Maggie Valley NC to Warren PA
We spent the week of May 14th on vacation in Virginia and North Carolina. I have been uploading blog posts about our vacation since May 29th. This blog post is about our eighth, and final, day of vacation.
I wish I had slept better the night before. Bob’s snoring awakened me, and the room temperature wasn’t good. I was either too warm or cold. Apparently I slept with an ant too. While half asleep, during the night, I changed my sleeping position. I rested the side of my head on another pillow. I heard a buzzing noise…bee? fly? I turned on the light and lifted my pillow….nothing. I lifted the other pillow…nothing. I pulled back the bed sheet and shook the covers…nothing. I eventually went back to sleep. Later on, I placed my hand underneath the pillow and felt movement. I brushed my hand outward. I got up, looked underneath the pillow and saw a black, plump ant moving quickly to the head of the bed. I flattened that ant, without a moment’s thought.
We departed A Holiday Motel on Sunday, May 21, at 5:15 am, in the rain. We arrived at Cracker Barrel in Asheville, NC at 5:50 am. We had an approximate wait of 10 minutes before the restaurant opened. While we ate, it got lighter outside. The rain, however, continued. We were back on the road around 6:30 am.
Our next stop was 3 hours later at the Rocky Gap Safety Rest Area/Welcome Center, located along Interstate 77 in Virginia. The only thing noteworthy about this rest stop was some old vehicles that we saw in the parking lot.
Rocky Gap Safety Rest Area/Welcome Center
The rain turned into drizzle, as we entered West Virginia and soon stopped completely.
We ate lunch at Shoney’s in Summersville, WV. We were back on the road at noon.
The Pennsylvania Welcome Center in Waynesburg is a very nice welcome center. It is full of brochures and maps about places throughout Pennsylvania, as well as coloring and activity books for children. There is also a coal miners memorial at this welcome center.
Pennsylvania Welcome Center in Waynesburg, PA
Pennsylvania Welcome Center in Waynesburg, PA
The coal miners memorial was of interest to me, as both Dad and my brother, Jim, were coal miners.
The rain started up again soon after leaving the Pennsylvania Welcome Center, and followed us home.
We got off Interstate 77 at the Slippery Rock exit, several miles sooner than routed by the GPS. We were getting tired of interstate travel.
We returned home at approximately 5:30 pm. We drove in rain at least 75% of our drive home.
This blog post concludes our Virginia and North Carolina vacation. I hope that you enjoyed, vicariously, coming along with us on our vacation.
The Beauty Around Us 
4 Responses to “Maggie Valley NC to Warren PA”
Sorry to hear about the ant, but all-in-all it sounds like a great trip.
I enjoyed reading your vacation and your photos are always a treat. Bummer about the ant but it could have been something worse, like an uncle, lol, jus ‘kid’in. The old cars are called street rods; old style bodies but powerful, usually state of the art running gear and fixings.I would have been tempted to ask them if they were going to a show ‘n shine and if so follow them to it. Well, maybe not so much with the rain. But you were lucky with the weather most of the time. Glad you had a good time.
It was a great trip Linda and I have enjoyed this whole series. I have had a couple of unwanted bed critters myself but both were small spiders (not lately thank goodness!) Interesting that your dad and brother were coal miners. I am happy to see the dedication in your last shot. Such dangerous work and they need more recognition for what they do. I would like to take a trip back into West Virginia and stay for a few days. Enjoy your weekend 🙂
Hello Linda, sounds like you had a great trip except for the rain. The old cars are neat. Coal mining is dangerous work, I assume your Dad and brother survived the mines. I have a brother named Jim too. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!