Well we have been at the RV today. It has been raining most of the day and should clear up in the morning. The roads weave so much that it did not feel safe to travel over to visit family today. The roads are scary enough when it is dry and sunny. Slick with rain. No thanks.
0 Comments
We have been driving over 1 1/2 hours each way to visit family and grandchildren. So when we get back to the RV we usually rest rather than me driving up to the office to make posts. It has been great seeing them after so long apart.
The RV park only has internet at the office and that is intermittent. Because of that I have not been updating the blog as much as I should. Other than that the RV park is nice. They have a couple of lakes with a lot of Peking ducks, Mallards, Canadian geese, African geese, and a few swans along with a lot of tame deer. It is amazingly quiet with very dark skies each evening. We are pretty remote out here.
We toured the coal mine that is right under our 5th wheel. Yes the hill where the city RV Park sits is above a coal mine.
Today we visited that mine and took the tour. It was interesting seeing the mine and how the men worked underground.
The tour guide who also ran the coal train and was a former coal miner was very knowledgeable. We were shown equipment from the earliest tools to the more recent equipment. At many of stops in the mine he demonstrated how the tools were used. The tunnels are very low. The roof was no more than two feet above our heads. Our tour guide showed us that we were in the tallest tunnels that would be found in a coal mine. The areas where miners were digging were usually less than 3 feet tall. He discussed many of the safety features now in mines.
The company was very hard on their workers and families. Cruel in fact. Essentially every bit of pay that they received went back to the company. Most mines were far away from any town so the company store was the only place to buy food and supplies. Since the miners were only paid in script instead of money they had no choice even if a store was near. The company store sold everything at higher than normal prices.
We also toured the museum of mining.
There were examples of the bachelor shanty and a family miner’s home.
They also had an 1830's heritage home site. The buildings were built by Scott/Irish homesteaders. Included was a school, store, workshops, and homes.
We moved from Virginia to West Virginia today. The drive was through mountains this time. There were several long tunnels. Once we crossed over to WV the Interstates are toll roads. Not that they are in any better shape for the extra cost. Lots of up and down. But as people here say "WV is all mountains and the only flat areas are what we make".
We took a day of rest and preparation to move tomorrow. Our next RV park will be in West Virginia. The first time on this trip. We have enjoyed our time in this part of Virginia and on our trip up to DC we will pass through a different part of the state,
Today we hiked in Wytheville’s Crystal Springs Recreation Area. There were several trails and other than some steeper than expected gravel trails at points it was a good hike. Along the hike we came across a chipmunk, huge raccoon, and some birds.
Someone had made what looked like a primitive tepee.
The reservoir was intended to help supply water the Wytheville but was not able to produce enough water to help the town as it grew. Of course we put together several trails to make a longer hike to end up with 3 miles of trail.
Today we toured the Shot Tower. The tower was used to make lead shot for guns starting in 1807. They could make small bird shot and rifle shot by pouring molten lead into sieves of different sizes. The lead, falling 150 feet from the top of the tower then down through a shaft in the hillside, cooled before reaching a large kettle of water at the bottom. We climbed steep stairs to the top of the tower where the wood floor at the top was original from over 200 years ago. After that we drove to Wytheville to visit the local museums. They were interesting. One had exhibits on the civil war and the horrible Polio outbreak in the 1950's which infected most of the children of the area. There was a home of the local doctor that survived the war, a homestead, and a gas station used during the time when Hwy 21 was the primary Great Lakes to Florida highway for the country prior to the existence of the interstate system. I have very few pictures because they have a rule against photos being taken.
We took the bikes and rode part of the 52 mile trail. Along the way we passed through a train tunnel and over several trussles. One was very high over the river. We know the river has very large fish because someone had thrown a few car tires in the river. Swimming around those tires was a Carp that was as long as the tires were in diameter and several trout almost that large. After 6.5 miles we stopped for lunch and returned to the starting point. So 13 miles later and with some very numb posteriors we were back at the truck. Neither of us had ridden bikes more than a couple of miles in one “sitting” in a while. It may be something we need to take our time on.
The trail is from the “Rails to Trails” program. Virginia did a great job in converting the old railway to a trail for use by horses, bikes, joggers and hiking. The trail is almost flat or as flat as possible with a smooth packed earth surface. Along the way there are several locations to enter or exit the trail, picnic tables, and bathrooms. Each stop has rails to tie up horses and bike racks. We had a great time.
We are now in Virginia. After 25 days in North Carolina we have moved on to the next state. We will only be on this end of the state for 5 days then move up to West Virginia. This is the view from our back windows. We expect to hear moo's most of the days we are here. Still a pretty view of the ranch.
|
AuthorWe are a couple who have started on a new adventure... Archives
January 2024
Categories |