A to Z April Challenge: W is for Wendy's Rock

This is a continuation of LAST APRIL’s challenge about HEIRLOOMS. When my sister and I cleaned out our parents’ home, we had to make many decisions about what to do with all the stuff. Which things are truly “valuable” and which have only sentiment in their favor? Should we sell it, keep it, or throw it away? To help ensure a future for our family’s heirlooms, I plan to leave a booklet for my daughters telling the stories of what they will inherit one day. (Not TOO soon, I hope!)

is for Wendy’s rock.

This is just a chunk of “Wendy’s rock.”

Wendy’s rock is what my maternal grandparents called the BIG boulder that sat on a curve along Route 33 crossing the mountain from Greene County into Rockingham County. As a young girl, I went with them each summer to visit my cousins in Shenandoah, Virginia. That meant following oil trucks and tractor trailers curve after curve up one side of the mountain and down the other.

It was a sloooow ride.

Spotting certain landmarks was my way of knowing just how much longer it would take before getting to my cousins’ house. “There’s that rock!” I would say every time. It sat on an outside curve of what would be a LOOOONG fall if the guard rail wasn’t there.

When the State embarked on road improvements to widen portions and even straighten some of the stretches of Route 33, “Wendy’s rock” was one casualty. It was too big to shove out of the way; it had to be blasted into pieces.

Of course, we had to stop and grab a souvenir.

This YouTube video shows a ride at the OTHER end of Route 33, but it is similar to the drive from Greene into Rockingham. You will get a sense of those curves. 

Wendy

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