Greetings kids. At this point in classic prose would be an invocation to the muses. Oh, great and frivolous muses I beseech you (and I seldom beseech) to guide my fingers on the keys to reveal only the truth and calamity of arrogance in blindly accepting the veracity of a GPS.

Wednesday, SWMBO and I set out for Hacker Valley, West Virginia where we had reserved a campsite at Holly River State Park (US-1814). The day was cloudy, hot and humid. The drive took us a bit longer than intended. One of our GPS units directed us to take this road. When I turned onto it, we discovered that it was unpaved. There were lots of tire tracks, electric poles along it and houses so I figured it would be ok. We drove for about 6 miles on this road as it narrowed and got more rutted and washboardy. Finally, we emerged to another road which was paved (WOOHOO!!). Still accepting guidance from the GPS in question, we followed it for about 2 miles until it also became unpaved. We continued on for about 5 miles up over a ridge and back down to the other side, dodging potholes the size of Rhode Island. Eventually we emerged back onto a primary road … the one we had originally been on before turning. This lead us to the State Park where we found our campsite and got settled in.

I like comfort. The older I get, the more comfort I prefer. We bought some small mattresses (actual bed mattresses) as nothing I have found has been totally comfortable when sleeping on the ground. They fit perfect in the back of the car and everything packs on top of them nicely. Let me tell you, they did the trick. Had a good night’s sleep. But I am diverging from the path my muse is directing me to take.

After getting all ready, I set up my radio and started calling CQ POTA. We were down in a hollow in the West Virginia mountains and, though my signal was getting out, reception was bad … very bad. I was finally able to log 15 in the log and called it a night as trying to pull out these signals from the background was very exhausting.

Thursday the 20th, we went to Cass WV and prepared to take a ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad to the top of Bald Knob. This was a 5 hour ride which we both enjoyed immensely. There is nothing like being pushed and pulled by a steam locomotive., Mostly it was pushing the cars but for a section between 2 switchbacks it pulled us. The scenery along the way was beautiful and culminated in a vista from the top of Bald Knob, the second highest point in WV.

It rained all day, off and on, and on the drive back to the campsite we decided to head home if it was still raining. I like camping but am not fond of sitting in a tent during a downpour. SWMBO agreed. We packed up and got on the road around 1930 EDT (2330 UTC) and drove until 0100 EDT (0500 UTC) when we reached home. The roads were teeming with trucks and, after 2200 EDT, very few cars. We made it safely thanks to good music and lots of coffee. There is a lot to be said about the virtues of caffeine!

Anyway, I am relaxing tonight. Sometime over the course of the next few days you can expect at least 1 more activation and maybe some more adventure. For now, keep your powder dry and keep your stick on the ice. Namaste, kidlets.