The following is a piece of my catalog of travels from the great state of Virginia to the great state of California, up the coast to Washington (also great), and then back east, back home. Nothing in this account has been embellished and/or fabricated. It all really and truly happened. For real. Seriously. I would not lie to you.

Low Moor, Virginia.
Just crossed the border. One of the last signs in Virginia was for a town called Low Moor. Say it out loud. Low Moor. How fun is that? If anyone out there reading this is from Low Moor, please speak up. I must know if your town is as cool as its name.

Find the River
We decided to get off of Highway 64 and take a scenic route through a few towns. We thought it would be faster. It looked faster on the map, anyway. Of course, the map didn't show the 500,000 sharp turns in alternating directions immediately following each other up a scary mountain!

At the top, we stopped at Hawk's Nest State Park. Although there were no birds of prey soaring in the sky, we did enjoy a nice view of the Kanawha river. Some dude was there telling his kids that the river was 23 million years old. Is that even possible? I didn't question him because that would have been rude, but Dan and I shared a doubtful glance. Oh, you know what else they didn't have 23 million years ago? Sporks. Ahh evolution.

"Come on in and see The Mystery Hole!"
What?!? That's what was painted on the side of ... I don't even know how to explain it. It was like a very large trailer but it was also like an old, rundown shack with peeled paint. It was on the side of yet another curve in the road and I almost pulled in to the driveway. But Dan was afraid that if we went to see the mystery hole, we'd never come out.

"You probably pay $4 to stand in front of a bottomless pit while some dude stands behind you and pushes you in."

"It's a mystery, though! We have to go back!"

"No way, man! It's probably just a stupid hole in the ground. They probably filled it in last year and that's why it's a mystery--because they won't tell you what they used to fill it in."

"But if we don't go back, we won't be able to tell everyone that we saw The Mystery Hole!"

"Great! I can live with that!"

Sigh.

Next stop... Kentucky.