Nada Means NADA!

(2025 Balloons and Beyond Ep 2)

With a name like Nada, we (Ed actually) should have known better.  And a caution from a passing pickup driver should have been MORE than enough warning.

More on this in a bit, but first things first…

Movies at the Moonlite

Not too many years ago,  baby boomers packed their kids and snacks in the car, and headed to the local drive-in theatre for the latest double feature. 

There were once thousands of drive in theatres across the nation.  Our hometown, Lake City, FL, had two.  Our first date was at the Lake City Drive-in where we saw Roger Moore as James Bond in The Spy who Loved Me.

Fewer than 300 drive in theatres are still operating today.  

On our way to New River Gorge NP in West Virginia, we learned there is an active drive in theatre that is also a Harvest Host location.  So we booked a site, arrived in the late afternoon and set up Pap.  That evening we watched Jurassic World Rebirth, the latest installment in the Jurassic Park movie series, and a special 50^th Anniversary version of Jaws. 

We watched dinosaurs and sharks scurry and swim from the comfort of our truck camper. Our second drive in theatre date was very memorable!

New River and Coal Country

Our travels continued northward and from a campsite in Beckley WV, we made day trips to nearby New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.  At Grandview, we overlooked the New River 1400 feet below as it makes a broad curve within the five-year-old park. 

A few miles away we visited the US 19 bridge where it crosses the New River Gorge.  We marveled at the 3,030-foot steel arch span that is 876 feet above the river.  Consider this – if you placed two Statues of Liberty on top of the Washington Monument there would be 20 feet to spare!

Railroad tracks follow the river through the gorge.  Early in the 20^th century coal mining towns were all along the river. Trains were frequent – there were five or more passenger trains daily and a freight train every 15 minutes. 

We drove to the bottom of the gorge to see historic Thurmond, a once bustling coal mining town that is now mostly abandoned.  The four remaining residents of the town are trying to preserve the town’s interesting legacy.

Back in Beckley, we toured a coal mine.  Gerald, a coal miner for more than 40 years, drove us in a coal car more than a quarter mile underground through the dark passages of a vintage coal mine. He explained historic and modern coal mining methods and equipment. 

Gerald pointed to a sign labeled “Brad Paisley / The Medicine Will / May 4, 2023.”   The popular country performer made a music video in the mine that is a moving story of coal mining communities dealing with various addictions, and their attempts to work together to overcome those challenges.  The video is worth watching.

Hillbilly Heartburn

From Beckley, we traveled through the West Virginia mountains and passed Charleston, where we saw the gold domed state capital building from the highway. 

We stopped for lunch at Hillbilly Hot Dogs, a quirky roadside eatery made famous by Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  HHD, as it is otherwise known, recently celebrated 25 years of Love and Weenies.

Their menu includes the homewrecker (a 15-inch one-pound weenie with two pounds of toppings) and the widowmaker (a 30-inch two-pound weenie with four pounds of toppings).  We eyed the homewrecker challenge – finish in less than 12 minutes to get a special t-shirt / beat the record and it’s free. 

Not wanting to risk eternal heartburn, we opted for a hillbilly dog (deep fried weenie, chili sauce, mustard and onions), a West Virginia dog (weenie, chili sauce, mustard, onions and cole slaw) and onion rings. These were well within the acid neutralizing power of a few Tums.

Nada Means NADA

We left West Virginia bound for an overnight stop near Lexington, KY.  We detoured through the Red River Gorge, a National Wild and Scenic River in Daniel Boone National Forest, to drive through the Nada Tunnel, an old railroad tunnel that is reported to be 12 foot wide, 13 foot tall and 900 foot long.

Pap is a bit over 8 feet wide, 11 feet 9 inches tall and 24 feet long, so we figured we could drive through the tunnel with plenty of room to spare.  Although the pickup driver recommended taking a bypass around the tunnel, I thought we would easily fit.

As we approached the tunnel it looked to be plenty tall. It did appear to be a little narrower than 12 feet, however.  We continued on, entering the tunnel and driving VERY slowly while carefully watching our mirrors to avoid hitting the sides of the tunnel.

This is when we learned an unfortunate lesson: old tunnels are not uniform or square.  Some parts are taller, some shorter, some wider and some narrower.

Creeping along, we heard a grinding noise as Pap scraped the side of the tunnel.  This was not good!

So we slowed even more and made our way out of the tunnel with no further contact.

Exiting the tunnel we stopped to check things out.  There was a three-foot scrape along Pap’s passenger side roof rail.  The roof material was wrinkled and cut in several spots. 

That evening we performed emergency repairs with a special RV roof sealant.    Additional repairs will be needed when we get home.

For hard-headed and unnecessary risk takers like me (Ed), it was a painful lesson. 

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Going forward, we’ll keep Pap out of railroad tunnels on narrow roads and (hopefully) avoid other risky endeavors.  And, Pat will remind me that Nada means NADA!

Next Week

Skyline or Fort Washington chili? Cincinnati natives have their favorite way chili is served over spaghetti with shredded cheese and other toppings. After checking out Cincinnati’s American Sign Museum with its multitude of vintage signs that are truly Americana, we stopped for lunch to determine our own chili preferences.

Speaking of Americana, our travels continued to an area west of Indianapolis known for lots of covered bridges. We visited a few and also hiked some interesting trails in Turkey Run State Park.