Prologue III

 

III: The first Nelsonville “Star Bricks.”

It was 2008 when I attended my first brick swap with the International Brick Collectors Association. What an eye opener for me. I immediately developed a hankering for the salt glazed patterned sidewalk brick pavers. The bricks I had salvaged and installed as my sidewalk were similar but not quite up to the quality level of the salt glazed variety.

I tracked down a source of Nelsonville “Star” pattern bricks in Richmond, VA and did a pickup of some 150 “star bricks” in September 2011. I had attended an event in Southeastern, PA. which afforded me a pick-up on the way home

I was not able to finish the packing away of the run till late in the afternoon Tuesday the 6th of September. My original game plan was to drive to Gettysburg, PA Tuesday after packing up the run. There I was to stay with friends and relax Tuesday night and all-day Wednesday.

The rain never let up and an 85-mile drive in the dark to Gettysburg, PA was out of the question. I was too beat to drive any distance. Instead, I decided to just cancel the Gettysburg section of the trip and head for home early.

First, I checked with Dan the E-bay seller if I could pick up my bricks in Richmond, VA a day earlier on Wednesday the 7th. The original pick-up day was planned to be Thursday. That change was OK. We agreed upon a pick-up time of 11:30 a.m.

 I left the campground exhausted Tuesday right around 6:00 p.m. and headed toward Lancaster, PA. I found a Motel 6 listed on Lincoln Highway East. My GPS guided me through the back country roads. Many of the crossroad names I remembered from when I sorted the parcel line at the Lancaster, PA UPS center in the early 1970’s.

The rain never stopped. Many of the roads had water rushing over the surface. I dread driving in these conditions. I took my time and arrived safely to the Motel 6.

Got all checked in and went to the near-by Texas Road House for a greasy, bacon-cheese burger and a cold beer. Got a local Lancaster Wheat beer. It was very good.

I crashed and burned early. According to my GPS it should take some four hours to drive from here to Richmond, VA to where I was to pick up my bricks. I planned on an extra hour and a half for traffic in planning my departure.

 

Got on the road about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday: Things went pretty smoothly driving on route 30 to York, PA and then down I-83 to Baltimore. It was when I got on the I-695 outer beltway things bogged down. The information sign over the highway summed it all up. The driving time to my exit some 12 miles away at I-70 was given as 55 minutes! This time was pretty accurate and “normal.” There was no evidence of an accident or problem.

Finally got to my exit and drove west on I-70 to route 29. Went south on 29 which brought me to I-95. It has been many years since I have driven in this area of the north-east. I remember now why I avoid driving on these roads like the plague. The traffic is unbearable.

The sky opened up as I was on the I-495 around Washington, DC. No more rain. PLEASE!!!! This rain was the solid wall of water variety that you can barely see through.  The road can’t shed the rain fast enough so it is just ends up being standing water to send you hydroplaning. My knuckles were white as I clenched the steering wheel traveling at 45 mph a safe distance behind a semi with the 4 ways flashing. I hate/dread driving under these conditions.

My GPS showed a later and later arrival time to Richmond. When I finally got to I-95, driving/weather conditions calmed down a bit. I pulled off for gas and called Dan to let him know I was running late. He was kind of relieved as he was also running behind. We pushed back the brick pick-up time to 1:30. Now I could relax a bit.

 

I got to the address where the bricks were stored a bit early. I had a Starbucks coffee to relax with. The rain was finally over and day was heating up. The humidity was so thick it could be cut with a knife. I changed out of my thermal shirt into a tee shirt before Dan arrived.

Dan showed up and we loaded up my truck with 150 Nelsonville Star Sidewalk pavers. My truck suspension bogged down as that worked out to be some 1,500 pounds. The sweat was pouring off me as I loaded up the truck bed.

The 150 Nelsonville Star Pavers all loaded up:

From Richmond it was I 64 west to Staunton, VA and I-81. I-81 south to Wytheville, VA.

I arrived at the Motel 6 right around 6:30. I was so worn out I could barely walk into the lobby to register. The clerk remembered me from the previous week. This is a perfect ½ way stop. Tuscaloosa is 500 miles from here; I had 480 miles already under my belt.

Walked down the hill to the Mexican Restaurant: the wait staff remembered me from last week. Splurged and had two Dos Equis with my chimichangas. There was one other guy at the bar across from me. We joked about the Spanish “Judge Judy” show that was on playing out on the big screen TV. This guy before the “Judge” was caught with some strippers in Las Vegas and his tortured wife was really giving it to him. It was very interesting with the hysterics all in Spanish!

Walked up hill to the Motel and crashed. I had a 4:00 a.m. wake up call. At this stage of the trip, I just want to get home!