Charleston, West Virginia

We drove out of Tennessee yesterday morning, north across Virginia, stopping midway through West Virginia in Charleston, the state’s capital.

We spent the night in the parking lot of the Dunbar Mountain Mission Church.  Very nice folks. They are having church online Sundays and Wednesdays. The link above will direct you to their most current broadcast on YouTube, if you're interested.  

The local Walmart did not allow overnight parking leading us to decide we are done with assuming you can park overnight at all Walmarts. Our new nightly routine will include calling the Walmart in whatever city we plan to stop in the next night to verify overnight parking is allowed. Let's make life as easy as possible, shall we?

While parked in Tennessee, I read a news article listing the most popular regional food each state is known for.  Oklahoma is best known for all things deep fried, no surprise there; but more specifically, it is known for its chicken fried steak smothered in gravy.  Tennessee’s new rave is Nashville hot chicken. We haven’t tried it yet, but it's my understanding the chicken is rolled in cayenne pepper prior to breading and frying.  It sounds eye-watering good.
  

West Virginia boasts it has the best pepperoni rolls. Consort and I were not really sure what a pepperoni roll consisted of, but decided to find out last night. It was delectable!  A pepperoni roll is very much like a stromboli. What’s stromboli?  Think calezone.  Unfamiliar with calezone?  Visualize a pizza. Now mentally fold it in half.  If there’s nothing but pepperoni and cheese inside, you have a pepperoni roll, more or less. 

The drive up, over, and down the Appalachian Mountains was, in my opinion, daunting, although consort commented that it was one of his easiest days of driving.  The Appalachian Mountains make the Smoky Mountains look like rolling hills. I can’t even imagine what driving through the Rockies will be like pulling a fifth wheel, but if consort is up for it, so am I!