I just returned from a week visiting my relatives in the beautiful state of West Virginia. Here in Maine the leaf color had already peaked and there's a lot of evergreens, but the hardwood trees in those mountains were glorious! Every curve in the road took us to another breathtaking rainbow view. Between relative visits, my hubby and I visited some state parks. I have to give him something to do other than visit and eat. ;-) Anyone who hasn't been to the New River Bridge Gorge or Beartown State Park is missing spectacular treats. There are also walking/biking trails along rivers where railroads used to be. I can't tell you how many waterfalls we saw. My home state may have a lot of poverty, but they know how to do parks and recreation. And the WVU football team is #4 in the country! Go Mountaineers!
Ah, the relatives. We stayed with my cousin (my age) for most of the time but visited others. I have two aunts who are 95 and a step-mother who is 93, so it's important to see them when I can. All three are as sharp mentally as ever. They can remember more than I can. Other ailments have slowed them down, however. One aunt is now legally blind from macular degeneration but she still manages to live in her own home and travel. When she flies to Florida or Louisiana, she uses her frequent-flier miles to upgrade to first class. One reason I mention this is as a cautionary tale for other older people who no longer can drive. When her driver's license expired, a friend took her to motor vehicles to obtain another form of picture ID so she could fly. They gave her the big run-around on various documents she needed. A birth certificate was only one of them. When the official then said she'd have to come back another day, she protested that she wouldn't have a ride another day and she was legally blind. The official then offered to renew her driver's license instead. True story. I swear I didn't make that up.
Happy Halloween!
Susan Vaughan
DEADLY MEMORIES (SIM)
2 comments:
A few years ago, the dSO and I drove part of the stunning Blue Ridge Parkway in a convertible during the fall color change. It was fabulous.
I grew up in east Tennessee and never thought I'd miss the color orange as much as I do. And the crisp air. And mountains. And true(ish) winter. We don't get much of that down here on the coastal plains of Texas....
Susan, when we were looking for a new state/town/house after two many years in the AZ desert, we were seriously considering West Virginia. Even worked with several realtors, then decided it was just wasn't travel friendly due to distances to major airports. Which turned out to be a good thing, because we ended up in glorious green East TN. Which, as I tried to explain to people in Counties Clare and Kerry over the past two weeks, is the part of America that looks the most like Ireland. (Our mts are even connected under the ocean to those cliffs I took so many pictures of.) But what I didn't tell them was that it's even better here, because we have lots of trees. Which currently are all burgundy, gold, and yes, Sandra, UT orange. LOL
Loved the blind aunt's driver's license story!
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