Oh Google Maps
Still chronicling our southern trajectory from our summer 2018 road excursion. I think about how wonderful it has been to travel with Sitka and how this time has come to an end. More on that in the next installment. If you remember, Sitka has been fighting what we thought was cancer and at best a horrible bone infection. We never travel more than a few hours at a time. It's been a lesson for me too. Three to four hours driving time gives plenty hours to explore the treasures we find along the way.
July 9, 2018
Besides Sitka, my best travel companion has been Google Maps. I am always so impressed with bi-ways it directs me to when I place a checkmark on "avoid highways" I have seen some extraordinary countryside, quaint and historic towns, waterfalls and bridges that were not originally destinations.
Union, West Virginia is one of those places. The road I was on just happened to take me through this preserved place. Back in the early 1800s the population was 410 and now in 2018 it is only 565. The town of Union retains much of its historic architecture, with many structures dating to the antebellum period when the local economy was thriving from the resort industry. The present Monroe County Courthouse, built in 1881. Historic churches in Union include the Old Baptist Church (1845), Old Methodist Episcopal Church/Ames Clair Hall (1857), All Saints Episcopal Church (1875), Union United Methodist Church (1889) The Monroe County Historical Society preserves several historic structures in the town, including the Caperton Law Office, Owen Neel House, Clark-Wisemen House, Ames Clair Hall, and the Old Baptist Church. In recognition of the history of Union and the integrity of its preserved streetscape, the Union Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
East of Union is Rehoboth Church, built in 1784 and believed to be the oldest Protestant church west of the Allegheny Mountains!
The Indian Creek Covered Bridge at Salt Sulphur Springs, near Union, West Virginia, in Monroe County, spans Indian Creek and is a 50-foot long “long truss” bridge. Ray and Oscar Weikel were 16 and 18 when they built the bridge in 1898! In 1930, when US-219 was completed the bridge was no longer needed and fell out of common use. Restoration began in 1965 when it was leased to the Monroe County Historical Society. The bridge was restored by Hoke Brothers Construction in 2000. Indian Creek Watershed organization is an active water preservation group. The water that bubbles up our of the spring not far from here is carried all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Oh Google Maps, the places you take me!
I think it will be my mission to capture the ZiOsmobile at all covered bridges we happen upon.
We are headed now to the state of Virginia. Higher elevations for Sitka. My friend Margaret O'Neil is a camp host up on Mount Rogers. She is at Bear Tree Recreation Area high enough up in the Allegheny range that we'll be under blankets at night.
Sitka loves sleeping outside most nights, but bears will be our neighbors. I watch him closely. He is slowing down and it would be difficult to get out of harms way.
Being out here slows down time. This slowing down illuminates parts of life I’ve been obstructed from. The way stars appear at night: slowly, then all at once. The way the wind gives life to each leaf on every tree. It reminds me of our own place among each rediscovered beauty surrounding us. It is good to be here and reconnect with Margaret. We could talk for days. I am grateful to share our road stories. I treasure the connection with other women road warriors. There’s nothing better than the moments spent with friends, new and old, around a campfire beneath the stars.
Hiking these trails with Sitka, I see that he is turning his leg inward. His walk is very odd and I am quite worried that the leg could break. We won't do much more this trip. We will turn towards home. I will make our way to the Blue Ridge and stop in to see Connie and Kenny. Hopefully, they can help me find a vet to take a look at Sitka's leg.
“I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it’s not someplace you can look for. Because it’s not where you go. It’s how you feel for a moment in your life when you’re a part of something. And if you find that moment… It lasts forever.” ― Richard, from the movie The Beach
