This weekend’s travels took us into Maryland, because that was the easiest way to get where we wanted to go in West Virginia.
But since these trips are supposed to be the journey as much as the destination, we decided to take part of our drive along Route 40.
When I was little, Route 40 was the only road that took us from Morgantown to Baltimore. Eventually, they built 48 which became I68, but first there was Route 40.
I don’t remember much of the oldest parts of Route 40, probably because I wasn’t tall enough to much out the windows. But there were parts I do remember, specifically, the long way around Sidling Hill before they put in The Cut. Oddly, it seemed far shorter than I remembered. Probably because we weren’t caught behind a semi (or five).
If you look, you can see the cut (if you click through to the Flick set, I marked it so you can find it easier.) You can also see (again, I marked it on Flickr) where Route 40 crosses the top of the mountain.
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Prickett Fort Cemetery is a private cemetery located in Prickett’s Fort State Park. It was established in the late 1700s, and contains markers that in some cases are nothing more than simple stones.
There were “newer” stones that had obviously replaced older worn stones, but even many of the stones from the early 1900s are wearing and will soon be illegible.
Very humbling to think that even the stone markers we leave as our memorials eventually return to nothing more than stone, with our passing and history erased.
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Route 19 passes by/through Summersville, which perhaps best known for being the biggest speed trap in the state.
The bridge over Summersville Lake actually has a pedestrian walk, and is an amazing view.
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Here are some of the pictures I took from and around the bridge.
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So, if you’re unfamiliar with this West Virginia holiday of sorts, Bridge Day is when they close the New River Gorge Bridge for six hours so you can walk across it, rappel down it, and jump off it.
We went for walking across the bridge and taking pictures.
We’re almost there!
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Saturday we took a nice scenic drive to Blackwater Falls State Park. Oddly, despite the number of times we’ve visited the park over the course of our lives, we’d never actually hiked around the park, so that’s what we did this weekend.
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Route 50, Cheat River.
Noon:
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Our trip to Blackwater Falls State Park this weekend was gorgeous, with plenty of color in the trees.
I must say that Michael and I had a perfectly lovely day. (More pictures in the coming days.)
Michael had a conference in Phoenix, and as usual, I went along to take a mini vacation while he did work-like things.
I was less thrilled about things when I discovered temperatures were going to be 96-106 during the time we were there.
The conference was (as most of his conference have been) in a resort. The resorts tend to be nice enough, however, with the exception of San Antonio, they’re usually self-contained and NOT within walking distance of anything. The Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort wasn’t out in the middle of nowhere, but with temperatures in the upper 90s every day, I wasn’t going to be walking anywhere.
However, it was set in a Mountain preserve. So I got up at 5am local time every morning, and walked around the preserve as the sun came up, which was really quite lovely. Being me, I didn’t walk far by myself, but did manage to force Michael up early one morning so I could feel safer hiking further than I did by myself. (Michael: I’m not going to carry you out of here if you break something. Michelle: You don’t have to carry me, just keep me company.)
I’m glad I was able to do so, because the area was so very different from any other place I’ve gone before. The hills were quite alien looking, when compared to my rolling green Appalachians.
Sunrise:
Find the Gambel’s Quail (Callipepla gambelii)
Our trip ended with a visit with Jeri in Seattle. We walked around the city, went on a hike, and saw some beautiful falls. It was a very nice, laid back conclusion to our trip.
Oh yeah, we went to the aquarium. No offense to Seattle, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to go to the Seattle Aquarium again.
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