October Travels – West Virginia

Earlier this month I took my mother and father to West Virginia to visit my dad’s sister. What a great time. I had only been back to WV three times since graduation in 1977, the latest earlier this year to my 30 year class reunion.  On this trip I played chauffeur for my parents. It is 525 miles one way from where we live in Kentucky to our destination, Fairmont, WV.  The drive was fairly uneventful but certainly beautiful. Once we passed through Lexington, KY, we started a gradual climb into the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. Two hours later we were approaching the West Virginia state line and heading into Charleston. Compared to the rest of the country, the intertate system in West Virginia is still fairly new and in great shape. The highway curves through the hills and mountains and always seeming to go up and up. Finally we reached our destination and checked into our hotel and relaxed for a while.  That week was spent going to the Preston County Buckwheat Festival, relaxing on the front porch of my aunts, a drive through the higher elevation areas of northeast WV and some seriously good eating.  Here are some photos from this latest trip to “Almost Heaven”  West by God Virginia.

West Virginia Interstate System is one of the best in the country

 Early Morning Fog In The Valleys

“Country Roads Take Me Home, To The Place I Belong, West Virginia…..”
John Denver

My Dad and Uncle Relaxing on a Sunday Afternoon in the WV Mountains

Almost Heaven – West Virginia – 4,000 ft altitude overlooking mountains near Cheat Mountain

Early Morning Flower Greeting The Sun

Tattoos

I was looking through some photos I took a couple weeks ago when I attended a biker ralley in Kentucky. There were about 20,000 bikers in attendance and it was a wild time. Here is a photo of a guy’s back that had a great black and white tattoo…….  hope you enjoy.

Up Close Digital Photography

This is my first real attempt at up close photography. I like them both for my first attempts. I did notice my reflection in the headlight shot.

Almost Heaven West Virginia

During my recent trip to West Virgina for my high school reunion we made a diversion to visit the New River Gorge Bridge.  This bridge was unitl recently the largest single span bridge in the world .  The bridge takes approx 45 seconds to cross at 70 mph. Since we had a couple hours to spare we decided to drive down into the gorge and back up the other side. This is the old route that had to be taken until this bridge was completed in 1977. Once you start driving down into the gorge you cannot come back up the same way. You have to go all the way down and then cross the river and back up the other side. The road is so narrow, steep and curvey that it takes approximate two hours to cover the distance. 2 hours vs 45 seconds……..

The bridge is the center of outdoor activities including some of the best category 5 whitewater kayaking in the world as well as hiking and camping wilderness areas. Once a year the bridge closes to vehicles and Bridge Day is held where base jumpers do their thing and jump off the bridge (using parachutes of course)