In 2013, my Christmas Escape destination was a West Virginia state park and since then I’ve escaped to state parks in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Last year, I didn’t escape to anywhere as travel was seriously curtailed by the ongoing pandemic. I’m a little excited to again hit the road and quite happy to be returning to West Virginia. Before I get to Hawks Nest State Park for a Christmas Day buffet, I’ll stop at a couple of other West Virginia parks, and before that, I take note of the Winter Solstice. That’s the Winter Solstice sunrise at Fort Ancient in the photo.
This entry is to let blog-only subscribers know about the trip and to provide a place for comments. The journal is here.
While I could not afford many trips (and no overnights) while a graduate student at Morgantown at West Virginia University (1957-8 and again with my new wife in 1959-60) I did enjoy the experience of the up and down and around WVa roads. Experienced coal trucks spewing black powder everywhere, the lingering fog on the hillsides, the houses built a few feet from the highway, and the one-way bridges on a US highway. Had my 1948 Studebaker Land Cruiser with a bad wheel bearing and a leaky radiator. My trips home to Wisconsin included some travel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike–moved like a dream at 70 mph. And the winter roads in Morgantown with a car with all the weight at the front end — challenging. Just remembering.
I’ve never encountered snow in WV and I don’t think I’ve ever been on a very tight schedule there so I’ve mostly enjoyed “the up and down and around”. I’m not sure that I’ve ever had to deal with an actual coal truck and I definitely did not on this trip. I do suspect, however, that they were partly responsible for the general dinginess of those “houses built a few feet from the highway” which were, in turn, responsible for the sense of sadness I was feeling just before being cheered up by the smiling Santa, Grinch, and friends.