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Mid-Atlantic Vacation Blog
Well, the picture above is from close to the end of our day, so that should let you know that our day ended OK, but we had some drama in the middle of it. But the beginning and end were pretty fun, so I'll just get started.
Today, we had to wake up early yet again to go on our mountain biking tour. (What kind of fool plans a vacation where he needs an alarm clock? Oh, wait...) This should have been the last early wake-up call of the trip, so that is good. Anyway, we set out at 8:30 on our 95% downhill bike trip (we were transported back to our cars in a bus) and discovered that the 5% uphill was really the first part of the trip. Of course, we were still tired from waking up early, and although we were more tired from the uphill ride, we were definitely awake. Once we got to the actual trail, our guide explained that the trail used to be a railroad from when the area was a booming coal-mining region. Even as mining evolved to require less people, the railroad continued to run until a little something happened on the track:
Apparently, that little pebble landed on the track and the railroad company decided that it was no longer profitable to run a train there. However, the National Parks Service found it in their hearts to provide a staircase for us bikers. The other interesting thing about that rock is that apparently it is still sliding very slowly, but in a few years it will probably collapse into the New River and create a new set of rapids that may drastically alter what areas of the river people may be able to raft on. Nature can be so inconvenient sometimes.
This part of the ride was really cool because we were coasting and there was a small river running to our left and we were allowed to stop and take pictures whenever we wanted, and we also took breaks. Of course I took full advantage with my camera (although I only brought the new little camera this time, but it didn't stop me from taking 15 pictures of a set of butterflies). Eventually, we were to get to a "ghost town" called Thurmond(7 people, including a mayor, still live there). Apparently, it was another booming town from the heavy mining days, and we got a glimpse of it ahead of time across the river from the trail:
When we eventually got there, we recognized the bridge that we crossed as being one that we paddled under yesterday on our rafting trip, and that section of the river contained the first rapids that were severe enough to have a name, Rudy's Ripple. I navigated it with no trouble, but the guy in front of me almost got dumped, so there was some adventure. As long would have it, a large group of duckies was about to paddle through there as we were taking a rest break:
Most of them made it OK, but we saw several kids get dumped (most of the paddlers were kids). However, we also saw their guide get dumped, so it proved that it's not always as easy as it looks (or that the guide was a summer intern or trainee or something).
From here, we only had a 5-10 minute ride on (mostly) level ground (mud) to get to where the bus would pick us up. When we got almost to the end, there was one last mound that was made of dirt in the path but was bordered by rocks on the left. Brooke was in front of me, but I couldn't see what exactly happened, but she built up speed, got to the top of the mound, then stopped and tipped over to the left and hit her left forearm on a rock as she landed. There was a small amount of blood, but apparently a large amount of pain or discomfort as Brooke walked her bike the rest of the way (thankfully, not very far). Seeing how I've had some recent experience to prove that I am not a doctor, we agreed that she needed a medical professional. This started the next adventure.
We left the biking place (of course, nowhere near civilization) and set out to find an Immediate Care Center, never a comfortable thing when you're away from home because all kinds of uncomfortable images can run through your head. We started out heading back to our hotel and I just looked for signs and billboards. My first sighting was of a sign that had a medical symbol on it. When we got there, we found out it was an ambulance company. We drove some more and saw a sign pointing us to a hospital if we turned left. We turned left and drove for a few miles and nary a hospital was seen. So we pulled into a drug store (I would make sense that at least the pharmacist would know in a town of 17,000 people where the hospital or immediate care center would be, right) and they told us of two places we could go. One of them was on a street we recognized, so we went there. When Brooke told them the short version of her story, they told her they couldn't help her because they didn't have an X-ray machine and they gave us directions to the other center (the irony of all this is that we drove past the hospital to get to this center). So we headed toward the other center and quickly discovered that the directions we were given contained some "inconsistencies". Fortunately, I figured this out before I got caught in a section of interstate where I would have gone 12 miles the wrong way on a toll road before I could turn around and we found the correct place. Then there's the waiting while Brooke worries about whether her arm is broken and I worry that she may have to spend the rest of summer with her arm in a cast (and the thoughts of all the other crummy things that go with having to wear a cast) and that the rest of our vacation may be significantly altered. Anyway, they get her in and poked and squeezed her arm and then X-rayed it and it turned out that it was not broken and they just told her to put ice on it for today and heat after that. That knowledge alone made us feel much better. She has been pounding the Advil since then, but otherwise, she has been feeling much better throughout the day.
Phew! Now since that was over with, we finally got to have lunch (a serious concern since it was almost 3:00 and we got up early and had breakfast at 6:30) and we finally got to taste something "local", a place called "Rio Grande". Yes, it was a Mexican restaurant that Brooke convinced me to take her to since she "almost broke her arm". It was pretty much like La Hacienda, except cheaper. After that, we headed back to the park to hike up a trail called Long Point Trail. It was a mostly level 1.6 mile trail to led out to a point where we could get views of the New River Gorge bridge, and if you could dare to look down, see rafters going by in the river. I chose to look outward and see more pleasant sights:
We stayed up there for as long as Brooke could stand me piddling around taking pictures (and after looking at my pictures from the big camera and comparing hers with the 2 megapixel camera that I took on the river ride yesterday, you can hardly see any difference) and we headed back to the car (yes, another 1.6 miles).
We used what was left of our energy to try to shop for souvenirs. One thing I've liked about being down here is that even though the river and the hills are obviously big draws for outdoor enthusiasts (given the number of companies that offer outdoor activities), it doesn't feel like a tourist trap. In fact, here in Beckley, you would never know that there is a whitewater river nearby. (Maybe it is the equivalent coming to Indiana to see the sights in Brown County but staying in a hotel in Indianapolis?) Anyway, while it is nice that we don't feel like we're in an area that exists solely to gouge tourists, it is very hard to find t-shirts because we can't find any gift shops (other than the one at the place where we did our other activities, and their's was pretty nice). Even the National Park Visitor's Center for New River Gorge didn't sell much other than books and photographs and educational materials. We even went to a Wal-Mart and they had nothing even though it was located within a few miles of where most of the whitewater rafting companies are located. Yesterday, we went to a place called Tamarack that is like a large store that showcased and sold only items made in West Virginia (and the place was advertised every 5 miles all the way down the interstate). They had some neat stuff, but nothing that was really cheesy like we were looking for.
Since we have a four-hour drive to Richmond tomorrow and we are going to see a race that isn't scheduled to start until 7:30, we are thinking of hiking another trail that actually goes under the bridge tomorrow morning. Who knows, that could be where the souvenirs are!
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