. I mean POURING RAIN. We had our motel breakfast overlooking the pool, with a group of insurance people from the Woodsman Group. They didn't look very happy, frankly. Probably because THEY were going to spend the day in a big ol' meeting at that hotel.............and WE, on the other hand, were ON THE ROAD............and away we went, rain or not!
What did we see today? Not far south of Parkersburg, WV, we stopped at the Coldwater Creek Outlet Store, a place I've wanted to visit for awhile but never drove by at the right time. It's nice, but I wouldn't make a special trip to go there, frankly. I bought a couple of tee tops and a piece of jewelry, looked at everything else, and was back into the car within 45 minutes.
In Charleston, WV, we stopped at Central Market, which is located right underneath the freeway in the center of town. We'd been there last spring on the way home, and liked it. We bought some spices at the Purple Onion, tasted some cheese at the wine shop, and bought some sliced turkey to take along for lunch.
An hour or so later we had a picnic lunch at a West Virginia roadside park. By then we had outrun the rain, and the sun was shining............and THERE ARE DAFFODILS, TULIPS, AND LEAVES ON THE TREES DOWN HERE. I emphasize that to be sure that my Ohio friends are jealous.
We began an audio book which we are still "iffy" about............after disk one we audibly voted to try to make it through disk two. IF we go forward with this NINETEEN disk story, I will tell you the title. Right now we're not enamoured with it, however.
Remember that crazy book, 1,000 Things to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die??? Well, it was thrown into the car at the last minute, and THAT is why we are in Lexington, Virginia for the night. There's this place called "Natural Bridge," that I have personally ridden by or driven by at least fifteen times. On three of those occasions, I have actually PLANNED to see this scenic wonder. On two of those trips, I've gotten lost or missed the exit ramp, and the other time I was plainly and stupidly lost. WE ARE GOING TO SEE THE NATURAL BRIDGE tomorrow, or else!
We also read in our book about some historic things to see in Lexington, and if you remember our trip two years ago when we spent nearly ten days in Virginia seeing Civil War locations up the wazoo, then you can figure out what's here that we're going to visit tomorrow!
Right now we are going to comb our hair, remove the coffee-stained shirts, and head out for dinner and a short drive through Lexington, Virginia to be sure we have the lay of the land for tomorrow's excitement.
