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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12848
Location: North Carolina
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 Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 8:29 am Post subject: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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How do you take what is supposed to be a seven and a half hour trip each way and turn it into a twelve to fourteen hour trip each way and enjoy (Almost) every minute of it?
You take one old Volkswagen...
Add to that lots of additional back roads, most of which were probably old original trading routes, drive through bypassed towns, go out of your way to check out sites that are interesting to you, and then, stop dozens of times and take pictures of, well, EVERYTHING.
Here's my trip. It started with a plea for help from a family member because almost all of their cars quit & I needed to get them back on the road.
So I started out at 5:00 am...
And then drove west on Interstate 40 until I got to Winston Salem & hopped on Rt 52.
I started the GoPro as Pilot Mountain came into view to share with y’all... (Turn your volume down, just raw video, lots of wind noise.)
Link
Once I saw the split for 74/77 or old highway 52, I took highway 52 (maybe because my cheap ass didn’t want to pay the tolls  )
Link
As I approached the Virginia/North Carolina line, I was amazed by the hundreds of people that were selling stuff at roadside flea market stalls & yard sales, I’m guessing it was due to a collapsing economy due to the shift of traffic to the newer highway.
There were lots of once grand, beautiful old houses that were abandoned along the way. This one in Virginia.
Once into West Virginia, my first intended side trip was the well known in the supernatural watching circles, Lake Shawnee Amusement Park that was built in the 1950s (Which claimed the lives of several attendees.), which was previously a site where the Shawnee Indians massacred & scalped several children of a settler, who built his farm on an old indian burial site. 
https://www.theconstantrambler.com/lake-shawnee-amusement-park-abandoned-haunted/
I requested permission to get some close ups of the Ghiapet on the property (with my $30 contribution.)
This swing was where a young girl was killed when the ride started as a delivery van had backed into the path of the swing's increasing radius.
After that, I traveled up route 19, or Beckley Rd & crossed over the New River Gorge Bridge, then I took video of the trail under the bridge & back over it. Unfortunately, the vegetation & the camera angle made it difficult to see the bridge.
Link
My next sidebar was the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston West Virginia...
http://literarytrebuchet.blogspot.com/2016/09/10-creepy-facts-and-stories-concerning.html?m=1
This once abandoned building complex has found new life as a, well, really big haunted house attraction.
And the curious begin to descend...
“Anyone that could do this to a Karmann Ghia should be committed.”
That apple tree to the left of the Ghiapet had some great, natural apples on it, I took several. Would you call them Asylum Apples? Fruit for the nuts? Crazy fruit?
While on the way back from the Trans Allegheney Lunatic Asylum, this bridge & tunnel caught my attention & I thought it might be a neat shot so I climbed in.
Here’s the view I was greeted with in the morning...
My return trip started by revisiting the covered bridge that I took pictures of a couple of years ago before it was destroyed a couple of years ago that lead me to start this thread...
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687031&highlight=preserving+history
| TDCTDI wrote: |
A few months after taking pictures of a neat old covered bridge in Philipi, West Virginia, it was destroyed by arson.
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After that, I headed into downtown Philippi West Virginia & got some pics with an abandoned old hospital.
And then with the not-so-abandoned municipal building, it’s amazing how the cops just let you do whatever when you have an old car & a camera (even if it is just a cell phone.). At least three or four drove past while my car was parked on the sidewalk. 
So I then headed out 250 to Bellington & then to Elkins where I got onto Route 33 to go through the Monongahela Forest to Seneca Rocks...
Link
I eventually started heading south on Highway 220 where I found this neat cut-away...
A historical marker across the street mentioned something about a confederate saltpeter mine & gun powder factory nearby that was destroyed by Union forces on multiple occasions, this might be it?
And then onto Highway 250 through the George Washington National Forest..
(Video to be added.)
On my way to my next muse...
The abandoned DeJarnette Sanitarium in Staunton Virginia.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/abandoned-dejarnette-sanitarium
Much to the surprise of my other fellow trespassers, I just drove up the embankment in the front. 
Once done there, I made the quick two mile jaunt down the road to what was once the Western State Lunatic Asylum. Now dubbed "The Villages at Staunton", It is/has being/been transformed into a resort hotel/condominium complex.
https://architecturalafterlife.com/2019/02/23/abandoned-virginia-asylum-restored/
They did a wonderful job of purtyin it up.
But the unaltered, unrestored outlying buildings should remind everyone of it's dark & sordid past.
Not to mention the extensive cemetery full of marked & unmarked headstones.
Just like "Hotel California", "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."
Across the street, with access to the river & it's own train tracks for coal is the "Mechanical room" I'm guessing to supply heat & cooling for the complex (In it's original form.).
Last edited by TDCTDI on Thu Sep 05, 2019 1:33 pm; edited 16 times in total |
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kiwighia68
Samba Member
Joined: October 20, 2013
Posts: 2874
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 12:33 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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More?
Please.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015 |
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kgj
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2013
Posts: 418
Location: Uk, Cornwall
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:54 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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Love it. Keep putting those miles and photos on.
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1958 coupe |
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Evil_Fiz
Samba Member
Joined: May 06, 2011
Posts: 1045
Location: Jacksonville, FL
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 2:03 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| TDCTDI wrote: |
...This swing was where a young girl was killed when the ride started as a delivery van had backed into the path of the swing's increasing radius.
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Great pictures as always. It's creepy that this picture's history would align with its resemblance to the "Mind Flayer" from the Netflix show Stranger Things. (Rorschach anyone?)
-----
Emil
_________________
“…It's not just about what's interesting. It's also about what's helpful, and it's helpful even if it helps just one other guy working on a Ghia.”
kiwighia68
See my build on TheSamba at:
The K_R_A_K_E_N_N : a 70 Ghia Convertible reinterpreted |
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KGCoupe
Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2005
Posts: 3580
Location: Putting the "ill" and "annoy" in Illinois
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 2:24 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| TDCTDI wrote: |
A few months after taking pictures of a neat old covered bridge in Philipi, West Virginia, it was destroyed by arson.
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Zoinks!
Hint: the first suspect that you met was the actual arsonist, ... and they would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids! |
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12848
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 4:06 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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I'm surprised that the Ghia forums doesn't have a road trip sticky.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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Trylon
Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019
Posts: 4853
Location: Connecticut
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 4:49 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| And you want to be my copilot— we would never make it to CT. |
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12848
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 5:23 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| Trylon wrote: |
| And you want to be my copilot— we would never make it to CT. |
Of course we would, it would only take twice as long. But it would be an epic drive.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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didget69
Samba Member
Joined: July 22, 2004
Posts: 4927
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
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| Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 7:49 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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My Dad's family is from West Virginia... we don't talk about this in public.
What's the backstory on visiting loony bins? 🤔
Safe Travels!
Bryan
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sputnick60
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Joined: July 22, 2007
Posts: 3915
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12848
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 6:07 am Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| sputnick60 wrote: |
i’m glad you got past day one of your road trip without hitting a kangaroo
Nicholas |
Deer! I had to slow down, stop, or swerve to avoid deer on at least 30 different occasions.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12848
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 6:21 am Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| didget69 wrote: |
What's the backstory on visiting loony bins? 🤔
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I like abandoned & derelict buildings, the creepier the better. buildings that were built with no regard to costs usually have great architecture & when they are abandoned for decades, they get even more interesting, especially if they have lots of dark history. Or maybe I just feel at home there.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32584
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32584
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 8:47 am Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| TDCTDI wrote: |
| I'm surprised that the Ghia forums doesn't have a road trip sticky. |
I would guess this is because I don't think many use their Ghias for road trips.
There are a few if you search for them but no collection of them.
They go to shows or an evening ride somewhere, but serious travel? No, I don't think so.
This is one of my goals however to take the Ghia and go!
I'll install a hitch and tug along a little motorcycle camper trailer.
It won't matter if it is a beautiful Sunny day, a cold and rainy day or a snowy day.
I'll go enjoy the transportation just like I did back in the 1960's and 1970's.
Sure, it will get road rash and probably the rust will return eventually.
But far better to take it out and enjoy it then to look at it in the garage for years..... then our kids need to decide on it's fate after we're gone.
Anything worth having is worth using.
Dave
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Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert
Last edited by djkeev on Wed Sep 04, 2019 10:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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iboughtrustandbondo
Samba Member
Joined: May 18, 2019
Posts: 62
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 9:28 am Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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You are a fantastic photographer. Why don't you take a road trip to dirty Jersey and help me with my Phil Swift Mobile? I'm getting ready to put on more fiberglass.
Actually, the tips you gave about doing the spot welds at intervals worked out great for my pan repairs. Thank you.
Hoping someday I can take a trip like yours. Looks awesome. |
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12848
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 9:42 am Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| iboughtrustandbondo wrote: |
| You are a fantastic photographer. |
Now why would you go & insult photographers like that? I'm more of an iPhone-agrapher, I see something that I like, pull out the phone & try to share with everyone, sometimes I get lucky & get a somewhat decent pic.
I've had people start telling me how to make my pics better, focus on this, look at that, use the "rule of thirds" (whatever the hell that is.), get closer, blah, blah,blah... Screw it, here's the pics, enjoy it or don't, I'm having fun.
Thanks for the compliment!
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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AlmostHeavenWV_VW 
Samba Member
Joined: October 12, 2017
Posts: 1965
Location: WV
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| Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 3:42 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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Hey! I know a guy from WV!
You hit up quite a few of the good places, IMO.
I'm still wanting to set up a visit to the Shawnee park. I'm super jelly you got to go. Rusty, old stuff is cool.....maybe that's why I have a ACVW? 
Looking forward to hopeful additional trips for the Ghiapet 
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Rome
Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004
Posts: 9640
Location: Pearl River, NY
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| Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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Thanks for the trip report and many photos!
In your 2nd video (2 lanes uphill, 1 downhill)- was that Rt 52 between Mt. Airy, NC and Cana, VA? If so, I also drove that stretch about 5 yrs ago (modern car) coming home from a business trip in SC. I wanted to bypass I-77 and experience some state highways.
Also drove about 90 miles on US 11 between Natural Bridge, VA and New Market. Wonderful road- much of it 2 lanes both directions, very little traffic; 60 or 65mph outside of the towns. Runs parallel to and within a mile of I-81.
Were you successful in fixing some of the relatives' cars?
Are those the elusive but very attractive late '80's Audi 200 alloy rims on your Eurovan from that earlier photo by the covered bridge? |
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12848
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 6:49 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| Evil_Fiz wrote: |
(Rorschach anyone?)
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Nope, I learned long ago that people didn’t like my interpretations of those tests. 
Take for instance the demonic face staring back at you that I see in this pic
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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TDCTDI
Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 12848
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 7:00 pm Post subject: Re: Road trippin in the Ghiapet |
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| AlmostHeavenWV_VW wrote: |
Hey! I know a guy from WV!
You hit up quite a few of the good places, IMO.
I'm still wanting to set up a visit to the Shawnee park. I'm super jelly you got to go. Rusty, old stuff is cool.....maybe that's why I have a ACVW?
Looking forward to hopeful additional trips for the Ghiapet |
Thank you sir! I am definitely drawn to things returning to nature.
Lake Shawnee was neat for the decaying rides aspect & great photo opportunities, I would only suggest going if it was on your way to something else. 
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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