Christmas Eve Adventure

One of my favorite things to do is hop in my car and explore. About once a week, or at least two or three times each month, my husband hop in the car for an adventure. Weather was looking good here in West Virginia during the day of December 24, so we took the opportunity to visit some of the more remote areas within an hour or two of Morgantown.

Traveling from Morgantown, WV our first stop was Cool Spring Park (description from Roadside America). Cool Springs is a general store with a lunch counter, though during CoVID-19 they are not allowing indoor dining, and a graveyard of industrial objects from bygone days to explore (during the warmer months). The variety of products is impressive and sometimes entertaining. The hot chocolate on a cool day is was perfect. Cool Springs is also a helpful gas stop, gas stations are fewer and further between on U.S. Route 50.

From Cool Springs Park, we took toward the town of Eglon to find a geocache in the cemetery. The geocache, My Little Black Bird, was placed in celebration of Maison Sharp, a child who brought joy to his family but could not stay with us on earth for very long.

Eglon Community Cemetery

From Eglon we made our way to the towns of Thomas and Davis, along the way we stopped to admire the windmills along U.S. Route 219. Another interesting place in this area is Fairfax Stone State Park, a surveyor’s marker and boundary stone used in the 1700s to settle a dispute over land, it marks the boundary between Maryland and West Virginia and it is the origin of the North Branch of the Potomac River.

Windmills lining the ridge U.S. Route 219 follows through the Potomac Highlands

About 6 miles down the road we arrived in Thomas. The Gal-ivanter has a great blog post on what to see and do on a perfect trip to Thomas. Thomas is jam packed with cute little shops and cafes. My favorites are the Bloom gallery and Thomasyard. We were hoping to find a geocache on part of the Blackwater Canyon Trail, but the snow had other plans.

Onward to Davis! Like Thomas, Davis has an adorable downtown area filled with cute shops and cafes, though I am devastated that Hellbender Burritos closed, so many folks will never know some of the best burritos I’ve ever eaten (and I know a thing or two about good burritos after living in California). After our experience trying to find the geocache on the trail in Thomas, we should have known better. However, we were enticed to the Heart of the Highlands Trail, which was also too snowy for searching. No problem, I would love an excuse to come back, even better if I can come back with my bike!

Our next stop was Mt. Storm Lake. This lake is interesting because the water tends to stay warmer than it would naturally because it cools a power plant. It is enormously popular for scuba diving, though you would not know that on a gusty December 24. On the bright side, we found the geocache and the cleanest portajohn I have ever seen.

The Tacocat is prepared for anything, including a very slushy lakeshore

At this point, my shoes were completely soaked through. It was quite wet and slushy and I cursed at myself for skipping the rubber boots, but the truck was warm and we only had one more planned stop. We headed to the intersection of U.S. Route 50 and Table Rock Rd in Garrett County, Maryland. Maryland has one of the most comprehensive networks of traffic cameras in the country, including one at this remote outpost (to explore more of Maryland’s traffic cameras and other metrics, check out CHART).

Being Christmas Eve, and feeling a little bummed about not being able to see either of our families, Chris sent the link to the cam to his mom and I did the same with my dad. My dad captured the following picture from the video feed:

It was as close as we could get to our loved ones. Facetime might be easier, but this was a lot more fun and capped off our adventure on a high note. Avoiding others can be difficult, but there are ways to make it a lot more fun.

Hidden Gems: Bloomery and Oldtown

After making the trip to DC on I-68 and I-70 so many times, we decided to see if there was a feasible alternative route between Morgantown to DC and, particularly, Northern Virginia. We found that, so long as we were staying out in the Virginia suburbs, it only took an extra 3 to 5 minutes to take a much more scenic route. So returning home from DC, we sought a more refreshing route. Between Winchester and Cumberland we discovered two gems. 

Bloomery, WV. This small community is named for the reason it was founded. A bloomery is a type of furnace used for smelting iron from its oxides, the “blooms” of sponge iron it created could later be refined into wrought iron. The community itself, though miniscule, is adorable, with a majority of its buildings pre-dating the Civil War. Their small local grocery store remains a family affair, selling all of the basics plus gasoline to the locals and those passing through the sparsely developed area. Many of the historical structures are visible from West Virginia Route 127 and some, like the cemetery, offer great exploration opportunities.

Oldtown Low Water Bridge. Low water bridges or crossings are intended to enable passage in low water conditions and survive submersion in higher water conditions. The crossing at Oldtown was originally constructed to enable railroad workers living in West Virginia an opportunity to cross the Potomac closer to the enormous rail yards in Cumberland. Until a storm forced the closure of this bridge earlier this year, pedestrians still crossed for free though passenger cars paid a 50-cent toll. Despite not currently being operational, it is possible to walk up to the remarkable structure: wooden deck with, what appear to be, railroad rails atop of concrete piers. I’m guessing the state has inspected the one-lane bridge to ensure it meets specifications, but as a transportation engineer, it both excites me and makes me nervous!

Repairing the Oldtown Bridge, even on a Sunday!

Update: Since our visit in early August, the bridge has reopened! Biting my nails as I cross this bridge is something I’m actively excited about.

Near the Oldtown Low Water Bridge is one of the locks on the old C&O Canal. Remnants of the lock remain along what is now a recreational trail. Another highlight here is the preserved lockmaster’s house, which features an exhibit on the specific location and a great place for a picnic!

Top 10 of 2013: The Grand Finale

Number 1: Evolution of the Rest Stop !
Berkeley County, West Virginia
397 Favorite Points 

The cache with the most favorite points we found in 2013 was found by us in January. However, it did set the tone for an excellent year of geocaching and definitely solidified our membership in the WVTim fan club!

This geocache is the one with the most favorite points in the entire state of West Virginia and there are several characteristics that, I think, have enabled it to become such a well-loved geocache. I’m going to describe these characteristics without, hopefully, giving too much away because I think they are important considerations when deciding to develop a well-loved, popular geocache.

The first is simple: access. This cache is located in a rest area off of an interstate highway. Lots of people pass by this location every day and it is not difficult for the cache to be found while stopping to use the rest room facilities or even just stretching your legs on a long haul.

The second characteristic is the terrain rating. There seems to be a parabolic relationship between favorite points and terrain. A geocache with an easy terrain rating is accessible to more people so if it is clever the masses will flock to it. A geocache with a difficult terrain rating is often placed somewhere that’ll take your breath away (be it through a strenuous hike, an exhilarating paddle, or rappelling off a cliff-side). In this case, even though it was dark and the ground a little slick, we had no trouble making the find with the help of a flashlight.

The third characteristic is the container. Almost everyone has found a film canister or Altoid’s tin under a lamppost skirt or tucked in the end cap of a guard rail. These are caches that typically have lots of access and a low terrain rating, but no one really cares. These can be fun if you’re visiting a new area, just getting into geocaching, or trying to achieve some kind of goal (e.g. finding one cache per day for a month), but they’re not about to steal your heart. A clever container can bump a mundane location up to a geocaching destination.

Though when I reviewed the most popular geocaches from 2013 by the favorite points, there were some glaring omissions. My personal favorite was another WVTim cache, Bike Maryland. This cache was so good that it inspired my hide, Bruceton Mills Lake and Dam.

I tried to compile a list of “honorable mentions” for the 2013 cache year, but there were really too many to count. If I had to choose one state and region that I enjoyed the most through caching in 2013, it would have to be Maryland. Visiting the highest point in Maryland (Hoye Crest) was stunning, taking in several state parks (thinking of Swallow Falls State Park and Rocky Gap State Park in particular), and enjoying the communities of Garrett and Allegany counties generated so many wonderful memories.

So far, 2014 has been a slow year for geocaching. Between the cold and the snow it’s been difficult to get out much. I’m hoping that’ll change this weekend! Happy caching!

Foot Traffic Only

About two weeks ago Chris and I were staying in Cumberland, Maryland for the night. We adore Cumberland. It is a great town for geocaching, hiking, steam trains, old buildings, and buying a lot of candy. While I could write at length of any of those topics, it is a pocket of vibrancy we stumbled upon on this Friday night that is worth penning.

Choosing to close a road to motorized traffic in favor of creating a public, pedestrian space is rarely popular at the proposal stage. But sometimes these spaces manage to come to fruition, despite doubts and protest.

While I know little of the history behind closing off three blocks of Baltimore Avenue in downtown Cumberland, I can say with confidence that this area was the most active, busy hub on a warm Friday evening. We could hear live music as we sought out a parking spot (which was not as easy as one may think in a small city!) and as we neared the road we could hear the voices of the crowd.

Shops, restaurants, and services line the street. Several of the restaurants had lines of potential patrons out the door. Multiple restaurants had outdoor seating, including one that had tables and chairs set up in part of the former roadway. People were milling about, taking in the music and enjoying one of last few warm Friday evenings of 2013.

This space offers Cumberland a venue, a place for people to go and people enjoy the urban element of this Appalachian jewel that is known more for biking and hiking now than for the grand city it once was. Virtually all of the statutory holidays are celebrated here along with their very popular farmer’s market. Dubbed the Queen City, Cumberland was once the second largest city in Maryland. While much history remains, Cumberland continues to work toward reinvention.

Unfortunately, given the time of day we enjoyed the pedestrian mall, I lack my own photographs.  But it should not be too difficult to imagine an older industrial city in Maryland, built with brick and mortar, with a street populated only by people and the occasional bicycle. In some ways, it’s like going back in time, before the automobile.

Summertime 2013!

After completing an exam this morning, the Spring 2013 is officially wrapped up and the time of year I affectionately refer to as “summer” is here. Summer for a graduate student is not the same as summer is for an undergraduate student. This is a concept lost on many people, including my mother. For a graduate student, summer is the time they have to delve into their research without the distractions of classes and (usually) teaching responsibilities. This is when dissertation topics are developed (but rarely proposed—after all, your advisor often needs a vacation, too!), field work is completed with reckless abandon, and we often carry our laptops and books outside and enjoy a campus virtually devoid of the otherwise ubiquitous undergraduate student.

My plans for the summer are to do much of the data collection for my dissertation. I may even kindly solicit the help of you, my blog readers, for parts of this data collection. I’m also working on proposals and still that big project that pays the bills. That other thing that many do not understand, if you are a funded graduate student, school more resembles work. Despite the fact a schedule similar to a 5-day work week is adhered to, over the summer there are a few opportunities for a long weekend adventure or two (or five?).

I’ve had a few ideas (fantasies?) for summer adventures, for those more experienced, I’d love to hear what you have to think or suggest:

The Delmarva Peninsula and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel: Any bridge where locals make piles of money driving folks from out of town across (because it’s long, high up, and freaks people out) sounds like something I must check out. As for the Eastern Shore of Maryland (and the neighboring bit of Virginia), like with Western Maryland, you don’t hear much about it. It seems like a quiet, pleasant place (except possibly for Ocean City on a hot July day).

Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina: I’ve had the opportunity to explore other areas of this state, but I’d like to see where it was that North Carolina became first in flight. I hear the beach is nice, too, but beaches are far more ubiquitous than the first controlled, powered airplane flight. I feel like it would have the same kind of strange ambiance as discovering where Marconi transmitted the first telegraph from the US to England. Though, I can’t imagine getting the solitude of the Cape in October on a North Carolina beach in a warm month.

Paddling Stonewall Jackson Lake: Earlier this year, when it was particularly frigid out, Chris and I spent a wonderful night at the Stonewall Jackson Resort (near Weston, WV), which sits right on the lake. At that point we also learned that, included in the room rate, are several recreational opportunities, including kayaks. I would love little more than to spend a day on the lake (with A LOT of sunscreen!) pulling up on the little islands and peninsulas beyond the reach of walking men… and it’s just incredibly beautiful out here.

Camping at Rocky Gap State Park: As a kid, the idea of camping sounded like some kind of hell. Yet, over the past few years, as I’ve assimilated into Appalachian living, the idea sounds more and more appealing. So I’ve reserved a cabin for what I’m calling “baby camping.” I use the term because it is a cabin with electric and it’s across the lake from a resort. Though, given we’re going with coolers full of meat with plans to grill, I think I’ll survive.

Tubing on the Shenandoah River: I tried tubing on the Juniata River in Mifflin County, PA last year. It got off to a rocky start when I did a really lousy job of getting myself into the tube (and consequently slamming my knee on the bottom of the river—slick granite—leading to a few months of physical therapy). Though once I got going, I had a great time. The biggest surprise was the amount of pain my whole body was in the next morning. I’ve really made tubing sound freaking miserable, but I would like to do it again, and I’d like to do it in a nice, clean river like the Shenandoah around Front Royal/Luray and all that good stuff.

I believe it was the month of July last year where on four consecutive Saturdays I signed some kind of liability waiver that used the word “death” multiple times. It was a pretty good month. I’d do that again.

Lessons from Grad School: Work Doesn’t Evaporate

Part 1

Sometimes I believe grad school has taught me more about things having nothing to do with transportation than those related to transportation. Some of these lessons, however, have significantly shaped how I look at very common aspects of my life. My primary task as a grad student is to perform research, this is my job. But no matter how fast I work or how many hours I work, there will always be more research and related tasks to accomplish.

It is fundamental that I dedicate substantial quantities of my time and effort to research, coursework, writing, and preparing for life after graduate school. But there will never be a time I am without work to do. That said, I have begun to learn how to effectively take time to step back from work and even find ways to release the stress that it causes. Believe it or not, sometimes it is very challenging to study death every day, especially when the majority of the death and injury you’re studying is from people who did nothing other than try and live their lives normally.

Weekends are not time for passive languishing. Weekends are time to fight back. Weekends are when the light comes shining in.

7:30am comes perfectly as the sun is at the right angle to catch all of the shades of green in Sylvester’s eyes. He’s hungry, he wants some attention, and he doesn’t want me to waste the day. He purrs until I get out bed and is underfoot until his food dish is piled high, giving me the opportunity to throw on a t-shirt and yoga pants and sneak out the door with Chris.

Deep Creek Lake is about an hour away from Morgantown, West Virginia near Oakland, Maryland. It is a gorgeous lake that is a popular summer vacation spot for folks in the region. The lake is created by a dam and has long, narrow coves splintering off of the very busy main channel. After a few weekends getting reacquainted with kayaking and teaching Chris the basics, we’re ready for a bigger lake (no horsepower limit here!). We rented kayaks from High Mountain Sports and with their recommendations on nice places to paddle, we’re off.

Despite it still being early, not even 10am, the lake is alive with traffic. Pontoon boats, speedboats, jetskis, and even a few other kayaks are everywhere, along with a pretty stiff breeze. Step one is crossing the main channel of the lake in one piece. The first few minutes were a challenge, but once we mastered the movement of the water, the waves were like a carnival ride. As I paddled fiercely, not wanting to dilly-dally in the middle of the busy lake the stress was evaporating. I left it in the main channel of the lake. We paddled up Cherry Creek Cove, getting unique views of lovely vacation homes and the wonderful flora of western Maryland.

The wind seemed to pick up as we approached the main channel heading back to the marina. But it was time to head back, we powered across the lake. It seemed to take forever as the wind and the wake were beating us up. In this situation, I couldn’t think about issues I’m having with my data or the specifications of my regression models, rather I had to focus on my kayak and me. Every time a large boat would pass I’d spin the kayak to take the wake head on and lift my arms in the air to keep the paddle from catching the water. It was a blast.

But this mental vacation day is hardly over. Next time: great food and great finds in Maryland and West Virginia!

Three Stops in Western Maryland

When someone talks about Maryland, odds are it’s not about western Maryland. Western Maryland is home to some of the harshest geography and least populated areas in the eastern United States. Most who do experience this area try to push through it as quickly as possible on I-68, some not even realizing their proximity to the National Road, which winds carefully through and over the mountains, visiting some of the most charming and beautiful towns in the mid-Atlantic. On this day, the goal was Baltimore from Morgantown. Traveling in tandem with Chris, it was time for a history lesson on America's first Mother Road in Garrett and Allegany counties.

Our first stop was at the Little Crossings, now called the Casselman Bridge. This bridge was originally built in 1813 for use on the National Road. It carried traffic for over 100 years before being replaced by a through truss bridge in the 1930s on an alignment of US-40 only a few hundred feet from the old bridge. The bridge from 1813 was the largest of its type when it was built. When you approach the bridge what is most apparent is its imposing size, then you realize it was built by hand. The bridge had fallen into disrepair and was restored in the 1970s and is now a small state park along the current alignment of Alt US-40 a few miles east of Grantsville, MD. Though if you do visit this bridge, start signaling your turn early, it’s a steep hill and other drivers appreciate getting as much warning as possible.

The original crossing over the Casselman River

We continued the trek eastward, traveling up and down the mountains nowhere near as efficiently as the cars on I-68. Though I was wondering how many people on I-68 saw us going up and down those hills, wishing on such a beautiful day they weren’t on the interstate. Our next stop was at the LaVale Tollhouse, just outside of Cumberland, MD. Funding for roads has always been a highly contentious issue. When the National Road was built the federal government passed the responsibility of paying for the roads onto the states, which led to elaborate tolling schemes. In Maryland the National Road had two tollhouses, the one in LaVale being one of them. Sitting along present Alt US-40 is this relatively non-descript beige building was the source of some highway drama! Folks in the 1830s didn’t like tolls any more than we do today, and pikers found new and exciting ways to aggravate the toll collectors.

The Lavale Tollhouse, on the National Road a few miles west of Cumberland, Maryland.

After a delicious lunch at D’Atri Restaurant in LaVale we continued along the National Road toward Hancock. There are many hills and mountains between where the National Road enters Maryland from Pennsylvania to Hancock, but Town Hill not only presents a beautiful view of the valley below and Sideling Hill to the east, but is home to the Town Hill Tavern. The Town Hill Tavern is the last 1920s-era lodging and dining establishment along the old National Road. Traffic is pretty light, and looking down from the overlook explains it. We quietly watched the traffic rush pass below on I-68, while only acknowledging one motorcycle passing us up at the summit of Town Hill.

Town Hill Tavern on the National Road, a few miles west of Sideling Hill.

View of I-68 and, in the distance, Sideling Hill, from the Town Hill Tavern.