Grinch and More
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Day 4: December 24, 2021 Grinch and More Comment via blog |
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US-119 south of Chief Logan State Park passes some interesting scenery but
I left it after just a few miles.
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Moving to WV-10 brought on interesting scenery AND road.
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The road was in good condition and delightfully wiggly. It was fun to
and the view between towns was pleasant. It was somewhat less so in the
many unincorporated communities along the way. They were often pressed
between steep hillsides and the road, some train tracks, a river, or some
combination of the three. A few houses in each town were extremely well
maintained and a few were quite dilapidated. Most were somewhere in
between but seemed more concentrated toward the lower end of the scale.
Almost all were on small lots and close to each other. Maybe they were
mining towns and maybe not. I don't really know but I found myself
thinking that, regardless of what forces had formed the towns, their
residents had not had an easy go or been treated all that fairly. I was
starting to dwell on this and getting a little sad when I reached Matoaka.
There was quite a crowd downtown and many waved and smiled as I drove past. I waved back and smiled and wondered what was going on. I turned around at the first opportunity and when I stopped, Santa Claus and the Grinch both came up to the car. I'm still not very clear on what was going on. "Toys and pizza", was about all I got from the brief exchange. I've since found mention of the volunteer fire department having a Christmas party for kids last Saturday and this looked like it might be a repeat or maybe an extension. way my thoughts forming. Whatever it was, the waves and smiles worked. I'm one of the kids that left Matoaka in a much better mood than when I arrived. BTW: Everybody else may already know that Matoaka was the real name of the Powhatan girl more commonly known as Pocahontas. I learned that while searching for information on Motoaka the town. |
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The day's second surprise came about a dozen miles later. In the first
picture, I'm about to turn onto Old Springs Road. It's the sort of road
I'm often on when I do my own routing but not when I'm letting the GPS
pick the fastest route. When the day started, the GPS announced that the
route it had plotted required tolls and asked if I wanted an alternative.
I said yes. I passed an I-77 ramp sporting toll signs about a mile before
reaching Old Spring Road. This, I'm guessing is the alternative. I was
really happy when I first saw the narrow road and ecstatic when I saw the
Christmas fence.
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It's always cool to find a functioning drive-in theater even if it is on
winter shut-down.
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There are two lodges at
Pipestem Resort State Park and I initially pulled up
to the one that's closed for the season. But I managed to find the right
one, with my room in it, before I panicked.
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During Christmas week, the Bluestone Dining Room offers buffets rather
than its normal menu. A description of each day's offerings was published
but Friday's entry was simply TBD (to be determined). I asked and decided
that ribs, fish, and chicken would be just fine before being seated at a
window with a great view. I barely managed to get both the top of my salad
and the top of the mountains in the picture. Whether my timing was perfect
or abysmal depends on whether you are a diner or a photographer. I got to
watch an incredible sunset but reflections in the window make my picture
of it look like a flying saucer invasion. Knowing that the view would have
been nearly ideal from my balcony two floors below made it extra
frustrating. The show was over when I finished eating and actually reached
the balcony.
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