Category Archives: West Virginia

Leaving the Storm Behind

I wrote my last post a few days ago from the COE park near Confluence, Pennsylvania on the Youghiogheny River. I should have mentioned how the name of that river is pronounced – the locals say YOCK-uh-gainee. Strange. We pulled out of there on Thursday morning. I had filled the fresh water and dumped the holding tanks on Tuesday before we left Gettysburg, so I didn’t bother with the dump station.

Our route took us across the northwest corner of Maryland and into West Virginia. We were constantly climbing or descending short, steep grades that are the Appalachian Mountains. On the descents, tractor-trailer rigs would grab another gear and pass us, but on the climbs, I motored back past them. Our destination was only 150 miles away – we went back to the Walmart in Parkersburg, West Virginia where we spent the night seven weeks earlier at the end of May.  The Walmart stop gave us a chance to restock the pantry.

We expected rain Friday morning, but it held off long enough for Donna to do a phone meeting to discuss a work project. We hit the road at 11:00am. We headed west on US50 into Ohio. We ran into the predicted thunderstorms – it rained heavily at times but we didn’t encounter high winds. Lightning strikes hit nearby a few times and it got dark.

The hills became a little rounder and less steep in southeast Ohio. We continued on US50 to Chillicothe where we stopped for fuel at the Flying J. Fuel is about 50 cents/gallon cheaper in Ohio than it was in Pennsylvania. I pumped 70 gallons at $3.21/gallon. Once we  were west of Chillicothe, the terrain flattened out. It was mostly farm fields with few hills.

We covered about 180 miles and stopped at Cabela’s in Centerville, near Dayton, Ohio. This turned out to be one of the smaller Cabela’s stores and it didn’t have dedicated RV parking. There was a sign in the parking for truck and RV parking, but no long stalls were marked anywhere in the lot. The lot on the east side of the store was empty, so I parked us across several stalls parallel to the building and facing south. Severe weather was in the forecast. The building to the west of us gave us some shelter from the wind. I was concerned about hail, we kept our fingers crossed. I checked with the customer service gal in the store and she told us we were fine where we parked.

Severe weather on the radar – we’re the black spot in the center

It rained heavily at times, but we didn’t get any hail. The worst of the storm was to the south and east of us. Donna took advantage of a break in the rain to walk to Costco in the adjacent plaza. Later, we watched a couple of recorded episodes of Shameless and the rain let up by the time we went to bed.

Donna was up before me on Saturday morning. When I got up she told me she thought we should get out of the area. The forecast called for rain to continue through Ohio and Indiana for the next four days. We originally thought about going to an Elks Lodge across the Indiana border, but that wouldn’t get us out of the weather. We wanted to find some sunshine!

After looking at a few options, we decided to make a westward push and follow the sun to Springfield, Illinois. This meant a long 340-mile day. I made it a bit longer when I made a mistake on a detour in Indianapolis. I-65 was closed in Indianapolis and we found ourselves wandering on narrow old streets between the White River and the speedway. Our GPS wasn’t much help – it said there were no legal routes for us from where we were. We were oversize for the roads.

Donna scrambled to find a route on Google maps on her laptop. We eventually made our way without any mishaps and got on I-465. We took I-74 and I-72 to reach Springfield. We found the Illinois State Fairgrounds where they have 300 RV sites. I checked us in and we booked a full hook-up 50-amp site for a week. One week cost $125 – our site is basically a paved parking lot with RV hook-ups, but the price is right, the weather forecast is good and there are sights to see in the Illinois State Capital.

The forecast calls for a high of 78 degrees today and the mid-80s for the rest of the week. There’s a slight chance of a passing shower, but no severe weather.

Moving Right Along

We made it out of our site at Still Waters Campground without any problems and made the short trip to Lexington where we set up at Cabela’s. Cabela’s is a favorite place for an overnight stay – they have designated RV parking and welcome RVers and they have a dump station too. The Cabela’s in Lexington is next door to Costco, so we were able to stock up on few things while we were there.

I unloaded the Spyder and we rode a short distance to Ramsey’s Cafe. Donna was told it was the best place to get a Kentucky Hot Brown. I’d never heard of a Hot Brown before, but our friend Joe Milligan suggested we get one while we were here. A Kentucky Hot Brown is an open faced sandwich that was first served at the Brown Hotel in Louisville in 1926. Today there are a few variations to the basic concept. The one we got at Ramsey’s had thinly sliced turkey and ham on toast covered in mornay sauce. Then two tomato slices were put on top and the whole thing was covered with cheddar cheese. Finally two bacon strips topped it off. It was put under a broiler to melt the cheese and served hot. It was a large meal and very good! It was almost like an open faced grilled cheese sandwich taken to another level.

Kentucky Hot Brown

Back at Cabela’s, Donna went inside the store to cool off and shop for a while. It was hot out – in the 90s with high humidity. I sat in a lawn chair on the grass and read a book. A Lexington police officer patrolling the area stopped by and chatted with me for about half an hour. I think he was bored and looking for company.

Later, another couple stopped at our rig and talked to me. They were RVers, but not full-timers. They get out for a few months at a time. I told them we were planning to go to Charleston, West Virginia and stay for a couple of nights at the roadside park at St. Albans on the Kanawha River. They knew exactly where I was talking about – they used to live near there. The park has four pull-through sites with electricity. There is also a large paved lot that people sometimes dry camp in. It seemed like an ideal boondocking spot – the town only asks for a donation if you use the electricity. Donna came back from shopping while we were talking. They warned us of bad road surfaces in West Virginia.

Donna had jambalaya in the slow cooker all day. She made it with chunks of chicken breast, shrimp and andouille sausage with brown rice. We had that for dinner and it was yummy. The sausage came from the Robies market in Abbeville, Louisiana and it had some kick!

Jambalaya

We headed out of Lexington Wednesday morning after an uneventful night at Cabela’s.  Although we found a lot of road construction in West Virginia, for the most part the roads weren’t too bad. As we cruised down MacCorkle Avenue along the Kanawha River I spied the roadside park. The large paved lot was filled with amusement rides! A traveling carnival had come to town. The pull-through sites in the camping area were full of rigs presumably used by the carnies. Not only were the sites full, there were trailers parked everywhere they could find an opening. We stopped at a closed Kmart parking lot across the road to regroup.

Luckily, Donna had looked at alternatives along our route. We decided to press on to Parkersburg and spend the night at a Walmart there. We haven’t dry camped in a Walmart lot in over a year, but it’s not a bad option for an overnight stay. We originally thought we’d stay in St. Albans for two nights, but you have to be flexible on the road. A thunderstorm rolled in while we were at Walmart and it poured down rain. We slept with the windows closed and the generator running all night to power the air conditioners. It was warm and very muggy – we didn’t want the windows open as the thunderstorms had gusty winds and downpours that would have come into the coach.

Across the street from Walmart was a fast food place called Tudor’s Biscuit World. The woman from St. Albans told us we had to try biscuits from Tudor’s. They’re a chain, but are only found in West Virginia. On Thursday morning, I walked over there and ordered a biscuits and gravy plate to go. Donna wanted a plain biscuit, so I ordered a buttered biscuit with no butter – the only way they show a side order of biscuits on the menu is a buttered biscuit. The biscuits were good. The thin crust had toughness to it – it’s hard to describe but I found it to be chewy and delightful.

From Parkersburg, we headed north and crossed the Ohio River a couple of times, putting us in Ohio briefly. Our destination was the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort. They have a large lot and welcome overnight RV stays. The racetrack is for horse racing and they race at night Sunday through Wednesday and in the afternoon on Saturday. We missed the racing as it was Thursday night.

Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort

Shortly after I parked our rig, a security guy came by.  He told us to move to another lot by a building called Harvs. It’s some kind of reception hall used for large parties and events. We were a stone’s throw from the race track. The lot had quite a slope to it and we weren’t exactly level, but it was okay for just one night. In fact, it was very quiet and peaceful.

We left Friday morning and crossed back into Ohio at East Liverpool and followed US30 up to I-80. I wanted to top up our fuel tank in Ohio as the price of diesel fuel is lower there than in West Virginia or Kentucky. The skies were overcast all day and a haze was in the air.

We found our way to the Elks Lodge in Erie, Pennsylvania and set up around 12:30pm. They have three 30 amp electrical sites and we’re the only RV here. I signed in with the bartender. They only ask for a donation so I wrote a check for $30 to stay for three nights.

We unloaded the Spyder and took a cruise up Peninsula Drive and entered Presque Isle State Park. Presque Isle is actually a peninsula – the entire peninsula is a state park and admittance is free. The haze we experienced all day remained over Lake Erie, but once on the Isle, the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees.

Hazy view across Presque Isle Bay toward Erie, Pennsylvania

The park has numerous hiking trails, boat ramps, a marina and several beaches. Who knew you could find sandy beaches on Lake Erie?

Picnic area by the marina

Later we had a cold one at the Elks Lodge – well actually make that two. The bar bought us the first round and I felt obligated to pay for a round as well. Donna cooked boneless turmeric chicken thighs with artichokes chick peas and green olives for dinner. She also sauteed asparagus. It was a great meal!

Turmeric chicken

While she was cooking, the power at our electrical pedestal went out. I checked the next site and the pedestal there was working. I don’t know why our pedestal blew. I opened the lower panel to have a look and didn’t see anything unusual. There was a guy with a huge roller on a tractor rolling lumps and ridges out of the lawn earlier. I wonder if that might have damaged a conduit underground. We moved about fifty feet to the next site and hooked up to the pedestal there.

This morning is overcast again but there’s only a 20% chance of a shower and the forecast high is 70 degrees. Donna and I are planning to go to the Ribfest – it’s billed as Erie’s Wild Rib Cook Off and Music Festival. Sounds like fun, right?