#208 Nomad Diary. 12-18 October 2024. Saturday-Sunday in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. Beautiful Weather. Our 41st Anniversary October 14th. Monday Through Friday Back Roads Roadtrip With Sue from New Zealand. Roanoke, Virginia. Hinton, West Virginia. New River Gorge Bridge and Fall Colors. Huntington, West Virginia. Crescent Springs, Kentucky. Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter. Columbia, Kentucky. Huntsville, Alabama to Sue's Lifelong Friends.

In Colonial Williamsburg on a Beautiful Day! The Building is the Hospital, but was Closed. We Made Our Way to the Museum Behind this Building.

Walking Toward the 1750's Capitol Building in Colonial Williamsburg

Houses in Colonial Williamsburg

The Thomas Jefferson Performance at Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg Governor's House

Colonial Williamsburg Farmer's Market Flowers

Colonial Williamsburg Governor's House

A Noah's Ark Toy Set in the Museum at Colonial Williamsburg. More Pairs of Animals than I've Ever Seen.

Some Info About the Noah's Ark Toy

Archeology Site in Colonial Williamsburg.

Darrell's Picture of Two Very Large Cows in Colonial Williamsburg.

Carriage Ride in Colonial Williamsburg.

Flowers in Bloom in Williamsburg.

Tavern Tour

Billiard Table in Back Room of Tavern. Similar in Style to Table that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson Played on in this Room!

Interesting Info at the Jail

Tour Beginning at Back of House. This Was Thomas Jefferson's Uncle's House. Thomas Jefferson Slept Here Often.

Dining Room in Thomas Jefferson's Uncle's House.

Saturday. 12. Stayed at a hotel in Williamsburg for 3 nights (Fri-Mon). We ate breakfast out and it was pretty good. We drove to the visitor’s center for free parking and walked 15 minutes on a windy, shaded pathway to Colonial Williamsburg. The town-sized outdoor museum is 1 mile by ½ mile. We walked miles today enjoying our meandering through this recreated 1750’s pre-revolutionary war town. It’s the original capital city of Virginia.There are people with period costumes giving tours to ticket holders through various houses and old taverns as well as the capital building and the Governor’s house. We enjoyed many of these. We also watched a handful of performances by actors playing historical people. By the time we were finished on Sunday afternoon we also had toured the very nice museum collections and walked through an archeological site of one of the early homes while asking questions of the archeologists. The weather was sunny and bright all weekend. That meant that we never wanted to sit through the movie at the visitor’s center. A three day pass was $50. 

Sunday. 13. We went out for breakfast, then on to Colonial Williamsburg for a couple of hours before going to worship at 11am close to this town. We met 4 groups of other tourists at church! Lol. We knew 2 of the groups because they were related to friends of ours! Pretty fun to find people who know people we know! 

Story Board at Appomattox, Virginia. The Place Where General Lee Signed the Southern Surrender to General Grant. We Stopped Here on Our Way to Get Sue in Roanoke.

The Room Where the Civil War Surrender Was Conducted.

Appomattox, Virginia and the History of the End of the US Civil War in the 1860's

We Have Sue from New Zealand on a Road Trip With Us.

Our First Stop. Quaint Airbnb Vintage Home in Hinton, West Virginia.

Me and Sue in Hinton, West Virginia Next to the Damn on the New River.

Scenic Driving Through West Virginia. Looking Down on the New River with Some Fall Colors.

Beautiful Glade Creek Grist Mill State Park in Danese, West Virginia.

New River Gorge Bridge, West Virginia

A Picture of Darrell's During Our Drive Through West Virginia

Passing Through Charleston, West Virginia and the Capital Building

Sue is All Cozy in Our Huntington, West Virginia Airbnb

View From Our Huntington, West Virginia Airbnb

Monday. 14. We left Williamsburg and drove to Roanoke, Virginia to get our friend Sue. We met Sue in January in New Plymouth, New Zealand. We spent all of January in New Plymouth. We saw Sue often at the church we attended. We met her family including husband, grown children and grandchildren. We ate together and we went to the town’s seasonal Light Festival. The Light Festival in New Plymouth was fantastic! We agree that our one month in New Plymouth was one of our best stays ever so far! Having Sue as a friend now and that we can enjoy some time touring with her in the US is so amazing! We got Sue at her sister’s house in late afternoon. We drove a couple of hours to our first stay in Hinton, West Virginia. Our airbnb had an unusable driveway and we parked across the street from the cute older house in Hinton. We had a nice night. We all slept well. Darrell and I got some laundry done and were able to cook breakfast on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday. 15. The morning in the mountains is cool and damp. The colors of the leaves are changing here. We wind through two lane roads where we often see a river. We are driving up mountains and winding back down again. We stopped at some overlooks for the river and stretched our legs. We arrived to a visitor center with rangers helping with questions. We got a map with a plan for some highlights for our day's drive. We took a scenic drive through the mountains that took us to a lower view of the New River Gorge Bridge. It was cool outside and raining lightly. The scenery, the fall colors, the river, the gorge and the bridge were stunning. We drove on to Huntington, West Virginia and another airbnb for the night. We took Sue to a Mexican restaurant. This was her first here in the US. It’s so common for us and we eat at Mexican restaurants so often that we usually try to find another kind of restaurant before selecting Mexican! These have really boomed in the last 20 years in the US. They serve a large selection on many menus and at a cost that is generally lower than most other restaurants. Sue enjoyed having a Quesadilla with meat on it, and learning how to say the word.

Lunch Stop at Lenoxburg Store in Foster, Kentucky

Creation Museum Display

Night Time at Our 3rd Airbnb in Crescent Springs, Kentucky.

Wednesday. 16. We enjoyed our stay at a nice quiet house with a level entry and a beautiful view above the trees. We drove through the morning and through some Kentucky backroads as we headed to our afternoon destination of the Creation Museum. We bought tickets to include the Ark Experience for tomorrow. Each ticket was kind of pricey at about $100 each. We walked back to the museum through beautifully landscaped gardens. There was nice music playing and I commented how that’s how it was at creation with the music! Lol. It is fairly cold outside and I was ready to get inside the main museum. There were some outside displays that we missed including a small zoo. There’s also a planetarium that I was too tired to keep going or wanting to go to once we spent 2-3 hours inside the main building. We entered into a hallway with framed posters on the walls. These posters were titled with the dragons theme and had some cartoon drawings on them. Each poster had fairly small text to stand and read with a reason about how an old story about dragons could be told with different words in the scripture or Bible. Some of the posters explained fairy tale stories and some explained real historical events. One historical even that I had not heard of was of a huge lizard like creature blocking in a Roman army from the back. The army commander had written about his ordeal and how the army had to turn around and kill this beast before redirecting themselves to their original task in the other direction. The story through the hallway was a lot to read. It was interesting and it would explain how some old dinosaurs could be the giant monsters described in history or that we now call fairy tales because we don’t see any live ones anymore. We followed the crowds into a circular presentation of creation evidences usually presented by reading a series of posters. I got tired of reading these wordy posters. I got tired of following the crowds. I got tired of walking through into different rooms with loud blaring music presentations. I couldn’t stay in one open theater room because the volume and the ‘experience’ of vibrations, etc. bothered me. I was tired and this afternoon museum wasn’t impressing me. I went fast through the posters. Most of what is presented I have been taught by others since about my age 12 or I have researched on my own through the years. I think many people in the museum are seeing this information for the first time. It’s mostly very good information. At the conclusion of the circular poster and theater evidences there is a display like a garden of Eden with animals. Once you leave that there are more evidences displays and then some ark displays with more evidences of possibilities. Most of the presentations I have seen or heard through decades of my christian education. I considered that I have had some very good teachers! I was tired and wanted to keep moving on. There is a presentation often in this museum about believing in Christ as our savior. I don’t agree with the doctrine of coming to Christ with only a prayer and consent. My hope is will read the Bible for themselves and see the many in Acts who are baptized into Christ to begin their relationship with Christ that moves forward in faith and attention to His word. In my own faith walk, I have had to acknowledge that I need the word, the scripture for myself. I had to move away from talking about the Bible to getting into it for myself. Okay, there’s my doctrine! Back to the creation museum. We spent some time in a live presentation with a few animals. We also went into a 4-D movie about the dragons. It was loud and I held my ears to muffle the sound. The movie followed a boy about age 13-14 with his family at the creation museum. He doesn’t read the posters but gets sucked into a cartoon of the stories on some of the posters. He has an adventure and then comes back to his family in reality at the museum with more interest in the stories in history and the stories in the Bible. I wasn’t sure how to take this movie as a learning tool. It wasn’t for me! Lol. We also went through a couple more rooms in our final museum walk through about Israel history and Conception being the beginning of life with scripture to support God’s creation of humans with the whys, the hows and nice pictures of developing humans. I’m glad that I went but I don’t want to go back. I thought it was quite expensive. It is nice and clean with beautiful landscaping and more things there than I had the energy to do in one afternoon. It felt like a very fancy Vacation Bible School display geared for 5th-8th graders. With the added on doctrines that I disagree with. We drove on to our next airbnb. We checked in, unpacked, got settled and went for dinner and then to evening Bible class. People at the church were friendly and many greeted us. Darrell met a man who knew his Hamilton family in Chicago in the 1950’s and forward. This one man was in his eighties and said he was to give the funeral for Darrell’s Aunt Nadine when she passes away. Aunt Nadine is now 95 and living now on hospice near her son in Mississippi. Her daughter comes down from Chicago area to visit her 1-2 times a month.

Mine and Sue's Shadows as We Approach the Ark Encounter

We Are Excited to Be Here at the Ark Encounter

Darrell Inside the Ark Encounter. Some Animal Cage Display Ideas for the Ark.

A Display Inside the Ark Encounter

We Are Finished and Leaving the Ark Encounter

Thursday. 17. We all slept well in our quiet neighborhood house. We decided to go out for breakfast, and we picked a very nice restaurant. We drove on to the Ark Encounter. It’s close to the highway.  We arrived with our already paid tickets. Both here and the creation museum charge $15 for parking. We could see the Ark and we walked to the entry. We went through with our tickets, boarded buses with other tourists and we were driven closer to the Ark. We left the bus and walked through an archway and toward the huge ark-shaped building. We followed the crowd and the line up into the ark. It was very much like entering a cruise ship which I have done many times. This ship is 3 large stories tall and shorter than a typical cruise ship I’ve been on. It is all wood and the craftsmanship is beautiful! It is build to handle large crowds comfortably. The music and lighting inside is quiet and soft in contrast to the loud creation museum. I already like my experience better! We start walking through the first floor displays with plausible explanations of how Noah could have accomplished this project from Genesis 6. I enjoyed touring the Ark and looking at the displays and reading (again lots of reading) many of the explanations. I didn’t read all of the explanations. I briefed many and really enjoyed the displays and the tour like I’m in a mansion with purpose and ongoing projects! It was my kind of museum. Toward the end of walking the 3 floors of the ark there were some evidences and present time stories presented as well as some actual artifacts. There’s a couple of gift shops, snack and water stands and nice restrooms. There are at least two movie presentation theaters. I really enjoyed the interview with Noah movie. It’s fictional of course and I appreciated how when he is asked, ‘why? Are you building this?’ His answers reminded me of myself and others I’ve talked to when asked about my faith. He quietly answered by saying, “I wrote down what God told me so I could get it correct, and I’m going to read it to you now.” He then reads familiar Genesis verses of God’s reasons and purpose. After our ark experience, we drove on to our final airbnb. On the way we went to a grocery because I requested to cook dinner in. We had a beautiful house and a nice home-cooked meal.

A Beautiful Red Barn and Red Leaves on the Trees. Pall Mall, Tennessee

Pall Mall, Tennessee Bathroom Stop at This Vintage Store

The Three of Us in Our Truck on Our Great American Road Trip.

We Walked Through the Colorful Woods to See This Waterfall. Colditz Cove State Natural Area. Northrup Falls Near Jamestown, Tennessee. 

Sue Arriving in Southeast Huntsville, Alabama and Her Friends Drue and Claudia Since the 1960's!!

Drue, Sue and Claudia Friends Forever

Friday. 18.Today we checked out after cleaning up breakfast. Darrell planned a scenic route drive rather than the highway. We stopped along the way to hike into the woods and view a waterfall. The days have been sunny and beautiful. Darrell drove all of our miles this week. We took the long road to see some byways that we never see while traveling on higher speed highways. We arrived to Southeast Huntsville to Sue’s lifelong friend’s house around 4:30pm. Drue is 89 and lives with her daughter Claudia age 70, the same as Sue. They have know each other since age 8! We were invited to stay and go to Cracker Barrell for dinner. We said yes and enjoyed our visit and learning more about Drue and Claudia’s family and history of moving to New Zealand back in the 1960’s and then to Fiji. They were led by Doyal, Drue’s true lifetime love and leader of their family. It was Doyal who wanted to take his family to New Zealand and to Fiji. It was this desire in him that led to our friend Sue and her family hearing the gospel and growing their faith and family as we now know them since we met in January 2024. Sue has come to Huntsville a few times in before the pandemic. We lived in Madison about 40 minutes away from Drue, Doyal and Claudia. Because there are so many churches of Christ in this area, we have never crossed paths until now! We finished dinner and went on to our Athens airbnb where we are staying until November 2nd.

Nomad Notes. This week was a road trip. Saturday and Sunday we were at Williamsburg for a 3 night stay. On Monday we drove to Roanoke, VA and picked up our New Zealand friend Sue at her sister’s house for a road trip from here to Huntsville, Alabama. We definitely took the long way all with Sue’s consent! We drove through the West Virginia mountains, over to Huntington, WV, then to North Kentucky for one afternoon at the Creation Museum and the next day at the Ark Encounter, then a scenic drive through Tennessee going south the Huntsville. We spent four single night stays along the way at airbnb’s. We ate out for most of our meals with the exception of a few breakfasts and one dinner. It was a lovely trip. A week of touring with one night stays is like going on vacation! Lol. It’s tiring to unpack and pack, but we enjoyed our visiting throughout our days and seeing some unusual sights for us all. The weather was so good!