Tag Archives: WV kicks ass!

The rest of the trip

So a few days ago, I mentioned a trip we took and how it changed because of rain.  As you may remember, we had planned to tube the Potomac River on day 2 but the rain was so bad that the river was not going to be fun.  Still, we wanted to save the weekend so we decided to visit Cass Scenic Railroad in Cass, WV.

Cass Scenic Railroad
Cass Scenic Railroad
At the Company Store
At the Company Store

The Cass Railroad used to service a series of lumber camps on top of the mountain.  The town was a company store kind of town which has been pretty well restored.  The rail line is also well maintained and has covered train cars so it was perfect for a rainy day!

At the Company Store
At the Company Store

The trip to Cass requires a winding trip through some beautiful scenic territory in the Eastern Mountains of WV.  It’s amazing getting to Cass and even cooler once you get there.  We wandered about the town waiting for trip up the mountain.  I love trains and this trip reminded me of the several trips my family took when I was a kid.  We rode several steam engines around NY and PA on trips just like this one.

Shay locomotive at Cass
Shay locomotive at Cass
Ready for our trip up the mountain
Ready for our trip up the mountain

I think I irritated Emily, but I just couldn’t get enough of looking at the trains and the dirty coal-men and the company store.  I know it was a hard life and definitely not a romantic era for working folks, but for some reason, I sort of visualize the turn of the century as a special time that is intriguing to me if I had a time machine.  Goofy, I know.  Anyhow, I stared at the trains and imagined the people who used to live and die in the forest cutting massive trees with hand saws.  I imagined the raucous parties when the men had a chance to go to town and I wondered if the life that seems so simple in my mind was something I would want to live.  And then I remember that the average lifespan was poor and the time between birth and death for many of those guys was no dream…at least not a good dream.

Huge drive arms
Huge drive arms

Anyhow, we rode the specially built train up the mountain where it traversed an 11% grade.  For modern locomotives, a 2% grade is steep.  The train travels a series of switchbacks to climb and descend the mountain and I cannot imagine the guys who used to haul huge loads of timber down the mountain, counting on the brakes to keep them from rolling down the hill out of control.

One of the switchbacks
One of the switchbacks
Selfie on the ride up
Selfie on the ride up

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Almost to Whittaker Station
Almost to Whittaker Station
Touring the logging camp
Touring the logging camp

I guess this train ride will be one I won’t ever forget.  It was just special.  The kids and I sucked on hard candy we bought at the company store and found ourselves chatting about…stuff.  We took silly pictures and had absolutely no cell service at all so had to resort to conversation and our imaginations.  We jabbered and day-dreamed as the scenery passed us by on the trip.  In my mind, it was just perfect and without the rain, we would never have seen this part of WV!

The family at Whittaker Station
The family at Whittaker Station
CassVideo
Click for a cool video with the train whistle…wait for it

(If the video above doesn’t work for you or if you want a smaller but lower quality version, try this link)

After the train ride, we decided to go to Snowshoe Mountain Resort which is a well-known ski area in the winter.  In the summer, it is sort of nothing I guess.  There aren’t too many people around, but the mountain and scenery remain beautiful.  We were fairly near the Greenbank Radio Observatory, a national radio quiet zone.

Greenbank Radio Observatory
Greenbank Radio Observatory…in the rain

Cell service was sketchy and the resort facilities where we stayed were even sketchier…summer visitors have to endure repairs and upgrades from the ski season I guess.  Anyhow, the technology-free weekend was a lot of fun.  Of course, the rain continued and storms rolled in as well.  We jumped into the pool at one point and 5 minutes later, they booted us out because of impending lightning.

In Lewisburg

In Lewisburg
In Lewisburg

We survived the night, had a great and greasy breakfast and drove to Lewisburg, WV where we ate lunch and walked around in town a bit.  Lewisburg is an awesome town and we love visiting, even if we just walk up and down the street.  It has a small-town-America feel…back to that romantic vision of a different time I guess!  Anyhow, we ended up having a fantastic trip, even though our plans were so significantly different from what we originally planned.  I think those sorts of trips may be the best kind!

Fish Hawk Acres

West by God Virginia is full of all sorts of interesting delights that often go overlooked.  While we are not technically a “fly-over” state as they are traditionally defined, we really are pretty much overlooked for everything except as the butt of jokes.

Fish Hawk Acres

There are so many things in WV that I would consider gems that most people passing by just miss.  A few weeks ago, we discovered one – Fish Hawk Acres.  Fish Hawk Acres is a combination catering service, organic farm and outdoor restaurant…at least 4 days a year.  We had the pleasure of driving to Rock Cave, WV a small town near Buckhannon…another small town in central WV.  Emily and I met in Buckhannon 25 years ago so I reference Buckhannon whenever I can.  Anyhow, we drove into Rock Cave and through a few fields to an un-assuming pavilion where Dale Hawkins, the chef and owner of FHA was preparing a gourmet meal with items that were all grown in one of 14 farms nearby.

Vegetables
These vegetables were for sale…fresh from the field

Dale talked some about his theory on sustainability and farming, food and cooking, and his pleasure in returning to the family farm in WV to do what he loves.  He found that he was more a chef than a farmer so he partnered with Patti and Lupe Espinosa who took the endeavor from a 3 acre row-crop farm to a 30 acre farm to supply his cooking.  Before we ate, Dale and Pati took us on a walking farm through a few fields to describe how they manage and conserve water and soil as well as how they plant vegetables and manage weeds.  It was an incredible operation and one that made me wish I could undertake such an adventure.

Fish Hawk Acres outdoor dining
Fish Hawk Acres outdoor dining

We returned from the field, ready to eat.  I guess there were 100 or so people that dined on beef tips and pork loin, asparagus and fresh roasted potatoes.  We had cucumber-basil mojitos (not bad) and salad made from fresh greens.

Vegetables
This struck me as beautiful…simple foods

After dinner, Sarah Loudin Thomas,  a WV-native who has authored two books read a few segments from each novel for us.  In her blend of WV and now-NC accents, she told us a story of life in WV in the early 1900s.  After she read, a number of people asked for her to sign their books including her 5th grade teacher who was in the audience!  It was one of the coolest things of the night!

Junk food!

On our way back, we had to stop for gas.  For some reason, I felt the need to pollute my palette with ultra-processed ice cream.  Still, we had a wonderful time as a family, enjoying one of the many gems that WV has to offer!

 

Time to flush

We had a bit of a water disaster here in Charleston.  It’s been called Aquapocalypse 2014…that’s probably a good term for the mess that we’ve had, but good news is coming!  It looks like our zone just got cleared to flush our water system (edit:  this just “undid” our area…dang it!).    WV American Water has done a fantastic job (in my opinion) as far as being rightly conservative in issuing the “Do not use” order as well as providing information and getting the systems back on line.  Sure, it would have been nice if our water system hadn’t been polluted, but that wasn’t their fault…it was the chemical company that apparently did not maintain proper safety systems.

Charleston Last Night
Charleston Last Night

So, the plan was to monitor the treatment system to find a point when the dilution of the chemical was at a level the CDC reported was safe…that is less than 1 ppm.  In laymen’s terms, what that means is if we had a million gallons of liquid, 1 gallon would be 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM).  There is much discussion as to whether that is truly a safe level for consumption.  I am concerned of course because the plan means I will be consuming some of that chemical…even in my  “safe” water.  I get that my drinking water is not straight h20 even before all this,  but I wish it could just be MCHM-free again.  That’s not a reality now however so we will proceed to shower in the water that has been declared “safe”.  In our house, we will not be drinking or brushing with it for awhile longer but ultimately, we will have to just “go for it” I guess.  Again, I don’t blame the water company of the officials on the ground for making this decision and all will probably be well…I just want my perfect world to return!

"Safe" water zones
“Safe” water zones…we are in the blue!

So we will drain our hot water tanks and all of the pipes in our house.  We will follow the nicely written directions provided by the water company and we will get back to normal.  I think most people have done really well in handling their situations.  Thursday night when this all started, it was a little wild as initial panic set in but people quickly got their heads on straight.

Water was trucked in from far and wide and distributed all over.  Neighbors checked on neighbors, and friends in safe-water-zones offered the homes and showers to others to make this all a little better than it would have been.  I am proud of my fellow West Virginians and of my state and local government (and maybe even the feds?) for how they handled this situation.  I saw a little more clearly as it was exercised before my eyes, the importance of community and helping others.  I also saw very clearly the benefit of having some extra water and water containers on hand.  I now realize how very much I appreciate having a shower and even more importantly, I realize how much I appreciate other people having showers.  Even so, I am proud to be a Mountaineer, stinky or not, and I am delighted to have such a great community who get down to business when the going gets tough!