I'm good at rationalizing though. We aren't going to Florida; we're going to an area that on a per capita basis has 20% of the infection rate of our home county. And as I keep saying, we need to learn to live with this thing. I guess I just need to believe that.
Day 1: Home to Weston, West Virginia, 332.1 miles
Sunday started out fairly typical, but after walking a dog around the block, there was too much time to do nothing, but not enough time to do anything. So I bounced around the walls a bit; we couldn't drop the dogs off in beagle jail until noon. Our normal kenneling place doesn't have Sunday drop-offs, so we were trying another place. Since it was only for two days, we went top shelf and got them a penthouse for their stay. Not that I think the dogs give an eff about the water feature (outside their cage), but it does give them extra walks. We've only kenneled Tibbit once before, and she does need exercise.
Eventually it was time to leave. SO left with the dogs and I finished buttoning up the house. The plan was to meet at SO's work to drop off her car since the kennel is in the same general area.
I got to SO's work and waited for her. It was already stifling hot with humidity to match.
SO got there and said the dog drop-off went well. She got on her motorcycle gear and we were off.
It took a bit to get around the Cincinnati interstate before getting off on OH-32. It only takes a few miles to go from suburbs to exurbs to rural. Once in the rural area, traffic was non-existent for most of the rest of the day.
We worked our way east with the terrain becoming more and more Appalachian. I checked the temperature a few times through the day and it averaged around 95F with a high of 98F. I've been desperate for a road trip, so I was enjoying it. But this kind of heat and humidity is challenging - both physically and mentally. The less-than-ideal conditions did take my mind off the fact that we were traveling during a pandemic. When my mind did wander in that direction, it was at least comforting to know that the infection rate was low in the area we were traveling to and through.
I noted the road toward Bethel, Ohio which oddly for a few days became central to the Black Lives Matter movement. It also proved the rule that there is no invasion without a counter-invasion.
My odometer rolled into a milestone of sorts. Going to a lunatic asylum during a pandemic and hitting an evil mileage seems like a bad combination.
Running low on gas, we stopped east of Athens. I think I chose the bro-truckiest place I have ever stopped at. It was lousy with diesel bro-trucks and all of them ran like crap despite appearing relatively new. Maybe I just don't understand.
We joined up with US50 and continued east. I was enjoying the lack of any traffic. We crossed the Ohio River at Parkersburg, West Virginia. Looking down at the water, I was thinking it looked cool and inviting and muddy.
The scenery was pretty through the day and it got prettier in West Virginia ... to a point. It seemed every rolling valley or quaint holler had some derelict mill or other industrial cast-off in it. Or perhaps the heat and lack of food was starting to make me have difficulty seeing the areas own specialness. We were headed hundreds of miles away to tour a derelict asylum so I guess I can't be too judgmental.
We got off US50 and took back roads for the last hour or so. I was really hot and tired but it was still probably worth it. The trees were our friends and in many ways it reminded me of our very first motorcycle trip to West Virginia so many, many years ago.
We got to Weston and ended up driving right past the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. The building was impressive to say the least. I definitely want to get there early in the morning to get some pictures. I thought about stopping, but more than anything I wanted something to drink, air conditioning and something to eat - in that order.
We got to our hotel and SO checked us in. I got my phone out and noted about 18,534 alerts from the new video surveillance system I recently installed. Apparently high winds and hail will set it off - quite the thunderboomer had gone through at home.
Our room was nice enough. I started to think about coronavirus again. As of the previous day, all of Lewis County had 25 confirmed infections, so I shouldn't fret too much. Right?
Normally we would have gone to eat at the steak place down the street. But I walked down the road to get drinks and take-out subway instead. If nothing else, coronavirus helps us save money. I got drinks and a Dollar Tree since it was one of the only close places. My bank recognized it as an unusual purchase and denied the sale. Having a card denied at Dollar Tree is a pretty solid way to feel low rent.
Back at the room, the subway was good. The cookies were good. A crazy adventure during a pandemic was good.
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