WV Trip, 2025, Highland Scenic Highway

 The fog finally lifted, and we were off to drive the Highland Scenic Highway. The Highland Scenic Highway is a 43-mile byway through the Monongahela National Forest. It goes through the Allegheny Mountains, and the highway reaches 4500' at one point. It has several outlooks and numerous trails off of it.

I lost count, but we did at least 5 hikes in the forest from the highway. None were very long, ranging from a couple of miles to 1/4 mile, but I garnered a good step count for the day. We were very pleased with the trails as they were well-maintained, along with everything else along the highway.

We saw a range of colors on the hillsides. Some were filled with bare trees, and others were in a blaze of glory. And when the elevation got above 4000', we saw mostly red spruce (which is green).

We were at 4100 feet here, where we noticed a change in vegetation to almost all spruce.

This was at a lower elevation.

And in between the two, most of the trees were bare.

Below are more stops from our day.

Cranberry Glades are bogs with plants leftover from the last ice age. Many species
found here are usually found much further north in the Arctic tundra area.

We walked the boardwalk through the Glades and heard several
different kinds of birds*, as well as saw lots of cranberry plants.

The Cranberry Mountain Nature Center was closed due to the government shutdown, but we were still able to walk two different interpretive nature trails. One of them had signs for the visually impaired. 

This stop had a trail to three different waterfalls,
 cleverly named Lower, Middle, and Upper Falls.

The Lower Falls

The Middle Falls (The Upper Falls were hidden behind vegetation, so no picture.)

There were 380 steps down to the Lower Falls.

We had lunch along the Williams River Overlook Trail.

The last stop of the day was the Honeycomb Rocks Trail. The pattern in this boulder was formed from erosion-resistant hematite being deposited along cracks in the sandstone. Differential weathering left the hematite and removed the sandstone.

Until next time...

And a bonus picture of pretty leaves, just because.

* The wonderful Merlin app from the Cornell Ornithology Lab identified six different birds in the Cranberry Glades over just a few minutes: American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Song Sparrow, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.

West Virginia Trip, Foggy

 

Our first stop was at Green Ridge State Park in Maryland.
You can see the leaves are just starting to change.

Good morning. I'm in Snowshoe, WV, waiting for the fog to burn off. It rolled in last night and hasn't lifted yet this morning. It's almost 10 am and still too foggy to drive. However, we don't have to do anything on a schedule today, so we can wait to explore the mountains.

On our drive yesterday, we took mostly backroads. There was very little traffic and we had some beautiful scenery along the way. The leaf situation was a mixed bag. Some hillsides were filled with mostly bare trees while others were a mix of green and orange. I am curious what we will see today. 

The oak trees were showing their color in Keyser, WV.
This is the hillside opposite from where we ate lunch.

We are staying in a condo at a small ski resort. The condo is small and nicely appointed--meaning it is decorated for pictures, but not for practicality. We have rearranged things to make it work for us. Now when I say resort, what I mean is there are a lot of amenities such as exercise room, restaurants, play areas, etc., but none of them are open now because it's not ski season. However, that means we got a good rate for our room.

We are also in the Quiet Zone for the Greenbank Observatory, a complex filled with large radio telescopes which are talking to the universe. Any kind of radio waves are not permitted because of the interference they can cause. That means that our cell phones do not work at all. However, we are far enough away that we do have Wifi here. (Actually, Ward gave me a long and complicated explanation about WiFi transmission barriers, but I zoned out in the middle of the explanation.) If they're open, we hope to visit Greenbank later in the week. More about it then.

We brought food for most of our meals and I'm glad we did. So far, it looks like we are an hour away from a regular grocery store and the convenience stores we have seen have been closed because it's not ski season. One of the goals for today is to find sweetener for Ward's coffee. So far, that's the only thing we have found that we have forgotten.

Ward filled his time this morning by working a 500 puzzle. Yes, he is fast.

I just saw that I can now see out the window. The fog is lifting. However, the mountains are still shrouded, so we'll wait a little longer. In the meantime, it's time to start making our peanut butter sandwiches for the day.

Until next time...

On the Road Again

All of the leaves are off the apple tree, but blooms have replaced them. I think it's a little confused.

 It's been a couple of cold, wet, and windy days. But tomorrow, it should clear up, just in time for Ward and me to go to the mountains of West Virginia for a few days. The weather there is predicted to be dry and cool.  And if the rain and wind haven't prematurely brought down most of the leaves, we hope to see some fall color. We shall see. The drought in the area has caused the leaves to change earlier than they do in most years.

If the circumstances work out, I will do a travelogue during the trip. If not, I'll tell you about it when we get back. 

Until next time...

Ward Goes to Poland, Food

 
Ward recently took a trip to Poland, and he is sharing some of his experiences here. 

This was a family sampler (otherwise known as the "Trough of Variety) we had in Wadowice. There was more food than the four of us could eat.

I didn't know anything about Polish food before I went. Still don't know much, except what I saw in restaurants where we ate most of our meals. Here's a summary of my restaurant adventures.

Pierogis are considered the national food of Poland. You'll find these on _every_ menu in _every_ restaurant. Pierogis are dumplings, always boiled, then sometimes baked or sauteed. They are made with unleavened dough, wrapped around a variety of fillings, including potato, cheese, sauerkraut, different meats, mushrooms, and more. Sweet varieties have fruits or berries. The dough sometimes includes mashed potatoes for a smoother consistency. Savory pierogies are often topped with bacon bits, sour cream, or caramelized onions. They are typically served six on a plate with toppings. My favorites were the sauteed pierogis.

Typical plate, this was a variety plate with two each of meat, mushroom and sauerkraut filling. I cut them in half so I could tell which was which.

An interesting side note on the pluralization of the word pierogi:

• one pierog (PEE-er-oog)
• two or three or four - pierogi (pyeh-ROH-ghee)
• five or more - pierogow (pyeh-ROH-goo)

A family member described it like this - Mr. Pierog, Mr. and Mrs. Pierogi, or the extended Pierogow family.

These are larger than normal.

Another meal I frequently encountered was goulash with potato pancakes. The goulash (stew, usually pork) is sometimes served on the potato pancakes (see photo above, across the table), other times separately in a bowl (see photo below).


We got a lot of soup and had it at almost every meal. It was usually either tomato or a traditional sour rye soup that is sometimes served in a sourdough bread bowl.

There was a hard-boiled egg in the soup.

When we stopped for lunch in Kielce on our way to Łomża, I had what may have been the best tomato soup I've had on this trip (even though I've been pleasantly surprised with pretty much every meal I've had on this trip).

And schnitzel was a common option on most menus. Basically, country-fried steak, either chicken or pork.

I think a lot of Polish words translate to "salad". This plate had schnitzel, French fries, salad, salad, and salad.

We got vegetables at every meal. Not surprising except for breakfast (in my experience). Hotel breakfasts include scrambled eggs with bacon, sausage (looked like boiled hot dogs), sliced tomato and cucumber, sliced breads (toasted if you like), and butter.

We ate very well on our trip, and I liked all the food I had. Surprisingly, none of us gained any weight. I guess it was all the walking we were doing. The only thing I really missed and wanted to have when I got home was a good burger. I rarely saw hamburgers on the menu.

Until next time...

P.S. Can't leave without mentioning the "Kremowka z Wadowice" aka "Pope Pies". Before he was Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla was a priest in Wadowice, and he loved these pastries from a particular bakery in town. Then, after he was Pope, he mentioned that in an interview, which resulted in the bakery becoming famous for its Pope Pies.

Pope pies

Book Reviews

 Here are a few things I've been reading lately. 

Hazel Says No by Jessica Berger Gross, adult fiction, 2025

This book was nothing like I thought it would be when I read the book jacket. Basically, a family moves to a small town in Maine from New York City. I expected adjustment, some strife, but overall, the city folks would come to appreciate the small-town life. That's not exactly what I got.

Hazel's father, a professor, gets a tenured job offer in a small liberal arts college in Maine. The family imagines the better life they can have there, financially and otherwise, and they make the move from New York City.

However, it all turns sour on the first day of Hazel's senior year of high school, when she is summoned to the principal's office. The principal, who met Hazel over the summer at the local pool, says he picks one girl every year to have sex with, and he is choosing her. He threatens her with a difficult graduation and the challenges of getting into college if she refuses. She says no!

The rest of the book deals with the fallout from that one meeting. Hazel and the principal's names are found out, and the town takes sides. Nasty things happen, and just when you think things can't get any worse, they do. It's not easy for anyone in the family, including Hazel's parents and her younger brother. Eventually, there is a turn for the positive, but that's not a straightforward good thing either. However, there is a satisfactory ending to the story for all of the characters.

I was put off immediately by the early scene with the creepy principal. This was another book where, after a few pages, I didn't think I would finish it. But I came back the next day and ploughed through. As one bad thing after another happened, I kept reading with the hope that I would finally see things getting better. 

The book does a good job exploring the emotions of everyone involved in this situation, from anger to guilt, including the principal's family. It brings up many important points about situations where someone in authority takes advantage of an underling in a threatening, often sexual way.

I'm not sure if I recommend this book or not. It is well-written, but if you're in the mood for some comfort reading, this is not what you're looking for. However, the book is getting a lot of buzz and is on several "Best of..." lists.

The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen, adult mystery, 2020

This is #14 in the Royal Spyness mystery series. This one involves Lady Georgiana (35th in line to the British throne) and her long-time friend Belinda. Belinda's grandmother dies, and she inherits a fishing cottage in Cornwall. She and Georgie go to Cornwall to see the cottage. Belinda spent summers in the area with her grandmother when she was a child, and runs into two playmates from that time, who are now married. Belinda and Georgie end up staying with them. A murder happens, and Belinda is the prime suspect. Eventually, Georgie helps solve the mystery, and the main characters live to have another adventure.

This was a fun read. There was a lot of good mystery atmosphere with fog, rain, cold winds, granite cliffs, and secret coves, along with rumored curses and questionable deaths. The story takes place in the late 1930s in England, and class and breeding are very much a part of the story. 

This could be read as a standalone, as past storylines are explained, but I would suggest reading the first few in the series to become familiar with the characters. After that, it would be easy enough to fill in the parts you may miss in a book you haven't read. This was the next in the series that I could find at the library, but there were several I hadn't read before this one. However, I didn't have any problem keeping up with character developments.

Old School by Gordon Korman, juvenile fiction (middle grades), 2025

This is a recent book from prolific children's author Gordon Korman. I pick up one of his books when I'm looking for a comfortable, easy read before bed, and this one fit the bill.

Like many of his other books, this one takes place in middle school and is told from the perspective of a handful of main characters. Dexter is a 12-year-old boy who lives with his grandmother in The Pines, a retirement village. He has been there since he was six years old, as his parents' jobs have them moving frequently internationally. 

Dexter has been homeschooled by the residents of The Pines, and he is very happy. That is, until one day when the truancy officer shows up and says that Dexter has to go to school. Then he starts middle school. Since he has been living with older people (his best friend is 99), he has no clue what kids his age are like, and he dresses and acts like a senior citizen. Of course, the other kids don't understand him, and at best, he is ignored, and at worst, he is bullied. I won't go into the details, but there is an incident that changes everything, and eventually, the story has a happy ending. Along the way, we see personal growth in all of the kids.

This was another feel-good Korman book, and I especially liked how the older people and the younger people eventually interacted. 

Circe by Madeline Miller, adult fantasy fiction, 2018

When I worked at the library, I saw many books that were popular, but I didn't read them myself. This was one of them. Not only was the book popular with our local readers, but it was also on the NYT bestseller list and was the best book of the year in several places. 

Circe is a "bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story that brilliantly reimagines the life of Circe, formidable sorceress of The Odyssey." (New York Times)

I am sorry to say that I haven't read the Odyssey since 9th grade and don't know much about Greek Mythology, so the book was complicated and confusing at times for me. However, that did not distract from Circe's main story. She is exiled to an island as punishment and as part of a bargain with Zeus. Circe, who has never felt like she fit in with the other gods and goddesses, comes into her own, communing with nature and honing her witchcraft on the island. Even though she is in exile, she has visitors from time to time. The most prominent one is Odysseus. And when he enters the story, it really starts to gel.

I liked the book, but, wow, the gods were very violent. One reason the book received acclaim was that it offered a feminist perspective on the story. However, I didn't feel like it was a book with an agenda. 

For a much better feel for the book, visit Get Lost in Literature and read the review she did. She writes very good book reviews (Definitely, more professional than what I piece together here), and her description is what put this book on my list to read. 

Until next time...