After leaving Lewisburg, West Virginia, we headed toward Beckley where we stopped for the night. I discovered that my wallet was missing! A call to the coffee house back in Louisburg confirmed that I left it there. Oh man. That meant we would need to backtrack the next day. At least only an hour. If we hadn't been too tired, we could have continued on another couple of hours. Then we would have had to backtrack 3 hours!!!
"All things work together for good..." Romans 8:28 The Lord allowed it for some purpose. Maybe one day we will know why.
The next morning we got back on the road and headed back EAST to Lewisburg. At least it is a really is a pretty drive through the Allegheny mountains! We had a sweet time of devotions and prayer on the way.
When we got to Lewisburg, we went to the coffeeshop and the workers gave me my wallet. All money intact and so far no charges on cards. Thank you, guys!!!
It was real tempting for me to want to stick around for the antique shop to open so I could pick up that one sweet doll whose eyes are weighted and close when she lays down. She looked similar to the one above, except she had a bonnet. BUT we were going to need to skedattle!
Infact, a look at the weather app showed that snow was headed to Wichita and we would need to book it going back home!!
We drove back the way we came and on to some road that took us by a river. Allen texted and asked me if we were swimming. Life360 had us IN the river.
Charleston, capitol of West Virginia.
Our GPS told us to get off of Highway 64 at Milton. We weren't sure why.
This motorcycle guy talked to us at a gas station. He saw us looking at our atlas. "Are you lost?" We told him we wondered why our GPS wanted us to get off. He told us there was a very bad accident. He said we could follow him.
Then GPS had us getting off on another road. So we decided to trust it.
Should we have trusted her?
Sometimes the road was not wide enough for 2 cars to pass.
We drove through Daniel Boone National Forest. The day before we'd been through George Washington & Jefferson National Forest. And later on we'd go through the Mark Twain National Forest. Too bad we wouldn't be able to explore and camp out!
At Barbourville, it had us getting back on 64. There was no traffic coming from the east, which meant that the traffic was still tied up with the accident. Guess we did the right thing. AND, we saw some country we will never see again ever, probably! It was real back woods.
I was driving when Ruth took this picture. Looks like a castle! She didn't mention it. I just saw it when I loaded pictures up!
We made it all the way to Paduka, KY that evening! It got dark right before we got there. I am not supposed to drive after dark (blind eye messes with depth perception) so Ruth drove for 45 minutes until we got to the hotel. I'd picked one out that had a pool so I could do laps! I was the only one in the pool. It was soooo nice to swim!
The next morning, we were up early and on the road by 7.
Allen and I had come this way last year on our way home from Anna Maria Island. You drive from Kentucky over the bridge into the tip of Illinois, then onto another bridge into Missouri. All in a matter of minutes!
We made a stop at a historical marker to read about a civil war battle here. I had been driving and we switched places.
Ruth was thirsty for a Sonic limeaid drink so we pulled off at some town along the way.
I can now officially say I've had ice-cream for breakfast.
At Mountain Grove we pulled off to switch drivers again and to stop for lunch. An EXCELLANT choice!!!
They will be moving into another building soon. There was no seating but they told us if we went to the coffee shop, we could use the tables there.
We drove through Springfield and on to 44 towards Joplin.
I accidently took the first exit toward Carthage instead of the 2nd one toward Webb City, so we kind of got lost. We "upset" our GPS. She was constantly trying to get me to turn this way, then that. We were on historic 66 for awhile.
This is north of Webb City.
I finally found the road to Pittsburg and on to Wichita. I took Ruth to her new "home" where she will be for awhile. Allen came to pick me up and that was my trip to Virginia and home! What a wonderful trip!!!
When I saw a sign for the historical town of Lewisburg, I talked Ruth into stopping! There were so many beautiful, old homes!
This clock tower belongs to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
We stopped to talk to the people at the visitor's center. They told us about the town and directed us to various places to go. They also told us that this town was ranked America's "coolest small town" in an online poll put on by Budget Travel magazine!
They also told us that if we had time, we should go about 22 miles away to Alderson, where the West Virginia federal prison camp known as "Camp Cupcake" is located. It is where Martha Stewart spent time. Also Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, member of the Manson Family cult (who attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford) and others have done time there. It was actually the first federal prison made for women. It is a low-security prison. And some say it is "cushy". You can read more about it here.
This would be a good place to eat! We didn't though.
There were several neat restaurants!!
Can you guess what this building is?
Named for Andrew Carnegie, the philanthropic steel tycoon, Carnegie Hall in this not so big town of Lewisburg (population less than 4,000) is one of only four Carnegie Halls in the world that is still in continuous use as a performance venue! I only thought there was 1!
Located across from Carnegie Hall, also on Church Street, is the Old Stone Presbyterian Church.
It was first organized on August 6, 1783 and first worshiped in a log house a few miles west of the town. This current place was built in 1796. It is thought to be the oldest church building in continuous use west of the Alleghenies and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. You can see it is made of native limestone, similar to many places in Kansas, actually.
In 1830, an extension was added and the entrance was moved to the other building. Except for a brief period during the Civil War, it has been in continuous use. It was used as an emergency hospital during the Civil War.
We walked around the cemetery of Old Stone Presbyterian.
Wonder if my friend Mike is related?
They are renovating and fixing up some of the stones.
A family plot fenced in.
What kind words.
We tried to figure out the words but didn't guess them all. If you can figure it out, let me know! Rather sweet and quite an honour:
"The purity of his character, the
generosity of his nature, the up
rightness of his conduct, his con
sistent piety, his _____ and
______ness in his profession, will
long live in the memory of his friends.
And his calm and triumphant death
will be referred to as an in
_____able evidence that he has
exchanged the sorrows of this earth
for the joys of Heaven."
There were a few stones that the writing was totally obliterated.
At rest from the aches and pains of this world, perhaps. We have to rest and sleep here on earth to repair our bodies from the day's activities. But I don't think we will "rest" in heaven, really! Rest in the sense of having peace, of course!!! Rest in the presence of our Saviour! Looking in His face, the One who loves me as no other can! But heaven will be quite the adventure I believe!! Not sitting on clouds playing on harps. (that seems a little boring to me) There will be much to do!!
A great book to read is "All Things New" by John Eldredge. Also Randy Alcorn's "Heaven". Both men have studied the Bible on this topic. I really am looking forward to my Home!! I think you will too once you read this. No fear in death!
Right next to Carnegie Hall is this college.
Just beyond Carnegie Hall, we took a short trip out of town to the Confederate Cemetery.
