A beautiful drive into West Virginia

Having laid low for the 4th, and seeing high heat warnings again, we decided we had seen most everything we wanted to in the area, and we would  leave a day earlier than planned and spend the day on the road.  

What a drive! It was absolutely stunning traveling through Kentucky, and  crossing into the Allegheny mountains of West Virginia, where the roads suddenly became a twisting roller coaster through lush tree covered mountains , with occasional stretches of open farm land.  I have to admit that while beautiful, these conditions can be a bit challenging,  gauging speeds and hills, and if and when to pass slow trucks, and construction areas and one major city added to the challenge.  In one area the construction cones were such that, unlike the cars with narrower wheel base,  I had to choose between riding the rumble strip, or straddling it, and I quickly discovered that the right side left me dangerously close to the guardrail!  Riding the strip seemed very quickly like a very bad option, so I opted for the cone side....heck, they are just plastic, aren’t they?  I managed to thread the needle and not make contact, but I was ready to quit for the day when we got to our destination.  

Oddly, we were to check in at a Days Inn, and then proceed to the campground behind it, but as we pulled off the highway I was taken back to see the Inn perched high above us on a steeply graded hilltop.  You have GOT to be kidding me!  We have to climb THAT hill?? Our weight makes it tough going up inclines from a dead stop!  But another twisty road got us up, and then after checking in we proceeded down again, into a .....gully?  Pretty wild!  No reception down here to speak of, and a rarity, but no cable, and we only get three TV channels, none of which carry the evening news!   Cooler here, but still hotter than the blazes, so I rested, then we had some dinner and watched one of our videos, and now that my update is finished, I will head to bed and set out on the road again tomorrow.