Until you experience the lack of hum from electronics you really have no idea how much it actually plays a part in your everyday life. Once we arrived back at the hotel, the night was so quiet that you could probably hear a deer ten miles down the road as if it were right next to you. After a few minutes of being attacked and Peter almost eating one of those lovely bugs (extra protein), we gave up and hopped back into the car to head back to the motel. These pesky bugs gave us a run for our money as we tried to enjoy the silent, pitch black sky. (Google informs me that they are also called Wood Gnats or Sylviacola punctatus, for scientific purposes). Maybe it’s just West Virginia or maybe it was the fact that there was no radio waves in the air, but as we sat outside eating our ice cream we also became swarmed by huge gnats. The night was sticky and hot, so naturally, we sat outside to eat the delicious melting dessert. Although the quiet zone, might be one of the creepiest places in the 21st century we have experienced.Īfter realizing that Dairy Queen was going to be our only form of food that night, we ate our burgers and ordered ice cream cones to go. We arrived around 7pm at the Marlinton Motor Inn, had a small “birthday celebration” and decided to head into town for dinner a little before 8pm.ĭon’t get us wrong, West Virginia completely surprised both of us with their hospitality and attractions. We were exhausted and hungry by the time we arrived at the motel. We had just come from Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry which was about a total of 6 hours of driving. We were only staying the night as we planned to head on to The Greenbrier and then back north the following day. It has about 3 traffic lights (we didn’t exactly count) and everything but the Dairy Queen closes at 8pm. There are two major telescopes that are part of this area and the reason for the restrictions. The zone measures over 13,000 square miles and restricts access to radio wave usage. The quiet zone is an area dedicated towards providing protection of the National radio telescope for both government and scientific purposes. That’s what happened to us on our Road Trip through West Virginia when we didn’t realize we were in a quiet zone until we were literally told we were in a quiet zone. That is until you learn there is no wifi in the motel room and the assistant at the front desk of your hotel informs you that it would cost them over $50,000 to do so. Entering into a “Quite Zone” can feel like just an ordinary day of cell phone frustration.