Thursday, May 13, 2004
Day Out with Grandma
Ev's mum came today to take me out for lunch and a bit of a drive about. She was upset that I was spending so much time here. She had to drive a hour each way, plus the rest of the time looking around. She is 86 years old and permanently bent into sitting position and can not walk very much at all, so it was a really big effort on her part and I really appreciated it.
We went to a place called Lafayette which actually turned out to be a fake old village as mentioned in Lonely Planet. I wouldn't have guessed if Rex hadn't told me the real village is a bit further up the road.
Tonight the fireflies came out for the first time which was a big surprise - I thought I was seeing things!
I cooked Tuna Mornay for dinner tonight - I didn't realise it is an Aussie recipe. Toby actually liked it!
Jess and Trina will be home tonight and Ben and Jen tomorrow, ready for Ev's party at the Yacht Club.
We went to a place called Lafayette which actually turned out to be a fake old village as mentioned in Lonely Planet. I wouldn't have guessed if Rex hadn't told me the real village is a bit further up the road.
Tonight the fireflies came out for the first time which was a big surprise - I thought I was seeing things!
I cooked Tuna Mornay for dinner tonight - I didn't realise it is an Aussie recipe. Toby actually liked it!
Jess and Trina will be home tonight and Ben and Jen tomorrow, ready for Ev's party at the Yacht Club.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
The Pumpkin House
I forgot to tell you about the pumpkin house at Kenova. It is actually Ben's father-in-law's house. Each year at Halloween he buys 2ooo or more pumpkins which are carved by volunteers and low risk prisoners, to decorate his house.
The innards of the pumpkins and the remaining shells are eventually taken away by local pig farmers for feed.
It, as well as his drugstore/soda fountain, is becoming a major tourist attraction.
If you enter - Pumpkin House Kenova - on Google you will find one or two of the results with photos. I didn't find one with the pumpkins all lit up, but I have a postcard of it.
We didn't get to NY/Broadway yesterday because Ev was not well. I hope we can fit that in, but time is running out.
A few more bits-
Not as many black people as I expected. Blacks generally well accepted and respected in the community.
That little red flag you see on mail boxes is to signify to the postie that there is mail for him to collect for delivery.
Residents buy their own garbage bins - the same size as ours but lighter. Just as well, because garbage collection is still done the old way. Workers have to pick the bins up and throw contents into the truck. Then they fling the bins on to the side of the road, or on the road, and are constantly damaging them.
The little ol' yellow school buses are not actually old - they are still produced to the old tried and true design. They are really cute (and distinctive). The buses drop each child right at their gateway even if they are only a few metres apart, and traffic behind has to stop each time, too.
The weather has been quite hot every day - high 20's to low 30's. Last night we had a bewdy thunderstorm with lots of spectacular lightning.
The innards of the pumpkins and the remaining shells are eventually taken away by local pig farmers for feed.
It, as well as his drugstore/soda fountain, is becoming a major tourist attraction.
If you enter - Pumpkin House Kenova - on Google you will find one or two of the results with photos. I didn't find one with the pumpkins all lit up, but I have a postcard of it.
We didn't get to NY/Broadway yesterday because Ev was not well. I hope we can fit that in, but time is running out.
A few more bits-
Not as many black people as I expected. Blacks generally well accepted and respected in the community.
That little red flag you see on mail boxes is to signify to the postie that there is mail for him to collect for delivery.
Residents buy their own garbage bins - the same size as ours but lighter. Just as well, because garbage collection is still done the old way. Workers have to pick the bins up and throw contents into the truck. Then they fling the bins on to the side of the road, or on the road, and are constantly damaging them.
The little ol' yellow school buses are not actually old - they are still produced to the old tried and true design. They are really cute (and distinctive). The buses drop each child right at their gateway even if they are only a few metres apart, and traffic behind has to stop each time, too.
The weather has been quite hot every day - high 20's to low 30's. Last night we had a bewdy thunderstorm with lots of spectacular lightning.
Monday, May 10, 2004
West Virginia
Just back from a 4 day trip to West Virginia - a 600 mile trip each way!
We went to attend Ben's graduation from the West Virginia Police Academy. Ben has grown into a really impressive young man and will do well. He will follow his basic training with further studies which will take him as far as he wants to go. He has already seen an amazing amount of action, having been thrown in at the deep end right from the start. As a police officer, he is also a fireman and has been commended for bravery in risking his life to save 4 people from a burning building.
He also got me out of jail! (Well, he did put me in there).
His father-in-law is an amazing, eccentric pharmacist who runs a drug store/soda fountain which has been in the family for over 100 years. He has restored the shop to its original condition and added other memorabilia of the town's history.
We stayed at Huntington and went to Kenova where Ben lives and works. He took us for a drive around both areas and out into the back blocks.
Very pretty scenery, beautiful farm land and houses contrasting with the most horrific areas of housing that I've seen here yet.The trailer parks are not caravan parks as we know them, but huge areas crammed with aluminium boxes, surrounded by very few, if any trees. Trailers can also be seen beside the most luxurious houses out in the hills or in the township.
I don't have any photos because Ben said that if we stopped to take shots, we could very well expect a bit of return fire.
I have to take back what I said about the condition of the roads. They are bad in close to NY city and a lot of that damage is caused by ice. The freeways are great and the system of numbering roads and exits is good.
However the freeways were cut through the country side long after settlement, taking the easiest route, so there is not much to be seen unless you take an exit. There are no stops on the freeways for food or fuel - exit signs show if they are available. Three or four times we took an exit only to find ourselves in a town that was splattered all over the place, with no indication of where the gas station was. At one place we gave up and went on to the next exit.
Railway crossings, as I said do not always have "wig-wags" or boom gates. We came across one that had both, boom down and lights flashing and not a train in sight. Ben just backed off and went to another crossing! Not far from there I saw another one - lights flashing, boom not down - obviously another one out of order.
Our tour with Ben also took us over into Kentucky, where you can almost immediately see the increase in the wealth of the people and a much higher standard of living and community pride.
I bought 4 cartons of cigarettes there for $90!
We went to attend Ben's graduation from the West Virginia Police Academy. Ben has grown into a really impressive young man and will do well. He will follow his basic training with further studies which will take him as far as he wants to go. He has already seen an amazing amount of action, having been thrown in at the deep end right from the start. As a police officer, he is also a fireman and has been commended for bravery in risking his life to save 4 people from a burning building.
He also got me out of jail! (Well, he did put me in there).
His father-in-law is an amazing, eccentric pharmacist who runs a drug store/soda fountain which has been in the family for over 100 years. He has restored the shop to its original condition and added other memorabilia of the town's history.
We stayed at Huntington and went to Kenova where Ben lives and works. He took us for a drive around both areas and out into the back blocks.
Very pretty scenery, beautiful farm land and houses contrasting with the most horrific areas of housing that I've seen here yet.The trailer parks are not caravan parks as we know them, but huge areas crammed with aluminium boxes, surrounded by very few, if any trees. Trailers can also be seen beside the most luxurious houses out in the hills or in the township.
I don't have any photos because Ben said that if we stopped to take shots, we could very well expect a bit of return fire.
I have to take back what I said about the condition of the roads. They are bad in close to NY city and a lot of that damage is caused by ice. The freeways are great and the system of numbering roads and exits is good.
However the freeways were cut through the country side long after settlement, taking the easiest route, so there is not much to be seen unless you take an exit. There are no stops on the freeways for food or fuel - exit signs show if they are available. Three or four times we took an exit only to find ourselves in a town that was splattered all over the place, with no indication of where the gas station was. At one place we gave up and went on to the next exit.
Railway crossings, as I said do not always have "wig-wags" or boom gates. We came across one that had both, boom down and lights flashing and not a train in sight. Ben just backed off and went to another crossing! Not far from there I saw another one - lights flashing, boom not down - obviously another one out of order.
Our tour with Ben also took us over into Kentucky, where you can almost immediately see the increase in the wealth of the people and a much higher standard of living and community pride.
I bought 4 cartons of cigarettes there for $90!
