Day 33

We were supposed to go home yesterday. At the very least we planned to be home today. But while all good things must come to an end, you all know how I feel about New Jersey. And you are also familiar with our last minute random detours to postpone the inevitable. Two days ago, I learned that West Virginia has a new National Park. New River Gorge used to be a National River but it has recently been upgraded to a park. (The New River isn’t new. It is one of the oldest rivers in the world. Even the Appalachian Mountains are younger.) We have spent the last month National Park hoping. Finding out the existence of a new park seemed a good enough reason to detour. So here we are in West Virginia.

Last night — or rather early this morning — sometime after midnight, I was hungry. A couple of sides of broccoli, mashed potatoes, and a few cheese curds at Culver’s doesn’t exactly keep my belly full for long. But there are so few things I eat on the road — my son never misses an opportunity to tell me I’m difficult. Anyway, I needed a snack so Kati stopped at a Taco Bell drive through and ordered me one bean burrito. Just one. When she handed over the cash, I reminded her to ask for a couple of packets of hot sauce. A couple packets — that’s it. When she handed me the bag it was far heavier than it should have been. I thought they got the order wrong until I looked in the bag and saw a gluttonous amount of sauce. 53 packets! 53! What the hell. Who needs that much sauce?

Our detour to West Virginia was rewarded with a free campsite. That’s a pretty nice bonus. And it’s a pleasant site right on the New River.

We got in super late and didn’t get to sleep until this morning. Therefore, we got a later start than usual to our day. We were all hungry when we woke up so we figured we’d have a big brunch at IHOP and then go hiking. I did not expect us to be in the restaurant for two hours. We ordered our food and it never came. Finally, in frustration we inquired why it was taking so long and our waiter said they were short staffed. To compound the problem a cook quit mid-shift. Our waiter was great. He kept coming by to chat with us and to apologize for the delay. But in frustration Kati did kindly but firmly speak to the manager. She insisted that the manager comp our meal. The manager wasn’t happy about it but she did it. We, however, tipped our waiter well. After all, he tried to make our wait as painless as possible even bringing G3 a second hot chocolate before the manager comped the meal.

We have seen places short staffed during our entire trip. We’ve experienced signs begging for patience and flustered or disgruntled workers everywhere. (I think that’s why the short staffed bitter worker at Taco Bell angrily handed me a bag with so much taco sauce when I asked for it.) Maybe enough people will quit. Maybe businesses will lose enough money that they will finally start paying their employees a decent salary — enough that they can live well.

G3 and I took a three and a half mile hike in the New River Gorge National Park this afternoon. We followed the Castle and Grand View trails. The Castle Trail was rocky which G3 really enjoyed. It was listed as being strenuous but I wouldn’t consider it rougher than moderate. The Grand View Trail was rather flat and easy — nice for a relaxing stroll. The views were okay — nothing spectacular like out west. But they would have been prettier without all the haze and clouds. At least it wasn’t smoke this time obstructing our views.

I wanted to take a look at Thurmond Historic District so after our hike we drove north. Thurmond used to be the gateway to the coal mines in the New River area. It was a busy depot in its day. But when the Great Depression stuck and trains switched from steam to diesel and then people grew infatuated with the automobile, people started moving away from the railroad dependent town. Eventually, Thurmond and other mining towns were abandoned. Only a few buildings stand today. Hardly anything to draw tourists except for those of us with an interest in history. I hope now that the New River has been upgraded to National Park status the government will spend money to restore the buildings. Add a bit of paint, a few artisan shops, and a cafe and it could be a quaint place for tourists to visit.