Trips

After a month of driving, the family finally makes it to Welch, West Virginia. After meeting Erma, her father’s mother who refuses to be called ‘Grandma,' Grandpa Walls, and Uncle Stanley, Jeannette is shocked to find no resemblance between them and her father. Welch is a picture of destitution and unemployment, though in earlier days it thrived as a coal mining town. Rex takes his family on a tour of the town and explains that the very first food stamps were handed out in Welch after hard times came to its people in the 1950’s. Rose Mary sees the destitution of the town as an opportunity to establish herself as an artist since there would be no competition nearby.