West Virginia and Beyond

For those of you still reading the adventures, I have survived the mountains of West Virginia. It is quite mountainous and forested there and before anyone makes a comment about the peaks out west, I can assure you that the roads in West Virginia were the most scary of all I have driven on in the US. The actual road conditions were fine but it appears that the roads were laid out following the trails of the original explorers of the region - insane squirrels. I think the longest straight section was for 100 feet and that was in over 60 miles of driving. There were no pull offs and I saw only one passing lane the entire time so I was the slow poke on the road. Between the dozens of hairpin turns and sudden drop offs I can say with certainty that the mountains of West Virginia are for real.

Beautiful day in WV

With the remoteness of the area came a certain lack of amenities. Among these would be cute cafes, breweries, and cellular service. I decided to hunt for Moth Man and not Big Foot when in WV due to these limitations. If you are not familiar with Moth Man, he was first seen in the 1960s and is described as a large grey creature whose eyes "glowed red" with giant wings. Moth Man has also been reported to be a harbinger of disaster such as a bridge collapse in 1967. Moth Man lacks the sophistication of Big Foot so I stuck to rural West Virginia for my hunt.

Statue of Moth Man

Instead of hunting Moth Man in the areas he was previously sighted, I chose to look in Hacker Valley. In addition to being incredibly small and off the grid, it was also close to my campground which saved me from having to drive more.

Actually some of the nicest bathrooms I have used

My search took me to the gas station, grocery store, hardware store, auto parts store, and restaurant in town. Thankfully this was all in one building so I didn't have to go far. The store had a wide variety of products but not much depth. For example, they had lamps but only one style. They had fresh vegetables, but only one tomato and one onion. They did have several different kinds of beer, but generally just Busch and Bud varieties of which I am not a fan since I have not suffered from a traumatic injury that rendered my taste buds useless. They did have some Yuengling so I was happy to get this east coast treat in the "Black and Tan" variety. I can't say it is the best beer I have had but it is quite tasty and far better than any other option.

Magic all in one store

Obviously Moth Man is not sophisticated enough to enjoy such an interesting and unique establishment so I decided to go for some walks in the woods instead. The trees were holding onto the last of their leaves but it was super pretty. We had clear days other than the last few and since the area I was in was in a little valley, the land rose up sharply on either side of the river. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to locate Moth Man.

River near my location

I continued to relax for most of the week prior to heading to Virginia for a few days. I will be following the coastal route on my way to my winter in Texas so you can probably figure out my next state I will be in after Virginia. 

I checked out Chaos Mountain Brewing Station in Natural Bridge, VA. The Squatch Ale was an excellent Scottish Ale and I had to take some to go. I also tried their kolsch and stout. This was some of the best beer I have had in a while, at least a week for sure. Big Foot had been here but wasn’t during my visit but the beer was excellent.

Complete with a Big Foot cutout. Getting closer…

I also checked out a cider house, Halcyon Days Cider Company. The dry ciders were excellent including Occam’s Razor and Midas Touch. There was no sign of Big Foot but the mountains of Virginia in the background along with the cider was incredibly relaxing. 

Lucy chillin on the deck of Halcyon. 

I also checked out Devils Backbone Brewery.  It’s a cool place even though it was spacious. The deck overlooks a valley and on my visit it was in the upper 60s, sunny, and a light breeze - truly a beautiful day. I had a good Schwartz beer which reminded me of one of the best I’ve had at Runaway.  I enjoyed my visit but there was no sign of Big Foot so it was time to move on  

Relaxing patio space

I have shared the details of my sabbatical trip on the web page so you can see the route I have taken this year and my location. More precisely you can see my last location. While I have a very sophisticated and elite audience, one never knows. 

Section of the trip so far. Live updates on Braxwood.com

I have finally done something with the web page which is mostly a place to link to the blog, FAQs, and the map. You can continue to access the blog however you choose and I apologize if I have resulted in additional clicks but I actually don't care.

I am looking at reservations for Thanksgiving versus grilling out in Alabama. The dogs have voted for me to stay home and grill them something but I have suggested that they don't get to decide. We are still discussing this and have not come to a consensus yet. Otherwise we will continue our coastal journey with the state of North Carolina next.

Thor

Check out braxwood.com for more information including a route map and answers to timeless questions.