The day, thus far, has been marred with a whole lot of nothingness. By
mid-morning, however, it became apparent the luggage wasn't going to be
at the airport anytime soon, so we hopped into the rental car and started
our trip (which, quite by coincidence, looped up north, then southwest,
and then back to Charleston before heading outward).
The cell phone-based alarm of Robin's phone woke us with a delightful
chirp -- nothing like the shrill alarm Tubby carries... but is safely
stowed in his luggage, which is currently located heaven-knows-where.
6:46am
Tubby made the call to summons a taxi, and we checked out of the
motel. Meandering toward the road, we had a fabulous view of... nothing
extraordinary. So far, so good.
7:00am
The cab arrived, driven by a soft-spoken chap with a slightly crooked
hat. After the usual good morning chit-chat, we remained quiet for
the duration of the ride.
7:12am
We arrived at the airport, got a receipt just to get the cabbie's
name (but can't read it), and headed inside.
7:14am
To our general delight, the Avis rental desk was open. Cheryl Shaffer
was running things, and rented us a white Chevy
Classic, a 4-door. And guys -- she's single. ;)
7:25am
Fighting against all odds, we checked in for luggage that has arrived
yet -- nothing.
7:29am
The perching in the lounge, across
from the ticket/luggage claim area, begins. Tubby is marginally
surprised to find wireless internet access here at the airport, so
he sat quietly.
8:00am
No change. I have a bad feeling that we're not going to hear anything
before 10:29am, when the first flight of the day for United Express
arrives... from Washington-Dulles, as things would have it.
8:43am
No change. At least the airport is getting a little more lively,
although apparently the lounge area is on a light switch we can flick
on. We've not done that, and continue to sit in cave-like shadows.
10:28am
The 10:29am flight is delayed for upwards of 3+ hours, so our first
shot at getting out stuff is now out at least 1:30pm. We opt to jump
in the car and begin our wandering, since we have to pass back through
Charleston anyway. So... we're off...
10:38am
We're in the car and heading for a wander around Charleston.
11:03am
Enough of that, and we're off to the next stop. Along the way, we
found the views turning more
lovely with each passing
hill.
11:29am
We arrived into Ripley,
believe it or not. But the town was cute, so I quit with the references
to that old TV show.
11:44am
Hitting the highway again, we continued north along Interstate 77.
12:10pm
Lunch. We're torn between Wendys -- that old road trip standard
-- and sandwiches (although Togo's is far preferred to Subway, but
Togo's isn't a global franchise). I sway the crowd toward Subway,
where Walter makes Tubby's sandwich as he engages in a losing banter
with the girl sandwich artist whose nametag was absent.
12:27pm
Touching down in Parkersburg,
we gave the place a look-see, then found Highway 50.
12:46pm
Continuing along Highway 50, we cross into Ohio and over the Ohio
River, to take Highway 5 -- the Ohio River Scenic Byway -- down back
to Interstate 64 in a meandering of small town and roads.
1:23pm
We pass through Pomeroy,
Ohio, and give it a look-around. It's cute, and clearly build
along the Ohio River a long, long time ago. (One of the buildings
that actually bore a date was claimed construction in 1885.)
1:50pm
Passing down in a southerly direction, we were captivated by the
smoke
stacks near Cheshire. Despite the one sign about "hazardous
toxic waste" being in the area, the plant was an impressive structure.
Apparently, it's a power plant.
2:39pm
As we neared our return to the Interstate (64, in this case), we
paused in Athalia for
a quick look. And given it was a teeny town, anything more than "quick"
would have been a misuse of time.
2:49pm
We crossed the state line back into West Virginia by way of -- surprise
-- a bridge, getting us back to the other side of the Ohio River.
3:04pm
A general wandering around Huntington
begins. As the journey proceeds, I'm drawn to the conclusion that
there are, truly, a large number of churches here. Why, I don't know,
but there are. And then, we left.
4:01pm
We drove back to Charleston at this point, and then back to Yeager
Airport, to see if our luggage has yet to arrive. Sure, they said
they'd call, but we live in a reality where, unfortunately, people
tend not to follow-though on promises nearly as often as we'd like.
4:14pm
A far more helpful United person (compared to this morning) looked
for our bags, and even checked for their whereabouts. She was able
to tell us they'd be arriving on the 5:02pm flight from Chicago. Elated,
we thought we'd go shopping.
4:42pm
More driving than we'd car to admit, but we didn't find any places
we wanted to shop, and we reluctantly left without spending any money,
and made what we hope is our final trip back to Yeager Airport.
5:03pm
We arrive back at the airport, and are deep in cars double- and
triple-parked outside the terminal. (No, there's no traffic control
here at all. Heck, you can even park in front of the terminal for
10 minutes and leave your car unattended. And the parking meters also
seem to be unpatrolled.)
5:05pm
We kick Robin out to stand in the luggage line whilst we circle,
and eventually, find a parking meter with 26 minutes left on it.
5:09pm
After a potty break, we head to the luggage carousel, and lo and
behold, our stuff isn't being held at the counter, it's on the conveyor
belt. Tubby and I each pull off one of the bags, meet Robin, and head
back to the car.
5:30pm
In the interest of time, we elect to bypass Tesla and Duck, West
Virginia (yea, yea, I know), and take the toll road from Charleston
to Beckley along Interstate 64/77 southbound.)
5:35pm
We pay the $1.25
car toll -- a first for me, since we don't have these back home
-- and continue down the road at a steady, 75 MPH cruise-controlled
pace. (Curiously, the toll-takers weren't wearing gloves as they were
handling all that money -- yucky.)
6:15pm
The sun is now at a point of playing peek-a-book between the clouds
and nearby mountains, hinting that evening is soon upon us. We stop
in Beckley for gas and
snacks, and while I'd hoped to visit the town, I couldn't find much
more than a few churches, gas stations, and fast food places. So we
pushed forward.
7:25pm
After a few failed stops for cities, we crossed into Virginia.
The picture sucks, of course, because it's dark, but trust me -- the
one taken with the flash came out even worse.
7:41pm
We arrived finally in Covington, which is a bit further from the
first choice of Callaghan, Virginia, but that exit was dark, and there
was no town to be seen. After some fumbling about to the point we
were ready to give up on finding a place, the OTHER exit from the
interstate had all the motels.
8:13pm
We selected one and checked in without a fuss. And why would they
fuss? Including us, we counted five cars in all of the parking areas...
and there is at least 60 rooms here.
8:24pm
Arriving in room 314, we found a spacious room, and because it was
on the end, it has an excellent vantage point of the little creek
trickling nearby. Rather cute, actually.
8:28pm
We headed out in search for food, lotion (the regular kind, nothing
naughty), and a notebook.
8:35pm
Thinking the Wal-Mart Grill sounded curious and intriguing, we went
there (since they'd have lotion and notebooks in any event). We found
the grill closed, but picked up all the fixin's of a sandwich, so
it all worked out well enough. Tubby even found an Activision game
controller he didn't have already, which includes the River Raid game.
Woohoo, he tells me.
8:58pm
The balance of the shopping is done, and we check out via lane 5's
20 Items or Less, tended to by Sarah. A cute girl, although she seemed
to lack something resembling personality. I guess we can't win 'em
all.
9:04pm
Back at the motel, we unpacked the car, I set up shop to do the
day's updates, whilst Robin watched football and Tubby played with
a ball of knotted up yarn. (He apparently thinks he's going to learn
to knit or crochet or something of that order; whatever... it's keeping
him quiet.)
9:10pm
Sadly, I'm an island. The phone cord is hard-wired to the wall and
phone, the wireless service doesn't work here, and the dial-up service
I can't get to work doesn't have this city identified anyway. (And
since the phone is bolted to the wall, it wouldn't matter anyway.)
But not one to let obstacles slow me down, I'm off...
11:25pm
... and done. Except for the minor detail of not being able to post
stuff, all done. But we'll probably try from the road -- after all,
that's half the fun of wireless, right? At any rate, with all our
luggage in hand and wing, we're doing much better than we were about
this time yesterday. So, I'm signing off... ta!
