David's Graduation and Our Trip to West Virginia

I better get started with this blog... so many good pictures to post!

This week's big event was my stepson David's highschool graduation in Beckley, West Virginia.

Happily, we were able to be there to congratulate him in person.

First... notes on the trip!

The drive out was a challenge for Leila-- this was by far her longest car trip. At first there were frequent stops (she'd let us "know" when it was time), but she adjusted as the trip went on and by the end was quite the patient little traveler.

It was an epic journey for me, too. I can't remember the last time I left the state-! Most of my days are spent inside the house or around the yard... chasing Leila. So I was determined to get in as much sight-seeing as possible.

It was frustrating to spend so much time in the car, but we only had five days for the trip (and Jon wanted to whittle that down to four). So most of our sight-seeing was limited to whatever we could glimpse from the car window as we sped down the highway.

If I wrote a travel guide based on this trip, it would go something like this:

1. Illinois is a flat-looking place (viewed at 70 mph from the interstate). It stretches on... and on. And on. A powerline goes for miles till it becomes a dot on the horizon and then suddenly disappears... due to the curvature of the earth!

The wind farms are impressive, but still... if you go on a trip like ours and need a nap along the way, you might as well catch your zzz's during the Illinois segment of the trip.

2. Indiana is similar... but gettin' better. People's voices start to acquire that special twang you just don't hear here in Wisconsin. And the further you go, the more picturesque Indiana gets. The countryside turns rolling and green. There are long picket fences and idyllic-looking horse farms. We passed one for retired thoroughbreds.

3. Kentucky is beautiful. Sigh. Misty and green; more horse farms. And increasingly hilly... you know you're entering the foothills of the Appalachians.


4. Then West Virginia... and wow. Mountains. No more being passed by semi-trucks; the big rigs are sluggish and docile in West Virginia. Too busy laboring up and down the inclines to be king of the road anymore.

The mountains are densely forested, with hardly a man-made structure visible. And beyond? More mountains. The distant peaks look blue, and the shade of blue gets lighter as they fade off into the distance.

Of course, Jon the electrical worker pointed out the different kind of power lines along the way. There's a surprising variety of pole styles out there. They're towering giants around big cities like Chicago and Indianapolis.

And in the mountains of West Virginia, power lines of any sort are amazing feats of engineering. Sometimes the wire was strung so far it seemed to span across mountains. Jon surmised that many of the powerline's materials and equipment must have been flown in by helicopter for construction.

Even our highway was remarkable. It seemed perched midway up the mountains. Travelling it you could look down and see deep valleys below-- but still look up and see a wall of trees and rock towering overhead.

Our goal was to reach Kentucky by the end of the first day. Unfortunately, Leila wasn't on board with that goal... so we ended up finding a motel in Indiana, 60 miles shy of the Kentucky border.

The next day's travel went quickly, since most of it was through scenic Kentucky and West Virginia. Jon stayed in phone contact with Susan along the way, and by afternoon she, David, and Logan met us at the Howard Johnson's in Beckley.

After some hugs and hellos and getting reacquainted with one another, the kids eagerly changed into swimsuits for a dip in the motel pool.

Swimming in a motel pool is always one of the kids' favorite things about traveling. We had looked for a motel with a pool, and had looked it over before changing into suits.

Imagine the kids' disappointment when they got to the pool only to be told that it was closed for the season. It was muggy and over 90 degrees outside, but it wasn't quite June yet and this was an outdoor pool. I suppose it still needed a cleaning.

So we changed gears and accepted Susan's invitation to go on a scenic drive by the big gorge bridge.

The drive was a lot of fun. We stopped a couple of times along the way, for pictures. Then Susan took us to a nice spot where the river was relatively tame. The kids were able to wade and throw rocks in the river (which happens to be one of Leila's favorite pasttimes).

I even had a chance to collect rocks-! Susan pointed out the tiny pieces of coal in the water that had probably fallen off one of the trains that ran along both sides of the river.

While we were there a train went by on the mountain just behind and slightly above us... a thrilling, thundering experience for wide-eyed little Leila (she's lived her whole life in Colfax so didn't experience the trains we saw daily when living in Eau Claire).


Emma filled her pockets with tiny clam shells-- a souvenir for every kid in her class.

Michael had fun climbing the big rocks along the shore.

Before long we were starving. Susan suggested we go to "Dirty Ernie's", a small nearby restaurant specializing in ribs.

As you can imagine (with a name like Dirty
Ernie's), the restaurant had lots of personality and local flavor. Every table was set with a generous basket of peanuts, and as they ate them guests were encouraged to brush the shells off onto the restaurant's concrete floor. The rafters along the tall ceiling were draped with colorful t-shirts that hung like flags. There were hundreds of one-dollar bills stapled to the walls with messages written on them by customers.

After our meal we added a dollar bill with our names to it. We stapled it on the wall by the corner booth we were seated at.

Hopefully it will still be there when Susan, David, or Jay come by to eat there again someday.


The next day was David's graduation... but since it wasn't until 5 pm, we had some time on our hands. We were happy to hear that we were invited out to Jay's parents' house.

Jon met Jay's parents at Susan's graduation, but I hadn't met them yet. As Jon told me, they were wonderful. They live on a lake and invited the kids to go for a swim off their dock. So they got to use those swimsuits afterall-! (happy ending).

We sat on the dock and visited with Jay's parents while the kids swam. Susan helped keep track of the younger kids in the water, and Jay was in the kitchen... cooking us something wonderful for lunch.

Logan was with us the whole time. This visit Logan and our kids spent a lot of time together. Michael and Emma actually stayed overnight at Susan and David's house on Friday night, for a big sleepover. (Susan and David have finally reached the age when they're excused from trying to sleep in a cramped motel room with us).


It was fun to see how well Logan and Emma hit it off. He really is a sweet little boy... he took an interest in Leila, too, and helped "babysit" her a few times. By the end of the trip Emma and Logan were holding hands and calling each other best friends.

Jay suggested that he pack up our lunch so we could have a picnic at a nearby beach, just a short drive from his parents' house and inside their gated community.

The neighborhood has its own private lake with a sandy beach, picnic pavillion, and children's playground area. Even though it was Memorial Day weekend, we more or less had the beach to ourselves.

Jay's dad had grilled chicken, and Jay had made the accompanying dishes: we had sauteed cabbage, baby red potatoes (seasoned to perfection), grits (my first ever!), watermelon and musk melon... and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. Everything tasted SO GOOD and had that little bit of southern flair that made us feel like we were getting some real West Virginian hospitality.

There was a little excitement on the beach when we started seeing shark-like fins skimming the surface of the water. I photographed one below; you can't see it real well with my poor camera, but it was big!

The fins were from large carp (4-5 feet long) lying on their sides and sunning themselves. There were about six of them nearby, moving around our beach area. It was interesting, but it didn't interrupt Emma and Logan's swimming any.

Before long it was time to go and get ready for the graduation. We said our goodbyes to the Johnstons (very warm, gracious, down-to-earth people) and headed back to the motel.

At left: Susan helping her little sisters get ready for the big event.

We met Cyndi and Vincent at the graduation site. It was the same large civic building where Susan's graduation was held.

We got there early so we could get a good seat. We had almost an hour to wait, and wouldn't you know clever Susan had brought along her knitting. She's taught herself to knit, and right now is more in the practice stage, trying out different kinds of stitches.


Here's David getting his diploma.

It was easy to spot David among the other students. He was definitely one of the taller ones. He has gotten so big-! Wait till you see him at the graduation party. He has Jon's build now.

After the graduation we met up with David, and were even able to meet a few of his friends. Then we all headed to Chile's (David's restaurant of choice) for a meal and celebration.

David will be coming to Wisconsin in July and staying with us three weeks while his mom and stepfather make a trip to Colorado to visit Vincent's mother.

We'll be having a graduation party for David on the 4th of July at the Mill Yard Park in Cornell.

I'll send invitations out for that soon.

Susan and Jay will be coming to Wisconsin in August (they're traveling by train, I think).

Well, this has to rate as one of my longer blogs, I think! So I better wrap it up. I have more good pictures to post but they'll have to wait for the next blog.


This was a great start to the summer!