QUOTABLE: “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.” ~ C. S. Lewis from Mere Christianity

On Thursday, May 22, it was time to head northwest. We got on the road about 8:30 AM, crossing the James River near Hopewell, then taking VA-10 to I-95 to VA-288 to skirt the south side of Richmond. At US-60 we turned west and stopped for lunch at the Cumberland Restaurant in Cumberland, Virginia. The campground had a late check in, so we then killed a little time getting groceries at the Food Lion in Amherst, Virginia. Our last leg was on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and we finally arrived at Montebello Camping & Fishing Resort just before 3 PM. The weather had been great, and it was especially nice to be up in the mountains when the laurel, rhododendron, and dogwood were all blooming. That was gorgeous! The views off of the parkway were terrific, too. We were both looking forward to relaxing outdoors, but Priscilla had other ideas.

CAUTIONARY NOTE: This is the first time we’ve driven on the Blue Ridge Parkway in many years, and we didn’t expect any issues towing up there. However, the section we were on was severely overgrown, with shrubs and larger tree limbs hanging out into the lanes in places. It appears that all they are really doing to maintain this part is removing fallen stuff from the pavement. We were able to get through, but at a busy time, it would not have been so easy.

After parking and chocking the tires, the leveling process is: 1) raise the hitch off of the ball in the truck bed; 2) unplug trailer and remove truck; 3) hit auto-level. That’s it, and I’m very spoiled after having to manually level everything for 5 years. BUT…it didn’t work this time. When I hit the auto-level button, I got a warning that said “excess angle”. The literal interpretation of that was not the case, so I got the book out. Nothing applied, so we re-hooked her to the truck and repeated the process to see if that corrected anything. Nope. Okay, now I’m frustrated. I decided to manually level her, but the controls in the cabinet would not cooperate. The ones on my phone app, however, did work. I lowered the front until it was level front-to-back, planning to then seat the rear legs and raise the driver’s side slightly to level left-to-right. The passenger side rear leg did as it was told, but I’m pretty sure I saw the driver’s side rear leg flip me off before sending a code to my app…”excess twist detected”. WHAT??!! So Mr. Wonderful (MW) went through the manual process to lower that leg. Nope! That leg was not moving in ANY direction. By now we just wanted to get the darned thing parked so we could relax, so I leveled her side-to-side the old fashioned way with rocker levelers. To make things harder, the campground has ZERO cell signal, so we couldn’t even research anything. We were fairly certain that the first error in the controller up front was being caused by whatever problem was causing the rear leg issue. We made a plan for me to do some research the next day on the issue and also try to locate a new leg assembly (whether to use as a spare or replacement), and tried to relax for the rest of the evening.

Friday was laundry day, so I headed down the mountain. Let me just say, I learned quickly why the campground staff recommend coming in on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The two other ways off this mountain are extremely curvy, steep, and occasionally treacherous in a giant truck, much less towing a large fifth wheel. On the plus side, a side trip on a different route back took me through a valley that was just beautiful! I took care of my chores at the Coin Laundry in Stuart’s Draft, Virginia, then found a seat at Micalis Trattoria just down the street. (My Italian sandwich was good, but most of the local crowd was going for pasta.) I spent a good deal of time looking for info on our RV issue and calling RV repair places to see if anyone had one of those leg assemblies. I was finally put in touch with Zach at Blue Compass north of Columbus, Ohio, who was wonderful. We will be passing near there in less than 2 weeks, and he can get the part in from Grand Design. Awesome! That just leaves me leveling manually for the next couple of stops, plus lacking rear stabilizers to help with the bounce. It took me a bit to get over the initial frustration of setup yesterday, but really, these are first-world problems, and we are blessed to have the lifestyle that they affect.

Saturday morning we headed up to Staunton (pronounced Stanton), Virginia, to check out the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, which is located in and around the house where he was born. We’ve passed the sign for this place every year on our Christmas trips up to see the Pennsylvania Boogers and have had it on our list for a while. It isn’t nearly as large as the Reagan, Eisenhower, or Bush senior museums, but has some good information. Admission includes the museum, gift shop, and a guided birthplace tour. (Interestingly, no veterans discount here, but active duty and seniors over 65 get one.) It is a nice museum, and the guide was very helpful. Here is some of what we saw and learned:

  • Woodrow Wilson was born to Joseph R. Wilson, a Presbyterian minister, and Janet “Jessie”. (His grandfather and uncle were also Presbyterian ministers.) He considered Staunton his hometown, although he was not quite 2 years old when the family relocated to Augusta, Georgia. The house of his birth is the manse historically associated with the Staunton Presbyterian Church, where his father was pastor.
  • Woodrow Wilson pursued a career in law before joining the faculty of Bryn Mawr, a newly minted women’s college in Pennsylvania. He did not, however, view teaching women as important, instead feeling it more critical to teach men, who would become powerful and influence public policy. He would later join the faculty at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He was one of the first Americans to receive graduate training from Johns Hopkins University as small colleges transformed into large universities. He would eventually be appointed the president of Princeton.
  • Wilson was Governor of New Jersey, his first elected office, from 1911 to 1913. Thanks in large part to William Jennings Bryan (who was rewarded with a Secretary of State appointment after the election), he then won the Democratic nomination for president in 1912. His election, though, was attributed to a well-known former President, Theodore Roosevelt. Incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft and Socialist Eugene V. Debs were the competition. That is until Roosevelt decided to split the Republican vote by running as a third party (“Bull Moose”) candidate. Awww Teddy, say it ain’t so!! Nowadays, we call that move a Ross Perot, but I digress.
  • Here’s an interesting little tidbit that has some current relevance, but first let’s back up a little bit. The Constitution has always allowed for taxing income, but limited what the money could be spent on and how taxes could be collected from the populace. The first instance of taxes on income was as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 to help pay for the Civil War. After the war was over, Congress let the requirement expire. Then came the Revenue Act of 1894, which reduced tariff rates while imposing income tax. That, however, was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. So what happened next? The 16th Amendment was passed in 1909, which states “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” Translation: They can tax the crap out of anyone for anything. So, two thirds of both the U. S. House and Senate proposed the Amendment AND THEN three quarters of the state legislatures (35 of 46 in 1909) said “that sounds good”. Who the heck were they representing!!?? That opened the door for Wilson’s Revenue Act of 1913, aka the Tariff Act of 1913, which substantially lowered tariffs. The Democratic Party had long seen tariffs as unfair taxes on consumers, and Wilson made their reduction his first priority. What else did the act do? To make up those losses in Government revenue, it whipped out that INCOME TAX monster again!! Later the Revenue Act of 1918 would raise the top tax rate to 77 PERCENT and charge businesses and individuals an EXCESS PROFITS TAX!!
  • When Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in 1914, the Allies (Russia, France, Italy, and Britain) were obligated by treaties to confront the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey) who protected Serbia. Germany then lit the fuse that would become the WWI explosion by invading France. With European nation colonies around the world, battles quickly erupted in Africa and the Middle East, plus on the seas. Woodrow Wilson, who was raised in the South and knew first-hand of the destruction of war, wanted no part of American involvement in the scuffle. Besides, he was on the verge of a dust-up of his own with Mexico, and many thought that would lead to war. He managed to get it under control and get Pershing back on U. S. soil (see this post for more info on that last bit) in early 1917, just in time to address growing tensions in Europe. (Had we been fighting on both fronts, who knows what would have happened!)
  • In Wilson’s campaign for reelection in 1916, one of the slogans was “He Kept Us Out of War”, and Democrats said electing a Republican would surely mean war with Germany. That helped him soundly defeat opponent Charles Evans Hughes, after which he changed his stance on the war in Europe. (Are there any politicians that don’t make promises they know they can’t keep?)
  • Wilson’s total resistance to U.S. involvement overseas ended when a German U-Boat torpedoed the commercial cruise ship Lusitania (claiming it had arms and supplies aboard, which it very well could have). With the loss of American civilians, he had little choice and America entered the fray. WWI has a lot of facets and many interesting tales and consequences. A couple that changed us as a nation were: 1) the United States was established as the world’s leading industrial power, and 2) our population began migrating from rural, farming areas to industrial cities.
  • The photo below of Private Pete Taylor was astonishing. The larger weapons of the First World War created injuries as yet unseen, and trench warfare, where men stuck their heads up like prairie dogs out of burrows, left many with similar wounds to the eyes, nose, mouth, and neck. Advancements in field hospitals by that time helped them survive to go home, but it was something totally new that helped many face their new lives…plastic surgery. Dr. Harold Delft Gillies, a New Zealand surgeon, saw the need while stationed in France and later, when he returned to England endeavored to help those with facial wounds. He first set up a special ward at Cambridge Military Hospital, then established The Queen’s Hospital at Frognal House dedicated solely to the treatment of facial injuries. Skin grafts were already a successful procedure, so he set up a process…first repair the bone structure, then move healthy tissue back where it belonged, and finally, graft tissue to fill in the blank spots. That was the beginning of the field of plastic surgery, and untold numbers of injured veterans have benefitted from procedures that grew out of Dr. Gillies studies. I wonder what that forward-thinking surgeon would think about our current use of his art…boobs, butts, “cuter” noses, and raising all that sags?
  • WWI ended with the Armistice taking effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. Originally called Armistice Day, we now celebrate it as Veteran’s Day. Sadly, 22.4 MILLION Allied and 16.4 MILLION Central Powers soldiers did not live to celebrate. The last American killed was Private Harry Gunther, who died in the final minute before the guns ceased fire. I was inclined to feel sorry for him, but then read the story. Having recently been demoted, the private, according to his buddies afterward, was obsessed with making good in front of the officers and fellow soldiers. Ignoring direct orders, he charged a German road block. The Germans, already aware that peace was almost there, tried to wave him away. Private Gunther would not be dissuaded and kept running, firing as he went. He finally got too close for German comfort, so a short burst of a machine gun ended the threat. How sad is that??!!
  • After returning from France where he helped lead the negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles, this 1919 Pierce-Arrow limousine was waiting for him. It became his favorite, and when he left office in 1921, five of his Princeton classmates bought it for his personal use.
  • What is considered Wilson’s enduring legacy is a different kind of creature altogether. Specifically, the Federal Reserve. This little tidbit was wrapped in a nice bow called bank reform. There were several issues, including the volatility of the Gold Standard and bank panics, that made some wish for a better plan. So, we gave control of our money supply and interest rates to a NON-GOVERNMENT board of governors led by the Federal Reserve Chairman. Their decisions do not have to be approved by ANYONE in the executive or legislative branches of government, and Congress does not appropriate their funds. So how is that working? Let’s look at one issue: A bank is required to hold a small percentage of the deposits from customers “in reserve”, meaning immediately accessible at the bank (although in reality banks are allowed to count money loaned out as a part of that reserve). The rest of the funds can be invested, which is one of the ways that banks earn money. (You put your money in savings, and they give you interest, which is payment for the use of your money.) Occasionally, too many customers come to withdraw their funds at the same time, which would make the bank need to give out more money than it actually has on hand. Bad handling of this situation can cause bank runs, like you’ve seen in movies about 1929. So, the Federal Reserve is SUPPOSED to “respond to local liquidity issues” acting as a lender of last resort to cover the small bank’s reserve when necessary. Sometimes they do that, but other times THEY DECIDE not to. During those bank runs in 1929, they refused to lend money to small banks, bankrupting a lot of them and their customers, and according to some Nobel Laureate economists, making things worse. If you want to be scared out of your wits about the Federal Reserve, take a gander at The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin.
  • In October 1919, Wilson suffered a very serious stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side and with diminished eyesight. According to some, it also made him emotional, impulsive, and lacking in judgment. It was then that his second wife, Edith, came into her own. (First wife Ellen died in 1914, and Wilson was one of only three presidents to marry while in office.) Some have even described her as “the first female President of the United States”, a description she denied in her memoir. She and his doctor kept him away from all but those they approved and controlled what documents he saw, all the while concealing the severity of his health issues from other Government officials and the public. It was generally believed that he was unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, but no one close to him, including Vice President Marshall, was willing to certify that, as required by the Constitution. (The museum information on this part of Wilson’s life is notably less stern than most other sources, downplaying Edith’s role and Wilson’s illness.) In a baffling turn, Wilson still sought to run for a third term in 1920, but Democratic leaders refused him the nomination. (At least some were thinking straight!) Wilson left office, moving to the house shown above in the Kalorama section of D.C. His health never improved much, and he died in February of 1924.
  • Wilson’s presidency was chock full of challenges…labor strikes; race riots; interventions in Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Panama, and Honduras; the Mexican Revolution and later scuffles there; WWI; rising inflation; the Spanish flu epidemic; a severe economic depression with high unemployment; and the deadliest terrorist attack in America up to that time. His administration did some good stuff, like helping farmers, trying to veto prohibition, and working on the Paris Peace Conference. They also did some bad stuff like creating the Committee on Public Information, which was just a propaganda office, mishandling demobilization after the war, opposing women’s suffrage, widening racial divides, and growing the heck out of the Government.

Once we finished up there, it was time for lunch at Chick-fil-A. Afterwards MW left me to write while he drove up to New Market, Virginia, to check out the New Market Battlefield. Unlike most Civil War battlefield sites, MW said this one looks almost like it did at the time of the battle. There is one hotel along the path of the Confederate advance, which detracts a bit, but the farm that was the central point of the battlefield is still virtually the same. There are two museums to see. The first is the New Market Battlefield Visitor Center and Museum just outside of the battlefield proper and run by the Shenandoah Valley Trust (SVT). It houses the John Bracken Collection, which includes artifacts from wars ranging from the French and Indian War to Vietnam. MW said this guy had some amazing stuff that included a good section on the New Market battle. One thing there that he found particularly interesting was an entire room full of cap guns. You know, the ones we played with as kids. Neither of us had any idea that there were so many versions! You can also check out a gallery of Confederate art, and if you are up for a walk, a trail starts there that is the route of the Confederate advance. Here are few of MW’s pics from there:

These are ALL cap guns!!!

After you are done there, stop in at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War. On site and run by Virginia Military Institute (VMI), this one is specific to the New Market battle, but mainly focuses on VMI’s involvement and less on the specifics of the action. MW said that both are worthy of a visit, but if you only have time for one, go to the visitor center.

The Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864, was not a large one compared to many of the ones we’ve all heard of, but had several interesting facets. Four years into the Civil War, Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant’s main focus was to bring pressure on the Confederate army by cutting off the strategic Shenandoah Valley and supply lines. While he took on General Robert E. Lee, first in the Battle of the Wilderness, then at Spotsylvania Court House, he sent Maj. General Franz Sigel’s 10,000 troops south to secure the valley and flank Lee’s forces. When Confederate General John C. Breckinridge received word of the advance, he gathered everything he had, ~4,500 soldiers, and 257 VMI cadets, who left their classrooms to join the fray. The General felt strongly that he could stop Sigel’s troops and forced the battle, part of his line marching to within rifle range of the Union line. Heavy fire then opened up a gap in the line, and that is when he called for the 257 VMI cadets, who had left their classrooms to fight, saying “May God forgive me.” The cadets plugged the hole, while Sigel made a final attempt to break through, but the line held. As he began a withdrawal, Breckinridge seized the opportunity and broke through the Union lines. A rapid retreat followed for General Sigel as his troops left the field and the Shenandoah Valley to the Confederates. In the end, 47 (13) Confederate and 96 (226) Union soldiers died (went missing) at New Market with 528 and 462 wounded respectively. Ten of the dead on the Confederate side were VMI cadets. The Southern troops were bolstered by the win and the abandoned Federal supplies, but the writing was already on the wall. New Market would be one of the last Confederate victories, and still stands as the only time in history that an American college student body participated as a unit in a battle…and it was Stonewall Jackson’s alma matter, no less. The Bushong farm, which ended up being slap in the center of the Confederate battle lines, with the orchard being within range of enemy fire, is still standing. Today you can tour the home and many of the outbuildings, where they were during the battle. The orchards were decimated, but a few scrub trees hint of its former purpose.

On Sunday morning we drove down the mountain to services at Vesuvius Baptist Church, which was originally founded in 1891 and in its current location since 1991. We talked to one lady who has been a member for 82 years!! The pastor, Tyler Clem, gave a pretty good sermon on being ready for the return of Jesus. His parents live in the area of Kentucky affected by the recent tornado, which he said ran on the ground for 58 miles and was nearly a mile wide at times. Wow! Afterwards we had some lunch at Quaker Steak and Lube in Raphine, Virginia, then headed back to relax for the afternoon.

Monday dawned grey and very rainy. MW decided to stay in, and I headed to Lexington, Virginia, to get some writing done. I parked myself in a booth at Cook Out for several hours and got another post completed. Yay! Then, after touching base with my Mom, I stopped in at the grocery store and headed back. Thankfully, the rains had mostly subsided for the evening.

If you want to get away from everything, Montebello Camping and Fishing Resort is the place. High up on a mountain just a few miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Trail, it is very peaceful, but still close enough to access Lexington and Staunton, Virginia, and quite a few museums. Amenities include a four-acre lake, trout pond, pavilion, playground, bathhouse, dump station, and a country store that has been in operation since 1894. Visitors can enjoy fishing, biking, swimming, kayaking, and seasonal apple and berry picking at the resort or venture nearby to a variety of hiking/biking/horse trails, farms, orchards, wineries, breweries, and distilleries. Lodging options include a variety of cabins sleeping up to 6 people, and the campground. The latter is very wooded with somewhere around 45 RV sites and couple dozen tent-only sites. Note that only a few of the RV sites will accommodate anything larger than our 33′ fifth wheel. When the campground is full, cars are sticking out everywhere, which would make it very difficult to circle through in a big rig. Most of the sites are 30-amp with water and back-in, but there are a few pull-thrus with 50 amp. None are particularly level, everything is mostly dirt, and you really have to watch the trees with slide outs.. The bathhouse is older but kept very clean. Cell signals and over-the-air tv are nonexistent. The park does offer free wifi, but you can only use it at two picnic tables sitting out in the sunshine and grass that you have to walk down to because there is no parking. We’d skip this one if in the area again, mainly because of the site conditions. For this stay in May 2025 we paid right around $53 per night for 5 nights.

Tuesday, May 27, we pulled chocks in the rain, still doing everything manually, and hit the road. Since it was early in the morning, we decided to risk the Blue Ridge Parkway again, taking it north up to Afton, Virginia (where I dropped MW off for his first AT hike eons ago), then continued north on US-340. In Shenandoah, we stopped for a bite at Mamma Mia Italian Restaurant, which had pretty good pizza. After that, we continued up to I-66 west and took I-81 up into West Virginia, exiting at Inwood. Then it was just a zig-zag over to Glengary and a few miles north to the Lazy-A Campground. When we arrived it was grey and misting, and had been raining for a good while. I was dismayed to see that the campsites were all grass and not particularly level. Between the rain, the site conditions, and reverting to the old leveling method (which really requires me to think it through after being spoiled for so long), I was a bit befuddled. I didn’t think through the front leg room needed to drop the nose, so had to put her back on the truck, but we finally got her set up. My bad attitude took a little longer to get under control, though. Below are a few pics off of the Parkway.

On Wednesday we headed over to check out Shepherdstown, the oldest town in West Virginia, established in 1762. Nearby Romney was founded on the same day, so it shares the distinction. Once there we stopped in at the Blue Moon Cafe for sandwiches (very good). Although it was drizzly, and we sat indoors, we had to check out their amazing patio before leaving. It would be an enchanting place on a beautiful spring night.

After lunch we went to the James Rumsey Monument and Park just down the street. Never heard of him? I think it’s a little like the Tesla-Edison situation. John Fitch is credited with making the first successful trial of a steamboat, the Perseverance, on the Delaware River in 1787…. BUT…according to this monument, in October, 1783, James Ramsey actually used steam power, if not for the first, at least one of the first times in boat navigation on the Potomac River near the mouth of Sir John’s Run. (Frenchman Marquis Claude de Jouffroy finished a paddle steamer, the Pyroscaphe, the same year in France.) The next year George Washington stayed at Rumsey’s inn and hired him to build a house and stable in Bath. Sometime during that stay, boats came up, and Rumsey showed Washington his design for a pole boat. George wanted to make the Potomac navigable, and this looked like the way to do it. Rumsey got a patent from Virginia for his design, and went to work for Washington as the superintendent of the Patowmack Company, whose job was to make the river easier to traverse. Meanwhile, his brother-in-law was working on the boat in Shepherdstown. Somewhere about this time, Rumsey decided that incorporating steam, as in his first design in 1783, would make the new boat much more useful. On the negative side, it also made it more expensive and complex. He left the Patowmack Company after salary negotiations did not go his way and went to Shepherdstown. Work was slow and frustrating, and the pole boat mechanism was eventually dropped altogether. Then it was a case of figuring out how to create enough steam without seizing the water pump. On December 3, 1787, they tested the design with a public demonstration on the Potomac near Shepherdstown, and it was a rousing success! So, if Rumsey ran a steamboat as far back as 1783, why is Fitch credited with the invention? You know Tesla’s methods of electrical transmission were vastly better than Edison’s, but Thomas had politicians and money on his side.

The Lazy-A Campground is located just a few miles from Glengary, West Virginia, despite having a Hedgesville address. It is basically a big, open field with a little wooded area along Back Creek. In 1987, the campground was built out of a part of a family farm and is still owned by members of the family. Amenities include an office, playground, horseshoe pit, barn, pavilion, gazebo, bathhouse, laundry, and dump station. Lodging includes a couple of primitive cabins and the campground. The latter has 34 grass campsites, 24 with water and 30-amp electric and 10 primitive tent sites. There are also a couple of sites with full-hookup on a separate lot. Cell signals were fine, and there were minimal over-the-air tv stations. The bathhouse was spotless and very nice, and the road through the campground was graveled. As I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of grass sites, especially in the rain. The site just across from us had serious mud ruts where the guy was coming and going every day, which is one reason. (When doing research for this, I did see that the creek flooded two weeks prior to our arrival, filling most of the field and putting at least some RVs in a fair amount of water. As MW pointed out, that is always a possibility when you are on a creek or river. It just isn’t something I think about often.) I don’t think we would return here, though, mainly because of the expense for a grass site. For this stay in May, 2025, we paid almost $55 per night for 2 nights.

Thursday morning we hit the road with thick, grey clouds overhead, but thankfully, no real rain. We went south to Glengary, then took WV-45 west. About 15 miles along, MW noticed his keys missing from their normal spot. Holy smokes!! He pulled over immediately to check the top of the tool box. Amazingly, they had ridden along a curvy mountain road for at least 20 minutes without falling off. Whew! Talk about miracles!! We continued west through the tip of Virginia, hitting US-50 west near Augusta, West Virginia. Just after passing through the southern tip of the Maryland panhandle, we made our first stop of the day in Horse Shoe Run, West Virginia. Our Lady of the Pines, listed on Roadside America and Atlas Obscura and self-described as the “Smallest Church in 48 States”, is definitely tiny at 12′ by 24′ with seating for maybe a dozen if they are skinny people. LOL. Someone takes excellent care of the grounds and buildings, which include a visitor’s center with bathrooms, the church, and a tiny post office slated as the “World’s Smallest Mailing Office”. Tucked into a clearing among tall trees, it was like a beautiful garden retreat. I was a little nervous turning onto the one-lane entry road, but it worked out fine and there was a parking area large enough for our rig. The road continues straight through, too, so you don’t have to turn around.

Moving again, we went back to US-50 and continued west, stopping for lunch at Cool Springs Park in Rowlesburg. This was a pretty eclectic place. From the outside, it looks like a regular convenience store, but inside it is a combo hardware/grocery/souvenir store with a lunch counter. The food was basic dime store fare, e.g. hot dogs, hamburgers, sandwiches, etc., and wasn’t bad. It all looked a bit past its prime, but there was some interesting stuff in the store. For the last leg, we stayed on US-50 all the way to a few miles past Ellenboro, West Virginia. There we turned south and made our way the last couple of miles to North Bend State Park. The rain held off until later in the afternoon, but was just a little drizzly as we set up. We were kept awake by a group across the way that talked until the wee hours…bad form!

WHAT?? Somewhere along the way we passed a street sign for Emotional Touch Way. Really? Who in the world picked that for a road name?

Friday it poured practically all day. MW stayed in while I headed over to Parkersburg, West Virginia, to do laundry, then crossed the river to Vienna for lunch and writing at Cheddar’s. At the laundromat it rained pretty consistently for the entire two hours I was there, but when I got to the Cheddar’s parking lot, it was torrential and blowing sideways. I sat for a bit, thinking it would lighten up, but finally just made a run for it and got soaking wet. It was so cold inside that I thought I’d have to leave, but several folks had complained to the waitress, and she got it taken care of. My numb hands really appreciated that!! The food was good, and I got in a couple of hours of writing before leaving to run a few errands and pick up a sandwich from Firehouse Subs for MW. For the drive back, Rakesh took me down Rolling River Road, a different route than I came, but noted as the fastest. It looked okay when I turned, but a short ways down, it became gravel, then got a bit rough. That’s okay…I’m always up for an adventure, and Big Jake has 4WD. I was talking to my Mom, though, who immediately got a bit nervous. The road became a little more narrow, but more importantly, it descended closer to the creek level where the all-day torrent had taken its toll. There wasn’t much place to turn around at that point, and Rakesh said I was only about 2 miles from the campground, so I pushed on. That is, until the creek, which was now a swirling river, crossed the road. The road was heading down to what I felt certain was a bridge, but I had no way of knowing how deep the fast moving water was. Thankfully, there was a little grassy area to the left where I could turn the 22′ beast around…he isn’t called Big Jake for nothing!! I went back to the main road, then took a more familiar route in. On the way there were a couple of trees down, but the one on the road had already been cut up. The waterfalls coming off of the mountains that were trickles when we arrived were now torrents, there were shallow water flows over the road in places, and the river at our campsite had risen more than 4′. The rain, however, was light by now, both at the campground and further upstream, so it would crest long before it became a problem. We estimated there was still about 10-12′ to the bottom of Priscilla, which included a lot of spread area once the creek came out of its banks. No worries! MW said that he heard two large trees fall in the woods across the river, and sometime that evening another tree fell, this time from the other side of the river down into the water. I guess our neighbors did not assess during the daylight, because at a little after 11 PM, we were awakened by banging, slamming, and folks hollering back and forth. The folks right next to us decided to bug out, and a few minutes later, some from further up were walking along the river behind our trailer with flashlights, which was a little concerning. I got our high-powered flashlight and shone it on the water through the back window, but the water was still well below the banks.

On Saturday we woke up to gaps in the clouds, and I started the day with a walk. The river was moving a LOT faster, and we estimated it to be about 4-5′ above normal and still rising, but still nowhere near the top of the banks. Later, we headed back over to Parkersburg to check out West Virginia’s oldest restaurant and bar, the North End Tavern & Brewery, serving since 1899. The food was really good with both of us going for the Tavern Taltan Sub special…yummy with thick meat slices!! Afterwards we took the long way home, passing through Marietta, Ohio, which I found on lists for both the 50 best small towns and the 50 most charming towns in America. It is also the first colony and American established civil government west of the original thirteen states. It was a beautiful small town and worthy of further exploration. On the way back I guided MW to Rolling River Road to give him a taste. The creek was back in its banks, and we drove all the way through. I really did turn around just about 1-1/2 miles shy of the campground the other day! Our last stop was back in Harrisville, West Virginia, at Berdine’s Variety & 5¢ & 10¢ Store which first opened in 1908 in the same location!! Little kids would go hog wild in this place with a little allowance…old fashioned candy, puzzles, magnets, stickers, etc. There was stuff for grown-ups, too. We finally made it back to Priscilla and had to turn the ac on for the first time this trip with the exception of one day back on the Virginia coast. We are liking the cool weather! A nice breeze made sitting outside very comfortable, so we watched the rushing water.

By Sunday morning the water had reached its max of maybe 6′ above normal. We went to services at Harrisville Baptist Church, where Pastor Robert G. Perine spoke on the truth that people are searching for and how to find it. The people were very nice, including one lady who stopped me on the way out to find out who we were. She had lost her husband and only child in the last couple of years, and had a touch of dementia. We got trapped in a conversation loop where she repeated things several times as we slowly walked towards the door. There her attention quickly turned to the pastor, and I was able to slip away. She was sweet, and I just can’t be abrupt with someone who is clearly very lonely. On the way back we stopped in at the park lodge for lunch, which was a so-so buffet. The rest of the afternoon was spent writing and enjoying the river view. Although it was still hot enough to run the air inside, I was happy to hear that a cold front was coming. One annoying note…although the water was just beginning to recede, the fast current pinned the tree that fell into the river on Friday against a previously stuck log. The result was a really loud, squeaky, rubbing noise. People from further up in the campground kept coming down to see what in the world was going on, and I anticipated a rough night trying to sleep through that. Thankfully, by the time we went to bed, the water level had dropped enough to relieve the pressure. Whew!

VISITORS: One thing we really enjoyed at this park was watching the Canada geese. There was a flock of four adults and 6 goslings and a smaller flock of 4 adults, which seemed to sometimes meld together and other times go their separate ways. They meandered around our campsite quite a bit, fairly unconcerned with our presence, as they worked their way up the river bank eating. Then they popped in the water and floated back down to start over, sometimes resting on the bank opposite from our campsite for a while. I know people hate the mess they make, but these were very polite and stayed in the grass areas away from where we needed to walk. We were amazed at how well they navigated the river during the high water, and the goslings were just adorable. The adults would occasionally snip at them when they stepped out of line, pretty much like us humans.

North Bend State Park is located in the hills of northwestern West Virginia just outside of Harrisville and about 30 miles east of Parkersburg. It offers plenty to do for all ages, including access to the 72-mile North Bend Rail Trail. The 1,405 acres was originally oil and gas fields with about 50 wells dating as far back as the 1800s. Today there is one active well in the park, but there are a few of the old ones still standing. Amenities include a Nature Center, restaurant, gift shop, miles of hiking trails, miniature golf, outdoor pool, playground, basketball court, office/camp store, amphitheater, and pavilions. They even have hammocks already set up and ready for use. Lodging options include the lodge, cabins, and two campgrounds. Cokeley Campground has 28 sites with electric and water. It is newer, out in the open, and set up more like a private campground. River Run Campground is situated along the North Fork of the Hughes River in a shady, park atmosphere. It has 49 sites, 26 back-in with electric and water and the rest tent sites. Both campgrounds have clean bathhouses, and the sites and River Run were paved but not particularly level and some would definitely not accommodate big rigs. Cokeley had decent cell signals, but River Run had just enough for texts to go through, and there were no over-the-air tv stations. The park was really beautiful, and we would stay again if we could get the right site. For this stay in May 2025, we paid a little over $34 per night.

Well, we are one step closer to catching up. Next it is into Ohio! See you on the path!!

Talisa

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