2016-23 West Virginia

2016-23

Weston West Virginia
Gallipolis Ohio
PT Pleasant West Virginia 

travel expenses for July 2016

• A Strange Week of Exploring Nut Houses, Mothman creatures, UFO’s and history as far back as 1749

West Virginia foggy mornings

Campground:  Walmart parking lot.  Free

corner of Walmart parking lot

Campground:  Krodel Park campground.  $130 weekly rate for seniors.  ($18.57 per night).  Full hookups, 50 amp service.  Good Verizon 4g signal, approx 10 over the air TV stations.  Nice lake for fishing with walking paths around it.  A rebuilt fort and historic log cabin on site but not open to the public.

Distance traveled:  128 miles

It took some doing to figure out a route from my campsite in Pennsylvania as the first route google gps had me going included a 10’ 1” height restriction entering Greensburg.  The second route suggested would take my on an extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike that has tons of construction.  I opted for the lesser of them all and took a rural route.  Roads were narrow country lanes with quite a few jogs between each section, but overall so little traffic that it turned out ok compared to the other choices.

Pennsylvania to West Virginia 

I did spend one night in Horner West Virginia at a Walmart parking lot.  Even though the day was rather warm and stayed that way till past 10 pm, I was able to get the best nights sleep I’ve had in years.  Somewhere in the middle of the night it cooled off and apparently was perfect as I only got up once or twice in the whole of the night.  Very rare indeed, as you may understand with age many of us have to get up more often than we’d care to admit.

Now you’d think with just an evenings stay in a Walmart parking lot I wouldn’t find anything in the area to visit.  But you’d be wrong.  Having picked up a brochure at a rest stop along the way, I discovered that the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was only a couple miles from my overnight stop.  So Sunday afternoon I went to the loony bin.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, almost a 1/4 mile in length

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was constructed between 1858-1881.  It is the largest hand cut stone building in North America and is said to be only second in size to the Kremlin in Russia.  They have multiple tours from the 1st floor tour which I took, a 4 floor tour which included restored doctor’s apartments, nurses quarters and Ward F where deviant patients were kept, the criminally insane tour, and multiple paranormal tours.

front reception room

Built before and during the Civil War, it had it’s starts and stops.  West Virginia hadn’t been declared a State when it was started and Virginia dropped funding for the facility during the war.  A Union General took a troop of soldiers to the nearby bank where much gold belonging to Virginia was held.  The General took out a considerable amount of gold at gun point and they were able to complete the buildings.  A military hospital and other facilities were included as the needs arose.

back side of main building

back side main building, center

ambulance drivers were housed here overnight

where convicted prisoners were evaluated to
determine if they were insane

side view of exercise yard and main building

It was kind of a creepy tour provided by guides that are dressed in white hospital uniforms.  My tour guide a young lady played the part well as I kept wondering if she would “commit” me at the end of the tour.  Needless to say, I was on my best behavior.  Learning about the mentally insane, each floor up contained the more insane and dangerous patients.  The first floor housed the mild cases as well as many who were imprisoned such as women and children when a husband no longer wanted to be married.  The man could declare his wife insane and have her committed along with the children.  The woman having no rights.  As long as the husband paid for their care, they were committed.  Often the man had a mistress or possibly inherited money and decided he no longer wanted the obligations of marriage.  He wasn’t permitted to divorce the wife, but could declare her insane.  Some of the women did end up going insane.

originally housed the kitchen

unrestored sections of the building

during the years of overcrowding

my tour guide

old nurses station

4 gargoyles were installed by the stone masons to ward off evil 

not restored section of 1st floor

Patients came from all over the surrounding states, some who were declared insane were transported in cages on trains in the baggage area, away from the other passengers.

As I mentioned, the first floor tour is where the less dangerous clients stayed and were treated.  Some being able to go into town to work before coming back at night.  Homeless children were often left here as well and often put to work in the farm fields or dairy farm at very young ages.  Nurses would often hide some of the children to keep them away from having to do hard labor as often as possible.  The place was totally self sufficient.  Having it’s own dairy farm, extensive gardens for all their fruit and vegetable needs.  All maintained by the patients who were capable of such activities.  Of course they also had many patients escape.

1st floor restored section

1st floor restored hallway

1st floor sitting area, restored

From housing it’s original 250 patient limit, it eventually expanded to well over 2,500 patients in the same space.  Often two people to a bed sleeping in shifts with beds placed in the wide corridors .  Eventually the asylum was forcibly closed in 1994 mainly due to changes in the treatment of mental illnesses and fewer patients.  I wonder how many didn’t survive the “treatments”.

Though the treatments were barbaric by today’s standards,  The facilities were designed to provide as pleasant an atmosphere as possible.  White linen tablecloths in the dining room.  Flowers and nice seating areas.  Exercise courts, outdoor activities were encourage for patients that could be trusted.  Classes, art, and other activities were routine.  Of course many of the niceties were quickly abandoned as the facility became fully utilized or should I say over crowed.  

Still it is not easy to hear the stories of the mentally ill and what they had to go through during the many years of experimentation that took place trying to find solutions to aid in the healing process. A most unusual tour, one I would have never thought I’d encounter… ps they did let me go at the end of the tour.  Or did I escape?

museum exhibits of some patients

probably homeless and abandoned,
kept here as child labor

patients art work

crate used to transport insane on trains

experimental treatments

experimental treatments

ice cold shock therapy

Distance Traveled:  158 miles

Point Pleasant West Virginia, bridges over two rivers 

Point Pleasant West Virginia.  Now how could I not stop and spend a while in a place named Pleasant.  I found a park that has a senior rate which still isn’t the cheapest I’ve paid, but with full hookups and an easy pull-thru site,  I’m a happy camper.

I’ll be chilling out for the week with just a few tours in the area.  Today I had another eye appointment for my Glaucoma.  I needed to have the eye pressures in both eyes checked.  Turns out they were in the normal range of 13 and 14, showing that the past laser surgeries are working well.  The doctor was even able to see the laser drilled hole in both eyes and confirmed they are open and functioning properly.  Isn’t technology wonderful.

This must be the week for bizarre stories.  In Point Pleasant, there’s a museum called Mothman.  The story goes that back in November 15th, 1966, the town had it’s first sightings of Moth Man out near the old Virginia Ordinance Works, now called the TNT building.  It’s where dynamite and ammunitions were manufactured during WWII.  At least 8 people have been confirmed as having seen the creature they call Moth Man.  Standing over 6 feet tall and having wings and glowing eyes.  During this time sightings of UFO’s were also reported.  Over the next 13 months, people who encountered Moth Man started to have dreams at night.  One woman saw Christmas packages floating in the river.  Others had bizarre dreams all seeming to be warning of pending disasters.  13 months after the first sightings, the Silver Bridge which goes from Point Pleasant over to the Ohio side collapsed in December 15th, 1967.  Numerous vehicles crashed into the river killing all passengers except 5 who survived as the bridge sank like dominos into the river…. Christmas packages were seen floating down river.  After the bridge collapse most reports of bad dreams and warnings waned.  Though similar sightings have been reported around the world before major disasters occurred.  One being Chernobyl, the nuclear plant meltdown so the stories go.

By the way, after the bridge collapsed in 1967, the U.S. Congress enacted a law requiring all bridges be inspected regularly for defects.

After checking out the museum, I went to a local diner in town and met the owner who told me first hand accounts of the Moth man as well as numerous sightings of UFO’s.  She said she and friends saw flashing lights in the sky and her friends said it was from UFO’s.  She didn’t really believe the lights were from UFO’s.  It wasn’t until her brother told her he and his wife saw a UFO land in their backyard before silently moving on.  The next day, the Charleston WV newspaper reported multiple sightings of UFO’s in the area.  Charleston and Pt Pleasant aren’t all that far from each other.  After that, the owner of the diner said she became a believer.  A girl friend of hers and the girls boyfriend went for a joy ride one evening over to the TNT area to see if they could see the Moth Man.  Figuring they’d have a laugh, drink a beer and leave.  Before they even had a chance to open a beer from the six pack they were carrying, they saw the Moth Man come out of a large door of the old munitions building.  They said he came out sideways and then flew off.  The young couple got out of there as fast as they could.  It’s interesting to hear the stories from first and second hand accounts and not just something written on a placard in a museum.  Did I mention a movie was made from the stories with Richard Geer as the lead actor.  

flower, at campground

old signs in downtown Point Pleasant

lots of history surrounding this area

Barber Shop Awning

many bridges over the Ohio River

stunning murals along the flood walls surrounding town

I've been in this area once before
and reported on these murals, they are holding up well

murals along flood walls

flood walls, entrance to river park

rail road bridge and tug boat

That’s enough of the spooky stuff.  This area is loaded with history with it being the location where the Ohio river and Kanawha Rivers meet up.  A French explorer arrived here in 1749 and claimed French sovereignty over the Ohio valley, even burying a plaque to that effect. The English were already settling the area and refused to leave.  In 1770 Colonel George Washington came through the area and called it a Pleasant Point.  The Germans and Scotch Irish moved in and after a number of Indian battles with Chief Cornstalk leading the Shawnee Indians was killed.  A whole community of Frenchmen moved here thinking they had purchased land in the area.  After arriving they discovered the land deeds were bogus.  Eventually having to purchase the land a second time in order to stay.

The Ohio River and Kanawha were major means of travel through the area and the area continued to grow and prosper.  Today one can see barges traveling up and down river pushed by large tug boats.  Many barges are anchored along the river banks waiting to be filled with supplies or unloaded.  On the Ohio side of the river I noticed a few dry dock areas for repairing barges.

Another day I visited the River Museum in Pt Pleasant.  A very talkative sister (one of two at the museum) told me lots of stories including the fact that growing up in Pt Pleasant, she knew the characters that dressed up as “Mothman” to scare the locals in the area.  So it was really just a hoax after all.  

water tower in Ohio

The River museum has lots of displays of river boats, steam boats and tub boats along with more stories about the collapse of the bridge over the Ohio River.  With the two small communities on either side of the river, almost everyone in the area knew someone who died in the collapsing of the bridge.  So much so that on the Ohio side of the river, they did not put up a memorial to all those who died until 25 years later.  It was just too much for them to relive.  On the second floor the museum has a tug boat simulator and is used to re-certify boat captains in the area.  Kind of neat to find a simulation training device as that was what I was a logistics manager for with the Naval Training Systems Center in Orlando before I retired.  They let me try out the simulator and I have to admit, I crashed the tugboat.  Opps.

So as you can tell I haven’t had that much to explore in this area, just a few local sites to explore.  Didn’t even get over to the County Fair on the Ohio side of the river.  But there’s always another adventure on down the road, and that’s where you’ll find me next week.

Tug boat simulator

Additional Photos:

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum 

Point Pleasant West Virginia and Mothman Museum

Point Pleasant WV and River Museum

2016-22 New Alexandria Pennsylvania

2016-22

Falling Waters

New Alexandria Pennsylvania

Campground:   Bush Army COE campground.  GPS will take one as far as Bush Road, from there your on your own.  Actually a couple more miles down the road I arrive at a nice golf course.  After getting directions I head on thru the golf course and a couple miles further along an almost one lane road, I’m at the dam and the “Recreation Area”.  Cost:  $13 senior rate for water and electric.  They also have electric only and primitive sites, no hookups.  Sure wish they’d have signs or symbols indicating camping as it not apparent from the recreation area sign.

Distance Traveled:  104 miles

Pennsylvania barns, a different style

I could have taken a more direct route on major highways but decided instead to take the back roads, mainly on hwy 356.  What a ride.  It had all the excitement of a roller coaster ride.  Winding roads with curves and dips and some really big rolling hills for the ups and downs that make any roller coaster ride exciting.  Some of those rises were the type that when I crested the hill, I could barely see over the top of the hood of the truck.  And the dips required lots of down shifting with 5 and 6 degree grades.  I might have to reconsider back road driving through Pennsylvania.

In any case the campsite I’ve chosen is nicely wooded providing much needed shade with the temps reaching into the 90’s this week.  The lake is just down from my campsite and I see a few days of swimming in the lake this week.  I have no idea what is in the local area so much of it will be a total surprise to me and you when I start to explore this area.  My niece Kelly would like the place too, since the golf course is not even a mile away with really nice greens and the club house is in an old barn.

My first stop in the area was into Monroeville.  Needing to do some grocery shopping and of course have lunch somewhere.  I selected the Lamplighter.  A local establishment that has an old fashioned dining room with white table cloths, lounge with a stage for entertainment and a cafe out front.  I of course ate in the cafe side and was excited to learn that the next day the place would be closed for the shooting of scenes for a film called “Mindhunter”.  After I had lunch I walked around the place and saw crews setting up for the film, heavy cables running everywhere.  Extra lighting being set up in the bar and lounge area as well as the formal dining room where two couple were having lunch even as the film crews worked around them.

lunch and a movie set!

a movie crew member setting up

a couple regular diners not willing to eat in the c

Westmoreland Museum of American Art

Another day I was thinking I would visit Hannastown a historical settlement.  Not finding, I ended up in Greensburg.  On top of one of the many hills that make up the towns area, is the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.  The newly redesigned museum with an impressive sky extension jutting out over the landscape.  A temporary exhibit from the private collection of Barbra L Gordon of American Folk Art was on display in the new sky bridge extension.  Check out the links provided in this article as photos were not permitted in the temporary exhibit area.  It was one of the most exciting and breath taking exhibits I’ve attended in a long time.  The collection of folk art from 1800 through 1925 by self-taught or minimally trained artists is the finest collection I’ve ever seen.  Much of it, like the wood sculptures of native Indians (often used to sell tobacco products), haberdashery sculptures of men and women dressed from that period were some of the finest examples I’d ever seen. The paintings, wood ducks, whirly gigs, some furniture and hand painted chests brought back a time when things were hand crafted and painted by hand.  With such skill, all representing a young nation finding it’s own mark in the world.  The rest of the museum has examples of American Art and folk art, but couldn’t compare to this special exhibit.

permanent exhibit

a more recent folk art item

Pennsylvania landscapes

me

stunning wooded indian

John F Kennedy, photo of speach

A dear friend, Kathy Schnedler has been traveling on her own for a couple of weeks using her VW car with attached tent and will be meeting up with me today.  What a great surprise and so looking forward to her visit.  I was saving a big adventure for next week, but with Kathy here, we decided to do it this week.

first view before entering "Falling Waters"

Falling Waters, Frank Lloyd Wright.  

I’d visited this wonderful house a couple of years ago in the rain.  It being that special, that everyone on the tour never complained once about the rain.  Today, Kathy and I visited the famous home which has gotten just about every award and architectural accolade in the world.  The drive through southern Pennsylvania felt as though we were descending into more and more remote country.  The roads became hilly and mountainous as we eventually began climbing higher into thick forests with the towns becoming ever smaller, eventually only being a couple farm houses and maybe one or two business.

After an hours drive, we arrived at Falling Waters.  The home built for the Kaufmann family, one of three major architectural homes designed for the family, was built in 1935.  Costing $155,000.  That price included all of the outbuildings, carports, swimming pool, furnishings and Wrights architectural fee of $8,500.  Today, it costs the conservancy 2.1 million dollars per year to maintain the architectural wonder.

our tour guide, lower left corner of picture

drip from corner of cantilever patio drain pipe

Kathy and I really enjoyed the tour

We had an excellent tour guide who shared the history of the home. Frank Lloyd Wright was a meticulous architect who designed not only the multi-cantilevered home over a water falls, but also designed all of the furniture including many built in book shelves, dressers and a desk in each bedroom, all were attached to the walls none with legs touching the floor.  The home was innovative in it’s time with an open floor plan, large expanses of windows to blur the line between indoor and outdoor.  Most rooms opened out to large cantilevered patios jutting out over the landscape and falls.  A rock formation was incorporated into one corner of the home, providing an anchor for much of the cantilevered portions of the house and even protrudes through the floor, forming a portion of the living rooms fireplace.  Once again bringing natural elements indoors.  I was once again practically gushing at every view and direction as well walked through the homes different levels, learning about the families lifestyle, while they used the home from 1937-1963 as a weekend retreat.

The house also includes a separate guest house, 4 bay carport (Frank Lloyd Wright originated the carport) with servants quarters (for 4-6 servants).  The Kaufmann’s insisted that Wright design the servants quarters with the same quality and design details as the main residence, to the point one of the rooms in the servants quarters still contains a Picasso etching.

images from back side of house

outdoor shower anyone?

We of course were only permitted to take pictures outside and fortunately throughout our tour the clouds parted and sunlight began to highlight the house and waterfalls in glistening light.  A spectacular tour, perfect day to enjoy a world famous piece of art.

Well I hope you have the chance to see Falling Waters one day.  I’ve seen it twice and continue to learn more each time about this wonderful architectural achievement.  What faith the Kaufmanns must have had to approve the building of a home totally unlike anything else ever built and directly over their own water falls.

I know, I grinning like a school kid, loved the tour

the classic "Falling Water" waterfall shot

two flowing water falls beneath the house

By the way, Kathy has been quite adventurous on her camping tour as she is doing it by herself. Randy her husband is not always as into traveling much as Kathy is, so she packed up her VW car with attached travel tent and headed out for a couple weeks on her own.  As we drove back on a shuttle from touring Falling Waters, we met two other women who were traveling together.  One woman said, she had no problem leaving her husband behind and had just come back from a months trip to Germany.  Then joined her friend on this trip to see Falling Waters on their way to Washington D.C.  The other woman said she left her husband behind as well, since he had just died a couple weeks earlier.  She said it was a blessing.  Kathy and I were both thinking that could be taken multiple ways.  Afterwards, we got quite a chuckle out of the surprising conversation we had with these two independent women.  I believe this is the first time Kathy had ever traveled anywhere on her own.  So it’s been a big step for her.

love my wooden Indian
statues

A note on the Pennsylvania highways.  They are an older design, with concrete barriers between the opposing lanes.  Signs indicate “right turns only”.  I’d not seen anything like that that I can remember.  Basically it means that if you want to turn left, you must use a turn around a loop to the right which will then direct you to a stop before crossing over the highway to the opposite direction.  Unless there is a stop light on the highway, where sometimes you can turn left and other times it’s not permitted.  Needless to say, until you get used to an area, it can be very confusing.

Now that I’ve confused you, I’ll let you go until next weeks report, where both you and I will find out where I’m going.  As of right now, I really don’t know which direction I’ll take, so after posting this, I need to look at a map and figure that out.

Have a great day, and remember, it’s not always necessary to know where you are going, but that you are getting out there and learning something new every day.

Photos:

Westmoreland Museum of American Art

Falling Waters, Frank Lloyd Wright