Ohio
Pictures from the trip can be found here.
On Wednesday, Adam picked me up from work, and we headed to Tyler's for Pint Night and a quick bite. We then cruised back to his apartment to finish packing and loading the car. One of the last things I asked before we got on the road was whether Adam wanted his rice cooker. He said yes, so I filled it with stuff and taped it shut.
We got on the road around 9 and hit Mt Airy around 11. We got a room at a Microtel and slept in the next morning. The next morning, we drove into downtown Mt Airy and wondered at the Andy Griffith-ness of it all, even having lunch at Barney's.
We got on the road by 11:30 and stopped at Wolf Creek Indian Village. It is very interesting. Apparently, when they were building the interstate they had to reroute Wolf Creek. When they did, they found the remains of an Indian village which was carbon dated to circa 1215. They have recreated the village and opened it to the public.
As we left Wolf Creek and entered West Virginia, the conversation went something like this:
N: I wonder what there is to do and see in West Virginia...
A (innocently): We could tour a coal mine...
N (excited): You can do that? They really let you down into them?
So, we stopped off at the Beckley Exposition Coal Mine and did the tour. The mine closed around 1910, and they take you 1500 feet under ground. They describe what life was like in the mine as well as in the mining town. I commented to Adam how lucky we are to have grown up when and where we did.
We had dinner at the Outback in Beckley and made a reservation for a hotel in Charleston, WV.
We drove the remaining distance to Charleston and checked into the hotel. They assigned us to room 411, and so we grabbed our stuff and headed upstairs. Of course, 411 had a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on it and our keys did not work, so we wandered back to the desk. They call someone on their radio who says her master key is not working. So, he re-encodes our keys and sends us back to meet the other employee in front of the room. We get there and she says "There is someone in there. Wait here and I'll be back." About 10-15 minutes later she comes back with keys for 413. Now we had reserved a king size bed but this room only has two doubles. I ask what they are going to do about the rate, and I get told to come down in 30 minutes and speak to the night manager. I head down and the night manager sends security up to 411 to deal with the guest who checked out but did not leave and knocks $20 off the room. So, while we had a rough time with the Charleston, WV Plaza Ramada, they did right by us. And they had an excellent hot breakfast buffet.
The next morning, we went and toured the WV State Capital which is beautiful. We hit the road by 11 and then stopped at the Fenton Glass factory in Williamstown, WV. We had lunch there, saw the weirdest sign, and then drove on.
We drove through Apple Creek, OH which was Amish central. Lots of Amish people all over the town as we drove through. Very kewl in a touristy way. [Anyone else perplexed why the Amish would have a web site?]
We hot Wooster around 5, and got Adam checked in, moved in, and mostly unpacked. The OLO company meeting was at 7. I tagged along for the meeting and a walk through of the costume shop and wardrobe. It only took them about 15 minutes to ask if I could stitch... ;)
Afterward was a company dinner at Matsos. Then we headed off to Walmart (which includes a hitching post for horse and buggy - this truly is Amish country) to pick up some things Adam needed. We ran into around half the company there.
Back to Adam's house to do some more unpacking before the last night in each others arms for some time.
Up the next morning and grabbed some breakfast downtown, then walked around downtown before heading to the costume shop. They all got into their work day and I hit the road. I drove to Butler, PA and cleared out most of the storage shed. Then drove down to Cranberry and had lunch at Quaker Steak & Lube. Then pushed on to home, talking with catbastet for the last 2-3 hours. Finally pulled in to home at midnight and immediately collapsed.
On Wednesday, Adam picked me up from work, and we headed to Tyler's for Pint Night and a quick bite. We then cruised back to his apartment to finish packing and loading the car. One of the last things I asked before we got on the road was whether Adam wanted his rice cooker. He said yes, so I filled it with stuff and taped it shut.
We got on the road around 9 and hit Mt Airy around 11. We got a room at a Microtel and slept in the next morning. The next morning, we drove into downtown Mt Airy and wondered at the Andy Griffith-ness of it all, even having lunch at Barney's.
We got on the road by 11:30 and stopped at Wolf Creek Indian Village. It is very interesting. Apparently, when they were building the interstate they had to reroute Wolf Creek. When they did, they found the remains of an Indian village which was carbon dated to circa 1215. They have recreated the village and opened it to the public.
As we left Wolf Creek and entered West Virginia, the conversation went something like this:
N: I wonder what there is to do and see in West Virginia...
A (innocently): We could tour a coal mine...
N (excited): You can do that? They really let you down into them?
So, we stopped off at the Beckley Exposition Coal Mine and did the tour. The mine closed around 1910, and they take you 1500 feet under ground. They describe what life was like in the mine as well as in the mining town. I commented to Adam how lucky we are to have grown up when and where we did.
We had dinner at the Outback in Beckley and made a reservation for a hotel in Charleston, WV.
We drove the remaining distance to Charleston and checked into the hotel. They assigned us to room 411, and so we grabbed our stuff and headed upstairs. Of course, 411 had a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on it and our keys did not work, so we wandered back to the desk. They call someone on their radio who says her master key is not working. So, he re-encodes our keys and sends us back to meet the other employee in front of the room. We get there and she says "There is someone in there. Wait here and I'll be back." About 10-15 minutes later she comes back with keys for 413. Now we had reserved a king size bed but this room only has two doubles. I ask what they are going to do about the rate, and I get told to come down in 30 minutes and speak to the night manager. I head down and the night manager sends security up to 411 to deal with the guest who checked out but did not leave and knocks $20 off the room. So, while we had a rough time with the Charleston, WV Plaza Ramada, they did right by us. And they had an excellent hot breakfast buffet.
The next morning, we went and toured the WV State Capital which is beautiful. We hit the road by 11 and then stopped at the Fenton Glass factory in Williamstown, WV. We had lunch there, saw the weirdest sign, and then drove on.
We drove through Apple Creek, OH which was Amish central. Lots of Amish people all over the town as we drove through. Very kewl in a touristy way. [Anyone else perplexed why the Amish would have a web site?]
We hot Wooster around 5, and got Adam checked in, moved in, and mostly unpacked. The OLO company meeting was at 7. I tagged along for the meeting and a walk through of the costume shop and wardrobe. It only took them about 15 minutes to ask if I could stitch... ;)
Afterward was a company dinner at Matsos. Then we headed off to Walmart (which includes a hitching post for horse and buggy - this truly is Amish country) to pick up some things Adam needed. We ran into around half the company there.
Back to Adam's house to do some more unpacking before the last night in each others arms for some time.
Up the next morning and grabbed some breakfast downtown, then walked around downtown before heading to the costume shop. They all got into their work day and I hit the road. I drove to Butler, PA and cleared out most of the storage shed. Then drove down to Cranberry and had lunch at Quaker Steak & Lube. Then pushed on to home, talking with catbastet for the last 2-3 hours. Finally pulled in to home at midnight and immediately collapsed.