Facebook Finds

Reunited

My good friend Jen Schwatka asked an interesting question on my Facebook wall a few months ago.  She asked how Facebook had impacted our travels.  It was a question that has made me think.  And the more time Tim and I spend on the road, the more I know that this trip is richer thanks to that single website.  Friday was the perfect example.

We woke up early after a dead sleep compliments of our big turkey dinner on Thanksgiving.  We drove to town with Mom and met John at Betty’s Diner.  Betty’s has hosted Shepherdstown’s coffee clatch for over 30 years and is where you will find John each morning.   We sat down in John’s traditional booth and ordered.  While our hashbrowns sizzled on the grill, we opened our Christmas gifts from Mom and John.  Their choices for us were perfect.  We were easily able to make room in Frank for the much needed socks, an entertaining travel book and the miracle ceramic Kyocera knife (for those of you unfamiliar with the Kyocera knives, go online and check them out, you’ll never cut tomatoes the same again).

After breakfast, we said our goodbyes and then climbed into Frank and drove out of town.  Leaving we saw a classic sticker in a store window:

It's True...

We were on our way to Martinsburg to take some pictures of our friend Dee’s former family owned main street store.   As we drove out of town, we saw a commotion on the side of the road and a wild turkey flew over the van.   It could barely get its bum off the ground but he made it over the road and safely to the other side.   It seemed like an auspicious end to Thanksgiving!

Stewart's Clothing

Tim shot some pictures of Stewarts and then we started our drive down 81.  This is where the Facebook story comes in.   When I left for Jackson in 1993, I wasn’t much of a letter writer.  After 15 years in the mountains, I’d lost touch of many friends from college.  Well Facebook has changed all that.  Krista, a pledge sister and great friend from JMU, was one of my first “Facebook friends”.  She lives in Nashville, so it wasn’t going to be easy to hook up, but as I was reading my Facebook live feed last week, I saw she would be in Roanoke over Thanksgiving visiting family.

I knew we’d be in the area too, so with the magic of Facebook we made plans and Friday afternoon spent 3 awesome hours catching up.  I got to meet her terrific family and we reminisced about our crazy years as ASTs at JMU.   We’d never had found each other without Facebook, but I know we won’t lose each other again!

Blue Ridge of Virginia

On this trip Facebook has opened doors, brought great suggestions and rekindled friendships.   It’s also been a great way to keep in touch with family as we wheel around from place to place.  It’s the only way to travel.

After our Facebook reunion, Tim and I drove 3 miles across town to Bill Shell’s, one of Tim’s closest friends growing up.  He knew we’d be in the area from Facebook (of course) and had sent Tim an email inviting us to stay.  We spent the evening with Bill and Whitney and their adorable boys, Carter and Cole.   It was another late night of stories and laughs.

This morning after Whitney’s chocolate chip pancakes, we drove east towards the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Despite spending 4 years of my life a stone’s throw from this beautiful byway, I’d never driven much more than about 2 miles of it.  Today Tim and I started in Roanoke and made our way to Crabtree Falls, 60 miles north on its winding scenic length.

Finding Crabtree Falls

We then drove 5 miles on a dirt road (thanks to Tim’s friend Adam’s recommendation.  Another reconnected friend from Facebook, of course) to the top of the Falls and camped.  We rode our bikes and sweated out our latest banquet dinner, getting the best exercise we’d had since we started our trip.  Tonight we are spending the night back in Frank.  We have enjoyed every minute of our last few weeks “couch surfacing” but we are glad to be home!