Travel Updates and Random Thoughts

So this past weekend I made the trek to Virginia Beach to do yard work for the parents while they are traveling; only to discover that it had not rained for several weeks and the grass had not grown. Did some weeding of the flower gardens and some weed eating and I was done and free to enjoy my day in Virginia Beach. It was good day, visit with family, some shopping, a good seafood dinner and a long nights sleep to prepare for the trip home to Charleston. So the options for the trip home included getting up early, hitting the interstate and getting there as soon as possible or meandering home, stopping along the way and taking some of the two lanes with prettier scenery. So those of you that know me, know which I chose. So the first stop was a Pancake House in Williamsburg, Va. Every time I drive through Williamsburg I wonder why the plethora of pancake houses? Anyone know the answer? I know it is a tourist destination, but why Pancakes. Anyway we stopped at Capitol Pancake House, it was good, I didn't have pancakes, but my friend who made the trip with me did and gave her cornbread cakes a thumbs up. www.pancakehouses.com

After breakfast our trip led us west on Route 60 for bit before we got back on Interstate 64. It was interstate all the way to Charlottesville, more specifically to the Whole Foods in Charlottesville and the sometimes awesome Goodwill located near Pantops. After spending time at Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, we headed south towards Lovingston, Virginia and Drumhellers Orchard ( www.drumhellersorchard.com ) for some apples. Caught back up with Route 60 West and made our way across the Blue Ridge and into Buena Vista, Va and then into Lexington, Va. At Lexington we got back on the interstate and headed home. It was quick but good trip.

So during my trip and subsequent days after, I began thinking about my traveling habits and this blog. So far it has been random and without structure. So I was thinking of traveling to random places, places chosen by maneuvering the little orange google map/street view man, with my eyes closed, around the map of the US and wherever I drop him I go and visit and write about my trip and write a bit about the location, whether it be a town, county, state park etc...
It would be random and at first the little google man would only be dropped in places that I could easily travel to in a weekend.

So I did my first drop, actually I dropped him five times and the places are .......

1) Blacklick, Ohio
2) Lost City, WV
3) New Kensington, Pa.
4) Sutton, WV
5) Barto, Pa.

The plan is to travel to each of these five locations, explore them, take pictures and write about their history and any other interesting facts I may find. After visiting those five I will randomly pick another five. I am kind of excited about the whole thing. It is structure and I like structure.
If any of the you know of places I should see in any of the chosen locations please comment and I will do my best to get to them. I will still continue to write about my other travels but this will be like a travel series and it will allow me to do the two things I love to do, travel and research. Yay! Stay tuned for the first installment- Blacklick, Ohio.

As for other traveling adventures in my future, they include a camping trip in two weeks and a week at Douthat State Park in Virginia with family in about three weeks.

Happy Fall and Happy Travels!

Virginia Beach Bound Once More

So this weekend I will be on the road again. I am heading east to Virginia Beach to cut my parent's grass. Woohoo. They are on their great cross country adventure and I promised to cut their grass and weed their gardens in exchange for seafood, yes seafood. I am leaving Friday night and will get there around midnight. The plan is to cut the grass early, really early and try to cram as much fun in on Saturday as I can. Sunday will be dedicated to the drive back. A quick trip, but a trip is a trip and it is always good to visit home sweet home. (For all of you that know me, you know the last part of that statement was written dripping in sarcasm). Will post pics after I get back on Sunday.

Random Musings and Photographs

Cobi- You would think he did all the driving.
Okay, this blogging thing is hard. I have done a lot of traveling in the past month and I am having a hard time with balancing the traveling, the blogging and the little thing called work. Now if someone could just pay me to travel and blog my life would be perfect. In order to keep this thing going I am going to post some random photos of my most recent travels. Enjoy!


The Open Road. This is in Virginia and over those mountains is West Virginia.













Ben F.
Washington,
















The National Building Museum, Washington D.C.












Okay. I feel like I accomplished something. I will try to post more by the end of the week. Baby Steps you know.

The Ultimate Yard Sale Road Trip

Okay, so I know I said I would chronicle my time at the World's Longest Yard Sake during the trip, but I was unprepared for the level of exhaustion I would experience at the end of each day. In fact I am currently typing with the spare little bit of energy I have left and I may drift off at any time.......

SEE! drifting...

Anyway, The past three days have had their ups and downs, however overall it was good times. Thursday we left after I got off work at twelve in the afternoon. It was our goal to reach Frankfort, KY in time to catch the tail end of the first day of the WLYS. We got about 15 minutes out of town and a big bad thunderstorm hit and we were forced to wait it out on the side of the road. We were on our way again about 30 minutes later. We made it to Frankfort by 5, checked into the hotel and head out on Route 127 to get the lay of the land. As we headed north, yard sales were abundant and even at 6:00 o'clock in the evening! It wasn't a myth, the longest yard sale did exist! We headed back to town, picked up supplies and food at the local Kroger and then back to the hotel to get some sleep for an early wake up call.

This was just the first day and I will continue the story of our yard sale adventure this week after getting back home. Today was a long day I am sunburned and tired, a good kind of tired, but tired nonetheless. We our getting up early tomorrow to meet my parents to pick up Cobi, so I will try to chronicle both of our getaways in the next couple of days. Till then.....drifting

Road Trip!

Two Days and Counting. Thursday begins a three day adventure in Kentucky. It is almost Worlds Longest Yard Sale time! I plan to meander my way down and up route 127 perusing through all the "stuff" the yard sellers have to offer. As I said in my previous post, this will be a trip without my right hand man Cobi Jones. He is currently stalking birds in my parent's backyard.

I will try to chronicle my time each day so stay tuned.....

A Week at Grandma and Grandpa's House

So the plans for the next trip are in the works. August 5-6 is the Worlds Longest Yard Sale and I am off to find some goodies. Due to the heat and the fact that he would be just plain bored, Cobi will be spending the week with his grandparents. He will be happy as a clam because that means a week of leash free abandon in their backyard. When we both get back I will chronicle my time on the road and Cobi's time at the grandparents. I can bet mine will be the more exciting of the two, though you never know...

Day 4: Home Again, Home Again

Up at 5am and on the road by 6:30. Crossing the Hampton Roads Bridge once again, this time heading west. Seven hours later I cross the Kanawha River and round the curve and the familiar site of the gold dome of State Capitol of West Virginia and that means I am almost home.

Day 3: The Fourth

We ate, we played games and exchanged our homemade Fourth of July gifts and I had a blast. Happy Birthday America.

Day 2: Saturday on the Northern Neck

The Northern Neck of Virginia is beautiful area and worth exploring. I would love to spend a week just exploring the backroads and the small towns tucked all along the various rivers and smaller waterways. The Northern Neck is really a gem and if you get the chance get I highly recommend spending several days there. I am really getting ahead of myself because before any road trip you have to have a good breakfast. So we began the day at Virginia Beach favorite, The Village Inn. I ate a healthy, (HA!), veggie omelet and was ready to hit the road.

From Virginia Beach you head west until you get to Newport News and head north and you will eventually hit the Northern Neck. Towns like White Post, Kilmarnock and Urbanna are just a few of the unique hamlets. In Urbanna make sure you stop by and have lunch or dinner at the Virginia Street Cafe. You can eat and walk it off as you explore this picture perfect little town. The whole area affords visitors an opportunity to do so much, whether you like boating, shopping or exploring an area steeped with history, the Northern Neck is the place to be. Wow I didn't mean to sound like a travel guide but hey, just go, its cool.

Day 1: Continued Fourth of July Weekend

Well I did finally get to leave and this was my goal, to get to Virginia. Interstate 64 was relatively clear in West Virginia continued to be well into Virginia. I hit traffic around Charlottesville because of an accident but managed to get through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel with little to no traffic.

Even Cobi was happy to be going home and relieved that no traffic prevented him from getting to his Grandmother's house before all the "treats" were gone. Seeing the Hampton Roads Bridge tunnel means I am close to home.

Day 1: Fourth of July Trip Notes

Okay, so I am off today and plans were to get up early and head east for the Holiday, yet I am still sitting on my couch at home. Bags are packed and sitting by door. Everyone, everything is ready, except the rental car. It will not be available until this afternoon. So here I sit listening to the news, where the reporter feels that it is necessary to tell me over and over how many people will be traveling by car today. sigh. Even Cobi has about given up.

Virginia Bound for the Fourth!

So it has been almost a year since my last post. I know, I know, bad blogger, bad. Anyway a bunch has happened in the past year, I got a new job, I moved and I have renewed my excitement for travel. So I begin this blog again with a renewed sense of dedication to keeping it updated. My first adventure will be going back to Virginia for the Fourth of July. It is a six hour trip and I am leaving after work on Friday. The trip down should be interesting. One thing I have noticed since living here in Charleston, West Virginia and traveling east on the turnpike is what seems to be a mass exodus out of Ohio every Friday. Hopefully they will begin their fleeing in the morning and by the time I leave they will be almost to their destinations. After the two tolls on the turnpike and after Beckley the traffic begins to lighten up and I am able to relax and enjoy the rolling hills and towering mountains of West Virginia. The stress free travel will continue well into Virginia until I hit Interstate 81 and the dodging of Tractor Trailers begins. Oh and did I mention the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, that should be fun on the Friday night before the Fourth. Wow I sound really negative. I so did not mean for this post to go in that direction. Alright I will focus on the upcoming weekend. Plans include exploring the Northern Neck of Virginia on Saturday and Fourth of July festivities on Sunday. One of the things I look forward to is the family tradition of exchanging homemade Fourth of July presents. Each year around March or April I begin making a gift that one of my family members will get to open for the Fourth. Last year I decoupaged an old crate with patriotic themed magazine articles. It was interesting. I think my cousin uses it as box for her cat toys. This year I got a little more involved and I am quilting, well kinda. I found this(see picture) old frame at an auction and I am tacking the small quilt to it and making a patriotic themed, quilted wall hanging. It isn't fancy but I think it turned out pretty well. I still have some sewing to do and four days to finish. Sigh.

So this blog is officially back and I am dedicated to keeping it updated after every trip, short or long. Happy Fourth of July everyone, Be Safe and Have Fun!