Life Downstream

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.