Leaving Ohio sometime the next morning, we traveled South heading through the Virginia's. I had seen some nice pictures of the Farmers Market in Roanoke, and wanted to stop by. Roanoke is a bit off of 77 South, so getting there was going to allow us to get creative. We could take the major highways or instead some of the smaller roads. We chose the smaller roads. In particular we went on 311. 311 gave us some very nice views and was an interesting road itself with many turns and hills. In fact the moment we turned on 311 we had to stop because we saw a flock of turkey vultures just sitting by the side of the road. But while on 311 I saw a road that went up a hill and told Kelly, who was driving at this time, to turn on it because the top of the hill might offer a great view. It didn't, and instead the little road turned into a one-lane gravel path. Not being able to pass this up we continued on this little road and saw some amazing sights.
The houses we passed had three characteristics. They looked as though a strong wind could blow them over, they could be placed on a truck and driven away, and they had either a rebel flag, a satellite dish that looked more expensive than the house, or both.
At one point we came to a general store. Shortly after we got on 311 we came into Virginia. Then a little while later we were back in West Virginia. About a half hour to an hour later we hit the general store, and asked the lady at the counter what state we were in and she said at the top of the hill we just came down we had entered Virginia again. She was very polite, helpful, and well put together. Her accent was adorable. But after we got back in the car Kelly immediately asked me if I had thought something seemed off about the lady. As Kelly put it, "she seemed like a demon was in her, and that fire would come from her eyes." And I completely agreed, there was something terribly off about that lady. After thinking about it for awhile I think I've got it figured out. Her voice was very nice, but her facial expressions did not correspond to her tone. It would be like saying, "Yes, I would love some ice-cream", while shaking my head left and right. I thought of her as sort of a live action version of Droopy.
Shortly after the general store we got terribly lost. But this is what GPSs are for. We had a laugh because the GPS wanted us to get on Highway 465. This "highway" was simply a one laned paved road. Which I suppose was better than the one lane gravel road we had been traveling on. But finally, with the GPS helping us, we made it to Roanoke.
Roanoke turned out to be much larger than I had expected. We never did find the Farmers Market. This was okay though because we had gotten there so late in the day, there was probably no market to be found. Instead we drove by a park that I noticed had frisbee golf, so we stopped and played a round. After one particularly pathetic hole for Kelly, I had clearly won the match but I only counted her 3 - 4 extra throws as 1 so in the end we tied. Then we went to a little diner for dinner. There was too much on the menu though for us to make a decision so when the hostess came to take our order I asked, "we are tired and hungry, what do we want?" And she told us, and we agreed and we had that. Kelly felt the menu warranted a photo. She liked the PBJ and was grossed by the fried Balogna. Speaking from experience fried Balogna is very tasty!
After dinner the sun was setting, and we didn't know where we were staying for the night. We started driving South again on 77, keeping our eyes peeled for a camping sign. Kelly worked the GPS and found a site. The GPS tried its best to get us there, but at one point the road we were on stopped and a sign was up ahead saying, "End of State Maintained Road". Up ahead the road turned into a sort of rocky tire path with grass inbetween. We decided this was technically a road and since we were driving an SUV we ought to treat it like one and continue on like the GPS mentioned. My poor car got scrapped left, right, up and down, by branches and brambles, and after a quarter mile or so we came to a locked gate that would not let us proceed further. So I had to a 50 point turn around and drive back out. Hitting the detour button the GPS took us on a much longer path but eventually we found the campsite.
We were the only people at the site. This was a little off putting to us, but the site was open so we found a parking spot and made camp. Since it was very dark, and we had no idea where tents could be set up, camp was the back of the Pilot. We moved all the luggage to the front seats and made a big space in the back where we could lie down. The tent actually served as my pillow. I cracked the sun roof to give the water vapor from our breath a route of escape and we proceeded to "sleep". That night was very cold, and while I know I slept at least 4 times because of my 4 very distinct dreams, 2 of which were winter themed, I noticed each time I woke up Kelly was a little closer. By the end of night we were huddled up next to each other. I was trying to be manly and stayed on my side of the Pilot, but whenever she moved I silently swore at her to get back where she was because I was very cold too.
The night was rather awful. We had little sleep, were very cold, and also sore from lying on the hard floor. As we were leaving I made a wrong turn and ended up passing a house with some dogs outside. And one of those dogs was a basset hound!!!!! He alone made the whole night worthwhile.
The houses we passed had three characteristics. They looked as though a strong wind could blow them over, they could be placed on a truck and driven away, and they had either a rebel flag, a satellite dish that looked more expensive than the house, or both.
At one point we came to a general store. Shortly after we got on 311 we came into Virginia. Then a little while later we were back in West Virginia. About a half hour to an hour later we hit the general store, and asked the lady at the counter what state we were in and she said at the top of the hill we just came down we had entered Virginia again. She was very polite, helpful, and well put together. Her accent was adorable. But after we got back in the car Kelly immediately asked me if I had thought something seemed off about the lady. As Kelly put it, "she seemed like a demon was in her, and that fire would come from her eyes." And I completely agreed, there was something terribly off about that lady. After thinking about it for awhile I think I've got it figured out. Her voice was very nice, but her facial expressions did not correspond to her tone. It would be like saying, "Yes, I would love some ice-cream", while shaking my head left and right. I thought of her as sort of a live action version of Droopy.
Shortly after the general store we got terribly lost. But this is what GPSs are for. We had a laugh because the GPS wanted us to get on Highway 465. This "highway" was simply a one laned paved road. Which I suppose was better than the one lane gravel road we had been traveling on. But finally, with the GPS helping us, we made it to Roanoke.
Roanoke turned out to be much larger than I had expected. We never did find the Farmers Market. This was okay though because we had gotten there so late in the day, there was probably no market to be found. Instead we drove by a park that I noticed had frisbee golf, so we stopped and played a round. After one particularly pathetic hole for Kelly, I had clearly won the match but I only counted her 3 - 4 extra throws as 1 so in the end we tied. Then we went to a little diner for dinner. There was too much on the menu though for us to make a decision so when the hostess came to take our order I asked, "we are tired and hungry, what do we want?" And she told us, and we agreed and we had that. Kelly felt the menu warranted a photo. She liked the PBJ and was grossed by the fried Balogna. Speaking from experience fried Balogna is very tasty!
After dinner the sun was setting, and we didn't know where we were staying for the night. We started driving South again on 77, keeping our eyes peeled for a camping sign. Kelly worked the GPS and found a site. The GPS tried its best to get us there, but at one point the road we were on stopped and a sign was up ahead saying, "End of State Maintained Road". Up ahead the road turned into a sort of rocky tire path with grass inbetween. We decided this was technically a road and since we were driving an SUV we ought to treat it like one and continue on like the GPS mentioned. My poor car got scrapped left, right, up and down, by branches and brambles, and after a quarter mile or so we came to a locked gate that would not let us proceed further. So I had to a 50 point turn around and drive back out. Hitting the detour button the GPS took us on a much longer path but eventually we found the campsite.
We were the only people at the site. This was a little off putting to us, but the site was open so we found a parking spot and made camp. Since it was very dark, and we had no idea where tents could be set up, camp was the back of the Pilot. We moved all the luggage to the front seats and made a big space in the back where we could lie down. The tent actually served as my pillow. I cracked the sun roof to give the water vapor from our breath a route of escape and we proceeded to "sleep". That night was very cold, and while I know I slept at least 4 times because of my 4 very distinct dreams, 2 of which were winter themed, I noticed each time I woke up Kelly was a little closer. By the end of night we were huddled up next to each other. I was trying to be manly and stayed on my side of the Pilot, but whenever she moved I silently swore at her to get back where she was because I was very cold too.
The night was rather awful. We had little sleep, were very cold, and also sore from lying on the hard floor. As we were leaving I made a wrong turn and ended up passing a house with some dogs outside. And one of those dogs was a basset hound!!!!! He alone made the whole night worthwhile.
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