Once again, our Fall Trip started in Aurora, ON. (We left on the traditional first day of school in honor of all the teachers who start work on that day.) Our route usually follows a path that includes Buffalo, NY, Pittsburgh,PA, and Beckley, WV. It is from Beckley that we branch out.
This year we started with Hillsville, VA. Hillsville is a small town just off I-77 before the VA/NC border. This trip makes it the third time we have stayed here this year. It is a town that we have passed many times (as do thousands of others who travel I-77) but there are two things that may cause us to stop more frequently.
The first is Deez Beez Books. After 3 tries this year we found it open. It is small but packed with gems. There are NO fiction books! Melissa and Blaine hand pick their books and do mostly Internet sales. As we pass by on our frequent travels on I-77, we will drop in more often BUT I will always phone first from my cell just to make sure they are open. (276-728-0728)
(And if the trip over the mountain at Fancy Gap has caused you stress, both Melissa and Blaine are massage therapists.)
The second reason to consider pulling off I-77 is the Rex Theater in Galax. Galax is a bigger town on the west side of I-77. If you are traveling by on a Friday, plan to get a motel room and stay for the live, free, radio Bluegrass Concert at Rex. It starts at 8:00. After the show wander down the street to the Stringbean Cafe for coffee and pie. (There is a motel in downtown Galax - well-known chain but I forget at the moment.)
On our three visits to Hillsdale we have stayed at Lake Ridge RV Resort. This resort is well-equipped to handle children. They have 250 acres of potential fun: lake fishing, paddle boats, wonderful pool, wild water slide, large club house and a huge game room. Now some of you noticed that I used the words “potential fun”. They have some freaking strange hours for pool, clubhouse and waterslide use even during peak season. We had two of our grandchildren there during the summer and it didn't cramp their style. Just be aware. The Resort is a member of Good Sam and Passport America.
As a side note, it is a few miles off of I-77 but it is a stressless RV drive into the grounds. When you make that last turn on to Double Cabin Road, make it wide and slow. When you see the Brethern In Christ Church, you'll know it is time to slow to a crawl.
On I-77 in Flatwoods, WV we came across this huge wing being transported to a wind generator. Watching the trucker maneuver around the gas pumps was tense experience. All came out well!
This is a view from the cemetery of Dinwiddie Presbyterian Church in the hills around Hillsville. It overlooks the mounatins in the southeast and southwest.
The wonderful stone work at Dinwiddie Presbyterian.
The courthouse was the scene of the horrible Carroll County Courthouse Massacre. We became interested in it because it was the theme of one of the bluegrass songs at Rex Theater in Galax.
Look it up on the Web.
These young teens were using their Bluegrass talents to celebrate the opening of a new trail near the Music Center on the Blueridge Parkway.
You might wonder how they inspect trucks and trailers in the South. It is slightly complicated but they get a great view.
In the wrecker's yard we collected anything that we wanted. It was amazing how things scattered hither and yon in the trailer. However, the stuff in the fridge didn't move!
As we lay upended on I-81 a local insurance company phoned to say that our windshield would be repaired. (Earlier in the morning a lawnmower in Hillsdale had rocketed a stone into my windshield.)
Grandma Cathy is fitted with new kind of space helmet! She was fine. Just to be safe they wrapped this around her neck and strapped her to a board to take her to the hospital. We all sat on the guard rail and talked for a long while. We had to wait for a tow truck to pull the brand new ambulance out of the ditch where they were stuck.
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