Endless Summer: The Good the Bad and the Ugly

9.2.2010

On the morning of Monday August 30, 2010 I left Kerry’s house in Scott Depot and slowly made my way towards Rural Retreat Va. It occurred to me not a half hour down the road that I was going to pass by Beckley. I decided to make my way down 64 and sent my cousin Heidi a text.

“Are you home?”… “Yeah, why?”

...and so I called her.

What was going to be a quick visit turned into two days and nights in Shady Spring, WV just outside of Beaver and Beckley. Monday evening Heidi borrowed a UTV (Utility Vehicles – a golf cart on steroids) to take me trail riding. She said there was a chance we’d cross some bears while out so she grabbed her Ruger and we put eventually put it in my purse for easy access. We set out through her residential neighborhood, crossed two main roads, and were eventually headed down an unlined (but paved!) road through some farms. As we made our way up Whitby Mountain I learned what bear poop looks like. I also learned how to fire the gun just in case the bears leaving the poop decided to surprise us. The terrain got rocky – and exciting for me. For Heidi, not so much. I was allowed to drive once we hit the spots where she was afraid we’d tip the UTV over. No worries. I handled it like a pro..  There were even some attempts at not-so-expert frog catching.

Under the canopy of trees the remainder of the day’s light did little to light our path. Eventually we had to turn the UTV’s lights on. We quickly discovered there’s a draw in the system….Our headlights dimmed and eventually went out, and our overhead spot lights nearly disappeared too. It was quite the adventure. I was already amped for contact with wild bears and here we are in the middle of nowhere IN THE PITCH BLACK. I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face. Just imagine it. Heidi in the driver’s seat, I in the passenger’s. The Plexiglas window was scratched and reflecting the little bit of light the overhead spots were emitting so we each have our heads sticking out either side trying to see the road ahead! It was quite a sight. “Where’s the road?!” Is not something you want your driver to say…ever. It got so bad we were using the focus light on my camera to see..FLASH – FLASH – FLASH –FLASH ..over and over and over just to see 10 feet ahead of us.

We eventually made it back to a paved part of the road, still miles from home. As we pass a house to our left I hear the deepest dog bark I’ve ever heard. My first instinct was to look at the CB radio to see if it had made noise. (Of course I’d already turned the thing off to save juice) I heard it again and looked left just in time to see Heidi nearly jump out of her seat, headed my direction. In the dark a black dog had chased us down. Heidi says she could feel its breath graze her leg.

Surviving yet another adventure of the evening we finally made it back to her neighborhood. The UTV owners were having a cookout in their outdoor oasis so we joined in. Oh, while on the mountaintop, at the point in which we thought the battery was completely dead and we’d be stranded in the dark, I managed to quickly turn on Heidi’s dying cell phone, retrieve the owner’s phone number, and then call him from my cell - We thought he might need to rescue us! The first thing he says to us when we get back is “well I wasn’t going to come and get ya.” He’d been drinking a bit too much at that point..we’d of been out there all night!

I joined in on the fun with a couple Schmirnoff premixed fruity something-anothers. Highlight of the oasis party being my graceful maneuver directly into the sliding screen door. Yup, I face planted right into it. I wasn’t even half done my first drink yet! I’m sure I’m made quite the impression on Heidi’s neighbors.

That night I got to sleep in Josh’s room since he’s at school in Fairmont now. It was nice to be in a bed for the first time in over a week. The next day I did a whole lot of nothing all day. Lounging at the house was nice. I went out on the deck in my bathing suit and did eventually start working on the wedding service I’m conducting in Georgia on Sunday. The day was going well until not long after 4pm. I had planned on driving to Rural Retreat Virginia that night, but after getting some upsetting news I decided to put it off until the next day.

Around 4:15pm a good friend, someone I’d spend hours chatting with every day for the past month, told me that we could no longer talk…or even be friends on Facebook.

Now, I get the whole not talking thing. It was an unhealthy situation, as much as we loved talking to one another. But as funny as it may seem to say, the use of technology in this situation made it worse. I am really hurt by this move to “de-friend.” It’s a low blow. It feels as if I’m being made to disappear. Like any trace of our knowing one another can be erased.

Its been a rough couple of days for me. I’ve tried distracting myself with friends and other things but taking long drives down the highway are difficult. I hate myself for loving music so much. I hear a song and it makes me cry. Sometimes I’m so girly I make myself sick.

On Wednesday I finally left Shady Spring and headed for Rural Retreat. I made it to Grace Lutheran Church in time to join Matt Day and his supervisor, Pastor Jonathan Hamman lead Compline service. Only three other people joined us, three older women of the congregation. Louise was one of them. I like her. At 60 years old she runs 2 miles a day at Rural Retreat Lake, she works with the Human Society, and she drinks bourbon. That’s my kinda lady.

On my way down I realized that I’d left my sleeping bag in Morgantown. Matt said Pastor had one I could borrow so we went to his house to pick it up. We then headed back to his town house. This is where I get annoyed with church hypocrisy. I had to spend all day trying to find a campsite for me stay at for the night, because my staying at Matt’s might be made gossip in the small town. So what, I say! Let them ask me or ask him the truth and they might learn that there are responsible adults in this world that can co-exist without wanting to get in each other’s pants. Instead, I had to sneak into Rural Retreat Lake after hours, set up camp at 1am, and try to sleep in my hammock in the cold and dense darn woods alone.

When I left Matty’s at about midnight I saw a dog curled up on the side of the road. I decided to take him with me after Matty said he couldn’t have pets in the house and there was no convincing him otherwise. To tell you the truth I was very grateful to have him. I had no idea I’d be the only camper there and with no personal protection (like say a gun to shoot bears…notice a trend?) it was comforting to have him curled up under my hammock.

I nearly died of a heart attack at 3am.

I heard rustling, loud enough to wake me. And this, on top of dense trees, the dark, the fog, the howling, chirping, buzzing, hooting, and other wild noises had been preventing a restful nights sleep. I slowly reached for my flashlight, trying not to make my hammock swing, and thinking about what the best escape would be for me since I was basically trapped inside my hammock set-up, and all the while wondering why this damn dog hasn’t barked or anything. My heart was pounding. My eyes were useless. I have great night vision but still couldn’t see a thing. I finally found the flashlight and turned it on to scan the area to my right – facing the deeper woods.

I could of killed that dog.

He was pacing in his circle, remaking his bed of leaves.

In the 6 hours that I was there I’m sure I woke up about 6 times. By 6:45 I had to pee so bad I was forced out of the hammock. It was cold, and I had no idea where the nearest bathhouse was. No worries though, I packed toilet paper and with no one around finding a place to go was easy enough. The dog barked the whole time.

Thinking sleep would be impossible again, I loaded up the car with my gear and the dog and went back to Matty’s house. Since I left at midnight, and arrived at 7:30am anyone really wanting to gossip would likely conclude I’d never left. Oh well.

Just the way I like to start my Thursdays…