Over Town

"Over town" I say about where I'm walking. It ain't much, but it's a walk. More mornings than not. Along Edgar Avenue the Sportsman Tavern is open. And I'm okay with stopping in and sitting at the bar, but the big deal is Flavor Mutt.

Who? Well, have a look at this. The Mutt makes several kinds of lunch. And they will sell you a loaf of their bread. If you have to ask "how much?" you can't afford it.

Just kidding. It's eight dollars for a loaf. And easily the best bread I've had since I was coming and going from Smitty's on South Fourth in Lafayette. This is sharp-knife bread. And I mention in passing that Smitty has a sign on the door that he makes hard crust bread. If that's not what you are looking for, you are in the wrong place.

The Sportsman had been a day-drinker, sticky-floor kind of place. With decades of cigarette smoke on and soaked into every surface. Then it was closed while two local people changed it into a place where ya' might want to go with friends. 

Closer to home on Greenbrier Ave -

I suspect that this bookcase was built into a doorway by well-meaning people who seized an opportunity. And it is in the space that once gave access to the attic. There is a chimbly back there. But also way too much room on either side of the brickwork for it to not be something, and why have a doorway. Stay tuned, but don't expect rapid action. - The other possible access is through outside windows a good forty feet off the ground. 

Windows. Did someone mention windows? Ellen wanted a cracked pane replaced. And she wanted acrylic instead of glass. Martin & Jones Hardware cut a replacement that was spot on size. The chore was getting things apart. God knows what was used to set the original glass, but some of it was tough and left me wishing I had an angle grinder. Paint shabby. And a few things were in bad shape. Anyway, it looks good now. And it's a whole lot lighter. A factor b/c there's no sash weight for this one. I still need to do a bit of repair and caulking. - Looks like water getting in was a factor for a while.

Windows II. My purchased-used hp laptop is fifteen years old. Good for travel b/c I don't care if someone steals it. Bad in about every other way. A great deal of thought and consideration was involved before I bought a refurb ThinkPad with Win10. Not that I want the Windows. I made it dual-boot with Linux. Therein is a tale. But not here. It's a T470, and I'm pleased. And I'm amused b/c this is a premium computer with lots of nice stuff.

I still hang around where there's trains. Guys in the hardware store said it had been sitting at least four or five hours. I had a look. And it wasn't until walking home that I figurt it all out. The lead locomotive (left) has been pulled from service, and they are waiting for a replacement. CSX rolls cab-forward. And if you want a sense for why this is important, stop in a rail museum where you can climb up in the cab on a locomotive. Look out the window in each direction. Hmmn? Try a steam loco. Oh my, huh? Imagine running sixty miles per down a main line, and that's all the more you can see. - There's a museum in Clifton Forge, Virginia if you are looking for a place.

Rompin' In Ronceverte

 

 

Amtrak comes through town on The Cardinal. Chicago - New York City route that passes through my ol' home town (Lafayette, Indiana) and Washington DC. I've lived near railroad tracks often, and I still take a boy's delight in big machines. While Amtrak has some glam, a tiny little bit, it's the working trains that interest me more. The big GE AC4400, three in the lead and two more in the middle, that interest me most.

 

Usually the big locos are pulling coal. Sometimes liquid sulfur. If the train comes through on the track nearest the station, and without slowing or stopping, there's a fair chance that the engineer will toot the whistle. An old practice that is no longer required. But it's kinda nice.

 

Nearby park with ball fields provides a decent enough place to fly "foamies" a little. My current travel airplane has the advantage of being happy going very slowly.

 

 

 

 

 

Behind the flag is Ronceverte's old hospital.  Nearly any local of a certain age will tell you "I was born there." It's still a viable structure, tho not as a hospital, and there are plans to make it useful again as something else. What else is the big question.

A trip to Alderson because.  Because there is a little shop that gives people training in food services that isn't going to be a paper-hat job. Also b/c they have excellent sourdough bread that gives every indication of being hand made on a floured board. 

And downtown in The Verte a food truck festival and craft show. Sweet potato hummus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ch'Boogie

Clifton Forge, Virginia & Cass, West Virginia

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Eats

 Various eats on the road.

Cartersville, Georgia

Cordele, Georgia

Battle Ground, Indiana

Cass, West Virginia

Acworth, Georgia

Ronceverte, West Virginia

No News Is . . No News . . Is Good News

I'm taking a break from news. And from almost anything that might contain news. I haven't looked at NYT, Google's summary, or The New Yorker in more than a month. Anger, over analysis, and scolding had shoved information aside. Facebook king of the heap in that regard. So, how about more pictures from what we are doing?

Ellen has been painting at The Stone House located a short distance from where we are staying. This property is managed by a man Ellen met earlier in our visit. He and his wife have a farm not far from this location. And knowing this couple has been a great facilitator of connection to the local community; they are well known and well liked. 

We have hit only a few of the high spots in our month in Hot Springs. It's a good central location for much of the area, while being just enough out of the way to avoid issues of crowding and traffic. I was considering the plant to people ratio. Sure a lot of green giving off oxygen for healthy living. 

Ellen has been looking at green with her artist's eye. It's very different from Florida green. 

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Reasoning In Virginia

 

Fleeing from a hurricane has recently become a way of life for residents of Vero Beach, and this year we decided to skip the step where we have to quickly board up the house and run for it. Only to join a huge traffic jam on any of the roads leading out. Then after a week in a distant motel, make our drive back. Usually waiting an extra day or two so that we drive in less traffic. And that has been how we have reasoned with hurricane season

This year Ellen decided that the time had come for me to meet her relatives in Ronceverte, West Virginia. Bonus being out of town for hurricanes, at least for one month .This led to that, something else led to the other. We wound up about a mile outside Hot Springs, Virginia. Taking scenic routes, we can be in Ronceverte in a couple of hours, easy. 

Ellen made a direct shot to Hot Springs. I drove first to West Lafayette to celebrate my mother's 100th birthday.

This is a test run. So we are here for only a month. We didn't hate it. Next year, now that we know the area better, we plan to stay longer. Our little house is around the corner from Sunoco and the IGA. Big city stores like Walmart and Food Lion are about forty minutes away and involve twisting roads and climb + descent through mountains on a narrow road.

This trip we have been hitting some high spots and must-sees. The first high spot is simply stepping out the front door. Hills and mist in the morning. Gorgeous clouds. We marvel at the distances we can see. A trip up any of nearby mountains gives spectacular views. Though on our second day, on a visit to the airport, we decided to take a highly-rated Nature Conservancy trail. About the time cold rain hit, we realized that we hadn't seen a trail marker for quite a while. We back-tracked and got out needing nothing more than hot showers.

Looking toward West Virginia from about 3,700 feet. Above Homestead Resort. This appears to be a home site. The lighter spot, about center picture, is where Ellen was painting at the time I was taking this pic.

Short trips, day trips - Cass, West Virginia to meet a friend of mine from Purdue who now lives in Charleston. A couple of trips, or was it three, to Ronceverte. Bought three used books at a small shop in Lewisburg. And, back in Virginia, Clifton Forge just down the road only forty miles away. More pics, and more words later.

On a sadder note. While my mother lived to be 100 years old, she died on August 24th. I believe that she got done what she came here to do. And we can remember her with joy. Mixed with sadness of knowing that she's gone.

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Big Blue

Vero's power plant is sometimes called "Big Blue." For kinda obvious reasons: it's big, and it's blue. 

Big Blue is also no longer in use, and the problem is what to do next. Anything, including doing nothing in particular, is going to be expensive.

Vero had a couple of open-house days to let the folks see what we have on our hands. 

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