My next goal was to get some issues addressed with Flo the Airstream. I left Appomattox Courthouse and got to Out-of-Doors Mart in Colfax, North Carolina in time to drop her off before I went to check into the motel.
It felt great to leave her at an Airstream dealer that actually had Airstreams on the lot!
I headed back to the motel, which they describe as “classic”.
I think another way to describe it would be “old”.
They do offer a “continental breakfast”. The offerings were rather meager, though. I’ve never seen a breakfast bar that didn’t even have cereal. If you look carefully, you can see one banana in the basket on the left end of the counter.
I suppose I could have gone across the street to the Waffle House, though.
It was just for a couple of days, though. Before long, I was on the way to West Virginia.
West Virginia! Finally! I was going to be able to put that sticker on my map. My destination was Beckley, West Virginia. I had booked a campsite on the hill above the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine.
How clever of the city to put in a campground! It was small but the sites were level and easy enough to get into. They were also full hook up sites and there were trash cans at each site. At only $25 a night, it was a good deal.
I took care of some tasks of daily living – I did my laundry and restocked the larder. I love the things I see when I’m out shopping.
The growler says, “Beer is made from barley and hops. Barley and hops are plants, therefore beer is salad”.
You can’t argue with logic like that.
I also went to church.
I snapped this photo because I liked this girl’s jacket that was covered with dogs. We had a nice little chat about it after mass. It turns out that she has a friend who had a backpack made of the same material.
I liked this group project that seemed to be a decorative cover for the HVAC equipment.
Although my main purpose for visiting Beckley was to actually stay in West Virginia, I decided to see what I could see at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, without paying the admission fee.
I mean, I have been in a lot of mines. I wasn’t in the mood to see another one.
There was the camp store, which had a gift shop – naturally – and some displays.
This was the boss’ house.
This was a miner’s house. These houses were known as “Jenny Linds” and they were three or four room no-frills houses. I wondered why they were called “Jenny Linds” so I looked it up. The article doesn’t discuss where the name comes from, but it give you more information, if you are interested.
Here’s the front elevation of the house.
Of course a mining community would need a church
and a school.
There was also a children’s museum on the campus, but it was closed on the day I visited.
I thought this was an innovative use of an old newspaper box. I love seeing the Little Libraries when I travel around.
And that was about it for my visit to West Virginia. Just one thing left to do.
Put on the sticker!
Forty states down!
Eight to go!