Into the West - Days 1 & 2
To Arizona
November 2005
We left Solomons on Sunday, November 20 after packing and re-packing the car a couple of times. We discovered that we couldn’t take everything we had planned to take, such as golf clubs and a spare vacuum cleaner, without overloading the Jeep and blocking our rear view. So we did triage and will cope.
We had a nice lunch with Kate and Mark at the Cheesecake Factory in Richmond and set off for Lewisburg, WV, our first overnight. It was a beautiful day for a drive. The low November sun angled in through the mostly-bare trees making the forests look wonderful. The bare trees focused our attention on the still-green grass and landscape features hidden during the summer by the monotone green of leaves. I noticed many more cattle grazing in the rolling fields than in the summer; perhaps they were inside or under trees during the summer because of the heat. And the rolling or sometimes rugged hills were much more noticeable than in the summer. It was quite a different ride from the summer.
The trees were now individuals, branching upwards from bole to branch, from branch to twig, each etched against the blue sky. Shadows and light showed the steep bones and swells of the fields in detailed anatomy.
Lewisburg, West Virginia is in the mountains just west of the Virginia line. This old town has many art and craft galleries, a 19th century downtown, hills and old homes. It is near The Greenbrier, a very posh resort, and I think the resort provides much of the affluent buyers who support the galleries. The Christmas decorations were up and we went through several galleries. Most striking were the paintings of Lyn Boggess who works with paint and a trowel, or probably several trowels; the gallery owner said his favorite is a 5” concrete trowel, however. The paintings are impasto, but from an even modest distance they are almost photographic. I asked the gallery owner if he used projected photos, but she said he is a plein air painter, working outside from nature. Very impressive work. Here is his website: http://www.lynnboggess.com/ The gallery is Cooper Gallery, Lewisburg, West Virginia.
We had dinner in the General Lewis Inn (http://www.generallewisinn.com/). The food was ok but the building is nifty.
On Monday, November 21, we set out from the Hampton Inn at about 8 and very soon saw ahead of us an overturned tractor-trailer blocking the whole westbound side of I-64. A car ahead of us turned through the median and we, in our “Trail Rated”© Jeep, followed. (OK, he was in a Corolla, but even so . . . .). We got off the Interstate and stopped in a gas station/general store right out of the ‘40s to inquire about how to get to Beckley on other roads. We followed the instructions we got up and down narrow, windy roads along the New River gorge. We thought what a difference from the Interstates we generally travel. It was quite beautiful, with steep hill/mountainsides dropping off to the river, and narrow roads through old towns right next to the river and railroad tracks. I was often surprised to see quite modern houses and towns along this road, though people clearly live all over this area. There were old houses and shacks as well, of course, making one think of the people who settled here before the interstates and electricity and telephones. The detour was something we would not have chosen on this particular trip, more miles and slow going, but really worth both.
We saw another overturned truck in Charleston, WV. Even the interstates are quite curved through the mountains of West Virginia. Signs warn trucks to stay at 55 mph around many curves, but the seldom do. I tried to keep clear of trucks in those mountains, not wanting to have one topple over on us. It’s interesting to do going downhill at 65 or 70 mph in 3rd gear.
After the mountains, the interstates the rest of the way to Champaign were lacking in adventure, though the landscape of browns and slanted light from the low-riding sun was more interesting than most summer views.
November 2005
We left Solomons on Sunday, November 20 after packing and re-packing the car a couple of times. We discovered that we couldn’t take everything we had planned to take, such as golf clubs and a spare vacuum cleaner, without overloading the Jeep and blocking our rear view. So we did triage and will cope.
We had a nice lunch with Kate and Mark at the Cheesecake Factory in Richmond and set off for Lewisburg, WV, our first overnight. It was a beautiful day for a drive. The low November sun angled in through the mostly-bare trees making the forests look wonderful. The bare trees focused our attention on the still-green grass and landscape features hidden during the summer by the monotone green of leaves. I noticed many more cattle grazing in the rolling fields than in the summer; perhaps they were inside or under trees during the summer because of the heat. And the rolling or sometimes rugged hills were much more noticeable than in the summer. It was quite a different ride from the summer.
The trees were now individuals, branching upwards from bole to branch, from branch to twig, each etched against the blue sky. Shadows and light showed the steep bones and swells of the fields in detailed anatomy.
Lewisburg, West Virginia is in the mountains just west of the Virginia line. This old town has many art and craft galleries, a 19th century downtown, hills and old homes. It is near The Greenbrier, a very posh resort, and I think the resort provides much of the affluent buyers who support the galleries. The Christmas decorations were up and we went through several galleries. Most striking were the paintings of Lyn Boggess who works with paint and a trowel, or probably several trowels; the gallery owner said his favorite is a 5” concrete trowel, however. The paintings are impasto, but from an even modest distance they are almost photographic. I asked the gallery owner if he used projected photos, but she said he is a plein air painter, working outside from nature. Very impressive work. Here is his website: http://www.lynnboggess.com/ The gallery is Cooper Gallery, Lewisburg, West Virginia.
We had dinner in the General Lewis Inn (http://www.generallewisinn.com/). The food was ok but the building is nifty.
On Monday, November 21, we set out from the Hampton Inn at about 8 and very soon saw ahead of us an overturned tractor-trailer blocking the whole westbound side of I-64. A car ahead of us turned through the median and we, in our “Trail Rated”© Jeep, followed. (OK, he was in a Corolla, but even so . . . .). We got off the Interstate and stopped in a gas station/general store right out of the ‘40s to inquire about how to get to Beckley on other roads. We followed the instructions we got up and down narrow, windy roads along the New River gorge. We thought what a difference from the Interstates we generally travel. It was quite beautiful, with steep hill/mountainsides dropping off to the river, and narrow roads through old towns right next to the river and railroad tracks. I was often surprised to see quite modern houses and towns along this road, though people clearly live all over this area. There were old houses and shacks as well, of course, making one think of the people who settled here before the interstates and electricity and telephones. The detour was something we would not have chosen on this particular trip, more miles and slow going, but really worth both.
We saw another overturned truck in Charleston, WV. Even the interstates are quite curved through the mountains of West Virginia. Signs warn trucks to stay at 55 mph around many curves, but the seldom do. I tried to keep clear of trucks in those mountains, not wanting to have one topple over on us. It’s interesting to do going downhill at 65 or 70 mph in 3rd gear.
After the mountains, the interstates the rest of the way to Champaign were lacking in adventure, though the landscape of browns and slanted light from the low-riding sun was more interesting than most summer views.
posted by arthurandjane at 3:23 PM
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