Out for a Cruise

The ride from here to home is dull. There is nothing to look at excepting the first half hour where you pass by a stream with an interesting hill side. Actually, one day I would like to go hiking out there. I've seen fisherman out there before which also adds to the effect. Other than that it's boring fields, construction sites and police. The ride from home to pretty much anywhere else on the other hand is quite entertaining. It's 5 hours from here to home and just under 6 from home to Charlottesville. But while that 5 hours feels like everybit of 5 hours, the 6 hours to Charlottesville feels like 30 minutes. First off you're going through the mountains, so every view is a photograph. There are occasions where you are so surrounded by them that you cannot see the sky without hurting your neck from the effort. The mountains really are incredible. Everynow and then the trees will part and give you breathtaking views. Here's a sample I took from the road

If you zoom in real close on the farm you can see the grape vines. Also on the way you pass through Charleston, West Virgina, which treats you with a view of the golden capitol dome. This is my attempt at taking a photo of it just for you guys. It's tricky aiming the camera out the window and not dropping it, while driving with your knees on the curvy highway during lunch hour traffic so I hope you enjoy it.

During the trip you will find the speed limit hits 70 mph. However, you will encounter patches where the speed limit is 60. At these times, these signs are not speed suggestions. Rather they are telling you, this is how fast you will be able to go. It's really quite impressive. Even taking these turns at the speed limit can be harrowing. The best though is when no one else is around and you can just drift from lane to lane. It's completely illegal but incredibly fun.

I had forgotten that West Virginia has that turnpike with its tolls. There are two of them that I had to go through, $2 each. I typically carry around little if any change, but during this trip God smiled on me and I had exactly $4 in my storage compartment. I have had problems with tolls in the past, and when I got to the first one I asked the attendant (they are not always manned) if they accept credit or debit cards. She said they only accept change. I still don't know what happens if you don't have change. Well, I do know what happens, but I'm talking about if there is an attendant on duty that you can talk to.

The drive home was long. I did not see the exit sign I needed to take, and was too busy singing along to realize I had missed the exit until it was too late. So I added about 40 minutes to my 6 hour trip and took the scenic route. The scenic route took me through the largest patch of Earth I would not want to live in. This town was bad. It was the kind that makes me wonder how it manages to survive, and that was during the good times. The citizens all looked hardened and worn. Many had the look of someone who has made exceptionally poor decisions early in life and is now paying the price for it. Sure the ambitious can get things back together but this was a dying town. It used to be a steel town, and was quite prosperous (that's why it's so large), but that steel mill has closed down and now there's nothing really left for these people. With the housing market the way it is they won't be moving out anytime soon, and it's unlikely they've got the savings in liquid form to just up and leave. Just one reason why the house you own is not an asset.

While the drive home was 40 minutes longer, it still felt like I had only been on the road for a couple hours. So I decided to press on back here. The last bit of the trip was boring as usual, but I had some help in the form of M.C. Hammer, the Roxettes, and a couple of phone calls. Coming back put the drive at around 12 hours. It's not the longest I've gone, but I was happy. Plus I didn't have to lose half a day of work.