Mountain Time

In early August I realized I was burned out. Due to scheduling conflicts and work due dates, I had to delay a vacation until October—I planned 2 weeks. Then my boss (& almost everyone else) quit in September. After a delay, I was able to take some time off last week. I thought it would be the perfect time to visit Salem, MA. But I remembered there was a place my wife has wanted to visit for as long as I’ve known her. Natural Bridge, VA. We went there instead.

There's not a lot to see--it's a small site. Water wore away rock and left behind a thick, sturdy, natural bridge. Route 11 actually goes over it. It is scenic. A pretty little mountain creek runs through and when crows “caw” while flying under the bridge it makes an eerie sound. But that’s about it. Oh, and the bus they use to shuttle people back and forth from the bottom of the ravine (holler?) is an ancient rattle-trap. It stalled as we were getting ready to leave. The driver flooded the carburetor and refused to take my advice to push the gas pedal to the floor when he tried to restart it. He kept just turning the key, as if it was a fuel-injected engine. Ugh! We walked (rock-climbed) back to the gift-shop—where I requested and received a refund. Our fellow passengers all stayed with the bus, waiting. I hope they eventually made it out of there.

My wife dreamed of Natural Bridge because her mom went there on an elementary school field trip (probably on the same bus). She grew up hearing about it and wanted to retrace her mom’s steps. That actually made it a nice trip for me too. And the Blue Ridge Parkway is a nice drive this time of year. The trees were very colorful.

My wife also enjoyed stopping at many (many, many) antique shops along our route. I teased her I was going to tell people we had to stop fo every hillbilly selling hubcaps on the side of the road—it would be rude to ignore family! That may not be funny to you, but she almost choked. Her family is from that area (a little farther south) and (according to my dad) I’m a country boy myself...so I can say "hillbilly" without it being an insult.

Aside from the fact that the trip made her happy, the best part for me was that we had lunch one day at a Hardee’s—my first employer. They no longer operate in the DC area. Stopping there was a nice stroll down memory lane. It doesn’t take much to make me happy! =)