I decided not to stop and camp on the way back home, but drive straight through, about six hours. I did stop at #Tamarack marketplace on a recommendation, and I'm glad I did. It's set up to let local artisans sell their wares, everything from quilts to preserves to blown glass & paintings. There are even some ceramic, glass, and wood workshops in the building with areas a small audience can watch from, which I thought was a brilliant idea.

Virginia wasn't as far along yet in the color change, so most of the hills and looming mountains were still carpeted in just green.

As night fell completely, traffic growing more sparse by the minute, I found myself driving a stretch of freshly painted road with no edgelines & pristine asphalt. It was like driving on glass above a sea of ink, and I surprised myself with how unnerved I grew.

The whole adventure reminded me I have more freedom than I exercise, for better or worse.

#travel #autumn #westvirginia

On this trip I visited a few #antique shops, since I love finding the bizarre and unique stuff they often have. It's mostly window-shopping so I don't accumulate garages full of junk. One of the antique malls was attached to #dixiecaverns, a smallish cave you can tour. The cave was moist, slippery, and ~55 degrees. Many of the stalactites and stalagmites had been broken and removed before folks got serious about cave preservation, but some of the features were interesting, like a 'wedding bell' and a toilet bowl.

We also visited #blackdogsalvage which, while overpriced, was still entertaining. Some local artists had some fun pieces on display.

Again the topography made for such a different experience. Driveways running up or down from the road at steep grades, mountains always looming in the distance if not directly shadowing you. I asked about the weather and my hosts told me the encircling mountains either kept it out, or trapped it.

#roanoke #virginia #autumn #travel

The campground had some decent facilities like a bathhouse, a 24/7 lodge with a comfy couch and board games (camp building smell <3 ), an outdoor concert venue, and other amenities. Way more fun for groups/families than by your lonesome, I bet. I rediscovered my appreciation for toasted marshmallows. The crisp/gooey/smokey flavor just isn't reproducible. No crackers or chocolate, just straiiight up.

Getting back on the road, I chose a toll-free road to get to Roanoke and there were more wind-y unnerving roads but more open stretches too, some space that allowed more sprawling towns.

My friends in Roanoke put me up for the night; we banged around downtown for a bit and visited the town's famous star. It's strange dipping into someone's life just a little, isn't it? They see things a bit through your fresh eyes, while you see a literal slice of life for them, imagining what the day to day is like in this fresh setting. #virginia #roanoke #travel #autumn #Appalachia

I really want you to understand how beautiful this state is, even what little I saw of it. There were stretches I drove through sun-dappled tunnels of greenery, only occasionally breaking out to reveal I was in the midst of mountains just starting to blush with fall colors. The shape of the humped earth was softened by the trees, and the scars left by human habitation were few but painfully obvious.

The sky was electric blue, the grass and fields were vivid greens, and shreds of cloud broke up the sunlight at times into alternating bars of cool shade and golden light.

The campground I stayed at felt like a mecca only reached by zealots and pilgrims at the end of tortuous switchbacks and winding roads. Some people managed it with RVs and I salute them. The morning came with a thick fog, condensation alone making it sound like a gentle rain in the canopy. I attempted a hiking path but it was too strenuous for me, a sharp disappointment.

#westvirginia #autumn #travel

Some of the tiny towns I passed through (with names like Glasgow, London, and Boomer) seemed starkly poor. Things weren't maintained, siding falling off, businesses that looked shuttered even if they weren't. I saw large industrial complexes nestled into whatever space they could carve out amongst the mountains. ATVs seemed common for just getting around rather than bicycles.

As I navigated roads that zig-zagged more than a snake sucking a lemon, I realized how impossible it would be to navigate these in snow, ice, or even heavy rain. It's very easy in many places to think we have nature 'handled.' Barring serious stuff like tornadoes/hurricanes/earthquakes/volcanoes, unpleasant weather/exposure/temperature extremes just aren't the threats they were. But it's obvious that there are still places that have to bow to these forces.

Some of the small towns were neat as a pin, to the point they looked like model railroad layouts. Too quaint for reality. #westvirginia #autumn

Saturday I drove a few hours from home to a campground called 'the Outpost' in West Virginia. I was hoping to see the fall foliage at its peak, but it had just started to turn. The mountains were beautiful, but the roads traversing them could be terrifying at times.

This was my first time camping alone. I have to say, it wasn't fun. I was too close to other campers to feel any 'solitary communion with nature' stuff, but I had no idea how to feel out my neighbors to see if they wanted to chat or share my hotdogs or whatever, so I just stayed clear. It was a lonely time, but I felt accomplished, pitching the tent myself and remembering most of the things I needed. (A good stick for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows was the notable thing missing. I have ingested some ash.)

Impressions of WV: the different topography seemed to force communities into small clusters around industries, rather than the farm-leaning stuff at home. Continued ->

#travel #WestVirginia #camping #autumn

Made some chili tonight. I had a bunch of fresh corn I needed to use up so I found a tip on America's Test Kitchen that you should separate the kernels from the cobs and get 'em both under the broiler for some color, and add both to the chili. It said boiling the cobs in there would give it a floral note.

I also considered adding some beer but the closest thing I had was a raspberry ginger beer. That's...not appropriate. :KD

I suppose the floral note is accurate, definitely an after-taste rather than anything dominant. Used some sourwood honey to sweeten it, and some cranberry booze (a home-brewed gift I need to use up) instead of beer for more flavor. Pretty darn nice! No beans in this one, just due to lack of preparation. I added a couple pieces of cinnamon stick but no cocoa powder.

#cooking #chili #kitchencat #foodporn

#propreplica #scifi #sciencefiction #graphicdesign

I've been working on a project and designing a bunch of fictional warning labels.

It's been interesting, researching real labels and extrapolating what they might look like in a few decades.