One Day Only: An Escape to Lewisburg

Things are chaotic in so many ways right now. I think everyone would probably benefit from some blood pressure medication (but don’t take my word for it, I’m not that kind of doctor). Despite the chaos, my husband and I found one day, one night where we could escape our marathon work sessions. I feel like COVID-19 and working from home has actually generated more work for me, not less. I digress. Let’s go to Lewisburg, West Virginia!

I can’t bear to take the same route both ways in just about every context (unless I’m in a huge hurry). So to get down to Lewisburg we made stops in Buckhannon and Pickens. Not exactly the direct route. Buckhannon is home to West Virginia Wesleyan College, which is a lovely liberal arts college, and the Donut Shop. Wesleyan’s campus is bucolic and picturesque, but there is nothing like gobbling up a pepperoni roll in its melted cheese and crumbled pepperoni glory and a dozen or so donuts for good measure from the largely nondescript place.

And the French toast donut was, in fact, absolutely delicious

Next we decided to make our way from U.S. Route 119 to U.S. Route 2019 by taking Helvetia-Adolph Road. This meant we not only went through Helvetia, but decided to take a detour to Pickens. I am mildly obsesses with Pickens because it is less connected to the world now than it was 75 years ago—at least then they had road and rail access. While the town is small, it did have a post office, which is exactly what I needed to make a special delivery to one of my students.

The Post Office at the end of the World

The drive down U.S. Route 219 from Mill Creek to Lewisburg is every sportscar driver’s dream—and I’ve done it in a Miata and a Corvette. It isn’t quite the Tail of the Dragon, but there are a lot of exhilarating and technical curves that make you realize you were right for buying that sportscar—and then you get stuck behind a 1990 Silverado struggling up the grades and taking the curves extra slow. This happens at the Tail of the Dragon, too.

Lewisburg is one of four Certified Arts Towns in West Virginia, the others are Elkins, Wheeling, and Berkeley Springs—all of which are very worthy towns to spend a weekend in. Lewisburg is home to boutique shops, galleries, and delicious restaurants—and one of West Virginia’s three medical schools, the West Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine. There are artsy touches all over town, like this fire hydrant and a piano out in the open for anyone to play (I declined, I can’t say I have much musical talent).

Though my favorite place in Lewisburg is the General Lewis Inn. This boutique hotel offers not only incredible rooms, but an exquisite restaurant and real mixologists at the bar. On this stay we enjoyed the Garden Queen Room, which had a spacious seating area, perfect if traveling with friends or other couples for drinks, discussion, or even some card or board games.

Having a few hours before our dinner reservation, we strolled the main drag and poked our heads into the shops that were open. I scored an incredible western-themed sweater, a gift for one of my best friends, and an actual Canadian 1-dollar bill, these haven’t been in circulation since 1989. After some research on the internet, the bill may be worth a lot more than I paid for it. That is one of the benefits of shopping for regional products a long way from their “home”. I also picked up two old post cards from British Columbia that were mailed to West Virginia, complete with postmarks and personal notes on them. You never know what you might find!

It was a pleasant sight to see the General Lewis Inn after walking downtown

The General Lewis Inn, Lewisburg, WV

Neither of us could resist the promise of a perfectly cooked filet mignon in the Jefferson Dining Room and they did not disappoint, we followed our perfect steaks with a Louisiana Cadillac—a five-layer mousse cake, almond crisp, chocolate mousse, caramel, hazelnut streusel, and dark chocolate shards. I was so full it was almost painful to eat but my mouth enjoyed every single atom of that dessert.

After a long day, we turned in early. To return home to Morgantown we elected to follow U.S. Route 60 to Gauley Bridge, where we picked up W.V. Route 16 to Clay, where we took a right onto W.V. Route 4 (which follows the beautiful Elk River into Gassaway). By the time we made it to Sutton, however, we were ready for a high-speed burn up I-79.

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!

Memorial Day 2014: Burgers, Bypasses, and Buffington Island

We were musing over how nice Columbus and, heck, even greater Cleveland seemed as places to live. But our attempt to exit onto U.S. Route 33 off of I-270 was foiled. As it turns out, a police standoff was occurring a block or two away and, for the safety of the public, they had closed Route 33 at the 270 interchange. Maybe the boonies aren’t so bad. When the police guided us back onto I-270, we took the next and worked our way back to 33 because we had a mission: White Castle.

In Lancaster, Ohio we stopped at a White Castle to get a taste of their sliders. I went for four of the classics through Chris went for variety, including double sliders and some concoction that appeared to be mostly jalapenos. Fountain cream soda was a great pairing with these tasty delights.

Ohio seems to be amidst a major highway building boom. We got to travel the new Nelsonville Bypass on Route 33, so new that our barely six-month-old Garmin seemed to truly believe we were driving off road. The prior routing narrowed the four-lane divided highway to a two-lane local road through town, subjecting motorists to lower speed limits and congestion. The bypass is a wholly modern road that pretty effectively cleanses the charm of the Hocking Hills region from the route. But, as it is now, it is a road built for speed, a concept that has not escaped the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Let us take this moment to thank the inventor of cruise control (a gentleman named Ralph Teetor).

Perhaps the greatest thrill of the day was crossing back into West Virginia, if for no other reason than we could drive down a major state route and ever have a moment where we did not see a state trooper running radar. Our initial goal for this entire weekend was the WV Civil War Trail Zone 1 – Buffington Island geocache, it is why we rented a small SUV rather than just a larger car with fewer miles than ours. Our plans certainly grew, but this one never escaped our mind, not since we had to skip over it the previous month because we just weren’t sure how the Civic would handle it. The view from the cache was breathtaking. I love the Ohio River (and all of its tributaries, especially the one I live on). It is a hardworking river with an interesting and evolving history—though you couldn’t pay me enough money to swim in it. This cache was a great test for the Sportage that negotiated the gravel and dirt road up with ease and proved the value of the hill descent function with pride. We weren’t sure we could love a Kia, but this Sportage won our hearts.

The view of the Ohio River and Buffington Island

From here, all roads lead home. We headed up to U.S. Route 50 to make our way over to I-79. The trouble with the modern day Route 50 is that sure gets boring after a while, built for speed and all that good stuff. So we took a side trip to Harrisville, WV and WV Civil War Trail Zone 1 – Jones Raid. Harrisville is the seat of Ritchie County and is truly cute as a button, the kind of place Chris and I could see ourselves summering in after we retire. The geocache was located next to the repurposed old elementary school. Nothing stirs my heart more than an old school that finds new life in a city or town center. That is where schools belong so communities may congregate.

The old Harrisville School

From here we discovered that if we kept driving we would end up in North Bend State Park. Having never been there, we figured we’d come this far, we should keep going. Despite the seemingly remoteness of the park, it was a busy place! The pool was a popular choice, but around every corner you could see children playing and people enjoying the best of what West Virginia has to offer. I think we found the next place we’d like to take a stab at camping at.

Road weary at this point, all roads really did lead home. Shortly after arriving home, we arrived in bed face-first, where we slept for twelve hours, ending only when my best friend called to say she was an hour out and hungry for lunch. There are worse ways to wake up on the last day of a long weekend.

Memorial Day 2014: Monumental Geocaches

The remaining two caches in Erie were virtual geocaches. Heading back into town, our first stop was on a non-descript residential street to visit Auto Art. These are my absolute favorite types of caches, especially when I am a guest in an area. Without the cache, there would be no reason for us to be on this residential street, yet we would have definitely missed out on Pennsylvania’s own version of the Cadillac Ranch. The sculptures here are varied but have a common real-transportation-meets-science-fiction theme.

Erie sure has some big Beetles!

Our final stop in Erie took us right to the shore of Lake Erie. Some may argue that it seems as if the Civil War ended yesterday in the South, well on Presque Isle you could say the same about the War of 1812. To be fair, it was a nice change of pace. The area around the Perry Monument was nothing short of picturesque. A quiet inlet off the lake enabled an organization to host an event to teach children how to fish and tour groups on foot and bicycle were everywhere. Despite the cold water, we even saw folks swimming in the lake. “Don’t Give Up the Ship” is dedicated to the Perry Monument and the critical roles in the Battle of Lake Erie of both Erie and Commodore Perry.

Perry Monument on Presque Isle

After successfully finding the three geocaches in Erie, we headed west to Ohio. We hopped on I-90 and only a few miles down the road we were passed by a car with Washington State plates, we couldn’t help but wonder if they were going all the way. I-90’s western terminus is in downtown Seattle, after all.

We stopped for lunch in the Cleveland suburb of Mentor, Ohio to try out Melt Bar and Grilled. Melt is the evolution (revolution?) of grilled cheese sandwiches. We ordered the Melt Pierogi to start, it was golden delicious. Then I ordered the Chorizo and Potato, fresh ground spicy sausage and potato hash, sharp cheddar. It was delicious! Though shortly after finishing up one of my friends espoused the greatness of the Peanut Butter & Banana (caramelized banana, house made peanut butter, sweet cream cheese, candied peanuts, mixed berry preserves) and I’m a little bummed that I didn’t go that route. 

After filling our bellies and the tank of the car (it sipped fuel, getting 26 to 30 mpg all weekend), we headed to Twinsburg, OH to seek Twin Pirates Treasure Hunt. This multi-cache took us to scenic Center Valley Park on Tinkers Creek. Each stage of this multi cache introduced us to a different trail in a different part of the park. The hike was not particularly strenuous, it was just about right. The use of field puzzles and unique containers at each of the stages added an extra layer of fun to the cache. The whole time we sought the cache (total of about 90 minutes) we couldn’t stop commending the cache owner on an excellent cache design. Much to our surprise, the final stage of the cache was even better: a real treasure chest and a talking skull. While heading back to the car, Chris and I were trying to figure out where this cache falls in our top 5 caches found. It was worth every single mosquito bite on my back!

Yo ho, yo ho the final stage of the Twin Pirates Treasure Hunt

Once we wrapped up in Twinsburg the afternoon was wearing on. We decided to check out another cache in the Cleveland suburbs, but it was in the cache owner’s front yard. Front yard caches are hit and miss for me. In this case we had to walk up to the house to obtain a tool to retrieve the cache. The door to the house was open and it felt like a hundred eyes were on us. We decided to skip this one and make a bee-line for Columbus. Besides, I needed some quality time with my phone to arrange lodging for the night once we arrived there.

Memorial Day 2014: All Roads Lead North

I’ve had a rough time since my birthday, having been an inpatient at Ruby Memorial Hospital for a total of 12 days across two separate stays. While my 7 East family were excellent caregivers, we all agreed that we’d rather run into each other at the mall or in the park. Despite the fact the month has been pretty tough on me medically, Memorial Day weekend was one to remember. We looked at our list of Most Wanted geocaches and a map of the places we don’t get to as much and developed a plan that would take us to Pennsylvania’s only Great Lake port, the Capital of Ohio, and North Bend State Park in West Virginia—a perfect example of how West Virginia lives up to the slogan: Wild and Wonderful.

We kicked off the weekend by renting a Kia Sportage from the Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Morgantown. We decided that for a road trip, which would include some gravel roads, a small SUV would be more comfortable and utilitarian than a Chevy Cavalier or a Honda Civic. Plus, I’m in the very early stages of new car shopping and, frankly, I’m not sure what I want so it’s fun to try all manners of vehicles.

Last summer we also discovered the pleasures of “cooler living.” So I was sure to load up a cooler and book bag with snacks and drinks to keep us sated on the road. We’ve found that it saves money and gives us more freedom while on the road. No need to make stops for food unless they’re wanted. Plus, when we do eat out, we don’t have to toss our leftovers in the trash by default. By packing a few extra takeaway containers from the house, we can put them in the cooler and reheat them in the hotel room or even back at home.

We left Morgantown a little later than anticipated and north of Pittsburgh got stuck in a miles long traffic jam that foiled our effort to seek out one of Pennsylvania’s oldest geocaches, Stone Wall Stash. We typically avoid geocaching after dark unless it is specifically a night cache or an area we are very familiar with. We typically find that the added risks of injury, getting lost, or having any type of run in with police (friendly or unfriendly) take the fun away.

Because of the rapidly approaching night and cancelling the plans to find the first cache, we stopped in Grove City for dinner. There weren’t very many options that didn’t involve entering the Thunderdom—I mean parking lot for the Grove City Premium Outlets. So we figured we’d give Hoss’s a shot. They seem to be everywhere in Pennsylvania and we’d never tried one before. The service was enthusiastic and the salad bar was pretty good, though they could’ve backed off on the pepper a little bit on my steak.

On the road, I struggled to arrange lodging for the night in Erie, Pennsylvania. The holiday weekend seemed to attract a lot of folks to Erie so there were few rooms available. Normally we like to stay at mid-range hotels (some of our favorite chains include Best Western and Holiday Inn Express) but what rooms were available at this tier of hotels were all smoking rooms. This is an issue I can’t remember having since trying to find a hotel in Nashville in 1996. But Erie is a blast from the past in so many ways; I call it a 1960’s vision of a modern, mobile, middle-class America. We ended up at the Red Roof Inn.

The Red Roof Inn here has several unique characteristics that stick out to me. First, it is all non-smoking! Second, it has free nationwide long distance included in the room rate. Third, they did not lie about being right off of I-80. The noise from the interstate was hard to miss in the hotel room. Thankfully, Erie is very flat so there were no trucks engine-braking past. Once we were asleep, neither of us noticed any of this noise. It certainly didn’t wake us up.  And, finally, their grab-and-go breakfast concept is an awesome evolution of the continental breakfast. In their lobby they had a table of lunch bags and each had an apple, a blueberry muffin, and a bottle of water. So perfect!

Our first goal of the day was to find the oldest geocache in Pennsylvania: State Game Lands #109. Geocaching is a young hobby, only about 14 years old, and caches placed in 2000 and 2001 are getting harder and harder to find, especially those with a physical container. Finding the parking area was a little challenging, as was resisting the temptation to get my feet wet by seeking the cache in the shortest, most direct route. We were treated with a pleasant walk in the woods on a beautiful morning, and we did find the cache!

A tranquil place in State Game Lands 109 near Erie, PA

Top 10 of 2013: A Very WVTim January

Numbers 6 through 8 are all hidden in the same area by the same amazing geocacher, WVTim (though note, these are not his last entries on the top ten list for 2013!). WVTim is indeed so awesome that he was the March 2013 Geocacher of the Month. Each of these three caches were found on the same weekend in January on a trip deliberately scheduled to find awesome caches away from home. 

Number 8: Hi-Tech
Clearblook, Virginia
193 Favorite Points

This is the most favorite cache in the entire state of Virginia (not too shabby!) despite its humble placement on a truck stop off I-81. So far, the caches on this list have been about amazing locations, this is about an amazing container. Frankly, so are 6 and 7. WVTim puts hours and hours of work into his geocache containers and is a deliberate and kind member of the geocaching community. The care he puts into his caches is obvious to all who find them and in this case realize that a birdhouse isn’t quite a birdhouse. 

Number 7: The Quick and the Dead !
Inwood, West Virginia
216 Favorite Points

While this list proves that many great caches were found in 2013, this may have been the most entertaining. Many of WVTim’s geocaches are “gadget” caches. These are geocaches that often require an extra tool or device (ranging from balloons to batteries to jumper cables) to extract the log. Illustrated in the photograph below, I’m sure you can imagine that I’m pretty glad this one was not a gadget cache!

Trying to get the cheese!

This is the fifth most favorited cache in the state of West Virginia. 

Number 6: TB Hotel Extraordinaire
Martinsburg, WV
225 Favorite Points

And sometimes, truly great caches are right under your nose. Chris and I always stay at the Martinsburg Holiday Inn when we’re in the area. There are so many great reasons to stay there: nice pool, clean rooms, friendly staff, and, as it turns out, this geocache. We were planning our geocaching day and to our surprise, there was this cache staring right at us as we looked out our window.

A travel bug (or TB) hotel is a geocache safe for individuals to place travel bugs. For those who do not know what a travel bug (or trackable) is, it is a trinket or coin with a code on it that is supposed to travel from geocache to geocache and as new people find it, it can be logged via it’s unique code on the Geocaching website. For example, I released a travel bug in Seattle with the goal for it to travel to State College, PA. Though its route was circuitous, traveling via Wyoming, Florida, Ontario, South Carolina, Georgia, and a few other states, it eventually made it to Williamsport, PA. Williamsport is about an hour from State College so on my next day off I picked it up from the geocache it had been placed in there.

Most TB hotels are indistinguishable from regular geocaches, except that they tend to run larger and be in areas where they are monitored or unlikely to be removed. This one, however, is no comparison to those. This is the Greenbrier of TB hotels.

This is the third most favorited geocache in the state of West Virginia.

Top 10 of 2013: Dawn of Aviation

Since 2009, Chris and I have been avid geocachers. We love being able to get outside and explore when we’re ordinarily tied up at work or studying indoors. A lot of characteristics make up an excellent geocache, and one excellent geocache may seem nothing like another excellent geocache. The next few posts will describe the 10 best geocaches we found in 2013 based on the number of “Favorite Points” earned by the geocaching community.

A Favorite Point is awarded to a geocache by a user who for some reason or another found the cache to be a cut above the rest. Geocaches with more favorite points tend to catch the attention of other geocachers, especially when traveling, as peers have identified them as being outstanding.

Number 10: Dawn of Aviation
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
182 Favorite Points

Over the summer my dad visited Chris and I from the Vancouver, British Columbia area. Based on the success of our big summer road trip in 2012, we constructed a smaller one covering some of the most unique and interesting areas within a few hundred miles of our home near Morgantown, West Virginia. The goal for Day 2 of this road trip was to see where North Carolina became “first in flight.”

On a hot July day, this monument was buzzing with activity. The most noticeable characteristic was the wind. It was so windy that a lot of children were flying kites. When one child lost his kite, Chris went running into the high grass to retrieve it. Indeed, the winds are a large component of what brought two brothers from Ohio out to this glorified sand bar.

Chris returning a child's kite

Geocaches come in several different types. Most people think of a geocache as a large container in the woods. In this case, the geocache actually had no container, this type of geocache is called a “virtual.” Instead, the geocache page gave instructions on what to do when we arrived at the posted coordinates: “there is one particular 10-ton granite marker (boulder) that is about six feet tall and four feet wide with a plaque (tablet) on it. To confirm your visit to this cache, email or post a picture of you and your GPS standing beside this marker.”

Dad and I fulfilling the logging requirements (our GPS also took the photo, which is why it is missing)

The plaque reads:

“The first successful flight of an airplane was made from this spot by Orville Wright December 17, 1903, in a machine designed and built by Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright

This tablet was erected by the National Aeronautic Association of the U.S.A. December 17, 1928 to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of this event.”

After finding the geocache, we drove over to scale Kill Devil Hill and see the enormous monument and just take in a place that had a profound effect on my field of work, transportation.

In this case, we had every intention to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial. But the presence of a geocache added to the overall fun had at the site. In other situations, the geocache is what brings you to a special place.

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.

Conquering the Pacific Northwest: Life Along the Mighty Fraser

Leaving Merritt we headed west through the Indian reservations and we took a side road to the location of the Craigmont Mine. My maternal grandfather worked at this mine that appeared to be coming back to life after being shuttered for some years. Also memorializing the mine is a geocache, hidden by a tourism organization intending to highlight the history of British Columbia’s Gold Country. I think it comes as a surprise to many how much mining has contributed to the development of British Columbia, even though it does not hold the same significance to locals as, say, coal mining is significant to West Virginians. I digress.

We continued on to Spence’s Bridge where we met up with the Trans-Canada Highway we left behind the day before near Shushwap Lake. From here we follow the last miles of the Thompson River into Lytton, where we stopped to observe the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers. Here the clear blue Thompson flows into the slower, muddier Fraser.

The blue water of the Thompson giving into the muddy water of the Fraser River

Beyond Lytton, the Trans-Canada embarks through the treacherous Fraser Canyon, so narrow at points that the highway had to be built in the river that carved out the narrow passage.

Somehow we largely managed to miss the most egregious tourist traps on this journey, but we made an exception at the Hell’s Gate Airtram. Here gondola cars transport tourists from one side of the Fraser to the other in a treacherous narrows defined by deadly rapids that had always been present, but were made worse due to some dynamite-happy railroad builders. A bridge near the bottom of the narrow gorge with an open-grate deck tests the fortitude of the strongest stomachs. No worry, the fudge shop sells plenty of sweets to ease the skittishness.

The Fraser River emerging from Hell's Gate

Only moments down the highway is the equally impressive but far less popular Alexandra Bridge. Here we left my parents at the parking area and Chris and I descended the narrow road, the road pre-dating the Trans-Canada, to the bridge built in 1926 that has sat quietly watching traffic on the bridge that replaced it in 1964.

Imagining travel on the Cariboo Road at Alexandra Road

In Hope we stopped for lunch and we planned our final stop, the Othello Tunnels. Access to the Othello Tunnels is off the new road between Hope and Merritt, the Coquihalla, it’s a modern, four-lane superhighway. For as long as I can remember, I had seen the signs for the tunnels at the exit. Finally, I had the opportunity to see them. Mom, Chris, and I made the short hike to the series of tunnels and bridges navigating the narrow canyon formed by the Coquihalla River. This would be the last time I would see that crystal turquoise water I had seen so much of during the previous few days.

The Othello Tunnels traversing the Coquihalla Canyon

From here, we followed the Lougheed Highway toward Coquitlam and watched as the narrow canyons and harsh rapids that had defined the Fraser River all day gave way to a broad, navigable river lined on both sides by agriculture. This part of the trip was quiet and it was beginning to sink in that the grand, wild road trip was over. We could sleep in tomorrow! Although we planned to stay put, Chris and I did have a surprised lined up. The end of the road trip did not mark the end of the vacation.

Conquering the Pacific Northwest: Roads Bending to the Wilderness

Making tracks for Golden, where we had hotel reservations, we backtracked toward British Columbia. Along the Trans-Canada Highway in the Banff National Park area immense efforts have been made to ensure the safety of the wildlife in the areas around the highway as well as to expedite human movement. This has been accomplished in many ways, but impossible to miss are the 50-meter wide wildlife overpasses crossing above the highway. While some may argue it is charming to come face to face with a moose or goats on the side of the highway, it poses risks to both animal and human safety. If you’re interested in how interactions between wildlife and vehicles have been mitigated in the region, check out this report on the twinning of the TCH in Banff.

Another highlight of this stretch of the TCH is Castle Mountain, also known as Mount Eisenhower. Castle Mountain was named because its castle-like appearance, though from 1946 through 1979 the mountain was known as Mount Eisenhower in honor of his contributions as a general in World War II. Political pressure is ultimately what led to the restoration of the original name, even though mountains had been named for British generals. However, one of the towers on the mountain still retains the Eisenhower name.

Castle Mountain from the Trans Canada Highway

Into British Columbia we challenged the notorious Kicking Horse Pass. This pass will likely never see twinning, as the section through Banff has, due to the extreme geometry of the pass and the laws of physics. Despite the treacherousness of the pass it was determined the best route for the Canadian Pacific Railway to span the Continental Divide in the 1880s. The grades of the railroad through the pass were as great as 4.5-percent, the steepest in North America. A set of spiral tunnels (link to a YouTube video) was constructed and then opened in 1909 to help mitigate the severity of the pass and a viewpoint is accessible from the highway where we were wowed by a long freight train doing gymnastics in and out of the tunnels. Naturally, it was on one of the hairpin curves of a most treacherous section of the highway we had our closest encounter with wildlife. An entire family of mountain goats had found a place of their fancy on a steep hillside on a narrow shoulder of the highway. They literally stopped traffic!

A family of goats, even a little baby up in the left-hand side chowing down on some brush

Despite the efforts to improve safety on the pass, as my dad could attest to the state of the road over several decades before, there are still opportunities to test the constitution of even the best drivers. While on a downgrade we were unable to see signage indicating the end of a passing lane due to the density of semi-trucks. The lane ending caught us by surprise and we briefly traveled in the opposing lane in order to safely pass a truck, acknowledging that with such a steep grade on the road cutting off a semi is a potentially deadly decision.

Yet we made it into Golden in one piece. The highway passed high above the valley, surrounded by newer businesses and chains, but true Golden was in the valley of the swift-moving Kicking Horse River. Electing to stay at another local motel we found ourselves in the valley. We explored the town and found their park, which featured an impressive covered pedestrian bridge. The Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge is the longest free-standing timber frame bridge in Canada and was built by volunteers from around the world!

After a hearty dinner at the Pantry, a family dining chain, we turned toward the hotel where we attempted to catch our breath and relax after taking in some of the most impressive sights in the world along with excellent examples of how our will to build roads must bend to nature. Despite being halfway through the intense road trip, there were still two more days to go. Although by the end of the next day, we would be back in familiar territory—if I didn’t injure myself too badly.