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.