Kentucky, for a minute…
On to Lexington for an oil change and then to Paris KY to stay at a Harvest Host. She was so patient with me! I went to the location on my app and couldn’t find the electric hook up, it was supposed to be by some plant. A plant I was not familiar with, so I neared the barn, which seemed like a logical spot and as I was searching I saw a snake skin, ummm no! I do not want to be in this field with SNAKES!! Yikes. I message her about the electric hook up and since I don’t have an adapter I can’t hook up but she has another location. WHEW. Hopefully it will be sans snakes!
I head to the new location and see the electrical hook ups on the fence. As I get out to see if they are 30amp I see the cutest baby raccoons and their mama, hmmm. I can see that mama raccoon wrapped around Lambert’s head as soon as we exit the van AND the boxes are locked, so another message and she apologizes, like I am not the problem here… Next locale, across the street, she actually meets me there, probably to see how crazy (or stupid) I am, but all is well!!
There are horses across the street that are massive!!!! I am in race horse raising country! It is beautiful here. All the homes are on massive amounts of land and many of them have fountains in their front yards, gorgeous country. Lambert looks like a chihuahua next to these horses! In the morning I took a drive through Paris and stopped at the Secretariat Memorial. It was cool reading about all the horses that were raised in the area. It’s something I know nothing about, so it was fun to learn a little…
Jill and relaxing!
I pulled into Jill’s neighborhood and it was very welcoming! Lovely lake feature in the center, lots of lawn and the lake had fish and turtles! So cute! I haven’t seen Jill in years; we do a fairly good job keeping up and she hasn’t aged a minute! PROOF!! (see pic) We spent the afternoon chatting and then headed to dinner with Mike, her ex. I was surprised that we were all going to dinner but also really happy that Mike wanted to join us. Also, really impressed that their relationship was in a good place. I drove the van to dinner, one last ummpphh of power and Jill wanted to check it out! This was my next test. Will the van survive three nights without being plugged in and without driving?
We enjoyed the pool, the crazy Ohio weather and an evening out with Rachel too. It was a lovely three nights and Lambert loved the bed and the couch! He did misplace the kitty, so I’m sure he was glad to see us go! And the batteries held up through my entire stay. WOO HOO!!!
Back on the road!
I had three nights to make it to WV to visit another friend, Charlotte. The state parks in Ohio are beautiful! I started the afternoon with a quick stop at Yellow Springs, very cute little town. I had a hike picked out, but the GPS kept taking me to closed roads, so I decided to head to the park. Both Rachel and Jill suggested Hocking Hills and it was one of Forbes best places to travel in 2023. But my first stop is Deer Creek State Park. It was a beautiful park with a huge outdoor pool, a lovely little movie night area and green, treed spots. Unfortunately the AC didn’t want to work. It was hot and I was about to leave and gave it one last try, TADA!! Thank God!!
One more faux pas… I spilled water on the counter and it seeped into the light panel by the entry door. Now the water heater isn’t working and I can’t control the lights that are only hooked to that panel. Thankfully it’s only the entry and porch. All the others can be controlled by the panel in the back EXCEPT the ‘turn off panel lights’. Which is SOOOOOO annoying. I taped a rag over the panel in back so blue lights aren’t blaring on me while I sleep!
Flash Flood Warning…..
Not a great weather report, flash flood warnings. We tootled around the Deer Creek area waiting. The warnings stop around 1pm. Then we started for Hocking Hills and the road is closed. OH OH. No cell service – time to get out the map and figure out what to do. I find a road near Hocking Hills . I need to go east but both areas are in the FF warning area. So I wind around and come upon a cute town – Circleville – guess what – it’s the center of Flash Flood Warning. I hang out there, check the news and wait it out. Circleville has a TON of churches. I may sound like I’m against church, I’m not. It is interesting seeing so MANY; this town has over 40, with a population around 14,000. Back on the road. I DID IT!
Arrived at Hocking Hills! We took some walks, tried to make a fire, but no kindling or fire starters, so that was a bust. In the morning we are going to explore the caverns. I spoke to a ranger and he gave me the lowdown on the best to see. OMG – these caves were like standing in a line at Disneyland. Like the fun queues with ropes and silly little features, that’s what it felt like. They were pretty, but can’t really compare to other caves or caverns I’ve been in, so it was not too exciting!
On to West Virginia
The next day is a pretty long driving day to Davis, WV with a stay planned at Canaan Valley State Park. We drove through Virginia to get here. These states are so close together, it’s weird coming from WA where it’s quite a drive to get to another state. Three miles from the park and we’re stopped. WTF. A couple of people are getting out of their cars to find out what’s happening so I ask. One guy says a semi accident… Okay. I look for a way around, another hour and a half – NOPE. The next guy says two semis and the tow truck got in the ditch trying to get them out, OMG! I wait, maybe only another 15 minutes and they open the road to one lane. Phew!
Made it to the park. The guy at the park check in was definitely from WV, sorry. He was nice, I couldn’t totally understand him though. He showed me pictures of some falls near his house….hmmmmm…okay. It ended up being one of the places I wanted to see tomorrow, so great. He kind of freaked me out, but I was pretty sure I could take him, if necessary! We get settled then wander a bit. There are kids next to us and they had been using my site drive way as a turn around. They come over and ask if it’s okay if they still do. ‘Of course.’ Later they bring me a bird feather with a very sweet note, saying thank you and asking if I want to be friends. SO SWEET!!
The next day will be a short drive to Romney WV , one of the oldest towns in WV. We are going to visit Charlotte and her family. I planned this earlier during the trip. Since this is my first 4th of July with Lambert, I don’t know how he will react to fireworks. So I wanted to be somewhere safe, for both of us, I hate fireworks! (The ones people do, not the Disneyland kind!) I make the stop at Blackwater Falls along the way (the falls the check-in guy mentioned, but so did Charlotte)! I was taking Lambert’s picture and a woman asked if I would like her to take one of both of us. After ALL THIS TIME this is the FIRST time someone has asked. It was so kind!!
OBSERVATIONS AND NOTES
- Still lots of churches, cemeteries and graveyards
- But now let’s add FUNERAL HOMES – and on the side of the road in little towns WHAT?
- Is it just that these areas are so much older than PNW?
- How do these churches and now funeral homes survive?
- Is everyone going into a box in the ground here? Are they going to start stacking them? HMMM
- When I an with friends we seem to NOT take pictures!
- Unless Madeleine is with me, then I have pictures galore!
- Am I getting tired of this – YES!
- The small space
- The weather challenges
- The driving….
- I never thought of Ohio as so pretty and green!!