West Virginia & Ohio

Appalachia really is Appalachia. The West Virginia/Eastern Ohio section of US 50 was really beautiful, but also seemed pretty isolated and there weren't many amenities along the road. In West Virginia, we stayed in a nice small campground outside of Romney (Middle Ridge Campground); it was really set up for RVs, (we're tent camping) but the owner took pity on us. In Eastern Ohio, we stayed in a terrific cabin in Hope Lake State Park. The cabins were built by CCC work crews during the Depression. When Mike kidded with the ranger that the cabins were built under the first Economic Stimulus package, she told him they have work crews right now funded under the Obama stimulus: they've employed people to do repairs and upgrades to the campground/park.

We've definitely seen the Stimulus money at work all along the route: road work is going on all over the place, and we've heard a few reports on local radio in various places about new projects being funded under the program. We also frequently bump up a little against the impact of the recession: the state campgrounds we've visited are all seriously under-occupied (some almost empty) which staff blame on the recession. In one campground, the man in the next site had lost his job as an airplane mechanic when DHL shut down in Ohio (that story was on Sixty Minutes; it had a really devastating impact on the town where DHL was based). Our camping neighbor's story mostly worked out: he will be starting a new job in Seattle with Boeing later this month. I say "sort of" worked out because his wife and family- his home- is in Ohio, and his job is now on the other side of the country.

Guilford CT, Matt and Heather's Wedding

Our son,Matthew McGrath, married Heather Dudley yesterday. The bride was gorgeous and the ceremony was beautiful. The wedding was held at the Dudley Farm (photo above), a farm museum in Guilford CT.