A Summer Road Trip Begins

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We are at the Elkhorn Inn in Eckman, WV. It was a good stopping point for us. It is at a narrow mountain pass between a railroad track and the Tug River. It is historic. We appear to be tonight's only guests. As far as we can tell, a frieght train comes past at least hourly. It will be a long night if true! This is coal country and also the region of Hatfield - McCoy fame, now for ATVing, as well as the Home of the Rocket Boys. Not that there is anything to see but the signage. It is interesting.

We left Raleigh around 9:30am this morning. We drove the Interstates until we turned North on US Route 52 towards Pilot Mountain and Mt. Airy. We plan to drive all the way to the southern outskirts of Chicago on US Route 52. It predates the Interstate system and goes from South Carolina to North Dakota! It has been very scenic so far and also not for those who get car sick. It has been a challenge for me. A few miles north of Mt. Airy and suddenly we were in the mountains and curvy roads. It was dramatic. Then we were in Virginia. When we crossed into West Virginia, we think we were in a tunnel! I was designated photographer most of the in the car and I was trying for road signs and I know I didn't get one for WV.

We stopped in Mt. Airy which was the model for TV's fictional Mayberry. We had pork chop sandwiches at Snappy Lunch. Reasonable prices and good sandwiches. The pork chops were breaded which was a surprise. It was a surprisingly busy little town and clearly making a good living off a long gone TV show. We could have spent more time there but didn't have it. It was a good thing we didn't take longer because traffic was horrible on both I-77 and US Route 52 N today. I have no idea why. I was glad it wasn't 4th of July weekend or something. Anyway we spent about an hour stopping and rolling and it took longer to get to our stop for the night than we'd planned.

We went to dinner at the Corner Shoppe which was not too close but nothing is. It was a good choice. They had a bunch of Mayberry theme named sandwiches continuing that theme. It was an old fashioned ice cream parlor. I had a chocolate malt and when Clay learned no root beer so no float, I convinced him to order a Purple Cow!

Tomorrow we go to Cincinnati where we hope to see Fiona! Clay is waitng for Skyline Chili.

Clay says he'll not look at or post photos until after we come home. Sorry! Check back later...

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