Nomads, days 13 and 14 (9/18/2023)

We woke up in Logan Utah, with the destination in sight. We slept decently, even after being relocated by the folks that stole our site. But let’s first resume my daily log.

Day 13: Logan UT – Cedar City

Day 14: Cedar City – Zion National Park (Kolob Canyons) – Moapa Valley (NV) – Hoover dam – Henderson (near Las Vegas)

Back to Logan. We were not particularly happy as you might have noticed above and in our previous post. The memories that flooded back from our time there were interesting. Together we received around $1000 in stipends, and we lived of that and savings that we had accumulated from my Uganda job. We cleaned our home and did laundry on Saturdays and hiked on Sundays. When we left town at the end of our studies, our landlord gave us our deposit in the form of a check. When we arrived on the east coast four days later, we learned that she had blocked payment on it without giving us any reason. Our discussions with the waitress, the evening before (shew was from Texas and obviously not from the prevailing religion), somehow had brought other negative feeling up about our stay 42 years ago. I am still amazed how events from so long ago can jaundice someone’s impressions and feelings. It harks back to some of the stuff I read in “The Art of Travel” (look at my first post for the reference <here>).

After breakfast at McD. (we wanted get the hell out of the campsite ASAP), we again drove by our old home and decided to go view the campus. We hardly recognized it, so much has changed in the 42 years although a few things looked familiar. I was looking for houses friends used to live and tried to remember parties we had while driving to campus. However, those homes were gone and now were the sites of commercial buildings. We remembered our friend Allen who was always in shorts and even biked to campus in shorts during snowstorms. We also again discussed our very good friends Jeff and Maria. Jeff had rheumatoid arthritis and one afternoon they came to our home, giving us all their booze, because they had decided to turn Mormon. A couple of weeks earlier we had been skinny dipping together in a creek in the hills.  Jeff committed suicide soon thereafter; he could not live with the pain and the outlook on his future.  In those days, they did not have the drugs we have now. We hit the road after that and took off for Cedar City.

The drive took off some of the pressure, I personally was delighted to be back in the basin and range ecosystem. I love the Great Basin Desert. We initially wanted to go to Bryce Canyon NP, but changed our minds, since it was getting hotter again. In other words, we found a dog friendly Holiday Inn Express; I booked a room online and set that as our goal. Our intention was to go for a hike after checking in and visit Zion the day after. Well, by the time we got near Cedar City we were hit by some major thunderstorms and the hike never materialized.

Zion stayed on our list, but a visit the next day revealed to us that this National Park wasn’t dog friendly. The Kolob Canyon scenic road was partially closed, and we walked the dogs on a section of the closed part.

Goodbye Utah, hello Nevada; one of the few states I had never set foot in. Lunch at a taco stand in Moapa Valley while watching a flock white faced ibises; they were what looked like grazing in a flooded pasture. This was followed by the drive through the Lake Mead scenic area. In Nevada we had entered the northern regions of what looked like the Mojave Desert, I was delighted to see creosote bush and the sparseness of the vegetation. The geology was amazing, as well. Here I am in my element, at home; being an arid land ecologist. We loved seeing the lake and the white ring showing how the water level had dropped. One of the rangers told us that the level had come up 26 feet these past few months.

A visit to Hoover dam, and a hotel. It was 98 outside and we were not thrilled with camping. This turned out to be something. It seemed that only the casino hotels in the area were dog friendly (guess why). Honestly, they sucked, or the one we ended up in did! You had to enter a smokey casino with dogs to get to the elevators, but we survived it. These are some of the perils of camping in a van with dogs.

What did I learn to date? We need a rooftop AC, if we want to do this more regularly in the warm part of the year. To be able to operate the AC on sites with no electricity, we will need to generate our own power. In other words, we need to install solar panels on the roof and a battery system. Something to investigate when we get back home.

Zion

The taco truck

In the sand dune area with petrified sand dunes

Same as above, with our van.  The temperatures are 98

The Hoover Dam

The carpet at our hotel.  Should I take my shoes off?

This is where you walk your dog, in the parking lot of the casino

Travels continue, Blacksburg and vacation in Virginia Beach (4/28/2023)

I wonder if some of you have gotten tired of my writings about my “great goodbye tour?” Well, it is almost over. After two days in the Blacksburg area, this week it is a welcome vacation week. So what the heck, I’ll report on Blacksburg and on my vacation. My vacation was spent in a cabin at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. Hopefully this combined post will make it a little more interesting; but don’t hold your breath.

The interesting thing that happened this time was that the vacation started of with a phone call and discussion with the social security office, trying to nail down my payments once I retire by the end of May. I had to interrupt my lunch, sit in the car and be submitted to an interview for close to an hour. Where was I born; when did I get married and where (how do you spell Gouda? Oh that’s just like the cheese, duh); what was the birth date of my wife; her maiden name; why did I not show any income between 1983 and 1989; you get the idea. But all good, I will get Medicare and social security. Rejoice, I can afford to retire!

We canceled one of my two classes in Blacksburg, maybe prematurely, but the boss Kevin, who we often call a nervous Nellie, was afraid that we were not getting enough attendants to make the class pay for itself. Oh well, at least I did get a chance to go there and say goodbye to the Virginia Tech campus, and one of my dearest friends, Chuck. Some of my students were pretty darn close to me as well, we had been going back at least 10 or more years (at the end of the class I actually got a hug from one of them).

I always look forward to having dinner with Chuck on one of the nights I am there and this time was not different. The first evening, dinner at Lefties that lasted two hours. The food was good, beer selection decent (I only had one), but the company and conversation exquisite. After dinner I stopped by Starbucks on the way to the Huckleberry trail where I walked a mile and a half with an Americano in my hand. Just a great evening to start my stay in the area.

The Huckleberry is a rails-to-trails park that used to be only 12 miles long, but has been lengthened over the years. I am not sure how long it currently is, but it is a great trail. I used to bike it when visiting the area; however, I am not able to make sure that I can pack my bikes in the State vehicle that will be assigned to me at each trip. I need to disassemble my bike to fit it in the trunk, and that still does not fit in some of them. However, walking parts of the trail is fun too, especially around nightfall.

The next evening, I walked the trail again, with my coffee. I did that after visiting the “Eastern Divide” brewery. This was my first visit, and the beer was good. They had some decent choices. I did not like the commercial building and, to tell you the truth, the restaurant that was built in with it was so, so. I found the food overpriced and not the best. They kind of have you by the you know what, since it is in a commercial/industrial area and there are no restaurants nearby. I, for one, need some food in my tummy when I drink alcohol.

As promised, a mixed bag today. After returning from this relatively short trip to the hinterlands, we celebrated my wife’s birthday, and took off for a few days in a cabin at First Landing State Park. We had walked the trails in the park some 5 years ago, so we thought we knew what to expect. However, I was still taken aback by the cypress swamps, and in particular by the mature loblolly pines and live oaks. One of the pines was recently cut and I took my time to count the tree rings and I came to at least 80 (probably more) which dated the tree to the time that the park was established (1936). The pines gave me an inspiration for the styling of my loblolly pine bonsai trees, which everyone tells me I am insane of even trying to grow as bonsai. What did we do at the park? We hiked, ate, read (NPR’s This I believe), and rested. On Tuesday I logged more that 20,000 steps on my Fitbit, and boy that steak on the BBQ tasted mighty fine! This is another State Park in the long lit of State Parks that I visited that I would recommend. Actually, there isn’t one that I did not like, but maybe Claytor Lake is the least!

Ok, this became another travelblog, again with little substance, life philosophy or teaching (actually maybe a little teaching in the captions of the last photograph below). I promise that I will get back to that eventually in my blogs. That these blogs will become more edgy. As I mentioned it feels like the closer that I get to retirement, the more nostalgic and inwards I am becoming. But this shall wane! I shall rise from the ashes.

Eastern Divide Brewing Company beer selection.  Good beer, so, so food, a very big place.  I usually do not like establishments with a huge beer selection, because it usually means that they have no specialty and do an average job on all beers.  This was an exception.  Their beers were good.

My IPA with a view.

First Landing State Park.  Just a small live oak among the loblollies.  I just enjoyed this evening walk.  

Bald Cypress knees, also known as pneumatophores.  Pneuma is from the word lungs and the original thought was that this is how these trees were able to transport O2 to their roots.  I have read somewhere that this has been proven to be incorrect.

Charlottesville (3/10/2023)

This week’s goodbye tour took me to Charlottesville. It has been a while. Our previous scheduler always complained that Charlottesville was so expensive for us to stay at, moreover, it was thrown in the western region of the state on our schedule, and it showed that we were having too many classes out west. I always tried to argue that the town is very central and could pull in a lot of students from everywhere. Luckily our new scheduler, Lee was easy to convince.

Truthfully, I think I was correct, the class pulled in students from Woodstock (VA), Hampton, Richmond, Culpeper, Appomattox, and the region around Charlottesville. It was good to have folks in the class that I had not seen in a while.

The nice thing was that I had a social calendar while in town. Usually during my travels, I am alone, and since I am somewhat of an introvert, I do not mind eating on my own in a restaurant and being alone. I love to people watch, or even maybe talk with folks next to me. Some trips I make with my colleague Doug, who might take over some of my classes when I retire in June. However, while I was alone on this trip, I had people to meet and talk to. The first evening I met with old friends from Newport News who moved to Charlottesville some 7 years ago. Then the first day of classes the guys from Albemarle County invited me to go out to lunch with them. That evening I met an ex-colleague for dinner. The second (which was the last day) I had lunch with a colleague who was driving through town after her appearance in traffic court nearby. Wow, what a life for a loner introvert.

I just realized that I did not take any photographs in Charlottesville this time around, so this blog will become a restaurant/hotel review. I basically have two main hotel chain brands I stay at; one is the Holiday Inn and the other the Hilton. While the Hilton is more luxurious, I find that some of the Holiday Inn allow dogs in their hotels. Since we are dog owners and now, we are in the process on buying a conversion van and are considering some serious (semi) RV-ing, I need to accumulate hotel points in a chain that allows me to bring dogs. You get it, I stayed at the Holiday Inn near the I-64 interstate highway. I have always liked the place, and it has only gotten better, except it has also gotten more crowded. So crowded in fact that it was difficult to find a parking spot. Reading about boondockers or folks that travel in RVs from free-to-free sites, I am wondering if there were a few staying here in the parking lot. Folks were having charcoal grills lit in the back of their trucks and having fun. More power to them for not getting caught by the hotel staff, if that was the case.

So where did I eat (I am not going to report on breakfast)? In order:

• The Beer Run
• Bodo’s Bagels
• Chang Thai
• Durty Nelly’s Pub

They were all different and all pretty good for different reasons. The Beer Run was difficult to find for an out-of-towner like me. There was hardly any signage and the parking appeared below the building, which I never found in the dark. As you can expect, beer was plentiful, and my eyes went to chicken pot pie. This was more or less a deconstructed chicken pot pie, but nonetheless very good. While their draft beer selection was decent, their bottled and canned beer selection was out of this world. When I mentioned to locals in my class that I ate there the night before, many told me that next time I need to try the nachos and the stout infused brownies.

I had eaten at Bodo’s before and it is still great, service is fast. I had their lox bagel. My only complaint is that it was messy. The cream cheese was a little runny.

Chang Thai was great. It appears to be a relatively new place. I actually have photographs of an inspection I did of the place when it was under construction. Good service, good food, at least what my friend and I had. I am a duck basil fanatic, so I could not skip that when I found it on the menu. They allowed us to sit there for two hours and catch up. No pressure.

Durty Nelly’s is something else. You step into the place, and it is dark. When your eyes get used to the place you figure out that it is a dive bar. The music of the day was some good old-fashioned blues: Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and alike. I was in heaven. I had a Reuben, and truthfully, it was so-so to OK, but one day, a few days after I am still alive. I got fed and I can tell you it was good. I would love to go back for a beer and just hang. The food was fair, but maybe dinner is better.

Again, no photographs this time, but all places I would go back to and visit again when I return to Charlottesville. But then there are so many other restaurants to try in this great town.

Abingdon or Hotels 11. (6/10/2022)

My latest trip was uneventful for a change. No mass murder, no start of a new war, it was boring, or at least nothing to be glued to the TV for. Although, I think there was a shooting at a hospital in Oklahoma, but that one received only minor attention after what happened in Uvalde, Texas. Not that it should become so common place that I should call it uneventful; however, the media hardly covered it because the atrocities in the small Texas town and the screw ups by the police and the Governor still dominated the news.

Enough, I want to step away from that for a change of pace. This past week brought me to Abingdon, a town in Washington County, in southwest Virginia, approximately 10 miles from the Tennessee border. Now if you think that this is the far end of Virginia, think again. Some of my students had to drive an hour and a half form the farthest tip of Virginia, near the Cumberland Gap area in Lee County. To think that when I left Abingdon Friday morning at 8:30 to return home I had to travel 8 hours. This included lunch and switching out my state car for my personal vehicle in Richmond.

Knowing that my retirement age is approaching, I have been inviting one of my colleagues to join me and co-teach my classes with me, or at least attend them and learn. My regular compatriot grew up in Abingdon, so he was thrilled to join. Although his mom (as he calls her) still lives there and he visits her regularly, it was funny to see that I had to show him where all the good restaurants were for lunch and dinner, or even where the town’s microbrewery was (darn they changed the location of the entrance and the tasting room). I like to treat myself to an ice cream from Dairy Queen after class, and I had to show him where that was (near the turn to mom’s place). We spent three nights in town and had fun together on two of them. One of the evenings he visited mom and I spent time on my own. That evening it rained, but not hard enough to prevent me from walking from my motel room via the Creeper Trail to one of my favorite restaurants in town (128 Pecan).

We stayed at the new Holiday Inn Express, which was great. Rooms were new, clean and up-to-date. It is in a newly developed area next to sports fields that are connected to the Creeper. I saw them develop the area two and a half years ago (pre-COVID) and thought it would become a sub-division of some sort. One of the evenings, my compadre and I had fun trying to figure out the post development hydrology and stormwater management of this and a site downstream from this site. It seemed messy and kind of screwed up. It is difficult, at times, to leave your work in the office at the end of the day, isn’t it?

My nice, updated room at the Holiday Inn Express.  The view was something to be desired, but OK.

Restaurants we visited were Bella’s Pizza and the Hardware Store (BBQ) favorites of both of us (both definitely get a high 3.8 or 4 stars out of 5). Lunch was at some Mexican joint (ok) and Milano’s. Both lunch spots were new introductions to our Abingdon native and he (we) liked Milano's that much (also a 3.8 for sure) that he swore that he needed to bring mom to Milano’s for dinner when he is back in town. 128 Pecan has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and it did not disappoint me again on this trip (4.2 stars out of 5).

Then the piece de resistance: Wolf Hill Brewery. While they moved to a new taproom two years ago, I found that the atmosphere of the old funky place had disappeared. This tasting room is clean, sophisticated and dull in my eyes. But the beer remained the same and is still good. Their hours appear different and they lost their taco food-truck, one of the things I was looking forward to. A COVID casualty according to the lady behind the bar. Naturally, we got there right before trivia started, so the place filled up and I never had a chance to sample a second beer. We just wanted to get out of there before the noise started. Oh well.

I realize that this has become a travel log, so a little more. After Wolf Hill Brewery and dinner at the Hardware Store my friend decided to show me the sights around town. It was not what a warm blooded guy had secretly hoped for (just kidding); regular readers know that I am a sucker for nature. However, in the back of the training room were four (cheesy) paintings of a mill and he had recognized it as the mill at White Mill, just 4 miles west of downtown. During dinner, the server told us that grits served by the restaurant were milled by the mill which had recently been restored. This had triggered my friends need to show me the mill in real life and off we went. A nice country drive later we visited the mill and got to walk around it, look at nature and take a few photographs. On the way back we observed a grove of dead trees and speculated why this happened; a subject we brought back the next day in class: flooding caused by beavers, herbicide drift, who knows?

Common Ninebark blooming just below the mill at White Mill, VA

Just a bench at White Mill, VA

The mill and White Mill, VA.  I took the photo from the bench above.

Altogether, I had a good week. At times it is nice to have company on my travels. Other times, being an introvert it is nice to travel alone. But I did enjoy the company this time around. For sure it was nice to have a fellow driver behind the wheel. I am getting older and I noticed it when I got home, I was beat.

My excuses to those of you who were looking for more depth, politics, philosophy or whatever in this post. At times it is good to be light hearted and write an account of my travels; a diary of sorts. The original objective of my blog was a photo blog and an account of my travels through Virginia. Moreover, I can’t be a philosopher every day.

Hotels 7 and 8, Boy what a shower. (4/21/2022)

Traveling doesn’t stop. Ever since I wrote about my last visit to Lynchburg, I have been in Fredericksburg and the Blacksburg area. My observations are interesting; while the places are great, the hotels are marginal. But let me go into more details.

I stayed at two different chains in these two places. I stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn in Fredericksburg and a Holiday Inn in the Blacksburg area. Both rooms were clean, the beds were good, and things were fairly good. It surprised me initially that there was no room tidying any longer during the day in any of the hotels when you stay more than one night. In the old days, you came back from a long day and the trash can was emptied, the bed was made, and you had new pods for the coffee maker. Now, I am no slob, and I can use my towel two days in a row, so I am fine. However, a clean waste basket would be nice. Another thing I noticed, and this was at both hotels, the restaurants were closed on Monday night. This was not a huge thing since both places were located in an area that has a lot of restaurants nearby.

Breakfast at the Hilton was a bit below par, so much so that I skipped it the next day and went to Panera. It was just too expensive for what you got. With the current economy it saves the hotels money on staff and hopefully keeps the prices low. Thank goodness indications are that unemployment numbers are low and there seems to be a dearth of hospitality workers.

At the Hilton Garden Inn.  This time I had a better view from the 5th floor.  I actually got to watch fireworks one evening.

I had a similar experience at the Holiday Inn. Not that I ever eat there at night, but the restaurant was closed on Monday night, and the for-pay breakfast was expensive and self-service. The scariest part was getting in the shower. The floor around the down drain was soft, so soft that standing in the area made me fear that I would sink through the floor to the room below. Actually, my room was above the pool, and that would have been a riot, a nude, soapy dude falling through the ceiling in the deep end. What an entry!

Looking out of my second-floor window from the Holiday Inn in Christiansburg.  In the background you can see the Huckleberry bike trail.  I did not bring my bike because the forecast was for very cold weather.  Both photos were inspired by the Hopper exhibit I visited a few years ago

Concluding things in both hotels looked a bit run down and not maintained. Yes, I am sure that Covid is partially to blame for it, including the lack of available personnel. Overall, the visits to the localities were great. It was nice to visit areas I had not been to in 2 to 3 years. Great to try old and new restaurants, see students I had not seen for 2 years and to see spring in the mountains of Virginia. Overall, things have changed a bit, but not for the worst, just different in some places. Fun to see, as long as you don’t sink through the shower floor.

Hotels 4 and 5. A view from the road, Fairfax and Staunton (3/11/2022)

My travel and in person teaching has resumed in earnest. Driving to the locations, in motel rooms and even in the classes there is no way of avoiding of being exposed to and talking about the stupid war that Russia is waging in Ukraine. It appears that everyone in my classes is willing to accept the higher gasoline prices and know whom to blame for it: the Russian president (more about this below). But, as I mention in a previous post it is good to be back out. Since the last post on teaching, I have taught live in Richmond (no overnight travel), Fairfax and in Staunton (all of course in Virginia, more about that later in this post, as well).

At the Homewood Suites by Hilton i  West Falls Church in Northern Virginia.  This is a great place, were it not for the view from my room which was of the back of a strip mall and dumpsters.

No this is not me after drinking a beer, but I was demonstrating how the timer on your camera works to my students in a photography class that I taught this week.

In the meantime, it has been difficult to tear myself away from the television these past few weeks to do something productive, like writing a blog post. The war in Ukraine, the atrocities that Putin and his army is inflicting on that country and its people (like bombing a maternity hospital and killing innocent women and children) is keeping me in its grip. What is really upsetting me are the falls pretexted that he is using for the war and from what I am hearing the way he is preventing the people in Russia of finding out that it is all based on a big lie.

There are no Nazis in Ukraine that are killing ethnic Russians. The president of Ukraine is Jewish and calling him a Nazi is an insult to the Jewish people. Soldiers are killing civilians, and they are slowly becoming war criminals by the order of just one deranged crazy person: Putin. On top of all this countries like China, North Korea and Vietnam are telling their folks the same shit. Honestly, the international community should issue an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes and revoke his diplomatic status. When he sets foot in any other country, arrest him and haul him in front of the International Court in The Hague!

Enough ranting. My travel did afford me some distraction, including the ability to try out some different restaurants and different beers and believe it or not, wine. For example in Fairfax, I got to eat Lebanese and Korean, while in Staunton I ate an exotic grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of tomato soup that I washed down with a glass of wine at a wine bar named the Yelping Dog. The second night an old friend and his wife took me to their favorite local pizza shop. In other words, it was a somewhat cheesy week for me but enjoyably so. I even visited a new microbrewery for me: the Seven Arrows Brewery in Augusta County (Waynesboro). They make some darn tasty beer!

The red IPA by Seven Arrow.  A very nice a good tasting one!

The final hotel photo!  This one was taken in Staunton at the Holiday Inn. A nice hotel, I have been coming here many times.  I love the view of the golf course.  All the photographs I take of me in my rooms based on an exhibit we saw a few years ago at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Edward Hopper the American Painter. 

The one thing that I found to be different now is the room service. I always stay two nights in a room. Pre-COVID folks would come in your room to clean it, give you clean towel and make your bed. Now, probably to save money, this does not happen. I have to go downstairs to ask for more coffee for my in-room coffee maker. I think it is fine, I am sure it is difficult to get good help for the wages these hotels are willing to pay.

In both overnight travel cases; however, the drive was bad. At those times, I miss Europe and the ability to jump on public transportation like the train and zip from point A to point B. We had a big storm this week and there were many trees down on the road between Charlottesville and Richmond. This meant tree cutters everywhere and traffic delays. The week before I was stuck in Northern Virginia traffic with bad tires that were losing air. C’est la vie.

As you can see here, just a very superficial update and in the hope that this blog still penetrates the Russian sensors (I used to have a lot of Russian readers) I wanted to let them know about the big lie that they are being told about the need for this war. As I mentioned in my past post, my heart goes out to the Ukrainian people and to the Russian folks as well, especially those who oppose this insane war but are afraid to express themselves.

On the road again (Hotels 3: Virginia Beach) (2/22/22)

One year and eleven months ago after returning from a teaching gig in Lynchburg the then governor and the department I work for decided that we should temporarily shut the office, stop all traveling, and start teleworking. We were completely in la-la land about COVID or the Corona virus, and figured this would be temporary, maybe till June or at worse, September. Ah, little did we know.

So, after teleworking and teaching online we decided that 2022 was going to be the year that we were going back into the classroom. And there came Omicron: We had to cancel January classes. Again, email student the sorry emails and reschedule everything, from hotels to meeting rooms, etc.

One of the things I was looking forward to, was returning to real live teaching. Remarkable as that may be for an introvert like me, it is not a thing about being around people, but more about being able to read their facial expressions and get live feedback. These interactions are invaluable compared to talking to a Webcam.

Finally, live teaching started in February. I became the proverbial “canary in the coal mine,” I was going to try it out for the rest of us. Well, I now have taught four live classes and honestly these classes were exhausting but exhilarating. So maybe I am not an introvert? I really don’t know any more. I enjoyed the one on one so much more than the web-based classes. Maybe it’s just the format; colleagues of mine tell me that since our recent switch to Zoom things have gotten a lot better. Zoom allows you to turn on and view the webcam of your students and makes it more personable. That is of course if the students are willing to share their camera. However, the format that I had been using was not very personable and you have to rely on typed questions in a question box which do not allow for a free- flowing discussion. In addition, you don’t see people’s faces and really cannot have a good follow up discussion. During breaks you cannot have any personal interactions with folks.

Overall though I was good to be able to directly interact with folks. It was just much easier to respond to questions and to enter into fun deep discussions.

Then finally the travel. While somewhat scary to be on the road again; my father-in-law recently survived COVID and I do not need to be afraid of bringing it home. I assume I would survive an infection (knock on wood). Eating out is kind of fun again, although I need to watch out for my waistline again. I have been the main cook at home during these past two years of COVID and I am slowly running out of inspiration. I always told folks that I love to cook, I never thought it would get old, but somehow it does. It is nice to eat something different and sample different flavors to bring home and try them out here. Variety is the spice of life, or so they say.

I watch some different TV, drink a beer and just relax in my motel room. So, what’s not good about it? Maybe sleeping in a strange bed; loneliness, although I don’t mind eating alone; and the drive after teaching a whole day will get old after doing it a few times. Who knows?

My third photograph in the Hopper tradition (little did I know it would take such a long time for the third one).  This was taken in Virginia Beach at the Holiday Inn.  You can see the Atlantic Ocean in the background (Marocco or Portugal over the horizon).

Hotels 2: Lynchburg (3/13/2020)

Another trip out into the hinterlands of Virginia. This time I graced Lynchburg with a visit. Lynchburg’s claim to fame of course is Liberty University which was started by the reverent Jerry Falwell. Passing by Lynchburg over the past 20 years has been an amazing sight; that university has grown by leaps and bounds and is now ready to enter the big league. 

From what I understand, the university has its religious quirks. I am not sure about it all, and I will not describe it here, but as I understand it there seems to have a fairly strict religious ethical code and people are required to go to general assembly and religious gatherings. It is really interesting and almost perversely sexy to visit the local Starbucks and watch all the young college girls studying or discussing the bible; something this atheist does not encounter in many Starbucks shops around the State; and let me tell you, I visit a lot of Starbucks stores. 

All the conservative (read Republican) presidential candidates with any ambition make sure to stop by Liberty University and give a speech. Old Jerry died and Jerry Jr. is now in charge of the University; but they still pay their respect to the president of Liberty University. Recently, Mr. Falwell was in the news when he did not like the newly democratic state legislature and in particular their stance on gun control. Mr. Falwell suggested that parts of Virginia that did not agree with their decisions should succeed and join West Virginia. This made him the laughingstock of the state. Oh well. 

I took this photograph during my walk through downtown Lynchburg.  They have a great elevated walk, almost like a boardwalk but without the beach and the boards that overlook the James River valley.  There are all kinds of warehouses along the trail that are being reclaimed for more useful purposes including restaurants, shops, offices and condos(?).  I took this picture to mock the succession talks and to show I was still in Virginia.

So here I had to spend two nights in Lynchburg. I always used to stay at the Holiday Inn downtown. It is not the best place, but it is ok. I really love the downtown of Lynchburg; it has character, great restaurants, and safe to walk. I got an email from Holiday Inn about a month before my visit that they had broken ties with that particular hotel and the hotel was no longer part of the Holiday Inn chain. Since I accumulate loyalty points I decided to look if there was a Hilton downtown, the other hotel chain that I use. 

Hilton had a hotel downtown, the Virginian. The hotel is part of the Curio chain, something I had never tried. Well, I was not disappointed! This was a great place to hang out and to stay. What luxury. The hotel has a nice breakfast (and lunch?) counter with a restaurant bar on the roof. There is a nice restaurant on the lower level. I only tried the breakfast area and enjoyed it. The rooms are luxurious. You even get a robe although I really did not need it. The bed was great and in one-word, things were good. Being in town in a taller building traffic noise was somewhat amplified but it was all very tolerable. 

My "Hopper shot" of the motel room at the Curio by Hilton that I was staying in.  Again, I was very happy and satisfied with my stay at the hotel and in Lynchburg. 

The room without me and a better view of the bed.

The first night I ate alone at Bootleggers. This was the second time I ate there, and the food was good. Thank goodness they had something else than burgers on the menu. Their beer selection was great. The Depot grill was on tap for my second night. I was joined by my friend and colleague Doug, who lives in Lynchburg.  I had been avoiding this place since a disappointing visit 6 years ago. Funny how you do that. Well, they redeemed themselves. Dinner was enjoyable and the waitstaff was great. In all, I had a good two day visit to Lynchburg. 

Now for some depressing news. This will be my last trip for 30 days. The department I work for has cancelled all classes (and trips) for the next 30 days as part of the state of emergency in the effort to slow down the spread of the Corona virus and the associated COVID-19. So, my young hotel series is going on a hiatus. I will continue blogging and hopefully will come out alive on the other end.

Travelers and moonshine (9/4/2018)

So now and then the motel chain I frequent sends me a survey asking me what my impression was of the latest motel I stayed in during my travels throughout the state. While I am generally fairly satisfied with the Holiday Inn chain, their Express motels can be all over the map. My latest review reads: “Convenient Mediocrity.” Based on my latest stay, I really need to try to find a better motel chain in those areas where I can only find some hotels where I have that specific experience as my latest one. Maybe I should be more like Edward Abbey, and find a cabin in a mountain village as he describes in his book “Appalachian Wilderness: The Great Smoky Mountains.” He wrote:

In the restaurants blue gas fires burning under stacks of ceramic logs that look almost real until you get close. Omni present in the background that bland tapioca-like sound my wife calls ”department-store music.” Décor by Holiday Inn – all the motel lobby furnishings, all the restaurant tables and chairs and lighting fixtures, look as though they came from the same factory somewhere in Sothern California. Everything designed by a neurotic suffering from a severe case of social irrelevance.

What’s the alternative to this comfortable mediocrity? A grand European-style luxury that most of us would not be able to afford? Or a return to the mode of a century ago, coming into a mountain village on horseback, having a cold supper by lamplight in the cabin-kitchen of some morose mountaineer, while savage coon dogs howl, slaver and snarl on the other side of the door, and going to sleep in the early dark on a cornhusk matrass, prey to a host of bloodsucking vermin?

Which would you prefer? Which would I really prefer?

You won’t believe me but I’ll tell you: I fancy the latter, i.e., the horse, cabin, dogs and bugs. 

It would fit, sometimes. During my latest visit to the western part of the state (Appalachia) last week, one of my students handed me a McDonalds paper take out sack and told me to be careful with it. On further inspection it contained a mason jar filled with moonshine; a different kind of happy meal! Now that would fit right in with that mountain village cabin, the howling dogs and cornhusk matrass. He described it as moonshine (95 proof he told me) made from corn. I can just imagine the corn kernels making the libation and the husk making the place to sleep off the hangover, the after effects of drinking the results of the fermentation and distillation process of those ground up yellow seeds. I tasted it when I got home, it was somewhat syrupy and did not taste half bad! 

Moonshine anyone?  Chilled and ready to go.  I discarded the packaging.

The motel I stayed in in Fairfax is a sentimental favorite, although every time I end my visit it feels like I need to stay at the Hilton, which cost more-or-less the same and is a heck of a lot cleaner and more luxurious. Believe it or not, but I used the description "Convenient Mediocrity " before I read Abbey's words.

I have been coming to this motel for ten years. I have even been stuck in there during two snow storms. We had to cancel classes and I was imprisoned in a room at that place for more than 36 hours. Entertainment existed of either some panicking individuals on television discussing the current weather conditions in and around DC; another TV station with some superficial garbage masquerading as news or a show; a book or magazine I had brought with me; or some form of digital entertainment. At times I may actually have done some work. I eventually ended up trudging through 12 inches deep snow across the street to a Hooters restaurant for lunch. Honest to God, one of the few times in my life I have eaten at Hooters. I am a real testament that the Hooters chicken wings are not half bad. My waitress was Russian, and she was wearing some very skimpy revealing outfit while it was snowing outside. I somehow thought that to her it must have felt just like Moscow or Siberia in winter at that moment; it did not seem to faze her at all. My nightly dinner was at Red Lobster next to the motel. That was how far I ventured from the motel, I waited out the storm and extended my stay a day or two, so I could finish my class: a dedicated instructor, indeed. 

These snowstorms always seem to start around four in the morning and wind down around eight in the evening, to have reasonably clear roads by the next morning. One exception was what is still known as “snowmageddon” in the Washington DC area. I was stuck in that one as well in northern Virginia but not in that motel. That one struck at 3 pm and was so bad that by the time rush hour started everybody was stuck. I made it to my hotel and we ended up making snow men in the hotel parking lot.

Traveling can be fun and interesting. In previous posts I wrote about noisy neighbors and about some of my naughtier thoughts about the furnishings in motel and hotel rooms. I try to make the best of it. It can be lonely, that’s for sure. In the past, I was able to meet up with a good friend, break bread and have a pint with him. That has gotten a bit more difficult since he changed jobs. But I still don’t want to live like a hermit when traveling. It would be too easy to buy a TV dinner, order a pizza for delivery, or get Chinese take-out and mope in my room. For one, I hate to sleep in a room filled with the smell of stale food. Moreover, I hate to walk through a motel and see dirty dishes piled up in the halls. That’s not my style either. So off I go to a restaurant.

I generally do not eat in my motel or hotel. The places I stay are not of the highest class and the food is only average and predictable. I also like to people watch. Nothing better (or sad) than seeing a couple come in with their two kids. Sitting down at the table; hubby and wify grab their cell phone and start staring at it, not communicating with each other, nor their kids. Kids of course don’t have a phone or anything else; they just stare in front of themselves, they may talk to each other, but that is rare. They just sit there as logs, waiting for dinner to arrive, contemplating how best to become the best next mass murderer or high school shooter. Just some of the interesting and sad things one sees when traveling around. It aggravates and upsets me. However, as I mentioned before, traveling can have its good points too, especially when you get to enjoy nature, the sounds of nature next door, the sights or just the (fermented) results and tastes of nature. Cheers!

I actually had a chance to take a picture of this scene in the restaurant.  Father and mother are staring at their phones and had been doing that for a while.  The kids are bored and just staring ahead, not knowing what to do with themselves, waiting to be fed. 

Motel room DNA (6/25/18)

As most of my loyal readers know, I am a frequent traveler. I travel a lot for work and stay in motels and hotels. Most of my travels are in Virginia; however, I do travel out of state, but that is mostly for pleasure. We actually just got back from a trip to New England where we watched our daughter get her graduate degree in Divinity from Harvard. Afterwards we spent a few days running around in the western part of Massachusetts, southern Vermont and New Hampshire. Most of the hotels were courtesy of my hotel points (Holiday Inn), or courtesy of my professional travels.

Those professional travels and staying in hotels is always somewhat boring, but on the other hand also strange at times. The strangeness is particularly acute when you stay in a new motel, like the one I stayed in the other week or when you go out of state on vacation. You need to learn the lay of the land, where the good restaurants are, what the best route is to drive to the place you are teaching, and just the layout of the room. One of the main question is, how much light comes into the room at night and how do I get to the bathroom in the dark at night without tripping over things or stubbing my toes (we older guys have at least one required bathroom visit every night).

There is also always some strangeness not knowing what to expect from your neighbors. How noisy are the rooms and how noisy will the neighbors be? Will they be quiet or won't they. Last week I had a snorer next to me. Just faintly, but I could hear him or her and it just put a smile on my face. It somehow made me think of some of the other noises you might hear when it is really quite, and I felt blessed with this very muffled sound. I wrote about sounds that next door neighbors make in this post last year. Truthfully, that was not the only time I've heard it. There is still a lot of loving going on in hotel rooms; it ranges from the rhythmic thumping to the more, sometimes, quite vocal ones.

This sometimes makes me wonder about the room I move into for the night (or two). Who was or were the occupants before me, and what went on in there just the night between those sheets, before I lay my tired body in that bed? Wanna let your imagination go wild? Or was it one of those filthy roadside crew guys or roofers from Ohio who I talked with the other day. Those guys spend two three months away from home on a roofing crew, live in motels; at night each person drinks a 12 pack of cheap beer, and eats pizza and passes out to repeat the process the next day after spending the whole day on a hot roof. I am sure they take a shower and clean up before they get in bed, and I actually had a great talk with them that one time. The money is good, and they all miss their wives at home. It reminds me of that one time we did an ecological survey of an area in South Carolina that was burned. Every evening we came out looking completely black, covered by black soot. You should have seen the bathtub after I took a shower that night. I felt sorry for the cleaning crew, we had a hard time cleaning the shower after we were done.

My room for the night.  No ghosts of the previous night visible.  This Hilton is always nice and clean and a pleasure to stay in.  It will be my home for two nights.

Wondering what went on before you, makes me wonder sometimes where to sit in my room. How much DNA was left behind on the bedspread or even on the chair or couch in that room? What am I laying my head on? I heard that friends of mine check into a room and always purposely spill something on the bedspread and then ask the front desk for a clean one. I guess that might minimize foreign DNA exposure at least on that part.

It is not only human DNA I wonder about. Bed bugs are another thing. Someone before you could also brought them into the room. My wife inspects places for bed bugs, so she trained me to look for them. Every time I check in that is the first thing that I do. I am sure that it doesn't guarantee anything, but it makes me feel better. Still, every time I come home, she gives my grief about potential bed bugs and asks me if I parked my car in the sun and exposed my suitcase to the heat. The problem is that I usually bring my computer bag into the place I teach and that bag or bags do not get exposed to the heat.  I also keep some of my prescription drugs in that bag and my vitamins and ibuprofen, which I do not want to expose to heat.

As you can see, traveling can be fun; there are all kinds of thing to keep account of.  It is often a lonely business, especially when I teach alone.  After work, it is often dinner alone and then back to your room where you drown yourself in the news, your social media, a book, or something else (I do not do sports or a lot alcohol like those roofers from Ohio, etc). However, you could also let your imagination go wild and fantasize about what went on in your room before you, and be a somewhat voyeur after the fact. Oh the perils of traveling.