A swollen Indian Creek – likely insignificant of what it was 10,000 years ago when it forged out this valley!
From Wikipedia: The Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail was that part of the network of trails in eastern North America developed and used by Native Americans which ran through the Great Appalachian Valley.
I’m winding down my assignment here in Appalachia, hoping to finish sometime in March. The long distance driving took its toll, both on me and my vehicles. The 325xi looks to need new brake rotors and my little Focus has to have its “summer performance tires” replaced after 32,000 miles – likely with a good all-weather tire rated at twice the mileage! All that can wait until I get home.
As for me, the commute got to be too much. I felt defeated upon arriving at my client’s site, and drained when I returned to Blacksburg in the evening. So when the opportunity for a short-term trailer rental twenty minutes away from my client popped up, I jumped on it.
Too many folks in West Virginia live like this – likely without the BMW!
Yes, it looks pretty bleak from the outside, but it is warm and cozy inside, and fully loaded with HD cable and high speed internet! So the routine is sleep here Tuesday through Thursday nights and alternating between Blacksburg and Piney Point on the weekends. If it sounds crazy, it is, but I reduced my driving by 1300 miles a month. Is it any wonder why I just want to go home?
Highway 219 is indeed the Seneca Trail. Native Americans walked by this old trailer for 1000 years or more. No one can say when they began for sure.
Well, all the Indians have long since gone and the locals have roots going back to the 18th century. Unfortunately poverty is the norm here. Yet these folks are close knit and about everybody joins in one of the hundreds of little churches that dot the countryside. The common believe here is that man walked with the dinosaurs – all of which disappeared about 66 million years ago.
The real tragedy here is obesity – I’m guessing at about 90% of the population. I suspect it was not a problem for their forebears, as the food industry, as we know it today, did not exist. It is sad to see when becoming a diabetic is almost a given when makes it to 50 years old. Bulk pork sausage and bulk French fries are not sustainable food sources. If only the locals would come to know that!
But for me, springtime back on the Potomac River. I’ll finally get my boat in the water again. And then an overdue trip back to Wisconsin and a summer tour of the great western national parks. That’s the plan for now, but who knows – India and Korea are still calling!
