Newsletter Week of 24 July 2020
A Voice in Every Wind (new trade paperback edition)
Four days, five States, 1,429 miles, a raging pandemic, and one vintage 1984 Return of the Jedi swing set. That's how we spent last weekend.
We started out Thursday afternoon and drove about 4 hours. We stopped for the night in Bentleyville, PA, at the Best Western Garden Inn (highly recommended). Friday morning we picked up some power steering fluid, a breakfast sandwich, and soda, then hit the road about 11:00 am. Around noon we passed into West Virginia and stopped in Wheeling for a visit to the wonderful Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum.
Back on the road, we hit Ohio in the early afternoon, stopping about 5:30 to pick up food at Burger King in Edgewood, OH. At 6:30 we crossed into Indiana, and a little after 9:00 pm we reached our destination, Williamsport, IN. Collector Jordan and his family welcomed us, we loaded the wing set onto our van, and then stayed to admire Jordan's impressive collection of toys and such. We stopped for the night in the nearby town of Attica, IN, where we stayed at the Attica Inn.
Saturday morning we visited the local attraction, the Williamsport Falls. Although the water flow was just a trickle, the geology was fascinating; definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in the area. On the road again around 11:30, we drove steadily, with a couple of stops along the way for gas and leg-stretching.
About 6 pm, nearing the OH/WV border, we decided we could stop and pick up a couple bottles of local wine. This is something we try to do on road trips. We followed directions to the Georgetown Tavern on the Hill Winery. Big mistake. The Tavern on the Hill resembles a German beer garden, with a fantastic view—and it was crowded. There were at least 100 people milling about, and only three of them wre masked: one customer and two of the kitchen staff (we, or course, were masked). Waitstaff at the bar and serving tables weren't masked; tables were separated by what looked like about six feet...if measured center-to-center. In reality they were 2-3 feet apart.
For a few uncomfortable minutes we stood in line (we kept our distance, but no one in front of us did). Then we agreed that we were being stupid, and beat a fast retreat to the van—where we applied hand sanitizer liberally. A that point we were heartily sick of Ohio, and were very relieved when we crossed into West Virginia a little after 7 pm.
We stopped at the EconoLodge in Triadelphia, WV, where we were relived to see statewide masking required. We ordered pizza delivery and spent a lovely evening watching Big Bang Theory and falling asleep.
Sunday morning we stopped at the Cherokee Trading Post & Boot Outlet just down the hill from the EconoLodge. We passed briefly into Pennsylvania, then back into West Virginia, and then into Maryland. A brief stop for gas in Friendsville, MD, and then we had a major stop at Suprlus City in Lavale, MD. There Thomas picked up some nice fabric and we had a friendly visit with some of the locals (all masked). After that we headed home, arriving about 5:30 pm. There we had time to relax and get in a nap or two before our really big snooze.
- Scanned 2 more books
- Ripped 2 more DVDs to mp4
- Legion of Super-Heroes website: cataloging April1998 comics
- Added 200 words to my memoir
- More work on the next gay erotic short story
- Wrote 300 words on Hunt for the Dymalon Cygnet
- Working on Nov/Dec 2020 Analog column
Thomas with the 1984 Return of the Jedi swing set.
While passing by Columbus, OH, I had a thought. As far as I’m aware, Peter Falk is pretty well liked, fairly noncontroversial. So why don’t we change it to Columbo Day? Put trench coats on all the statues & rename them Columbo. Change the city to Columbo—their new motto could be “One more thing.”
I think I’m going to go ahead and make this change in my head, and pretend that every time I see “Columbus” it actually says “Columbo.” If nothing else, the world will be a bit more whimsical.