Driving Oddities

I went to a Basic Lay Speakers Training today in Point Pleasant, which is a little less than an hour drive from Huntington. It was a great day for a drive. Sunroof open, music loud, joy in driving.

A few years ago, when I was in Denver, Colorado, we took a tour through the Rocky Mountain National Park. At one point, the drive stopped the bus at a red light and told us that we were at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. He said, "Straight ahead are the Rockies. Behind you, the closest mountains are the Appalachians. I had the feeling today, driving through the Ohio Valley, that I was driving on the opposite side of that statement. To my left, the Appalachians. To my right, flat land until the Rockies.

I disappointed myself to find that I did not have my camera. There were so many things that I would have liked to have taken a picture of -- Green Bottom Swamp, the river pockmarked with fog, the horse that was so close to the car.

Instead, I brought back word images of the oddities that I saw today.

• There was a sign for a Scenic Campground. Would they really advertise any OTHER kind of campground? Come stay at our Ugly Campground.
• Ditto for the sign which advertised "Fresh Produce."
• There were a series of signs congratulating Ashley Dye for graduating from college. They were sweet, but I wonder if Ashley is about to Dye of embarrassment.
• There was a school that I passed, that was missing walls and windows. It was in horrible shape. When a building looks like this, tear it down. If I had had a camera, this school might have become a blog post of its own.
• I passed one of the fire danger signs which stated that the possibility of forest fires was currently low. Just up the road, I passed another one which said that it was high. The one which said the possibility of forest fires was high was in the yard of the fire station. I wonder if it was there for job justification.
• There was a tiny, dirty fenced in area of cows near the road. One of them had huge horns. Where did it get those horns?
• Tara's Pub was in a trailer.
• Trinity UMC, which is in Point Pleasant, is beautiful from the outside.
• I passed an antique store which advertised that they sold "Pretty things." Ditto numbers one and two. "Please come into our store and buy ugly things!"
• A train crossed the road in front of me. It was an engine and a caboose. What is the point?
• Saw a hawk. No camera!
• Passed Selby Lane. I only know of one other person with that name, so I was surprised to see it.
• How about a sign which said, "Phone. 1/2 mile." You don't see many of those anymore.
• How about Hereford Lane? Isn't that a kind of cow, and why would you name your road after a breed of cows.
• Along the side of the road were telephone or power or cable polls. One of them was broken, holding up its wires from this broken position. How did this happen and the line not break.
• I saw a house which looked like it had been built of Lincoln Logs.
• Near Huntington, on the way back, I saw a little building near the railroad tracks. It was labeled "Cox Landing Fault Detector." I think it is a good idea for all of us to have a Fault Detector!

It was a great trip, and an easy drive. Other than the occasional car speeding toward you at high speed as they passed slower cars on this two lane road, it was fun!