The Events of Monday, December 13, 2010

          I awoke this morning surprised not to be in Kansas or Oz. The winds had blown so hard and so cold all night long that I was sure that we were in the eye of a tornado. That wasn’t the case, but the temperature was in the teens and the wind chill factor brought it lower still. There was not much incentive to get out of a warm bed. We had also been spoiled with a week in a quiet campsite in the woods. Not the case, when boondocking. All night long it seemed car horns blared, sirens screamed, and trucks rumbled through the Walmart parking lot. There is only one way out of bed in the RV for me, but today, it was the wrong side.

          Once out of bed, we cranked the heat, dressed quickly and had breakfast and our morning family devotions. Then we checked for dry laundry and were able to decrease the amount of hanging laundry by about half. Then we did all the things necessary to head out on the road. We were headed for Harper’s Ferry in West Virginia, the site of John Brown’s Raid, a precursor to the Civil War. After driving for about an hour, we pulled into the parking lot to find it fairly empty. Only one school bus – good. Going to the visitor station, we discovered that the actual historic town of Harper’s Ferry was accessible only by the National Park Service’s shuttle bus. So we returned to the RV to better prepare for the 25° weather, and then waited in the cold for the shuttle to arrive.

          The shuttle ride was fairly pleasant, for, as we drove, a narrative played over the loudspeaker, sharing with us the history of the town, accompanied by a little country ditty that we would hear played over and over again throughout the day. The shuttle dropped us at the end of a re-created town. Within the town are several historical shops, museums and educational films. We headed for the place first indicated on our map, the information center.

          As we crossed the parking lot, I was struggling to put on my earmuff band, hat, and gloves that I had removed during the warm shuttle ride. As we stepped onto a bit of darkened pavement I heard Lindsey squeal softly and say, “Oh, this is slippery.” The next thing I knew, I was lying flat on my back in the street, seeing stars. We had hit some black ice, and, when I fell, I hit my head pretty hard. I don’t think I lost consciousness, but later found out from my children that I had cursed, a bad habit of mine when I get hurt. But I don’t remember saying anything. The first thing I remember is Jim leaning over me, asking me if I could move, and if I needed some ice. I joked that as I was lying on ice, I had all the ice I needed at the moment, thank you. With effort and careful balance, Jim and the kids managed to get me off the ice without any of us falling again. I sat down, dazed, on a very cold rock, holding the back of my head. A ranger, leading a school group nearby, had seen me fall and came over. I asked if she had an ice pack, as that was all I felt I really needed. However, she immediately called for the ranger EMTs to come and access the situation. Then she called for another ranger to stay with me until the EMTs arrived. The EMTs arrived fairly quickly, but I was disappointed that they didn’t come with a blanket as I was shivering, partly from shock but mostly from being very cold.

          The EMTs asked me the typical neurological check kind of questions that I used to ask my neurologically involved patients: What is your name? Do you know where you are? What year is it? Who is president? How old are you? Jim said later that he was concerned by the slowness of my responses. I was too, but we have been so many different places and visited so many national parks that I had to think a minute about where we were TODAY. Also, the year 2000 popped into my head first, and, although I knew that was wrong, I had to take a moment to remember 2010. The president question was easy, but I couldn’t get out Barack, just Obama. But we have just spent the last nine days in Washington, D.C., learning about all the presidents, so a good many of their names flashed through my head as well. Then she asked me my age. I always say I feel 25 and somehow I didn’t fully accept my last birthday, so I hesitated there as well. Eventually, I convinced the EMT that I was OK, and she finally gave me the ice pack I had wanted. It felt good on the back of my head. I signed off on a paper saying I had refused to be taken by ambulance to the hospital, and the EMTs left. By now, the kids had let the other ranger know of our trip. Unbeknownst to me, this ranger had left to get me a blanket and delivered it as we were headed into the quaint little town. She quickly directed us to one of the sites that showed a movie and we headed over there.

          When we arrived, the movie was set to start in ten minutes. While Jim and the kids perused the information in the exhibits, I lay down on a bench with my head on the ice pack, and, with my icy cold hands, I massaged my neck muscles and aching forehead, as I had quite the frontal headache. However, by the time the movie started, my ice pack had done its job, and I was feeling much better.

          The movie was all about the town of Harper’s Ferry – its beginnings, Thomas Jefferson’s visit to it, its role in the Lewis and Clark expedition, its infamous role in the John Brown Rebellion, its role in the Civil War and its role in the Industrial Revolution. This town, ever dependent on the rivers that surrounded it, had risen to glorious heights due to the waterways and been devastated by years of great floods. In time, it was to be no more. The movie was well done, and I was pleased my poor rattled brain could follow it so well.

          Next, the kids’ Junior Ranger programs led us to the information center and the exhibits there. From there, we exited the back doors and headed over to the armory’s firehouse, where John Brown made his last stand. Our next stop was the John Brown museum. This museum was particularly well done. There were three videos that covered different time frames of the rebellion. They were timed to go off in sequence, leaving adequate time to explore the room and the exhibits that enhanced the movie experience. The information was presented succinctly and clearly, and in a reasonable time frame. Completing this experience, we looked at our watches, assessed our hunger levels, munched on a few granola bars, and planned our next steps.

          The ranger at the initial visitor center had pointed out where the Appalachian Trail goes through Harper’s Ferry. If we had followed the AT across the canal bridge we could have said we hiked the Appalachian Trail in West Virginia and Maryland, but that was not to be today. Instead we headed up some curiously misshapen stone stairs leading to a church high on a hill. The sign outside the Catholic Church, told its story. Built for the Irish immigrants who built the C & O(Chesapeake and Ohio) Canal that bordered the tumultuous rivers, it survived the Civil War due to the wisdom of its priest. During the Civil War, the town of Harper’s Ferry changed hands more time than could be counted and was ruthlessly destroyed in the process – all except the Catholic Church. As an effort to demonstrate the church’s neutrality in the war, the priest had hung the British Union Jack flag from the steeple. As a result the church was spared. Continuing on, we found where the Appalachian Trail led off from the town.

          The sign said it was one third of a mile to “Jefferson Rock” and seven tenths of a mile to the Appalachian Trail Visitor Center. Curious, we decided to see where the trail led. The view from Jefferson Rock was magnificent. It is easy to see why Jefferson spoke so eloquently and so passionately about this place. Walking on it was easy to follow the Appalachian Trail, due to its white blazes marking the trail. In some places, it looked like the trail was being restored, as granite steps lay to the side awaiting placement. We walked on for a bit, quite taken in by the beauty and the fun of hiking in the woods after a week of walking among buildings on pavement. However, soon, we noticed the trail going down, down, down with no visitor center in site. Knowing that if we hiked down, we would have to hike up, we decided to return to town. As we made our way back to the shuttle station, we noticed that the area where I fell was now covered with salt, sand and gravel. No one will fall there again anytime soon.

          After waiting what seemed like eons outside in the cold for the shuttle bus, it finally returned and shortly we were in our RV trying to warm up and fix lunch. I quickly got on the internet to check symptoms and treatment of concussions. After hearing that the symptoms of a concussion are confusion, fatigue, and irritability, my family joked it would be hard to tell if I had a concussion or if I simply was being myself. I took a few ibuprofen for my headache and soon was feeling much better. However, Jim said pointedly that he would be doing the driving on the next portion of our journey.

          Our next destination was to be Shenandoah National Park. We planned to drive along Skyline Drive, the drive the runs north/south along the ridgeline of the park. However, as we arrived at the entrance station, we saw the gates were drawn. A ranger informed us that Skyline Drive was closed due to snow and ice. Although we understood as it was a chilly 17° out, we were disappointed. We haven’t visited a national park since Acadia NP in Maine and were looking forward to enjoying some of God’s beauty. After we turned around, we looked for a place to park to decide our next steps. Finding an impressive looking high school, all brick with tall white columns in front, we pulled into their parking lot and the search for a campsite began. Jim searched the internet, Caitlin searched the camp books and Ben used our GPS. Finally we found an open and reasonably priced KOA.

          By now it was 5 pm and getting dark fast. Jim asked me to drive so he could finish some computer work. Eager to prove that I was up to the task, I consented. However, as I pulled out into the dark and found the road climbing and weaving before me, I had second thoughts. Driving in the dark in strange places is not my forte. Caitlin soon joined me up front and put on some Christmas music. And on we drove. At one point I looked back to find more than 15 cars on my tail. I pulled off the first chance I had and they passed me by. By now our GPS had switched to night mode and the purple line we were to follow looked awfully squiggly. Determined I drove on. We passed by some homes adorned with Christmas lights and that helped lighten the load. At last we reached the turn off for the KOA. Only 3.5 miles to go. So why was it supposed to take us almost a half an hour? Because the road narrowed and continued to twist and turn and off into the darkness we drove. At one point, on a crest, I thought I saw off in the distance the familiar glowing yellow triangle of a KOA. Suddenly, Caitlin said, “Mommy‼ Look at the GPS!” and I was glad she did. The purple line took some sharp turns that were not well marked by arrows or reflectors. At one point we rose on a little crest which caused the headlights to point up. It looked like the road disappeared in darkness below us, like we were driving into an abyss. I slowed and then we realized the road dipped here. Caitlin breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That was scary.” Later we learned that the others, unable to see out because of the foggy windows and the distractions of their books or the computer were oblivious to this terrifying drive.

          Finally we arrived at the KOA in the middle of nowhere. I kept the headlights on to light Jim’s path to the office door. Then I shut them off and turned them on again when he returned. Only he thought I had left them on the whole time. Jim was quite pleased with his find as our night was only going to cost us $37. We have found that most KOAs charge $60 or more, even in the off season. He was also impressed by the service he was given and the cheerfulness of our host. We pulled into our pull through spot and Jim and Ben dressed to brave the elements to empty our waste water tanks. Soon Jim was knocking on my window asking me to call the office as the sewer top was stuck. My phone call was met by an upbeat woman’s voice who said she would be over right away. Over she came and then went back to the office to get some tools. While she was gone we re-maneuvered to put water in our fresh water tank. Maneuvering a RV in the dark is difficult enough, but Jim had on black gloves and his hand motions kept getting lost in the background of his black coat. I had to let him know to use the flashlight he was carrying as his other directives were invisible. Soon the woman returned with a wrench and with a rock and some “pirate words” (as she called them, like argh) got the top off the sewage. We were able to empty our tanks and reposition ourselves, but by the time we were all settled the boys were quite frozen. Quickly we got a nice hot dinner on the table. After dinner, it was my day to do dishes and blog so the kids and Jim worked on math while I did so. Soon they were all in bed, snuggled down under many blankets as we were to have the coldest night we have experienced thus far. As for me, I blogged and edited blogs late into the night, trying to catch us up. It was after midnight when I went to bed. However, it was dark, quiet and warm under a pile of blankets and sleeping bags. Soon I was fast asleep.