Time for more exploring! We’ve plotted a route through West Virginia to Virginia to have some great adventures, Lord willing!
We loved the rolling hills and farms with their red barns. We commented several times, “that looks like a great picture for a puzzle!” We camped at Little Beaver State Park, WV. Nearby is our nation’s newest National Park – New River Gorge and Preserve. It’s our 63rd National Park, created in 2020. It’s 0ver 70,000 acres and follows over 53 miles of the New River Gorge with stunning views, outdoor activities, and so much history!
The New River Bridge was amazing! At the time of it’s construction (1974-77) the New River Gorge Bridge’s arch was the longest steel arch bridge in the world, it still holds this title in the US. It’s 876 feet above the river and replaced the long winding 40 minute drive down into the gorge and back up again. It’s still an amazing engineering feat – constructing a steel arch spanning over 3,000 feet! It’s over 75 feet wide holding a 4-lane highway with a median in between! They have an annual event called “Bridge Day”!!
WAIT! What?? We learned that New River Bridge is the only place in the US where they allow B.A.S.E. jumping on “Bridge Day”. It’s West Virginia’s largest single-day festival and one of the largest extreme sports events in the world. This is the only day each year thousands of spectators can walk across the bridge and watch as serious B.A.S.E. jumpers (with parachutes) get their chance to “fly” 876 feet down into the Gorge below. This year’s event was held October 15. We saw the signs – but were about a month too early for the event. The above pictures are from the internet – what a spectacular crazy extreme event!
We drove around the scenic loop and down to the bottom of the gorge. We had a snack as we visited the ghost town of Thurmond. At one time it was only accessible by railroad and the buildings were built right next to the tracks (see pic of the bank above)! The railroad depot has been converted into a visitors center, this was a very busy town during the coal mining days! Today its a great place for a bit of history for us adventure seekers.
New River Gorge has lots of hiking trails and numerous waterfalls.
We stopped and hiked a bit to see Sandstone Falls. It was beautiful and so relaxing hearing the sound of the falls. (Lorree was either thirsty or wanted to take a dip! LOL!) She was actually just checking the temperature 🙂 This has been another great National Park to explore and come back to someday!
Traveling on into Virginia! (We liked the sign, VA for Lovers!!) We had a great stay at Walnut Hill’s Family Campground. This was our launching pad as we explored Shenandoah National Park. and the surrounding areas.
Just a few miles from our campground we came to this crossroad. North to Shenandoah NP and South to Blue Ridge Parkway. This trip we chose to go North (we’ll go South in a week or so). These roads are labeled scenic drives not for commercial traffic – we had a great day to drive without much traffic.
Shucks…we were a few weeks too early for the Fall Colors to begin. We found quite a few pull offs and saw the vast expanse of the Shenandoah Valley – miles and miles of God’s creation spread out in front of us!
We tried to have a picnic…but the gnats!! Wow – we didn’t even attempt to sit down! So we enjoyed our picnic in the truck.
Near the end of our journey through the Shenandoah / Sky Line Drive, we stopped at the Luray Caverns, a US Natural Landmark. The largest caverns in the eastern US! Famous for the Great Stalacpipe Organ! Such beauty just a few feet below the crust of the earth!
We got to hear the organ by a recording of someone playing it. It is the largest musical instrument in the world! It took three years to connect the organ to hundreds of stalactites that provide the tones for the notes being played. Different tones come from rubber tipped mallets striking different sizes and shapes of the stalactites and then electronically transported to the Cathedral chamber. The mallets cover over 3 1/2 acres of the caverns!
It was beautiful, soothing, peaceful, penetrating sounds! The inscription on the plaque shared, “Man’s genius and the hand of God are in perfect harmony”!
On another day we visited the Woodrow Wilson Museum in Staunton, Virginia. It was a small but excellent museum, we learned a lot. It was fun to see the “Chariot of the President”, Wilson’s Pierce-Arrow limousine!
Included in our tour was a fascinating state-of-the-art interactive World War I trench exhibit complete with lights and sound to experience what life was like for soldiers as they engaged in battle. We saw authentic weapons and learned all about the “Doughboys”. Not sure where the slang term came from but it refers to the US infantry soldiers who crossed the Atlantic and fought in the Great War. The Great War marked the first time in history the United States sent soldiers abroad to defend foreign soil. The Doughboys helped change the course of the war, because the sheer fact they were coming at all helped keep the western allies intact and fighting in 1917, allowing them to cling on until victories were won in 1918 and the war ended.
We made it to Virginia Beach! We stayed at First Landing State Park – another National Natural Landmark. It was not crowded – seemed like we had the beach to ourselves!
We just rested and took advantage of the nice weather. We only had a couple of days to enjoy ’cause Hurricane Ian was landing in Florida and is tracking to be in this area in a few days.
Looking ahead at the weather, we better move on! It’s been great to slow down, see the sights, take time to explore, and continue making memories with each other! So many more adventures to look forward to in the coming weeks – Lord willing!
