Day 10 - Petersburgh, VA

October 11, 2019

Weather was great again today. The furnace was set on 64 degrees and rain a few times in the early morning hours. Jeans and a long sleeve shirt felt good in the morning, a tee shirt and shorts were great the rest of the day.

Kathy started the morning doing another load of laundry at the campground laundromat this morning, she did two loads after we arrived yesterday. After that we headed to Richmond. 

ALL of the parking lots around the American Civil War Museum were closed for a Folk Festival, and we could find no on street parking. I finally stopped a guy in a golf cart, told him we were from Missouri and wanted to go to the museum. I asked him if he knew of a place we could park. He had us turn around and follow him up this NARROW, cobblestone lane to a place where could park on just off the lane.

Looking back down the lane.

We both went through the Tredegar Iron Works museum and while Kathy sat on a bench I went through the American Civil War Museum. I was disappointed. There was some interesting verbiage about how the Tredegar Iron Works produced half the cannons used by the Confederacy and how the Confederacy was so short on manpower that the Iron Works employed more than 300 young girls to make percussion caps, friction primers, fuses and small arms cartridges. 9-12 year old girls averaged 1,200 cartridges per day. It was estimated that they make 72 million cartridges during the war, almost half the number produced throughout the Confederacy during the war.

The American Civil War Museum appears to have been “sanitized” by the Yankee businessmen responsible for the War of Northern Aggression. No mention was made of how the vast majority of income received by the federal government prior to the war came from tariffs on products imported into the South. The Museum would have you believe the war was all about slavery, which is a total lie. It was about changing our nation from one where States had power to one where virtually all power was in the federal government, sort of going back to the days before the Revolutionary War. It was also about Northern states refusal to abide by the Constitution and a federal government that did nothing about it. (Similar to the recent Congress’s outright refusal to enforce immigration laws passed by Congress. And even worse their refusal to even revise the laws they won’t enforce.)

One good thing came out of this, it piqued my curiousity and when we are someplace with a decent Internet connection I will be doing some research on the causes of the War of Northern Agression (Yankees call it the Civil War, there was nothing Civil about the deaths of 650,000 soldiers.)

This weekends Folk Festival looks like a HUGE event. We won’t be going back into Richmond tomorrow. Traffic was terrible today.

Kathy had happen to see something about a Henricus Historical Park, in Chester, VA, in some of the literature we have. On our way into Richmond we saw a sign about it an exit. On our way back out we decided to check it out. It was AWESOME! I took far to many photos to post them, but I will post a few. For some reason we have found almost no public information about it.

On May 14, 1607 Virginia Company settlers landed on Jamestown Island to establish an English colony, about 60 miles from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. They were sent here to find riches, to make a profit for investors in the Virginia Company. In terms of a business venture it was not a success. They were attacked by Indians within days of their arrival. The site was boggy and prone to disease. Most importantly they found now gold or anything else of value to send back to the investors.

In 1611 the investors sent 300 mercenaries to set up a town further upriver. They settled at a point 20-30 miles (I think) up the James River from Jamestown. In four months, even though they were regularly attacked by Indians, they built a fortified settlement with frame houses, a church, storehouses, watchtowers, etc. Once again however, they initially found nothing of value to send back to England that would make a profit for investors. No one seems to know where the seeds came from but John Rolfe started growing a new strain, non-native, of tobacco. It was a hit with the English because it was far cheaper than the tobacco they could buy from the Spaniards. The investors started getting a return on their investment.

There is a LOT more to the story, Pocahontas becomes a Christian and marries John Rolfe, after 8 years of peace the Indians massacre about a fourth of the inhabitants, etc.

A Powhatan indian family dwelling.. 

 The exterior is sheets of woven reeds, something similar to cattails.

 Inside.

Inside the fort, which originally encompassed about 7 acres.

 I think this was the first church.

 Craftsmanship looked amazing to me.

 Mortise and tenon and pegged joints all over the place.

Blacksmith shop.

 Tobacco barn.

 The first hospital in the New World.

More awesome framing.

A cable stayed bridge on I295, over the James River. Because I missed a turn when we came through Richmond yesterday we got to drive over it, as part of our 18 mile detour. We had to slip out the back gate of the village to get these last two photos.

The James River. The bridge is in the left background. Note the guys in the boat fishing.

I'm not sure what tomorrow holds for us but I do know that God is good, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28. May He bless you and yours.

Day 9 - Lexington, VA to Petersburg, VA

October 10, 2019

Today we traveled from Lexington, VA to Petersburg, VA; about 200 miles. Total miles traveled so far 1,153.

We are South Forty Resort & Campground, about 30 miles south of Richmond. Traffic was the heaviest we have encountered. No stop and go traffic, but a lot of bumper to bumper once we hit Richmond. We went through about 3PM, I can’t imagine what it must be like during rush hour.

At the South Forty. The pool is closed for the season but it looks wonderful. Since the nights are down into the 50's and the highs for the past several days have only been in the mid 70's I expect the water would be brisk

 Our campsite. Nothing fancy, but everything we need.

 The campground is fairly large. There are some nice wooded sites in other areas.

The plan is to stay here 3 nights. That will give us 2 days to explore the area.

Had a life lesson today. We have had some issues this trip. We needed to have some welding done the first stop. Another day we lost a wheel bearing dust cap and had a difficult time finding a replacement. This morning I checked the oil in the truck and there was oil up several inches above the full mark. I checked it twice more and got the same result. (Yesterday we put some real stress on the old Duramax, lots of climbs up and then engine braking on the descents.) A mechanic suggested starting it, letting it warm up, shutting it off, waiting 5 minutes and checking it again. When I started it the oil pressure was around 70, it normally runs 60 when cold. After letting it run for maybe 5 minutes I shut it off, waited 5 minutes and checked the oil again. It looked a little over full, but nothing like when I previously checked. We drove about 100 miles and stopped at a rest area for lunch. The oil level was fine.

Now for the life lesson. Kathy & I are doing a study with some friends at Centertown Baptist Church. The workbook is titled, “Experiencing God.” The point is that we all need to strive to have a personal, intimate relationship with God. Just praying the sinner’s prayer and filling a church pew on Sunday morning is not going to make us the people God wants us to be. The points the authors set out are: 1. God is always at work; 2. He wants a personal relationship with each of us; 3. He gives us an invitation to join Him in his work; 4. He “speaks” to us to reveal how He wants us to participate in His work; 5. When we hear Him speak to us (probably not an audible voice, more likely He will speak to us through what we have read, or are reading, in the Bible), we will have a “crisis of faith”. Is that God really speaking to me?; 6. Once we hear Him we have to decide whether or not to participate in His work. This will require changes in our lives because we will need to re-arrange our priorities; 7. We obey God’s call and He works through us.

So where is my life lesson? I think God was just getting me to ask myself, “Do my recent reactions to these minor trials show that I believe God is in control?” Perhaps also, “Am I ready to make necessary modification in my lifestyle to participate in His work?” Whatever happens, good or bad, I must remember that God loves me and that He is in control. I need to look for His purpose. I hope this made at least a little sense to you.

God is good. May He bless you and yours.

Day 8 - Beckley WV to Lexington VA

October 9, 2019

No rain this morning when we hooked up and left Beckley. We did have something of a scare. I always try to remember to check the trailer brakes as I’m pulling out of a campground. It was especially important in Beckley because of the step downhill grade, and 90 degree turn, exiting the campground. NO TRAILER BRAKES! I crept down the hill and pulled off in an empty parking area before entering the street. The trailer taillights and brake lights worked properly. I unplugged and replugged the 7 pin connection several times. Didn’t seem to make a difference. After several trips back and forth in the parking lot the brakes seemed so work some of the time. We headed down the street and by the time we got a couple of blocks they seemed to be working fine. The only thing we could think of was that somehow the multiple days of rain had gotten them wet. Thank you Jesus that the problem went away.

We drove from Beckley to White Sulfur Springs and stopped to tour the Greenbrier Bunker. When I made reservations yesterday the earliest time we could get was 2PM today. We arrived early and looked around the Greenbrier a little. It is WAY to uppercrust for this redneck.The facility is beautiful, and so are the grounds. I bought a ham & turkey “wrap” and a cup of coffee. They cost me $16.75, $5 more than my GOOD, earlybird, Texas Roadhouse, 6 oz sirloin and baked potato. This wasn’t in a restaurant, the wrap came out of cooler in a gift shop. The lady in front of me bought a bottle of Coke. She paid in cash. I didn’t see how much she gave the cashier but when she got a few coins in change she just stared at them, like she was waiting for more change.

We watched the 1:30 tour depart, there were over 20 people in it. There were 26 in our 2:00 tour.

The tour was 90 minutes long. It was quite interesting. Some of the high points. The 100,000+ square foot bunker was built in secret in the early 60’s. It was built as a radiation shelter to house Congress, not their family, for 45 days. The capacity was 1,100 people. 100 Senators, 435 Representatives and one staffer for each. It is a concrete box with 3-5’ thick walls and roof. The roof is covered by 15-20 feet of earth and then a 6 story wing of the Greenbrier Hotel. It was built in conjunction with the 6 story addition to the Greenbrier. People were told that the addition would contain several underground conference/exhibition areas. There were conference/exhibition areas that were used by the public, but if the need arose the public would have been evacuated from the areas as Congressmen came in and 4 or 5 concealed blast doors would have been closed and locked. One interesting point was that when this was built airplanes were the system used to deliver nuclear weapons. It would take 8-9 hours from the time a plane left Russia before it could have been in position to bomb the DC area. Within 5 hours most members of Congress could have been transported to the bunker. All members of Congress had a designated place to go should a national emergency arise. They knew they would be taken somewhere, but they didn’t know where. Tanks in the bunker contained 75,000 gallons of fresh water, and there was a water purification system. 42,000 gallons of diesel fuel was stored to run one of the 3 -750kw generators (2 were backups). The equivalent of 45 days of MRE’s for over 1,100 people were kept in storage. 4 days worth of fresh food was always kept on hand, for 30 years. It was routinely rotated up to the main Greenbrier kitchens so that none was wasted. When I have a decent WiFi connection I need to do some more reading about the facility.

The Greenbrier is owned by CSX. President Eisenhower and the head of the railroad cut a secret deal, but that is another story. In order to make use of all the space CSX started a division named CSX IP, LLC. It specializes in storing highly sensitive data (trade secret type stuff) for companies. We couldn't take cell phones, electronic devices, bags, etc. with us. The tour guide used a card to unlock numerous doors along our travel path. He regularly did a head count to make sure we were still all with him.

After the tour we continued on to Lexington, VA. The scenery is AWESOME! I64 has some real hills in it between White Sulfur Springs and Lexington. Not just up and down hills, but up, up, up and down, down, down hills. We came down one stretch that was over 5 miles of continuous 7% grade. We way a lot of very slow semi's traveling westbound. 

Tonight we are staying at a TA truckstop campground. It isn’t fancy but has everything we need and it’s a deal for $31.50/night.

Parked at the campground.

 Looking down on the truck stop. It is surprising at how little noise we hear. We can hear a few semi's running, but the sound isn't loud enough to bother us.

Weather was great today. Partly cloudy, I don't think the high hit 70, and tonights low is forecast to be 49. Tomorrow we head east again. We have driven 904 miles.

God is good. May He bless you and yours.

Day 7 - Another Rainy Day in Beckley

October 8, 2019

It misted rain all day today and was cool. The high was 57 degrees. Not a great day for outdoor activities. The folks who live here in Beckley are thanking God for the rain. They said it has been very dry.

We spent the morning doing some reading. In the afternoon I went over and toured the Coal Mine Museum. They had added bench seats to some old “man” cars they had hauled coal. (A man had to load at least 6 of the cars with a ton of coal each during his 12  hour shift or he was fired.) I was surprised that there were around 30 people on the tour I took. There is a tour every hour. A former miner takes you on a 1,500 foot trip along the old mine rails. He stopped several times to educate us on the duties of miners and show us some of the old equipment. The coal seams in this mine were about 24” thick. A miner laid on his side and with a pick scraped out a 4 foot wide slot at the bottom of the seam. He then drilled holes into the top of the seam, packed the holes with gunpowder and set it off. After the coal was cleaned out another 2 foot of rock was broken out so that the mine height was 4 feet. The miner then repeated the process. It was incredibly dangerous and incredibly tough work. 

Our guide worked in a coal mine for over 40 years. Both of his older brothers have already died of black lung disease. He said that he started wearing a respirator as soon as they were available. Many other miners made fun of him but he continued to wear it. He had absolutely nothing positive to say about coal companies. He said that in the 40+ years he worked in the mines he had only one boss who valued the lives of the miners. 

EVERYTHING in the area was owned by the coal company. You rented a house from the coal company, the rent was deducted from your pay. You bought your groceries from the coal company store, in fact you bought everything you couldn’t make for yourself from the coal company store. You were paid with coal company script that could only be spent in the coal company store. When a miner was killed by the time he was buried his family had been ejected from their house.

The museum, on the 2^nd floor of the building shown below was okay but the mine and the grounds were the real treat.

 Below is an attempt to get a photo of a single miners house. It was one room, less than 100 square feet. It contained a small stove, a small "kitchen" table, a chair and a cot.

Below was a house for a miner family. It has one bedroom, a kitchen and a "living" room. If I did the math right it took about 2 weeks work to pay the rent. In addition to a couple and MANY kids living in a house like this the couple would sometimes take in a single miner to help pay the rent.

Below is the 3 story mine superintendents house.

The mine was lit with bright bulbs every so many feet. I tried to take a couple of photos in the mine but the contrast between the dark mine interior and the bright bulbs was to much for my camera skills to get any decent photos.

When I got back I jacked up the trailer axle that had lost the dust cap, spun the wheel some and added a little more grease to the bearing. It seems fine.

We went to a Texas Roadhouse for supper. Got there before 6 PM to take advantage of their early bird special. The food and service were excellent. Hope the one being built in Jeff will be as good.

Tomorrow we head east to see the Greenbrier bunker. We aren't sure where we are staying tomorrow night. The place I had originally planned to stay was full when I called to make a reservation. I found a couple of other campgrounds a little further down the road. In the morning we will call them and see if we can reserve a site at one of them.

God is good. May He bless you and yours.

Day 6 - A Rainy Day in Beckley

October 7, 2019

Not much to report today. It rained most of the day here in Beckley, over 2” so far. Today’s high was 69 after last nights low of 55.

I visited the Virgil, he and his wife are in the 5^th wheel parked next to us. They used to live in Beckley. They moved here around 2000 but then moved to Georgia to be near kids & grandkids. Drew was probably still here when they moved here. They are on their way north, to Pennsylvania and New York, on the lookout for the fall color change. They spend time during the winter at the Escapees campground in Summerdale, AL. We probably stayed there at the same time, although we haven’t been there for years. He likes his Dodge 3500 dually and 5^th wheel. They had a 43’ Winnebago motorhome before the 5^th wheel. Sort of reminded me of the “motorhome from hell” stories. He said one of the slide roofs leaked the entire time they had it. Dealers had done warranty work on it numerous times and then he started paying to try and get the leak stopped. Said he finally got so disgusted with  it the he took money out of his retirement plan and paid someone to steal it from him (not literally steal it, basically he sold it cheap just to get rid of it).

I had to get the wheel bearing dust cap replaced before we leave so I called the local RV place to see if they had one. Told them what axle I had and they said sure. We drove up their and the guy gave me one that looked to big. I told him that I thought the bore on the hub was very close to 2”. When I got out to the truck I measured the one he gave me, it was about 2.75”. When back in and the only other one he had measured about 2.25”, I took it. Also paid $45 for 2 – 10’ sewer hose extensions so we could dump our tanks while here.

Next stop was Rural King. I bought a grease gun and tube of lithium grease for the wheel bearing. They needed some salt on their free popcorn, but I managed to wolf down a sack of it all by myself.

We had lunch at a mediocre Chinese restaurant. Food was adequate. Virgil was there and saw us as he was leaving. He told us it was one of his favorite restaurants while he lived here. His wife was with a friend she used to bowl with. They were at the Bob Evans. He didn’t go with them because he said the babble on for hours. (Virgil is 74. He and his wife have been married for 54 years.)

When we got back to the camper I tried the dust cap, in the pouring rain, it was to big. I retaped the hub to protect it as much as I could from the rain and mud spatters from the rain. I found the dust cover I need on Amazon (why does anyone bother to go to stores, other than Rural King, to try and find stuff). I probably could have had it shipped to me at the campground but it wouldn’t get here until Wednesday. We originally planned on leaving tomorrow. If we waited on it we probably couldn’t leave until Thursday. 

I called NAPA they had 2 different sizes but I didn’t think either size would fit. I called Advance Auto. They had a generic cap that sounded like it might work. I went over and bought a pair, they are only sold in pairs. The ones I bought are aftermarket items that include a grease fitting for axles that don’t already have a fitting. I had to take the grease fitting out of mine but managed to get one on the hub. I pumped a LOT of grease into the hub. I hope the bearing is still OK. I will jack up the axle and spin the tire tomorrow to see if I can detect a problem, when it isn’t raining.

By then it was 3PM, the last coal mine tour was at 4:30. I was wet and cold. We decided to stay another day, leave Wednesday. I took a nap. I will tour the museum & mine tomorrow.

I called the Greenbrier Resort, in White Springs, to see if there was RV parking available while people went on the "bunker tour". I was transferred to “Transportation”. A guy told me I could park at the train station across the street. We now plan to leave here on Wednesday, drive about 2 hours to the Greenbrier, take the tour and then continue on to another campground about 2 hours further east.

The Greenbrier  probably doesn’t want my 14 year old truck and 7 year old travel trailer anywhere near their posh facility. I checked their room rates. There 2 night special, which includes breakfast and a $100/day credit for dinner or the spa, costs $699. The room is the size of a SMALL motel room. To eat in the dining room men must wear a suit and tie. No ballcaps in any of their venues. You can’t walk through the place wearing a swimsuit and robe, you must change in the locker room by the pool. FAR to highbrow for this redneck, but I will be interested in seeing the over 100,000 square foot facility, under the mountain, that our tax dollars paid for to keep politicians safe during a nuclear attack.

Good is good. May He bless you and yours.

Day 5 - Dry Ridge to Beckley

Oct 6, 2019

Today we drove from Dry Ridge, KY to Beckley, WV. We have driven 838 miles since leaving Centertown.

We decided to be “adventurous” when leaving this morning. The route the GPS offered was to take I75 south to Lexington then I64 to Beckley. We had driven to Beckley several times when Drew, our younger son, helped install the computer system during construction of a federal prison in Beckley. From Cincinnati we drove down the AA Highway. We marveled at the “nice road in the middle of nowhere”. I wanted to drive the route again. The only route the GPS would offer was going back 18 miles north to the I275 loop around Cincinnati and then catching the AA Hwy as it crossed I275 heading southeast. Kathy saw a KY route 22 that seemed to be a shortcut. Our GPS, which is a RV’ers model, refused to route us on it, we tried it anyway. The road was smooth and it was scenic, with many hills and numerous 15 mph curves. It took us 2 hours to drive 50 miles. I’m glad we did it once. If I was in the same position in the future I would drive the extra distance back to I275. AA Highway was as nice as we remembered.

It misted rain on us a couple of times, but one or two swipes of the wipers was all that was required. We travelled about 280 miles today.

Today’s RV adventures started when we stopped at a truck stop for fuel and for Kathy to fix us some lunch. I can’t remember if I mentioned that I had adjusted the brakes on the trailer before we left. When doing that I noticed that one of the wheel bearings seemed a little loose. I pulled of the dust cap and tightened the nut one notch on the castellated nut. I try to do a walk around inspection whenever we stop for fuel or meals, just to make sure all is well. The dust cap was gone from the wheel I where I had adjusted the bearing. I was concerned about dirt and rain getting into the bearing so I “patched” it.

 At the campground 160 miles later. Hard to believe that my duct tape patch lasted.

Beckley has a Coal Mine Museum that I want to see. We planned on staying at their campground. I had looked at Google’s satellite image of the area and could not see any place large enough for 17 full hook-up RV spaces. Kathy called the campground this morning and made sure they had a site available and she specifically asked the lady if the campground was at the Museum. She was told yes. The “street” to the museum is more like a paved lane with houses on both sides. There were signs directing us to the “Campground” and we followed the to the museum. Once we were in the museum parking lot it was obvious that there was no campground at the museum. There was also no place large enough to make a “loop” around the parking lot to get back out. Kathy when in and registered while I waited in the truck, in case I had to move it for someone coming in or out of the lot. The campground is several blocks from the museum. I managed to back down, and I mean down, a paved lane between two levels of museum parking so that we could get turned around and out of the lot. The road leading to the campground is a one lane paved road that is steep and makes a 90 degree turn. Note the black tire marks in one of the photos below. I know my posi-traction works. I had to “burn” my way up the damp road.

Looking down the lane from the curve.

 Looking up the lane. Note the double black marks near the top. Our truck and trailer are parked at the top of the hill.

We made the tight campground loop and when we came to our site I told her, “There is no way I can back the trailer into that site.” She talked me into giving it a try. With her, and God’s, help I backed in the first try.

The electric connection is on the wrong side but we had just enough cable, without having to use and extension cord, to make a connection. The water and sewer connections are behind the trailer. The water connection was no problem. The sewer was another issue. I carry 3 -10’ sections of sewer hose and thought I probably had enough to make the connection. I carry 2 of the 10’ sections in the rear trailer bumper tube. I pulled one out connected it to the one I carry in the storage area and went back to get the third one. The end cap was gone out of the bumper and so was the 10’ section of sewer hose. In order to get two 10’ sections of the “accordion” sewer hose in the 8’-6” bumper I run a bungee strap through one of them to keep it compressed. The other section compresses naturally. I had needed two 10’ sections at the last campground and when I put the one in the bumper I noticed some resistance, but just pushed it in. My guess is that the bungee strap had come undone and that the compressed hose just pushed of the end cap and eventually worked its way out of the bumper.

Tomorrow we will tour the Coal Mine Museum and make a trip to Rural King and a local RV dealer. Yes, we are still having a great time! These little challenges just add some zest to life. 

69 degrees and damp, but enjoying Beckley.

God is still good, actually He is great. May He bless you and yours.

Dry Ridge KY - Day 4 - Creation Museum

Saturday, October 5, 2019

First let me mention something I don’t think I put in yesterday’s blog post. I would not recommend taking kids to the Ark Encounter. They will be bored after the first half hour. Youth from mid-teens and up, might be interested in learning more about the Ark story.

Today we went to the Creation Museum. I felt a lot better, but I don’t think that was the total reason I liked it far more that the Ark. If you have to make a choice between the two, choose the Creation Museum, especially if you have younger kids. There is a fair amount for them to do at the Creation Museum.

Weather was beautiful today. It was 58 in the trailer when we got up this morning. We didn’t even bother turning the furnace on . It warmed up into the high 70’s and was sunny.

Kathy petting a dinosaur at the entrance to the Creation Museum.

Bert on the grounds at the Creation Museum. There were nice walks around the outside of the Museum. Lots of nice flowers and shrubs.

Of course eating always is a top priority. The food was okay, but not as good, nor as cheap, as at the Ark.

We saw this rig in the parking lot as we were getting ready to leave. About a 45' motorhome pulling a dually pickup. In the bed of the pickup was a "mule" type vehicle and on the back of it were bicycles.

We probably spent 3-4 hours at the Museum. We got tired. Probably could have easily spent another hour, maybe even two.

Today's RV repair was working on the antenna. I have never been able to get TV reception through the crank up antenna. I cranked it up last night to give it a try. I thought we should certainly get a few channels this close to Cincinnati. We got none. Went I tried to put it back down it was stuck. Had to go on the roof a couple of times to dismantle it enough to get it down. I lost a retaining clip during the process so it will stay down the remainder of the trip. I bought a cheap, indoor, digital antenna at Walmart. With it on the TV we picked up 18 digital channels, although some were repeats. When I get home I will have to do more trouble shooting on the antenna and the coax from the antenna to the TV.

Filled up on our way home from the museum. Fuel was $2.899/gal here. Tomorrow will be a long day for us, close to 300 miles, as we head for Beckley, WV.

God is good, I was sure glad he kept me from falling off the trailer roof. 😀 May He bless you and yours.