West Virginia

I'm driving with my comedy group Casual Sketch from Massachusetts to Ohio in my 1987 Honda Accord (aka the MetaCar) in the fall of 2000. We’re on our way to the University of Miami, Ohio to perform at their annual comedy festival. After spending the previous night in eastern Pennsylvania, we had just traversed the rest of the state. 

Herb is napping in the back seat, and when his eyes open up, he asks where we are. 

"West Virginia" I reply.

"Oh," he says, closing his eyes again. Then he snaps awake in a hurry.

"West Virginia?" He asks, desperately. "How the fuck did we get to West Virginia?!?"

I had always thought of West Virginia as being in the south, but there's a long, skinny sliver of the state that makes its way north and sits to the west of Pennsylvania. We were all a little surprised when we crossed the West Virginia border. No bother. Within twenty minutes we would make our way through the state and arrive safely in Ohio, which would bring its own surprises.  

And that's my story about West Virginia.