Bridges, lessons learned, and other random adventures

Now that I have mostly caught up on my sleep and have wasted literally hours on facebork, I'll get back to telling you about my road trip.

First, Skippy. (Dammit, where is my camera??) Drats, I can't find my camera. I want to take a new, close-up pic of Skippy. Oh well, here's one of him showing off the little gift package I got when I checked into the hotel in Connecticut. As I mentioned in my last post, I got him at a little shop on the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) on my way north.

Before I got on the BRP I stopped to eat at a Waffle House (WH), knowing that I'd soon travel beyond the range of that purveyor of comestibles. One thing I've noticed about Waffle Houses recently is that their employees seem to have better teeth. The old joke no longer applies. (That baby has more teeth than the entire third shift at Waffle House.)

There was a new guy working the WH the day I visited. He's a manager trainee, but evidently very new and that day he was learning the basics of waiting tables and calling out orders. Thankfully the crowd was light in the mid afternoon. All the gals working with him had to tell him how to call the orders to the cook. There is a protocol for that, you know. He was making a mess of it. His coworkers were very patient with him. The fact that he was young and cute might have influenced their attitudes. He was of average height, fit build without being either bulky or skinny, and had his blond hair in a buzz cut. I estimate his age to be 25. And he had red cheeks and the sweetest smile that made his eyes twinkle. He was very good natured about the whole fiasco. Really, the other gals carried the work very well as he stumbled along so it wasn't a fiasco at all. They called him Skippy. He did not wait on me, but I sat at the high counter with a front row seat to the show. I never saw his name tag clearly, but I think it said "Skip." So a couple of hours later when I bought my little black bear, his name had to be Skippy.

That happened at the beginning of the trip. From here I'm going to relate my experiences in reverse chronological order (mostly), mainly because I need to tell you about my night at the campground in New Jersey.

New Jersey is an odd place. For one thing, they don't sell maps of all of New Jersey on one map. I found an atlas (book) of every New Jersey county but that exceeds my NJ information needs. I was over halfway through NJ before I found a map I could use. The NJ roads and highways are different from what I'm used to. Busier, more commercial enterprises along the road. It was one long long long long series of strip malls from north of Trenton to Camden. I got off the Garden State Parkway where it intersects the NJ Turnpike and followed US-1 to US-130 which took me down the western part of the state. I got on a little two lane county road at one point that was quite pleasant. Otherwise, too much traffic. I had the address and directions to a campground in Clarksboro, but laws-a-mercy it was nigh unto impossible to find! I circled around, narrowing my spiral until I had to stop for directions. I hate doing that. But I finally found it! I felt so accomplished!

I was on the road for approximately 11 hours that day driving from Southington, CT to Clarksboro, NJ. The date was June 22, 2013, the day after the first day of summer, ergo sunlight stayed around late. I got to the campground at 8:00, maybe 8:30 and had plenty of light to set up my Conestoga. That was also the night of the supermoon (as near as I could tell) and I wanted to sleep outside that night.

As is typical of most campgrounds now, this place caters primarily to camper trailers and RVs. There were two tent camping sites beside a small cabin in a somewhat remote area away from any other campers. Shortly after I arrived a trio of young people, twenty-somethings, came to the cabin. One young man and two women. I didn't catch the guy's age, but the girls were 20 and 25.

They came to party. Oooh boy. Miss 20 yr old got an early start with hard liquor. The others were mostly drinking beer. They invited me to join them, which I did. Two other young men friends of theirs, Joe and Andrew (both HOT!!) joined them a bit later. I took a six pack over (because it's proper to take booze to a booze party, right?) and stuck to beer all night. Had my first taste of Bud Light Lime. Meh, OK but not spectacular. I had been drinking Third Shift lager, which I prefer. We were sitting around the fire ring in front of the cabin shooting the breeze and chillin' out. 'Twas quite enjoyable. Miss 20 yr old and the first guy went into the cabin (where the little refrigerator with the beer lived), turned out the lights, and got loudly frisky. Odd, but whatever. Afterward she kept drinking the hard stuff, and eventually became belligerent. First guy tried to calm her down, but she got violent with him. Joe and Andrew were getting uncomfortable, saying they were going to leave. They'd planned to stay the night.

And here's where I get stupid. (You see what's coming, right?) I don't have a lot of experience (OK, none) with violent drunks, but I can usually help sober people when they get out of hand. So I tried to calm down this little Miss 20 yr old. And she was little, probably weighs less than half what I do. I'm big, but not very strong. She was little, drunk, and very strong. With strong healthy teeth and good muscular jaws. Yep, I got beat up. The bitch bit me (broke the skin) in at least three places- my right side, right bicep, and left ring finger. She punched me in the chest above the right breast and in the back of my head. That happened a week ago, Saturday night last week. My finger and arm are still a little bit oozy and sore. The bruises all over have faded to a sickly yellow. Oh, she also got me in the jaw but not hard enough to bruise, thankfully. I bit my lip and cheek in the process, and that was sore for a few days. That's better now.

Lesson well and truly learned: stay away from angry drunk people.

After Joe and Andrew put bandages on my cuts they left and I went to my truck to sleep. After I minced to the bathroom. You know a person only rents beer. It gave the old kidneys a good workout. (Probably the liver, too.) I got to sleep pretty easily, but some time later was awakened by some noise and lights coming from the cabin. I peeked through my curtains and saw a law enforcement cruiser and two officers with flashlights at the cabin. Then I heard her yelling curses and insults. One of the officers said "Alright, now you're under arrest," to which she cursed some more. And low and behold if I didn't have to pee again. So I got up and made my way to the bathroom. On the way back I got a flashlight in my eyes, but no discussions ensued. When I woke up at 7:00 Sunday morning everyone was gone. So I packed up and went south.

I drove over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (not the bridge-tunnel from the Norfolk area) which I've heard can be kinda scary for people with bridge allergies. Gephyrophobia. Bridges used to make me uncomfortable, but not so much anymore. Oh, I also crossed over the Tappan-Zee Bridge into New York (or was it New Jersey there?) That was fun. Of course on the way from South Carolina to Pennsylvania I crossed the New River Gorge Bridge, one of my faves. It was a bridge crossing trip. Sean and Jeffrey took me across the Hudson River a lot when I visited Breen Acres.

Sunday I drove to Richmond, VA to my cousin's house. She had a little baby girl two months ago and I wanted to hold someone else's baby, which I did. I also got to play with her precious two-year-old son.  I did not want her to know about by violent encounter, and thankfully the shirt I wore covered all my injuries except the deep cut (bite) on my finger, and that was easily explained as a camping incident. You know, I pinched my finger (between some bitch's teeth). I was exhausted and not up to extensive visiting, so I didn't contact any of my lovely blogger friends in the Richmond area. Sorry guys. Maybe next time. When I went to bed Sunday night I told my cousin not to worry about keeping the kids quiet, that I'd wake up whenever I needed to. I hoped to get a fairly early start on my trip back to South Carolina, but did not set any alarms or anything. And I slept until 11:00! Woah! I was tired! It made the trip home seem longer and hotter, getting that late a start, but I don't mind. If I was tired enough to sleep that long (at least 12 hours), I needed the sleep more than I needed to get home early.

I am back in The South(TM). It's hot and humid, just like summer in The South(TM). I hate it, but I'll try not to complain too much. There is baseball and air conditioning, so it's OK. I didn't watch Braves baseball the whole 2.5 weeks I was away. They did well without my supervision.

And that's all I have to say about that.

How I got home after crashing my car and being stranded in West Virginia

When we last heard from Java she had successfully completed the day in which she wrecked her car. 

Of course I had talked to Superman quite a few times that day. He decided to drive up and rescue me. That was the only viable option for getting me back home, really. He drove from Greenwood SC to Lewisburg WV on Saturday, arriving at 5:00 p.m. I was SO GLAD to see him! It had been two weeks since I last saw him, and I didn't realize how much I'd missed him. That, I think, is the longest we've been away from each other since we got married 29 years ago. He had it worse, of course, being the one left at home. I always miss him more when I'm the one at home and he's gone on some adventure.

I woke up Saturday morning with a very stiff and sore neck. I expected something like that would happen. My neck and shoulders ached. OTC pain relievers helped a good bit. Since I hadn't been able to poke around downtown Lewisburg as I had planned the day before, I went on down there and had a blast (until my pain reliever wore off). There were a few art galleries, some cute stores, antique shops,  little local restaurants - the kind of thing that makes these small towns so adorable.

I rambled along until I came to an Irish pub called The Irish Pub. It was 2:00, my neck hurt again, and I was hungry. So I got a bowl of red beans and rice (spicy! Superman would have liked it more than I did. I ate it all, though.) and a beer. Because hey, it's a pub. Sat at the bar next to an interesting character. I refer to him as "the stoner." He's supposed to be starting med school in the fall. My prediction is that he won't get far in that endeavor. But I could be wrong. It was interesting dinner conversation, for sure. And let me tell ya', beer is great for a sore neck! That one beer (I was driving or I'd have had two) helped my neck about as much as the pain reliever did. The beneficial effect didn't last as long, though.

I went back to the hotel to wait for Superman. What a sight for sore eyes when he drove up! Oh, I was so glad to be back in his presence. He said pretty much the same thing. He does not do well when we are apart.

I took him back to the The Irish Pub for supper, because damn! They had a live band playing traditional Irish tunes on various stringed instruments and a drum. And Superman tried Bushmills Whiskey. He doesn't drink much liquor. Had tried whiskey before but it was cheap nasty stuff. But someone told him that Bushmills was good, and he had a shot. He says Bushmills is good! I had another beer, but just one because I was driving. We had a really good time.

I talked him into staying an extra day. He originally planned to drive back home Sunday, but I wanted to show him the nifty stuff I'd seen there in West Virginia, and I wanted to spend some quality time with him before returning to all those home responsibilities, you know? So we had a lovely day Sunday and drove home on Monday. This is the first time in, I dunno, more than a decade that he and I have had a few days alone together. Man, it was great! Diva stayed home with C, who didn't supervise her very well and she stayed up until 5 a.m. watching TV. Oh well. Superman and I got to spend some time alone together!

Today Superman and I are driving up to Light's place. Sproing is still there with her, and he needs to come home. She says he's eaten her out of house and home. He's 14. You know. They're getting along well, though. And Light is moving out of her current place. Daddy and Sproing are going to help her move. Mom is going to sit in the air conditioned cafe and drink coffee and surf the interwebs while those other brave souls are moving heavy boxes in the hot summer sun.

Originally the plan was for Superman to go up by himself and me to stay home with the Diva. After being apart for so long, we don't want to be away from each other. So I've engaged a young lady of our acquaintance to stay here with Diva (one who will supervise her better than C does, I think) while the two of us go back to Pennsylvania. And we're taking two days to get up there. It's a lovely, comfortable drive for two days, and a hell of a push for one day. With Sproing along on the return trip we will probably push it in one day.

And that's about all I know for now. And now you know the story of my exciting adventurous vacation.
The End.

Not Tuesday, but here with more of the story

Sorry about the not Tuesday thing. I got distracted. Again. So it's Saturday and I will continue the story about the car crash.

When we left our heroine, the folks with flashy lights on their vehicles had arrived on the scene. The sheriff's representative was tall, kind of broad but not thick, with a blonde crew cut. And was in uniform, which always helps, right? He was very friendly. He was handsome but not Hollywood drop dead gorgeous. Two EMTs arrived in the ambulance. One was a woman (Shirley?) who is even larger than I am. Very nice, too. She drove the ambulance. The other fella, and I can't now remember his name, looked a bit like a Bubba, though clean and professional. He wore a Bubba cap a lot like this one. It may have been camo.  The guy's teeth looked somewhat like Mater's, but more crooked. And he was missing one just right of the front tooth.   
In other words, he looked like what I expected from West Virginia. He was probably 5'10" at the most, and had a nice spare tire around the middle. He was super nice, though, and very professional. He was obviously a lot smarter than my image of a Bubba. We had a lovely chat on the way to the hospital.

Let's see... I had two nurses and a nurse practitioner at the hospital. One of the nurses was a middle aged lady, brunette, who was very friendly (they all were, you know) and looked a lot like a nurse, but with a bright flowery scrub top, not a white uniform. The other nurse was a silver bear of a man with a brush mustache. His hair was white! The nurse practitioner was a very handsome middle aged gent, most distinguished. He had a mustache, too, and his hair was a graying light brown. I didn't see him for very long, and he was standing close to me, poking at my head. I didn't get a really good look at him, though I noticed he was a tall bear.

Finally after all the x-rays and more cups of water and more trips to the bathroom, the doctor showed up. He stood in the doorway, looked at my chart, asked a few questions, and said something like "It's all good." Not exactly like that, of course, but that's the message in a nutshell. This fella, whose name, according to the name on my wrist band as attending physician, was John Johnson, and was smokin' hot! He wore plain green scrubs and was small in stature with slightly curly deep black hair. Are you familiar with Dr. McDreamy? This guy looked similar, but smaller.

So I'd been inspected and declared OK. I could leave the hospital, but go where? Well, I thought, "What would an adult do in this situation?" Time for a rental car. There were a few ladies at the check-in window of the emergency department who were extremely kind and helpful. They informed me of the rental car places at the airport, and called a cab for me. Get this: the name of the cab company is "Cosmic Cab." Duuude! The cab was a minivan, looked pretty normal despite the Cosmic name. So out to the airport, which was tiny! Real airplanes fly in and out! Both United and Delta have service there. The check-in area had maybe three desk thingies, and was separated from the baggage claim area by a set of doors leading out to the tarmac. Quite simple. Quaint, even. But I was there for a car, not a plane ride. I had called ahead to make sure an agent was there and had a car available. Didn't want to pay for a ride to the airport for nothing. Wasn't that responsible adult of me?

So I did the rental car thing, got a Toyota Camry. It's a much nicer car than the Chevrolet Aveo, let me tell ya. The trunk is almost big enough for the Aveo to fit in, and the Camry is not a large car. I drove out to the middle of nowhere to the tow truck guy's place and he helped me move my junk into the Camry. Then we stood in his driveway for an hour and chatted. He's an interesting character, and lots of fun to talk to. Not a particularly handsome guy. He looks like a tow truck driver. But super friendly.

I drove back into Lewisburg to get a motel room. Went into the cheap-but-not-desperate place and asked "Do you have a room?" and he said "Nope." Oops. Really? Really. There is one exit off the interstate for Lewisburg and of course all the hotel/motel chains are right there. If he's full, probably every other hotel is full, too. He confirmed this. Then I told him my sad tale of being in a car crash earlier that day, being stranded in town and not knowing anyone, etc. He ended up giving me a room that was reserved for someone who didn't come in. Or something. I don't know how these things work, but I suspect he had a couple of rooms available that he was holding back for, what? A better offer? Anyway, I got a room. And then I finally went to supper. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, when I fixed myself scrambled egg with tomato, mushroom, and onion and a few pieces of toast with apple butter before I checked out of the cabin. Remember how this day started at the rustic one-room cabin in the state park? It was a really long day. And I needed food.

The room key card was also a 10% off coupon for the Applebee's down the road. Boo-yah! Shrimp fettuccine here I come! I changed clothes before going to dinner, and made such a mess of my shirt with the fettuccine that I couldn't wear it again before washing it. Oy.

Then I went back to the room and finally went to bed. It was a very long day.

But wait, how did I get back home to South Carolina? The rental car was not a one-way rental, and I wasn't supposed to leave the state. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode in Java's dramatic vacation!

P.S. Ur-Spo, I didn't think about this as a blog post until I was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. "My first view of Lewisburg was from the back of an ambulance."

Finally on my own! (for a little while)

I am writing this from the most adorable coffee shop called The Cathedral Cafe in downtown Fayetteville, West Virginia. I am staying in Babcock State Park in southeast West Virginia in the cutest little rustic cabin. It's a one room cabin with full kitchen, bunk double beds (low clearance) and a lovely screened porch. I took pictures until my camera batteries died. Batteries are on my list of things to get today while I'm out. The cabin has a small (and I mean small) bathroom tacked on as if an afterthought. It has a small shower stall, a low toilet, and a small sink that I wash my face in while sitting on the toilet. Convenient, no? 

On my list of things to do today: go to this café, enjoy the stained glass windows and coffee, and get online! (Except right now the internet connection has gone flunky, so I’m typing this on a word doc until I can hook up again.) I also need to find a laundromat. I stopped at the library in here in Fayetteville to inquire about a laundromat. Nope. No such creature in this town. The nice library man gave me directions to a laundromat in Oak Hill, about five miles down the highway. It’s across the street from a Rite Aid, which is cool because I need one of those too.

I got myself some healthy food at the grocery when I tumbled into town on Tuesday. Or maybe I went Wednesday morning after a good night sleep since I got to the cabin at 8:00 p.m. I don’t remember, honestly. I fixed myself a grilled chicken salad last night, grilling the chicken on the charcoal grill outside my cabin beside the picnic table. Cool beans! Tonight I intend to have a veggie burger (grilled: see above). There’s leftover salad for lunch, or to accompany the burger. I also have plans for an omelet with mushrooms, onions, and tomato.

I leave tomorrow (Friday). Heading back home, where I will once again be reunited with Superman. He and I are both looking forward to that. Before coming to West Virginia I was in Indiana, Pennsylvania with my darling Light. Tuesday was her 23^rd birthday. I was there that morning, left shortly after noon. It was very good to see her.

The ostensible reason for this trip is to take Sproing to Pennsylvania to spend a couple of weeks with his sister Light, away from his sister Diva. Which I did. Sproing and I left South Carolina on Saturday, July 7^th and headed south to Florida. Saw Mama in the Orlando area, my brother Mike came down to hang with us Sunday. On Tuesday Sproing and I went to Gainesville to see my dad and brother. We left there … Thursday? I can’t remember exactly. It took us two days to get from Gainesville, Florida to Indiana, Pennsylvania. By the time we got to Light’s place Sproing and I had traveled together 1700 miles. That’s a loooooooong way to spend in the car with a hyperactive 14 year old!!! We were both tired of being with each other by the time we got to Light’s place.

I am an introvert. We’ve had this discussion before, I believe. That means I like to spend time alone. From the 7^th until the 17^th of July I was in almost constant contact with Sproing. I love the kid, and usually like him pretty well. But my gods! He’s high energy and high maintenance. Light is also a joy to be with, but after so many many many days of not having any alone time I was going bugnuts! As much as I love that girl, I was very glad to leave. I’ve been alone almost constantly since I left her place Tuesday afternoon. Relief!

From all accounts Sproing and Light are doing well together. I set Sproing up with a short term guest membership at the fitness center where Light goes. He spends lots of time over there! He really likes it. When I went to see him there Tuesday morning he was doing drills with one of the guys who works there. They seem to have taken a liking to him, and I believe he’s doing very well. He wants more money so he can join some kind of class there. Light is working with him on that. I left her money to help with his expenses. She’s bribing him daily with an allowance that’s tied to his behavior. She’s such a smart girl.

On the home front, Diva is behaving perfectly for her daddy. Pisses me off, though I’m glad she’s being easy for Superman. Superman himself is doing pretty well. He got sick yesterday, finally. Seems to be some kind of short viral thing. He always gets sick when I leave him. This time he lasted 2.5 weeks before getting sick! I’m so impressed. And this is the longest I’ve ever been away from him, if I recall. It’s hard on him. I’m having a blast, though I miss him. When I’m the one who is away, I don’t have trouble. When he’s gone and I’m at home, I don’t do so well. Especially if he leaves me with those wicked children. Poor guy. I go home tomorrow. I miss him a lot. I wish he could be here with me. We’d have lots of fun in the state park. I think he’d like the cabin, mostly. The low clearance on the bed would be troublesome. He’s a tall fella. I told him that we need to come back in the fall, just the two of us, and get a cabin for a long weekend. Or a whole week! We could get one of the cabins that isn’t so rustic and maybe has a bed that isn’t stacked.

I’m rambling. Again. And I need to do my laundry and get back to the cabin for lunch. So I’m off. Suppose I’ll post again when I get home, probably over the weekend. I expect to be home late tomorrow, as I want to check out another cute town in the other direction from the park on my way out of West Virginia.

I must say, West Virginia sure is beautiful. It has a bad reputation for some things, for sure, but it is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.