The best gumbo I found so far in the French Quarter was at 441 Royal Street. If you have any suggestions for next time I visit please let me know in the comments section below

So when I recently visited New Orleans I figured I would find out who had the best seafood gumbo in the French Quarter. I posted on Facebook to hear others favorites and then mapped them out and off I went. Here is a breakdown of what I discovered in order from good to the best from my taste test. And I only room for 5 bowls in me :)

• Stanley: Dark Roux kinda watery good mix of seafood. B
• Mr. B’s Bistro: Classic dark, thick roux, could use more seafood in it, the flavor was bold, but not as complex as I like it. B+
• Coop’s Place: (as a note, be ready to wait in line outside, even for bar seats.) The atmosphere was fun, and the gumbo looked perfect. Dark roux, but a tad thin, but good chunks of various seafood Needed just a little more umph to get an A. A-
• Lebayou Oyster Bar: Dark mustard color Roux. Lots of crab meat. Kinda thick. Big strong flavors! A
• Royal House Oyster Bar: Dark Roux, thick, big complex flavor. Perfection. This was also a top pick by Southern Living Magazine A+

Sharon and Nora sharing a Christmas moment at Aunt Glenda's house and also Lost Sole #431 found outside Dugan's Irish Pub in Brevard, NC

The drive to Baltimore up the eastern shore went pretty well. Nora slept the whole way just about. The wind was the only thing that did not go our way. It was 20-30mph with higher gusts coming at us straight on. That killed our gas mileage and I had to hold both hands on the wheel to prevent being blown off the road. But if that is the worst that ever happens when traveling, that is just fine with me.

The next day we went to the Baltimore… (check out our review) for the day and that was pretty good. Nora was overwhelmed a bit by the volume of kids in the museum. And I mean volume as both the number of kids and the loudness of them. Due to that she did not want to climb up in the massive playground system they have there which I was dying to participate with her on it. I looked like something I would have spent hours on as a kid. But that time will come for her, I have to remember she is barely over 2 years old. But as far as the museums are concerned, she was not turning 2 until January. That way we could still sneak her in for free :) She eventually found things she was interested in and had a lot of fun, as did we.

The rest of out stay at Glenda’s was quite nice, and for the most part, relaxing. We got to just hangout with family and let them get some quality Nora time in as she was beginning to feel better and was becoming her sweet self again. While there we got to indulge in some Koco’s crab cakes (check out our review) which always makes a trip to Baltimore that much better.

The time came to bid farewell. We left Baltimore at 7:30pm and drove until about 1:30am when I needed to crash for a bit. I got up around 4:00am to drive to Brevard, North Carolina for a daytime stop-over (check out our review). After some shopping, some lunch and sightseeing in the Land of the Waterfalls it was again time to hit the road.

When it became Nora’s bedtime I told her that daddy was going to drive through the night and that when she woke up, she would be home. Upon arriving at 12:30pm at our home in Pensacola, we decided to just park the van and sleep in it so as not to disturb Nora.

The next morning Nora awoke around sunrise. We told her to look outside. At first she just stared, like she was not sure of what she was seeing. Then she yelled out, “we’re home!” And was all smiles, happy to be back home.

Looking Glass Falls just outside Brevard, N.C. in the Pisgah State Forest

I loved the area. I have been here several years ago to mountain bike a trail called Eastern Slick Rock and it was a top ten ride for sure. This whole area is legendary for mountain biking, but even more so for the waterfalls.

We first hit the small and quaint downtown Brevard that seemed straight from a Rockwell painting. It had an amazing Toy Store, O.P. Taylor’s, that we had to check out. The toy story alone is worth the side track, they dont call it the “Coolest Toy Store on the Planet” for nothing. We then ate lunch at a really cool Irish pub and restaurant, Dugan’s Pub. They served locally brewed beer and fish and chips. Perfect! While in there we mapped out a few waterfalls to go photograph and show Nora. Nora loves waterfalls.

But Nora was pretty tired and it was approaching nap time, so we headed towards the first waterfall and located a great picnic area in the forest on the way there and we put Nora down for a nap There was a fast flowing stream that was running next to us and the sound was intoxicating.and took small ones ourselves after letting the dogs explore a bit.

After waking up the waterfall was just a few miles down the road. The drive itself was great. The road was winding but well paved. The stream was tumbling along side the whole way. We were rather amazed at the size of the waterfall we got to. There was a lot of water roaring over it and it was quite high. VEry impressive for being right next to a road.

We didnt have much time to hang around as it was time to be on our way. We were all ready to get home.

We plan on making this stop over be a few days next time and really check out all the area has to offer. It was gorgeous up there.

As you can see, the playground area of the museum is incredible!

Located in walkable downtown Chattanooga it is close to some great restaurants.

This is another Children’s Museum that we got to visit. Now remember these reviews are from being with a shy 2-year-old and are not so much to be used as a review, but just to point out its existence. And just whether or not it is worth visiting.

This museum has the usual playground activities, water-based activities, and crafts all based around learning. While not quite as large as some of the ones located in big cities, this is still a good-sized and nice museum. We recommend this place, and if we had time we would have explored the aquarium near by, which can be added as a package deal.

Here is a link to their website http://www.cdmfun.org/

This is the front of Devil's Backbone Brewing Company. Part of the Brew Ridge Trail. THE BREW RIDGE TRAIL - MORE BREWERIES THAN STOP LIGHTS. The Brew Ridge Trail celebrates the craft beer industry in Nelson and Albemarle Counties. The five breweries and two cideries that comprise the Trail offer award winning beer in unique and scenic settings.

As we continued our trek down the less-traveled highway, we found several more breweries and brewpubs. Come to find out they are associated with the Brew Ridge Trail. And along this highway were also several wineries and vineyards. We plan on taking our time the next time we go through there, maybe stay a few days :)

This shoe, #430, was taken when my camera was still attached to my dashboard and we were sitting at light. The bottom photo was taken up on the mountain at Wintergreen Ski Resort in Virginia

The drive to Cincinnati from Pensacola went really well. We stopped over at our friend Kevin’s home on Signal Mountain outside Chattanooga, TN and slept in his driveway for the night before heading out early in the a.m. I did have a little worry about our accommodations in Cincinnati for a bit that about made me have a panic attack, but we got that straightened out thankfully.

We were once again shacked up at Trish’s place for the duration of the holiday stay. Trish also allows me to let my mother stay as well so I can see her more and she can have more time around Nora. But the problem is, Nora does not like to spend time around her. Nora is not fond of old people, she just doesn’t trust them. We think it stems back to when she was very little and the old asian women working at the Chinese buffets would always try to pick her up and should would scream for mommy and daddy to help her. She literally would say “Help Me!” It was fairly humorous at the time but it has made it difficult for both grandmothers to connect with her.

And it really did not help that my mom had contracted a staff infection and a nasty bout of cellulitis under her right eye, causing it to acutely swell and discolor. Plus her eyesight has deteriorated quite a bit over the last few years causing her to walk like a zombie with her arms out and fumbling over things. Hell Sharon and I were even a little scared to get too close. My mom, bless her heart, never did give up to Nora’s dismay. She was determined to hold her, but Nora was having none of that as she kept her distance, always aware of where Grandma Marge was lurking.

Oh yeah, did I mention we came at a time when Trish’s heat was not working. Luckily we come prepared with space heaters. Also good thing it was a mild winter so far!

We took a day to go to a Christmas event that Trish’s YMCA, which she is the executive director of, was throwing for the community. There was craft-making, treats, hot cocoa, caroling and a tree lighting. Even a 30 year santa with a terrible fake white beard was there to complete the event.

The gym was where the crafts were being created and while in there I saw the climbing rope. I had not climbed one since in grade school probably and wondered if I could still do it. I mentioned it to Trish and she told me of a guy that was well over 60 doing it just the other day. I figured I could still do it then. She scoffed at me when I told her…it was game on! I looked at the height for a few seconds and then turned to her and excliamed ” I bet I can do it in under a minute!”

She chuckled and then said once the gym clears out I can try it. She did not think I could do it. And once time came to climb, I too was a little bit hesitant. But I am a good climber, always have been, so I figured I would still be the same monkey I used be so I grabbed the rope and told Trish to time me. She said go and off I went. Hand over hand, and pushing myself with my feet. I was actually going faster than I thought I would. I reached the top, and she informed me I did it in under 15 seconds. I felt so vindicated! I began sliding back done and kinda lost control and burned my hands a bit, but it was worth it. I didnt even need to be triple-dog-dared.

When we got back to Trish’s we noticed Nora was starting to show signs of getting a cold. Not good. Traveling with a sick two-year-old is not good at all. But par for the course with us. A road trip isn’t good without some adversity right? :)

When I lived in Cincinnati I played a lot of sand volleyball during my adult years. I had learned of an indoor sand volleyball complex, Grand Sands, just a mile or so from where I grew up and got with a friend of mine who still plays and we decided to meet up and play. Unfortunately he is just as unreliable as he was when he was 16. Luckily though, I knew several other players there and got in some great games. It some getting used to the ceiling and florescent lights compared to a sky and sun, and walls instead of sand dunes. It was great to be able to get some playing in though, when it was so cold and rainy outside.

My brother Doug always invites us over for a wonderful dinner that he skillfully prepares for us. He takes great pride in what he creates and he has always come through. This evening he was to create homemade pasta and a sauce along with many other sides. But it was the homemade pasta that was to be his centerpiece. We had sat down to eat and a well-prepared salad was passed around as the first course. While eating it, I heard many strange noises coming from the kitchen. I also noticed Trish was staring into the china cabinet pretty intensely.

Come to find out she was looking into the mirror in the back of it, watching my brother work frantically in the kitchen. After about 30 minutes or more we started to ask Doug if he needed any help. The kitchen was a disaster area and he had pasta shrapnel all over him, and was “bloody” from the pasta sauce. It looked like a roadside bomb went off next to an italian eatery! The pasta he created looked like 5 pounds of spaghetti molded into the shape of loaf of bread.

He then looked at us and asked “So what do you guys want on your pizza, I give up.”

We still had a fun time there, catching up on what new is going on and also reminiscing about old times. It was mostly about them seeing Nora anyway and she was quite sweet the whole night despite having her nose run constantly.

The infection on my mom’s eye was not going to go away on its own, I am sure the eye would pop out in a few days if she let it go on any further so the following day we took her to the doctor for medication. We were all hoping for a miracle but the infection was pretty bad and never really went down until the day we were to drop her back off.

It is always something with my mom. Last time we came home to Cincinnati it was the incident with the Clairol. One evening my mom attempted to color her own hair in Trish bathroom sink with Clairol and splashed color everywhere. However being partially blind did not notice so she just walked out. Dripping color the whole way down the steps to the living room. Trish walked into what she described as massacre looking crime scene, only somewhat relived it was not blood as she still had to try and clean it up. Which I guess hair color stains pretty bad in a white bathroom. Trish was calling for me to go grab my mom before she sat back on the couch. I went into the bathroom to find Trish on her knees frantically scrubbing the tile and walls. I torn down the steps to just catch my mom from lying her head on a couch pillow. I helped her get a towel all around her hair and eventually washed it out of her hair in the kitchen sink with sprayer. Trish and I still crack up about the follies of that night.

Over the course of a few days we did manage to get to see quite a few friends. The days passed quickly and it was time to depart. We loaded the van and went to our friends the Costello’s before heading out to West Virginia. We left out at 11:00pm and I stopped driving about an hour past Charleston at about 3:30 am. I was tired. But I was on a mission to get Nora to see snow for her first time and knew we were tight on time and rose back up to carry on driving at around 6:30am. Our destination for snow was Wintergreen Ski Resort in Virginia just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The drive to get up to the resort was pretty extreme with a 15% grade hill that meandered for around 5 miles up. The van trudged along slowly but it was going strong. Upon getting to the top we were rewarded with several areas with manmade snow where we could go play with Nora for a bit. Keep in mind Nora is a Florida girl through and through and the only experience she had with snow was the white fluffy cotton they used for decorating around the mall. She was cold, and was not fond of the snow. Her only remark was “Its icy.” I made a miniature snowman for her and we took pictures of her in the snow and got back into a heated place so her cold would not worsen. The drive down was white-knuckled. I kept the van in low gear and surprisingly the brakes did not heat up much.

We stopped just a bit after getting down the mountain at a Brew Pub along the Brewridge trail (see this review for more info)

It took us another 6 hours to arrive at Deal Island where we were to spend Christmas. That night, Nora through a five hour crying fit when it came time to go to bed, we still dont know if it was reaction to the cough syrup or what. As the syrup was an expensive natural herbal syrup with little in the way of malicious ingredients. She thrashed about and screamed that she wanted to go home. The best way I can describe it is that she was violently homesick. It broke my heart. Eventually she passed out. She has never acted that way, and did not again the rest of the trip.

The next morning she woke up sweet and told me she was sorry. I told her it was okay. But then she said. “Im sorry I hurt you, are you going to be okay?”

I told her “Daddy is fine, you didn’t hurt me.”

Sadly she answered, “I hurt your heart.”

At first I was puzzled. Then it dawned on me. She heard me say that it was breaking my heart last night, and she took it literal. It was so sweet. I just hugged her and told her that Daddy was strong and that I was just fine.

Another funny thing Nora said that really made my day was when Dave (Sharon’s pops), Nora and I were on our way back from seeing Santa. Every Christmas the local fire department on the island rides Santa, waving and passing out candy, around on a fire truck with lights and sirens blazing through the neighborhoods. So anyway, we were walking in the house and she mentioned the pretty stars. I mentioned to her that the bright one might be a planet. “That one there I think is Uranus.” I told her.

And without hesitation she looks up and then back at me and with a puzzled look says. “That’s my anus?”

Dave and I could not stop laughing. It was one of the funniest things I have ever heard. Out of the mouths of babes my mom always used to say.

Nora was finally getting over her cold and was becoming more like her sweet self just in time to head up to Baltimore to see Aunt Glenda as well as Rachie who was flying in from South Florida for New Years. Not sure how much more whining and asking to have her nose wiped every 5 seconds we could have taken :)

to be continued…

This shoe, Lost Sole #427, was found while visiting a Mennonite sorghum mill. Their cookies were the bomb. The photo below it was taken at the hoedown itself.

We did the usual and got the Ark loaded and ready to go the night before and slept in Ark while parked in the driveway so I could just wake up very early and take off. This way Nora could be sleeping for a good portion of the drive.

The first hours were uneventful, we left around 5am as I slept in a little. The first 4 hours were uneventful. We stopped for breakfast when Nora woke and took back off. It was just before making it to Birmingham that the Ark experienced a breakdown. It started overheating and we were forced to pull off to the shoulder of I-65 as the engine had kicked off. I was pretty worried.

I knew I saw steam and coolant come out, but when I stepped out of the van I saw it had covered the whole passenger side with and orangish-brown looking coolant. “Water everywhere!”, as Nora quipped. Dripping off the door handles, the mirrors and streaking all the way back to the rear windows! This might not be good I thought to myself that the engine might be cracked to let out that much coolant.

So we fired up the laptop and got online to find an auto part store. We were in luck, just a few miles down the road was a Carquest and a Walmart. I filled up the radiator with the extra coolant we had and water from the freshwater tank on the van.

It started right up and ran cool the whole way to Walmart exit. We got off and parked in the parking lot, leaving it run for a bit to see what happened. And it ran just fine. In fact the gauge never went off cold. Which seemed a bit odd. I guessed we burned out the sensor from it getting so hot. I figured Id repair that once we got to our destination.

We bought more coolant and water, and headed on our way. Since the gauge was not working I was on the lookout for the first hint of steam. It was about 15 minutes later when I noticed steam starting to come out of the hood. The van was again overheating, and running very rough this time, and I immediately pulled off and shut off the engine.

I feared the worst, that it was in fact a blown engine. And after speaking to Sharon’s brother who was pretty sure it was a cracked block or blown head gasket I was nauseous. Here we were, 4 hours from home. Scenarios were racing through my head. Do we rent a car? Do we try to fix it here and hang until it is completed? What the hell should we do?

I eventually got hold of my anxiety and looked online again. Just 1.4 miles ahead was a KOA and off that exit was a retail utopia. Anything we needed. We decided to limp to the campground and assess the damage and maybe it will be something I can fix. In the meantime we could plug the ark in and relax a bit and let Nora play, while I researched the problem online. What I found was that the thermostat and other temperature controls are run by the temperature sensor and if it is inoperative the van could overheat. After inspecting the sensor, it was in fact destroyed. I also read that sometimes plugs get fouled, even damaged, when an engine severely overheats, causing it to run rough. So I had a game plan.

Upon checking on google, I found and Auto Zone just a half mile down the road from the campground. I took my bike off the rack and took off to see if they had any ideas what could be wrong also.

They agreed with what I learned and also suggested I get a new thermostat. The guy behind the counter did not think I had blown the engine at all. He knew how tough the engine’s were in the big chevy vans. That gave me some relief. I took off back for the ark. I left with 8 new spark plugs, a thermostat, coolant, radiator stop leak, and a new sensor. I was on a mission to repair the Ark.

The temp sensor was a bitch to get off. It was in an almost totally inaccessible spot for regular wrenches. Some engineer somewhere must have made a special tool for getting to it when he designed the engine. THANKS! Eventually after much swearing and cut and smashed fingers I got it off and the new one in. The thermostat was easy. I hoped the spark plugs would be as well as I had not removed the cockpit engine cover inside the van before to know how accessible they would be. To much great relief it was easy to get off and once removed the spark plugs were all right there. Luck was on our side as I instantly noticed one of the spark plug wires was no longer connected. It must have been blown off when it got really hot. I simply slipped it back on and started the Ark to see how it ran.

It fired right up and purred like a kitten. We wanted to test it before we decided on whether or not to push on to the hoedown so we ventured out for Thai food. Which is our style of comfort food :) The Ark ran beautifully. We ate and went back to the campground and prepared the Ark for an early departure.

I was excited to get going so we ventured as steathily as a hulking old van could be at 3am in the morning. It felt so good to feel it just glide down the highway. It ran smoother than it ever had.

We made it to Kentucky without a another problem. The hoedown was fun, although hampered by a passing storm right in the middle of the festivities. They just crammed themselves into the house to continue the party until the rain stopped. I felt bad for those in wet tents as we were snug as bugs in the Ark.

We did get in a great bike ride during the one day we had to play. We rode down with Nora to a beautiful creek to play at, she had a blast running around the shallow gravel bars and shoals. It turned out to be a very relaxing weekend with family that went by way too quick. Of course we lost a day due to the breakdown, but the crisis was averted so all was well.

As I write this we are gearing up for a Christmas journey to Ohio then to Baltimore and just pray the Ark gets us there and back again. I am not too worried as it is a work horse, but one never knows what lies in store. I just hope it isn’t too cold up there, Nora hates the cold!

The outside of BJ's in Culver City, CA

The restaurant combined my 2 of my favorite things. Fish Tacos and on-site fresh brewed beer. First the tacos.

While I assume I could have asked for them to be grilled, the fish in the tacos comes fried. I prefer grilled, but pretty much only for the health factor.

These tacos were really good. The tortillas were very fresh and they were rolled tight with lettuce, tomatoes and with a side of a creamy avocado sauce. I would have to rate them a 8.5 out of ten.

The menu had many other great sounding choices as well. Something that stood out were the reasonable prices, especially for being in California and close to LAX and Marina Del Ray.

And even a better deal were the $3 pints of their draft beer. There is something about finding a deal that always makes something better. I am not sure if that is what added to the high rating I would give their beers or not.

The beers were really good, very smooth and drinkable. Nothing tasted over the top in the ones I sampled, those being the porter, the stout, the brown and the Irish red. I of course opted for the brown ale, for my full pint, aptly named, Brewnette. It really stood out as one of the top brown ales I have encountered, Full flavor, but not heavy. A beer you could end up drinking too many of before you knew it. A true session beer.

This is one of the only pics we took that day and what cracks me up is how much fun it looks like we had if you didnt know the back story about Sharons wet shoes drying to my right by the fire from crossing a river to see a tunnel

We woke up and got the Ark ready for departure and headed out of Charleston to Seneca State Forest. Things were going great for the first hour or so, then we got side tracked and the fun began.

I did not realize we were going to be going by the New RIver Gorge until I saw a sign for it. It had been years since I have driven up this way. I was excited to show Sharon the bridge as it is a monster arch bridge over the gorge where one day each year it is shut down for Bridge Day, a day where base jumping is allowed off the bridge.

Just on the other side of the bridge was a welcome center with a scenic overlook. We decided to stop and get out of the van to stretch for a minute and check out the view, which turned out to be pretty incredible as it was a very clear day and we were able to see the class V whitewater New River flowing at the bottom.

While in the welcome center we got the idea to take the scenic route down into the gorge on route 82. We could eat lunch down in the gorge and get a closer look at the river. It was 11:30 at this point so timing was perfect since I had an important conference call at 1:00. 30 minutes down into the gorge, 30 minutes to eat and then 30 minutes back to the welcome center where I knew had cell service as that can be a tough thing to find in the mountains of West Virginia.

However what I did not plan on was taking the wrong turn out of the Welcome Center. I realized it pretty quick and was going to turn around, but from looking at the map I was certain that road I was on connected with 82. What I did not realize is there are two route 82’s. One is a scenic route the other a normal route. And we apparently got on the other route. Now I admit I am still not sure if that is correct, but that is the only explanation for why there were route 82 signs on this road and even my GPS confirmed we were on route 82. But we were for sure not on whatever road was to be the scenic route to the gorge.

We winded around and down a narrow road descending deeper and deeper to the river but none of the landmarks were matching up to the guide we had grabbed at the center. We knew we had gone the wrong way for sure when we were at the bottom and the road headed south instead of north like it should according to the map. It was time to turn around and cut our losses.

Had we been in a normal vehicle and not an older, over-sized camper van it would not have been a problem, but I worried about the strain the steep long climb back out would be on the engine. Already coming down I could smell the heating of the brake pads as they labored to slow the heavy van from speeding out of control. I was pretty stressed.

Surprisingly the Ark grinded its way to the top without a problem. The problem was that we did not realize the road we came down was one-way at some points so we had to take another route out, and those roads were too small to be found on our atlas. And our GPS we use is my Droid X phone which requires cell service to update the maps, and there were zero bars. I was now at the point of having to rely on the compass and my view of the top to know which way to head.

I was now getting stressed to a breaking point. There is nothing I hate more than being lost and burning gas for no reason. After a couple of turnarounds from wandering down the wrong way because the road we were traveling suddenly turned a 180 degrees in the wrong direction, we finally made our way to the top and got cell service so my GPS could show me a way out. We emerged around 11:45 from the maze of small mountain roads to the main highway about 15 miles from the welcome center, but at least in the direction of our final destination of Seneca State Forest.

But now I had a dilemna. Do I take off and head to Seneca State Forest? Or do I back track 20 minutes to the Welcome Center and eat lunch and hang out for an hour where I know for sure I can do my conference call? To add to it, Nora had fallen asleep so that meant she would be awake for the 2 hour drive to the forest if we went back, and that can make for a rough drive.

I decided to chance heading onward. I knew there was a town that would probably have cell phone service on our way that we would reach at just around 1:00. It would be close, but I was confident we could do it. This turned out to be one of the only correct decisions I would make that day :) And while I did make it to cell coverage in time and called in, the client was not there. I waited for 15 minutes on the line with another colleague and upon mutual agreement we cut the call off. I figured I would call her when I reached the next town of Marlinton in an hour or so, and off we went.

Arriving just before running out of gas at Marlinton, I was greeted with no cell phone service yet again. I did not expect that as Marlinton is at the base of Snowshoe Mountain Resort, a popular recreation hub for skiing and mountain biking. It was late in the afternoon on the friday before the 4th of July weekend so I hoped my client had already called it a day and it would not be an issue. Because I knew if there was no service here, there was no way we had service at the forest which was still 30 minutes deeper into the wilderness, putting our arrival at our destination around 4:00. 2 hours later than I had anticipated.

I was correct. We turned into the forest campground and there was no service, just like there had not been for the last 2 hours. The campground is located in a deep wooded hollow that was already looking dark 4 hours before sunset from the thick canopy of trees and steep mountain sides that were so close it felt almost suffocating. Coming into the campground we knew it was first come first serve, and there were only 10 spots in the campground so it was a possibility there would not be any available this late in the day.

Fortunately 2 spots were still open. It was then we realized the campground had no electricity, and no running water at the campsites. Not horrible as the Ark does have a generator, just a little inconvenient to burn gas to run it. The brochure did say the office which was just a mile back down the road had a bath house with running water and hot showers, again just a little inconvenient.

There were 2 reasons why we chose this campground to stay at. Its location on the way to Maryland and its proximity to the Greenbriar River Bike Trail. The trail is an 80 mile gravel path along the scenic Greenbriar River. It was once a railroad that has been removed but still has tunnels and bridges along the way, and one of those tunnels was 2.5 miles down from the forest. And from what we read in the brochures the trail was easily accessible from the campgrounds.

We set up camp fairly quick. Jack and Jinny needed to get some exercise so we leashed them up and threw Nora on my back with the Ergo. The problem with looking at trail maps in West Virginia is that it does not show the steepness of a trail just mileage and length. This trail was to be only 1.5 miles. As we hiked up the side of a cliff for a 1/2 mile I began wondering if this was a bad idea. When beyond comprehension, it kept going up, I KNEW it was a bad idea. Jinny was starting to walk very slow due to her bad knees. And Nora, after being trapped in the van for 6 hours was antsy to get out of the carrier and began to whine.

Foregoing the rest of the trail we concluded we should once again cut losses and head back the way we came, because there was no end in site to the ascent had we kept going. Jinny now was hurting and not wanting to walk. I scooped her up and carried her. Now I had 50 extra pounds on my legs, which were still tired from the hills at Kanawha State Forest the day before. So here I was. Crying baby on my back, content dog in my arms, irritated wife behind me, and a steep rocky descent awaiting me to fall disasterously down. Somehow I managed to negotiate it all without incident. I was now worn out, but could just relax for the rest of the evening with nothing to do except maybe get caught up on my blogging. Or so I thought, and as I so often did that day, I was thought wrong.

After just getting back to the campsite Sharon mentioned something about wanting to leave early the next day to get to Maryland sooner. I had not planned on leaving until 1:00 the next day so that we could have the morning to explore the Greenbriar River Bike Trail which was easily accessible from the campground. I really wanted to check out the tunnel which was only a short ride from the park.

Sharon suggested we should just do it that afternoon, since without electricity what else was there to do but explore. How can I not agree with that logic other than my body was slightly fatigued. But I have pushed myself before, and this was not that big of a deal. And making the last right decision I would make for a while, I decided it would be easiest if we drove the van to the trail since on the map it looked like it was only a mile or so, but as we just found out, that could be deceiving.

Upon further inspection of the map, getting to the trail actually required us to leave the campground. Also while looking at it I noticed it was not drawn to scale, so the distance to the bike trail was somewhat unknown. But we were driving so no big deal. The road to the trail began paved but shortly turned to loose gravel. We headed up a fairly steep hill but it only lasted a bit before we started heading downhill somewhat. The road progressively got steeped and curvier as we went. The brakes were starting to smell of heat and got me worried. I put the van into low gear and let the engine do the work for the most part. A mile went by, then another, and another, we were going a lot further than i thought and somehow it continued to drop down and down. This was going to be a beast to come back up I thought to myself. but there was no turning back. I was determined to make it to the trail, or what I referred to as my Wally World.

We did eventually come to a pull off for river access parking. I stopped and got out to inspect the trail. It was not much of a trail, but rather a tiny path worn in by small woodland creatures as they braved the treacherous rocky slope in search of water. There was no possible way we could navigate down on foot, let along with bikes and Nora. I was getting angry. I was going to get to my Wally World dammit!

I got back in the van and told Sharon, “There has to be a more easily accessible way to get to the river.”

At last after traveling down another half mile or so we got to the bottom and could see the river. We jumped out to survey the landscape.

We saw a wide, shallow, and clear river, but no trail! Where was the damn trail?! Then I spotted it, it was across the river and no bridge to get over there was in sight. But there had to be a bridge right. After all it said easily accessible right? WRONG! Lies, all of it LIES!

But like I said, I was going to get to my “Wally World” and have some damn fun. And to quote the great orator Clark W. Griswald…”I’m gonna have fun and you’re gonna have fun, we’re all gonna have so much f@#$#%g fun we’ll need plastic surgery to remove our goddamn smiles! You’ll be whistling Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah out of your as$$h*le$!”

Somehow I knew this was one of those debacles where people always say, “We will laugh about this later.” I was in no mood to laugh at that point.

I went and crossed the river to see how hard it would be. It never got above the knees but it was slippery. I made the decision to go for it. I do not think Sharon thought I was serious at first. One look at my face though told her I was serious. I was getting to that trail!

I strapped Nora to my back, grabbed my bike and headed across the river with Sharon closely behind with her bike. As I plodded across, carefully choosing my steps careful, looking for flat level rocks to step on, I kept thinking in my head how crazy this is. And how this is the most unaccessible, accessible trail, I have ever encountered. How could driving straight down a mountain for 7 miles, then crossing a river holding your bike in the air over slippery rocks be considered easily accessible!!

Okay, so we made it across, no falls, all good. Then when we climbed up the steep embankment to the trail I noticed something bad. My front tire was f#%^$&g flat! I lost it, I threw my bike, cursed, basically melted down. I did not want to make any more decisions so I asked Sharon what to do. She suggested I go back and get my bike pump and pump up the tire so we could at least ride to the tunnel just 2.5 miles down the trail.

I pulled myself together and made the long agonizing crossing over and back. I pumped up my tire. Once again we were ready to ride. At least Sharon and I were, Nora was saying “all done, back to the van.” but oh no, “we are going to ride this trail” I told her.

I was not having it, so we just started pedalling. She did stop whining after a bit and sat back and enjoyed the ride. I must admit it is a beautiful trail through a picturesque setting. Almost turning around at one point, as it seemed longer than 2.5 miles to get to the tunnel and we have not been having the best luck. But we caught a glimpse of the prize ahead. We could see the tunnel. We started into the tunnel and realized it was dark, really dark, so dark we could not see the ground in front of us, all we could see was the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

Upon exiting the tunnel we were met with a long bridge spanning the river. We figured we would ride to the end and then turn around, take in the view and head back. Well just over halfway across we heard a car motoring out from the forest behind us. It was a small compact car, I think a honda, carrying 5 shady characters in it, loaded down with stuff. I assume camping/fishing/hunting stuff, but hard to decipher as it was jammed in overflowing olive military bags. The back end was sagging to the point the top of the rear wheels were under the fenders. They were driving down a road running parrallel to the river and stopped at the bridge. I got a weird feeling from the situation and I think my mind was playing tricks on me as I swear I heard the banjo song from the movie Deliverance coming from the vehicle.

Sharon must have gotten the same uneasy feeling because as soon as they went out of sight she wanted to immediately turn around and get out of there. They stopped for a brief moment and stared at us, as if it was weird seeing us there, like what they were doing was just normal. Then the little engine of the car revved and they sped off, bouncing and sliding from mud puddle to mud puddle. We heard them for just a few minutes before they either stopped or got too far off in the distance. It did not matter, we were not sticking around to find out.

Once on the other side of the tunnel, Nora started up again, wanting to be “all done.” It broke my heart that I got her into this but there was nothing I could do but just ride and get us off the trail as fast as possible. We had marked where we came in with a stick and it was thankfully still there. I offered to make the trip twice, once taking my bike over, then coming back and getting Nora on my back and push Sharon’s bike for her. I had to do something to make her accept my apology for getting us into the mess.

I was so happy to be finished crossing that river, but we still needed to get back out of that river valley, and I was worried. I knew it was longer and steeper than what we did with the van in the gorge, and it got a little hot with that climb, so I didnt know what to expect this time. It was a lot to ask of the Ark. I told Sharon to settle in as this may take a while, I intended to go slow and not push the Ark at all.

The climb started steeply, not giving any type of warmup. I just creeped along, up and up and up. It seemed so much longer going up than down.I would have to let go of the steering wheel sometimes to work my hands in order to work out the numbness from gripping so tight. My heart raced with the anxiety that I would here a loud bang or clunk and that would be it for the Ark. Just like I heard those months back when that Safari Trek I had just bought crapped out in New Orleans. I just prayed that my decision to come see that damn tunnel would not cost me everything.

After about 3 or 4 miles the Ark was handling the hill like a champ. I started to cautiously relax a bit as I felt I could see the end in sight. As we crested I could could feel the weight lift off my heart. We had made it back to the top. The rest of the drive was short and easy back to the campsite.

The bath house was on the way back and I was dreaming of a hot shower, only to find out it was $1.50 to use the showers and we only had $1.78. One of us would do without. I told Sharon to go ahead and while I hung out in the van I noticed a guy sitting nearby with a laptop open. Perhaps they had wifi in the area. I was in luck. I got to get online to only find out my client had gotten on the call just after I hung up and had been trying all day to reschedule the call as the project had a very tight deadline. I did email her to tell her what happened and hoped we could just talk tomorrow.

The evening got progressively better. We got a fire started and heated up pizza leftovers. We also had a few beers which really hit the spot. Nora got to play and tire herself out. We packed the van for a 4-5 a.m. departure and got to bed early as we were really tired, and wanted to assure getting an early start the next day heading to Maryland.

I slept pretty hard. I woke up to total darkness. And I mean total darkness, there was not a hint of light anywhere. Like being deep in a cave with only a hole at the top where some stars were visible. I looked at my phone and the brightness caught my eyes off guard. And in the brief time I turned it on, so as not to wake Nora, I thought I saw it read 4:45, but in reality it was 2:45. Thinking it was time to get up and drive, I drug myself up into the driver’s seat, and motored out of the park. I was feeling pretty rough and dying for a coffee. I thought surely there would be somewhere to stop and get gas and a coffee. But once I got another look at the time and saw how early it really was I knew that possibility was slim.

The road started out fairly straight and level. Good, I was sick of driving up and down windy roads at that point. Then it all got ugly.

Not only was I having to navigate the small back roads without a GPS, the atlas map for West Virginia was torn right down through where I needed to look. And it was not an easy route as I had to turn unto several different roads to make it to I-64. But it was only 36 miles away so how bad could that be. Well those 36 miles took me almost 2 hours to navigate through the steepest, curviest roads I have maybe ever driven. Not to much the dense fog and the numerous deer hanging out on the side of the road. Their eyes would light up as I rounded a corner making my heart jump as I drive by inches from them. One literally jumped over the corner of the van when I came around one hairpin turn. I also almost hit a cat, several racoons, a possum, a woodchuck, and something black and round waddling off into the woods. It was like I was interrupting a wildlife secret rave party.

The windshield was fogging up and the dust from the gravel road yesterday had caked on and was not coming off with the windshield washers. Just smearing and getting worse. Eventually I had to stop and wash the windshield off by hand. Visibility got better, and when I finally turned on the high beams, visibility got much better. But it did nothing to calm the terrain into flat, straight roads. It was brutal. Seemed everytime I thought we had to be finished another mountain would show up in front of me.

All the while I was driving I knew I was carrying precious cargo. I thought my hands gripped the wheel hard the day before, but that was nothing to compared to this 2 hours of white knuckle driving I endured over those Virginia mountain roads. To be exact, it was Shenandoah Mountain Road that was the worst of it all. Eventually I came out to the town of Staunton, and it was the where I got to hop on a major interstate and cruise out of the mountains.

I was blessed with a gorgeous view of the Shanandoah Valley at sunrise, the sky lit up a light pink and ornage and you could see the rolling hills of shades of light purple and blue disappear into the the distance. It was postcard perfect. But I was not at a place where I wanted to stop and get a photo. Nora and Sharon were still sleeping soundly.

The next 6 hours went by without incindence. It seemed we survived the stormof bad luck and hopefully come out on the other end now, tired but not broken.

I love driving over the Bay Bridge Tunnel and up the Eastern Shore. It feels so much slower paced and laid back. It felt nice to be back. Next destination, Deal Island, Maryland.