Ohio – West Virginia (blink) – Pennsylvania
Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Fairborn, Ohio. It was near here that
the Wright Brothers made their famous flight, sponsored by Kentucky
Fried Chicken no less.
So for 7 days I stayed here Geocaching on all points of the compass.
Recovery rate was not the best as the bulk of caches centered on the
numerous steel bridges that date the growth of the farming community.
You only have to bump your head just so many times crawling under
these relics that a proper case of the backside develops trying to
find a small magnet black key box with log. All manners of small
biting, crawling, and blood sucking insects are waiting for you in the
best of form.
The best one for this time period was sticking my hand into a hole,
which was a nest for ground wasps. Nasty indivisibles with an
attitude. I don't know how many times my hand took a hit but I was
moving at an accelerated rate far beyond the speed of my swearing. Of
course the initial shock is the discomfort, for a better term, then
the swelling to the size of a baseball glove. Of course the worse part
besides swelling which lasted 3-4 days was the itching of the hand
over the same period. This itching was cured by an old Aussie remedy
from the turn of the century where you had to soak the hand in a
bucket of chilled beer for a minimum of 3-4 hours a day. This of
course had to be done at night while watching the telly and
replenishing the beer as it got warm. This remedy has been validated
from all of my mates in the southern latitudes and you can go to
www.beer_cure.com for more good info.
Out of the Air Force Base and head southeast to the Ohio River then
follow Route 7 north through the Wayne National Forest. Just above
Wade, Ohio we find the first, in my case, a National Forest campsite
that not only has electrical hookups for RV's but hot showers. This
particular campsite sits right on the Ohio River and right across from
the site sits Bygone West Virginia, which of course is still in the
19th century as far as kerosene lamps and horse and mule wagons for
transportation.
If thou has never driven up the Ohio Valley on Route 7 then you have
never lived. When I say that COAL is king you best believe it. I saw 4
huge power plants and all depended on coal for fuel. The Ohio Valley
takes you into the 19 hundreds with the houses and streets as they
were then. Majestic, beautiful, dirty, it's all there, and I wish that
I could of spent the time walking through the region photographing the
landscape what a story it would tell.
Finally crossed into Pennsylvania and headed north into the Allegheny
National Forest where I will be staying at an Army Corp of Engineering
Recreational site with all of the bells and whistles for $14.00 per
night. The showers are a right pain, this is where you have to
continually push a small button to keep a constant flow of water and
of course the hot water temp is right above freezing, but no worries
as I am looking at 10 days of no showers for this period of time.
There are areas in the Allegheny forest that you definitely don't want
to be caught in. Some of red necks are still contesting the out come
of the civil war and the confederate flags attest to that. It is the
land of," The Good Old Boys" and some one with a Boston accent would
best moving on. For Geocaching it has to be some of the most enjoyable
for terrain wise. Did a lot of humping getting to some of the remote
caches, of course this only led to off setting the loss fluids through
sweat by drinking greater quantities of red wine which led to
heartburn, etc………….
We continue east to Muncy, Pennsylvania right behind Hurricane Irene
that just passed through the eastern seaboard. Some wind damage in
Muncy but nothing compared to Vermont and New York. Weather wise for
Muncy and the surrounding area looks good while here at the organic
farm of little people. The day starts early and only when the sun sets
does work end. The farm is a great feeder though and the body has made
quite an adjustment from Power Bars, box wine and hummus to food that
actually benefits the body.
September will find ourselves moving south into Kentucky and Missouri
for our finally leg of this journey.
Stay safe out there, chew your food properly, don't pass gas in
public, and last of all conserve water by taking only one shower a
month regardless of your neighbor's complaints.
Aloha,
The Greynomad
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