A Change of Pace

Wednesday June 23, 2010

Wednesdays are different; we have the day off after we serve breakfast. We are half way through the week and the days are flying by. The groups will work a half-day and then spend the afternoon at a myriad of activities from a cookout to whitewater rafting.

As a result we serve a big breakfast. It includes scrapple we brought from home. It is always surprising how some people look forward to a simple food item that reminds them of home. Along with the scrapple we prepare scrambled eggs, fried eggs over easy, and my experiment. This year I brought a deep fryer and experimented with something we do in boy scouts. Take off the shelf Pillsbury biscuits that are in tubes, separate into the individual biscuits, cut each into quarters, fry for a couple of minutes and dust with powdered sugar. They taste like donut holes and are a great addition to the meal.

After breakfast we seem to be a little slower building the sandwiches for Thursday and spend more time talking—and before we know it - it’s 9:30. OK we’ll come back tonight and do the PB&J sandwiches.

We all agree to meet at 11:00 and head to Hawk’s Nest State Park. Millie Williams, Nancy Carpenter and Pat Lotz get dropped off at the hotel parking lot at the top of the mountain. The hotel has a gondola that takes you down to the river.

Nancy Reynolds and Carl drive on to the nearby town of Amstead to the rail trail that follows the stream that intersects the river at the bottom where the gondola lands. It’s like the letter “V” with each group starting at a different location but coming together at the point (river).

The rail trail is a beautiful shaded walk at a 3% downhill a little over two miles. Nancy and I arrive at the bottom gondola station after about a one-hour walk. Nancy heads for the ladies room and finds it locked. We look around for Pat, Nancy and Millie and they are nowhere in sight. In fact no one is in sight, the river area is deserted except for two state workers painting the under carriage of he gondola station. The gondola is now closed on Wednesdays. They tell Nancy the men’s room is unlocked and she goes off. While I am waiting for her I carry on a discussion with the two workers. I am not sure that they just wanted to get rid of me, but within a short time they offer to start up the gondola and take us up to the Hotel. Because of the gates being locked one of the workers has to ride with us and unlock the gates at the top so we can get out.

And there the women are in the hotel lobby waiting for us to show up one way or the other. It’s only a few minutes after one so we go up to the restaurant on the top floor and enjoy the view through the big picture windows and a good lunch.

A little time to rest in the afternoon before we head back to the school to make the PB&J. Pat Lotz takes the time to make the creamed dried beef for Thursday morning’s breakfast.

We are between storms. When the clouds hit the mountains around us the rain seems to increase to the point that visibility is almost impossible. Earlier a storm raced through the Kanawha Valley with lightning and thunder that makes you want to hide. As we approached the school tonight another storm just like it passed through. The thunder just echoes off the peaks with amplified sound.