Traveling further south south west one travels parallel to the ridges and valleys of the Allegheny Mountains. This was easier on the car engine. We only get the occasional view because the forests encroach right up to the road edge. There are small clusters of homes every now and then with very friendly people. We stopped to use a public phone – could not get it to connect - and one of the residents told us to walk up to his house and use his phone instead. We then noticed that he is a fiddle player so we asked him to tune Ant’s violin. He obliged and joked that a violin player is just a bad fiddle player! Both Ant and he treated us to a song each.
While visiting with them the couple told us a bit of Pendleton County history. People still harbor ill feelings from Civil War times. The local high school has just been closed so now the kids have to bus north to Franklin. Well, this is a problem because the residents in Franklin and the residents around Circleville were on opposites side during the war and they are still in opposite camps today. The rivalry is intense. Jean said he would mail us a CD of the history of the area when he has finished compiling it. We are looking forward to seeing it. We also discovered that this area of West Virginia was part of Virginia until the end of the Civil War. Virginia was a slave state while West Virginia was not. Moving the state line was not altogether popular.
We were unable to book onto the in-depth tour of the Green Bank Telescope facility but still enjoyed the regular tour. There are a number of telescopes there but the major attraction is a 100 x 120m dish. Making it the largest moveable object on land. It is recording emissions from space in the radio wave part of the EM spectrum. Did you know that sunspots are thermally cold areas on the sun but have increased radio wave emissions? Sunspots always sounded “hot” to me. The whole area is wave free – no cell phone coverage, no radio stations, no TV signals. Even leaks from microwave ovens are monitored. One is not even allowed to use a digital camera near the dish.
Our campsite is yet again perfect. Well almost – it took us over an hour and a half to pump the water to fill our holding tank. Thanks goodness for the burley – we used it to transport the water tanks from the pump to the camper. The whole job was a three-man task – but I think Ant and Mike will have a new appreciation for the water when they use it. Rob was busy “rebooting” – he slept for 14 hours straight. The view out our windows is forest – no people in sight. Wait till the weekend – that will all change. There is no electrical hookup here so I have connected up the solar panel and it is busy topping up the charge in the battery. We love having our bicycles with us – why walk when you can ride.
The local librarian is very friendly and agreed to letting us borrow books for the next two days. Mike has already read everything he brought with us, and hopes he can finish the library book before we leave on Friday. Ant found one of his unfinished Warrior books at the library so he too is reading. Rob continues to sleep! The peace is wonderful.
While visiting with them the couple told us a bit of Pendleton County history. People still harbor ill feelings from Civil War times. The local high school has just been closed so now the kids have to bus north to Franklin. Well, this is a problem because the residents in Franklin and the residents around Circleville were on opposites side during the war and they are still in opposite camps today. The rivalry is intense. Jean said he would mail us a CD of the history of the area when he has finished compiling it. We are looking forward to seeing it. We also discovered that this area of West Virginia was part of Virginia until the end of the Civil War. Virginia was a slave state while West Virginia was not. Moving the state line was not altogether popular.
We were unable to book onto the in-depth tour of the Green Bank Telescope facility but still enjoyed the regular tour. There are a number of telescopes there but the major attraction is a 100 x 120m dish. Making it the largest moveable object on land. It is recording emissions from space in the radio wave part of the EM spectrum. Did you know that sunspots are thermally cold areas on the sun but have increased radio wave emissions? Sunspots always sounded “hot” to me. The whole area is wave free – no cell phone coverage, no radio stations, no TV signals. Even leaks from microwave ovens are monitored. One is not even allowed to use a digital camera near the dish.
Our campsite is yet again perfect. Well almost – it took us over an hour and a half to pump the water to fill our holding tank. Thanks goodness for the burley – we used it to transport the water tanks from the pump to the camper. The whole job was a three-man task – but I think Ant and Mike will have a new appreciation for the water when they use it. Rob was busy “rebooting” – he slept for 14 hours straight. The view out our windows is forest – no people in sight. Wait till the weekend – that will all change. There is no electrical hookup here so I have connected up the solar panel and it is busy topping up the charge in the battery. We love having our bicycles with us – why walk when you can ride.
The local librarian is very friendly and agreed to letting us borrow books for the next two days. Mike has already read everything he brought with us, and hopes he can finish the library book before we leave on Friday. Ant found one of his unfinished Warrior books at the library so he too is reading. Rob continues to sleep! The peace is wonderful.
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