Adventures in Navigation - West Virginia and Indiana Style
There are a couple of critical choices made by the navigator
Always know where we are going
Always have a place to land for the night
Ensure the road is actually something we would ‘choose’ to drive down our 9 foot wide, 50-foot long and 15 tons oversize home down.
Always remember, nothing that is cheap or free is really cheap or free.
Well, the navigator really outdid herself this time. We learned the limit of our abilities and all it took was a trip through West Virginia and Indiana. I’m glad to report Old Dan, Little Ann and our marriage survived this challenge.
Honestly, the best way to understand what happens is to read the kid’s stories below. Basically, we were on the move west and only needed short overnight stays. We used Harvest Host to find two places that were “free” with the purchase of Whiskey or Wine. A two birds one stone situation if you know Desiree and me.
The first place was West Virginia, where a wrong turn led us down a very small road for a few miles. The navigator is going to interject here - it was a wrong turn that the navigator TOLD the driver not to make, but he made it despite my suggestion to wait one minute while I tried to pull up the satellite. Very stressful miles as we were unable to turn around, backup, or otherwise change our fate. We basically proceeded on faith that we would not cross a bridge with a weight limit, was too low, or hit a tree in the backcountry, as the road became more holes than road with each mile we drove. We survived and eventually landed at a Moonshine Distillery. Also located in the neighborhood was the local cattle auction joint. All night long, ranchers were delivering their cattle for the morning auction and those cattle were up all night mooing. I was surprised to learn that each cow has its very own distinct voice - apparent to those who get to hear them mooing for 8 hours straight. Needless to say, we were all to bed a little late and up early to pull out as the sun rose. So yes the stay was ‘free’ but could have been very expensive.
The next stop was a bit different but still challenging. Desiree found the lovely Blue Heron Vineyard and Winery at the top of a hill overlooking the Ohio River. This challenge was not as bad as West Virginia, but it was a single lane dirt road nearly straight up (grade of 9 degrees minimum). Trees were caving in on us but alas we made it up by the grace of God. Once we got up there, Desiree started to become concerned with the trip back down.
The view was amazing and then we learned there was a bit of a party that evening (socially distanced and masks, of course). We got some wine and listened to an Irish band play. The kids have missed live performances so much they sat there for an hour listening to the band.
Aaron was also able to go into town and source some supplies to fix our leaking sink. Always something to be fixed.
As for the final outcome of this part of our trip, we now have a new measure of ‘bad’ and ‘free’. As in, “well it wasn’t as bad as that time in West Virginia”…
