What a way to bring this fantastic journey to an end, almost.
After a good night's sleep at our cozy bivouac at the Motel 6 in Columbus, a good decision on my part, the day started off tame enough. When i walked outside to the Defender in my night clothes to check to see if i had left the gas cap off yesterday, which might explain my red "check engine" light staring at me (I did not), i noticed an unususl number of vehicles scattered about the parking lot, and an equally unusual number of men (and maybe women) about, mostly dressed in black, some wearing balaclavas, and some breaking into the vehicles near me. My first thought was that It was cold, but not that cold to warrant balaclavas, let alone break unto vehicles. My next thought was, Ah, so this is how it ends. I could see the headlines of the first page of the local paper - "Man Traveling with his Dog...." - and then the nice obituary in the back of the same paper - "Man Travejing with his Dog....."
Most sensible people would have darted back inside, locked their door, snd called 911 to report suspicious activity. I darted back inside, not to seek refuge, but to get dressed so i could return to the action in progress to have something interesting to report on my blog. After dressing for the occasion, i returned to the Defender, pretending to be loading it. More men dressed in black were now in evidence, and the number of scattered vehicles increased too. But i assumed a sense of relief -or was it fear? - when i spotted the letters P O L I C E on the backs and skeeves of some of the balaclava–clad men (and maybe women), and the letters D E A on others, and then was almost convinced something was going down. Then, when a gentleman in fatigues came up behind me, outfitted in the fanciest get-ready-for-battle body armor and other such regalia, including one of those big firearms usually carried by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Terminator roles, i was fully convinced something was going on, unless i was catching the tail end of an extended Halloween party. Since i felt safe to be surrounded by such firepower,but curious about what was happening, i decided to use my humor to find out what was going on, so i said to Arnold, I hope you guys aren't after that rot-gut pipe tobacco i bought yesterday. To his credit, he smiled and said something like, Just a little morning incident we are tending to. Instead of tending to the business at hand, he fired (Oops, poor choice of words) some questions atbme about my rig, until his equally outfitted-for-battle supervisor, the one with raw meat stains on his teeth, barked some order to him, which sent Arnold quickly fleeing away my comfort zone into harm's way.
After a good night's sleep at our cozy bivouac at the Motel 6 in Columbus, a good decision on my part, the day started off tame enough. When i walked outside to the Defender in my night clothes to check to see if i had left the gas cap off yesterday, which might explain my red "check engine" light staring at me (I did not), i noticed an unususl number of vehicles scattered about the parking lot, and an equally unusual number of men (and maybe women) about, mostly dressed in black, some wearing balaclavas, and some breaking into the vehicles near me. My first thought was that It was cold, but not that cold to warrant balaclavas, let alone break unto vehicles. My next thought was, Ah, so this is how it ends. I could see the headlines of the first page of the local paper - "Man Traveling with his Dog...." - and then the nice obituary in the back of the same paper - "Man Travejing with his Dog....."
Most sensible people would have darted back inside, locked their door, snd called 911 to report suspicious activity. I darted back inside, not to seek refuge, but to get dressed so i could return to the action in progress to have something interesting to report on my blog. After dressing for the occasion, i returned to the Defender, pretending to be loading it. More men dressed in black were now in evidence, and the number of scattered vehicles increased too. But i assumed a sense of relief -or was it fear? - when i spotted the letters P O L I C E on the backs and skeeves of some of the balaclava–clad men (and maybe women), and the letters D E A on others, and then was almost convinced something was going down. Then, when a gentleman in fatigues came up behind me, outfitted in the fanciest get-ready-for-battle body armor and other such regalia, including one of those big firearms usually carried by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Terminator roles, i was fully convinced something was going on, unless i was catching the tail end of an extended Halloween party. Since i felt safe to be surrounded by such firepower,but curious about what was happening, i decided to use my humor to find out what was going on, so i said to Arnold, I hope you guys aren't after that rot-gut pipe tobacco i bought yesterday. To his credit, he smiled and said something like, Just a little morning incident we are tending to. Instead of tending to the business at hand, he fired (Oops, poor choice of words) some questions atbme about my rig, until his equally outfitted-for-battle supervisor, the one with raw meat stains on his teeth, barked some order to him, which sent Arnold quickly fleeing away my comfort zone into harm's way.
Donner, whom i had loaded into the Defender, was a witness to the bringing down of the perp in a peaceful manner. And so, all the balaclava-clad men and women got into their vehicles and exited the scene, leaving me behind with Donner and my rot-gut pipe tobacco.
And so, we moved eastward on our journey, but only after a stop at Petsmart for some treats for Donner and a resupply stop at the nearby Walmart for our last days. What would we do without Walmart?
After resuppling, i had to make a decision. Do i head for DC today, or do i stop in between at one of two cabins i knew of in West Virginia for a final layover before the final leg home, and if the latter, which one, Cheat River Lodge in Elkins , or the other one near Frostburg in western Marylsnd.
I will pass on explaining the rationale of my decision to select the Cheat River cabin, where i last stayed in 1995 with a Russian friend when we attended a Land Rover rally in my new Defender. I called the lodge, and the owner, Roxy, said they had a cabin available and that dogs were permittef. She owns a black German shepherd herself who does search and rescue work. I reserved a cabin for two nights to give me one whole day to get through some of my post-trip writings before i get home. Knowing how those back roads of West Virginia can be problematic, i punched Cheat River Lodge into both My Garmin and Google Maps.
The trip from Columbus Ohio eastward was not partcilsfly memorable driving on the interstates. In fact, the main reason i do not like the stretch of highway from Kansas to DC is that it is all interstate, usually crowded, especially with trucks, and so there is simply no time or opportunity to enjoy the drive. But when the road today turned into meandering US 50,the same road i abandoned 2000 miles back near Ely Nevada to take in the Grand Canyon and that could take me almost to my front door, the drive turned into gently rollings hills with trees decked out in their beautiful late-fall wardrobe. I had forgotten how beautiful this part of the country is. In fact, get off the interstates and travel the back roads and every place in the country has its own unique beauty. The next time i travel across this beautiful land of ours, I will take route. 50 or 64 the whole way and enjoy the entire ride.
Dark set in right on cue, at 530. There was no enjoyment driving in the dark the rest of the way to Cheat River. In fact, that drive, especially the last five miles to my canin, has now moved into the number 1 place on my list of "challenging" drives not only on this trip but ever, and it had some tough competition.
Eventually, after my Garmin and Google Maps led me astray, i found my cabin for the night. My God, what a setting it is. A fantastic log cabin situated at the end of a remote dirt road amidst a forest of poplar trees right on the river' edge. I would have sent this posting last night, however, I spent a good deal of time enjoying some wine while sitting in the hot tub on the partially covered deck outside, staring at the star-filled heavens above in the cold night air. If I had tried to imagine a perfect setting for ending this fantastic journey, I never would have come up with anything like this. In retrospect, what I should have done is rented this place for 50 days and written a best– seller novel about a fictitious journey of a man on the road with his dog and Defender. If any reader of this blog lives within 250 miles of this place, you should add at least one long stay here to your bucket list. It is really quite nice.
To make matters even better here, as I was preparing my and Donner's dinner on the outside deck, two old local dogs wandered onto the deck to welcome Donner to the neighborhood. They all exchanged the information that dogs are wont to do, I gave them each some of Donner treats, and they moved on. Donner, needless to say, was thrilled to have met two more friends on this long journey.
Tomorrow, i will try to write a summary of my trip, or at least an outline for it, and then decide when to make the last 200 miles home.
Ed and Donner, from a fantastic oasis in West Virginia.
