Travels with Sasha Day 2

Place: Comfort Inn, Martinsburg, W. Va.   (Highly recommended)

 

Restaurant: Hoss's Family Steak and Sea   (Highly recommended)

Miles driven today: 256.7 

Trip total: 527.9

The Days Inn is left just before 9 a.m. after wolfing down a waffle for breakfast and a small orange juice. The sky is overcast and the temperature is 19 degrees. I-84 crosses the Neversink River and passes through Metamoras, Pa. and begins climbing. It’s great having compass and thermometer in the truck, but an altimeter would be nice, too. I’d love to know the elevation of many places.

The scenery is mostly bland because of the season and lack of snow and color. Still, the farm lands and open rolling hills are beautiful. Rte. 380N is taken for a bit to connect with I-81 in Scranton. Here the traffic is much heavier with the average speed just under 10 mph over the limit. It’s hard to look around because focus needs to be on the driving. I-81N is stop and go all the way to Wilkes-Barre. I wonder if I should find another way home. Is this an ongoing issue or is it just something today.

The drive is tedious. I do enjoy the scenery through the mountains, but it’s hazy in the distance. There’s no picture taking to be done in this traffic, either. The highway winds up, around, and down. There are more mountain areas and it goes on. In the lower elevations are the open farms which are beautiful. It would be nice to explore this area sometime without hurrying to another place, but why is it foggy in the distance?

That answer comes just before Harrisburg as it begins to snow. Soon the visibility lessens substantially. I concentrate on the big rig in front of me. Warning signs mention reducing speed and using caution, but the traffic hardly slows. Dirty ice forms at the edge of the windshield. The drive becomes more tedious and the tension causes head and back aches. For some reason, my feet hurt, too, and I can’t figure that out.

I do get glimpses of farmlands and trees that would make beautiful photographs, but that cannot happen. I forget about making it to Virginia and just hope Martinsburg can be reached. The Maryland line is crossed at 12:30 p.m. and West Virginia 10 minutes later. I pull into the visitors center. No good photographs here either.

There are two buildings. A small one and a larger one with most people going towards the bigger. I decide to see what’s in the small one and it’s this that’s actually the VIC.

“Why are there two buildings?” I ask the clerk.

“The other houses the bathrooms,” she replies and explains that during busy seasons they can see 60,000 people a month come through here.

We talk about the storm and she says that it’s at least two hours south and east. She agreed that stopping for the night in Martinsburg would be the safer option. She booked me into the Comfort Inn off Exit 16E. A man from Vermont comes in commenting on snow and she tells us that West Virginia has four ski resorts. This type of weather is not unusual.

A short time later, I am checking into the Comfort Inn. Barbara assigns room 128 and I check it out before bringing in any luggage. The room is lovely, spacious, and clean – and the next to the last room on the end. This corridor isn’t as long as the other, though, and even the hallway has a nicer feel.

I bring in what is needed for the night and head back out. Barbara says there’s a restaurant (and she points and explains I don’t even have to go out on the street) called Hoss’s Family Steak and Sea. It’s across the parking lot on the other side of a bank and I drive over because of the weather.

The entrée is ordered at the hostess desk then she escorts me to a booth. There’s a huge salad bar in the middle. On one wall are breads and butters, five different kinds of soups, mac and cheese and some other items. On the opposite wall are all kinds of desserts. And all this comes with the entrée.

I help myself to a nice salad with all kinds of toppings. Then go back for a couple of rolls and put on the side of the plate a dollop of regular butter and one of cinnamon butter. The cinnamon is really good. Who knew? My entrée is burgundy steak tips with peppers and gravy and a baked potato. Wow, is it good!

After eating, I go across the street (only because there’s a set of lights allowing the crossing of four lanes of traffic) to a Sheets gas station. The tank is filled at $2.35/gl. I go inside and purchase a bottle of wine and two bottles of water.

Exhaustion hits back at the hotel. I finally take some ibuprofen for the headache and settle to work at the computer. I pour a cup of wine, but cannot hold my eyes open to drink much. I opt for a nap. It helps. I’m hungry again and I’m tempted to call for takeout. The waitress had said they deliver to the hotel all the time and guests get a discount.

But I won’t. I’ll settle for a snack of mixed almonds, Craisins, and cashews.