Day 11-- Gate City, VA

Kingsport is a small city right on the border of TN and VA. The county in VA that borders TN is Scott County. My grandfather, Kenneth France, is from Scott County. I was able to trace back 100’s of relatives from this area. I’ve spent the last year doing research online. So, visiting this area was pretty important to me.

My grandfather, who I met twice in my life, passed away in 1991. That was the one and only time I had visited Scott County. This time I wanted to see the house where my GF grew up and where a lot of my relatives are buried.

On Tuesday Michael and I first stopped at the Scott County Courthouse in Gate City. We were then told to visit the Chamber of Commerce- but they were closed for lunch. So, we went next store to the out of character Mustard Seed Café. There were about 5 women running around making chili, soup, sandwiches, etc. I was pretty impressed with the selection. The only other places to eat on the main street there was a Mexican place and a Hamburger joint. I was VERY happy to find this café. They grilled up a special plate of chicken with sliced apples just for Michael. I had a croissant with veggies that was very satisfying.

At 1pm we hit the C of C. The woman in the office was very nice. I figured out quickly that we were related. I remember back in ’91 I got the feeling I was related to everyone in town. This time it became a game of “what’s your last name?” She gave us a road map of the county, along with a phone directory and a set of official lapel pins.

Michael and I also made a quick stop at the barbershop. The owner has been in business for about 40 or 50 years. I don’t remember exactly, but it was one of those classic barbershops. I started talking to the men inside. They were SO friendly. I quickly learned that everyone in the area was REALLY friendly. One of the men, probably about 80 years old said, “I’ve never been to New York.” I got the feeling that many of Gate City’s residents have never been to the Big Apple.

With map in hand, Michael and I headed up to Copper Creek. Honestly, I have family in probably every area of Scott County, but I chose Copper Creek first. We drove up Manville Road and came to a fork in the road. There was a beautiful bridge over a stream. I took a couple of pictures. This area seemed just so perfect to me.

We turned on a road called “Double Ford”. At one point the road was covered in water, about 50 feet across. WHAT THE HECK? I looked at the map and the GPS. It didn’t make sense to me.

I noticed a family playing in the river. The kids were on inner tubes and the adults were sitting in lawn chairs. One man was collecting rocks.

I got out of the car, walked down the dirt road and introduced myself. The woman told me that the word “ford” means “water”. OHHHHH. Yes, that makes sense. She suggested that I drive through the 3 feet of water. I passed on that one. But, we did join them. Michael jumped in and ran around Copper Creek. I collected some shells. Years ago there were mussels and clams in this river. You could still find shells, mostly crabs, but they were there.

I started chatting with the mom and guess what? We were related! LOL. I grabbed my computer to open up my genealogy program, so we could compare notes. Just then Michael says “Mom, I’m ready to go to the bathroom now.” I said “Honey, there isn’t a bathroom here.” He said “I can go poop over there” and points to a stranger’s house. So, I explained to Michael that you just can’t knock on someone’s door to use the bathroom and resigned to the fact that the closest public bathroom was about 30 minutes away. The mom said, “I would just go behind the car”.

So, for the first time ever, I encouraged my child to poop on the side of the road. He didn’t want to do it at first, but I think there was no choice. Thankfully I had wipes in the car. I walked back to the group and said, “can’t wait to write about this in the blog.” They laughed.

After a nice visit and romp around Copper Creek, Michael and I headed back up the road. I was trying to get to a town north of Gate City. It looked like on the map I had and my GPS that the road went through. At one point the paved road turned to gravel. We started going higher up and higher up. Oh no- just like the day before with my “scenic route” on 58.

I got my Honda CR-V last year and never came close to really using the 4-wheel drive on it. But, I kept thinking to myself, “people live up here. If the roads were impassible then I wouldn’t see houses.”

Up and down, up and down, hairpin turns, drops that were hundreds of feet. This was no joy ride in the country. At one point there was a tunnel that was about 15 feet across. What scared me the most was the chance of oncoming traffic. I was going about 5-10 MPH. But, I’m sure the locals zip by with no cares in the world.

I get to what seems like the end of the road. Finally, I found the main road. The mountain is to my left and the river to my right. I’m driving on a dirt/gravel road that honestly would not allow 2 cars to pass each other, that’s how narrow it was. I see the bridge ahead of me. But, the signs on a tree say “No Trespassing” and “Keep Out”. I’m thinking maybe they just want people to stay away from the house (which I can’t see at this point), but I need to get to the main road and I don’t want to have to drive up that mountain again.

There is a little dirt next to the road, but I continue on about 1000 feet. There I see the house. Well, it’s more like a shack. There are two dirt driveways, both with gates. All of a sudden I realize- I CAN’T TURN AROUND!

I get out of the car and access the situation. Backing up is impossible- I can’t see and the drop off is about 20 feet into the river. There is NO barrier of any kind. There is no way I can back up 1000 feet like that. Maybe if I had another adult in the car. But, it was just Michael and I.

I walked around the gate to the house and yelled for help. No one was there.

I tried to call 911, but there was no service.

I thought about yelling and trying to get someone’s attention on the highway across the river. But, what would they have done? It probably would have taken 30 minutes just to drive there.

I stood outside the car for about 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do. Then I looked at the gate. The chain was just wrapped around. It wasn’t locked. My choices were to stand there for hours waiting for someone to come home or to open the gate and turn around. For all I knew, the people weren’t coming home for 8 to 10 years. I opened the gate, had Michael hold it and drove through. I had to drive up a hill near a railroad track to turn around. It was a little scary, but large enough for me to get out of this horrible situation.

I then had to drive back up the mountain towards Gate City. When we finally hit the paved road I was SO happy.

As we approached that idyllic spot by the bridge, I saw a brown heron. He flew off, even though I slowed down not to scare him. I got a couple of pictures from the car. Heron’s are my favorite birds. My last is pronounced “heron” even though it doesn’t look like it. But, when I saw that heron standing in Copper Creek I knew everything was going to be ok. The worst was over... and it was.