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Every time I walk out the front door, I notice a mountain off in the distance.
Some said it was a hill near a town called Eggland.
Some said it was a place called Limestone Mountain.
But nobody was sure.
Then I met a guy at the grocery store, a pilot with a small plane
that had lived here for over 30 years.
After talking for a bit, he tells me "I think you're looking for Texas Mountain."
Said he used it a few times finding home when returning from Florida.
Sure enough, Mapquest shows a Texas Mountain.
And I've been in that area, got lost both times,
once finding myself about 100 miles from home.
It's Sunday morning, Donna's still sleeping, it's quiet, and the morning Sun is brilliant.
I think about the grass that needs mowing.
And the deck that needs painting.
And that exhaust leak in the Subaru.
Then I glance to the South.........
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Back to the computer,
I ain't getting lost this time.
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This post was updated on .
 Needing a sim card and batteries,
it's the first big town I hit, Kingwood, the County seat.
     and the main drag,
which doubles for a speed trap.
25 mph, and they shoot it here.
That cannon, the last one pulled from the water around Ft. Sumter after the Civil War.
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 25 mph, feels like yer dying..........
 enough of this, it's the open road..
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 10, 15 minutes down the road we hit an old coal town,
been around since the 1880's, like a lot of the towns around here,
all but gone.
Welcome to Tunnelton.
   Those old houses up on the hill, each one of 'em at least 100 years old.
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 Back on the road, maybe 15 minutes we come up to an abondoned coal mine.
Lots think they look like something out of an old west movie,
but really, this is all you see.
  Big problem around here, pollution from old coal mines like the one above.
They seal them off, they fill with water, which then leaches
into the local streams, carrying who knows what with it.
5 minutes down the road, you see what happens.
Orange with iron, it's like grease, nothing living here....
  Shame really, but we move on, Rt. 50 is just ahead.
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Awesome. That's crazy about that water! So,did you find your mountain?
BTW.you need one of these.  
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This post was updated on .
Ya Shiney, can kinda piss one off, I mean, the companies get theirs, the execs get rich and split
for Palm Beach, and they leave that crap for the locals.
Anyways.....Rt 50 is coming up, and a good part of it too.
 We make the left, at the used car lot where you can buy only on Thursday,
between the hours of 5 and 8 pm.
West Virginia, go figure....
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Now, it get's good.
If you pull up mapquest, and check the section of 50 between, let's say, Fellowsville
and Rt. 72 by Rowelsberg, you'll see what I mean.
  4 or 5 miles and we hit The Snake.
 There's quite a few out today, I stop to take a few shots and rest it a bit.
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    I hung around for maybe half an hour,
and noticed it's not only us that have found this place,
musta been half a dozen sports cars go by.
Mustang's are the popular choice it seems.
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But hey, we're off to find a mountain.
 South on Rt 72, I'm looking for John something road.
 Finally. After almost getting creamed from behind while looking for a sign....
 According to the gradogps system on the tank, we're gettin' close.
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 Johns Run Road, like a lot of roads out this way, 1 lane that run along a ravine,
or along a ridge. Without a map, you get in these bottoms and it's real easy to
lose your sense of direction or where you are.
 Logging is another big thing around here.
Same deal, rape and pillage for the buck.
You'd think these would build a house,
maybe some furniture,
but no, most go to the paper mill in a place called Luke.
You're looking at next months Newsweek or USA Today.
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After a few miles along the river, the road climbs
 till we bust out into the Sun.
 One good thing about living up here on the ridges,
free TV.
 The guy has about 200 feet of coaxel cable running to his place down the mountain.
 It really is beautiful up here, looking around, there's not a lot of ground above us,
so we head on.
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 Huh?
No street sign, nothing on the map shows a "Texas Mountain Rd."
This should be Hobson, or Mt. Zion Rd, or Clover Hill.
Whatever, we head that way.
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Around a few bends, I take the first left,
mainly because that's how I remember it on the map,
past a few new houses, along with a few Mercedes that 'bout ran me off the road,
and Eureka......
  Looking North, best I can figure, home is off between the ridges on the horizon.
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Great pics and pretty country. I was going to take some pics last week when I rode into Idaho for some powerball tickets. Had the camera in my pocket, but kinda fixated on getting there and back, then it was too late.
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It's a hassle sometimes Beekeeper, especially loading them and getting them to come up right.
At least this place you don't need to use Photobucket or Imageshack, cool feature really.
Yea, we're up there, but there's a peak real close that is higher.
So I jump on the bike a take a slow ride around till I see a guy walking
out his front door.
I stop, shut the bike down, and he returns the wave I give him.
You can tell, he's leery of me.
Can almost see him thinking, "What's this guy want?".
Well, Robert is a heck of a nice guy.
Especially when I tell him I'm from Terra Alta.
We talk weather, snow stories of winter, and the Harley he used to have.
Bred and born on that ridge, his accent was so thick I had a hard time following him.
"That peak over there, is that the highest in these parts?" I ask.
"Yep.' he replies.
"Anyone live up there?"
"Sure do, Elmer Johns has his place up there."
"Can I get up there, is there a road and a place to take some pictures?".
He looks at the bike, then at me, and says
"Backtack till you hit Clover Hill, take that, past the graveyard, up the hill
till you see a pipe gate on the right. If the gate is open, ride on up
and introduce yourself, I'm sure Elmer will be happy to let you take some pixtures.
If the gate is closed, I wouldn't bother him tho.
He's funny sometimes."
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OK, let's go see if Elmer is accepting guests today.
Back down the road, I hit a place where the road forks into 3.
A small, homemade sign nailed to a tree tells me the left is Clover Hill Road.
 Welcome to Clover Hill Road.
I think about it.
I mean, it's wet, theres a lot of mud, sure don't need to go somewhere I can't get out of.
But i've come this far, what the heck, let's go see if Elmer is home.
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