Road Trip 2015 Virginia-Illinois

We were excited to find our way out of Washington DC and getting into Virginia. We had no trouble at all. The desk clerk at our hotel gave us directions to I-66 which was closer than we had hoped.

Virginia countryside is forest covered rolling hills which got higher and higher as we traveled west.

Gas and diesel was cheaper on the east coast. The price of gas was $2.70+ in Mackay when we left the end of August. Price got lower the further east we went. The cheapest we found was $1.95. As you can see, the price is going up as we head west.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountain Range that runs along the east side of the United States. The highest point (there aren't any peaks like we are used to seeing) is Mount Mitchell (in North Caroling) at 6,638 ft.

Notice the blue tint at the top of the ridge.

We traveled through West Virginia on one of the most winding and hilly interstates we have ever driven. The scenery was beautiful. We could see why West Virginia is called the "Mountain State." On the section of interstate we traveled; if you weren't going up you were going down, and if not turning left you were turning right. Roads were good and the speed limit had increased to 70 mph in most parts which was a change from the 55 and 65 mph on most east interstates.

The West Virginia State Capitol building in Columbia. The circle around the spire is from the suction cup that holds the GPS to our windshield. Too bad we didn't notice it sooner.

We were just a little too early in the season to see fall colors in this part of the U.S.

We spent the night in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Tomorrow, we will continue on through West Virginia, across the top of Kentucky, and the bottom of Indiana and into Illinois.

The West Virginia end of Kentucky begins to flatten out.

And, the trees get less dense. I can see why Daniel Boone though Kentuck would be a great place to settle with more open space than he had ever seen before.

Crossing the Missouri River at Louisville, Kentucky (largest city in Ky.). We couldn't get a very good picture of the river because of the rails on the bridge.

Driving west into the sunset in western Kentucky.

As you can see, this was a long travel day. We spent the night in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Tomorrow we leave for Independence, Kansas.

Comments

Yellowstone Park is in Idaho?

I am an Idaho resident by birth and have lived in Idaho most of my life (spent about a year in Utah but am trying to forget about that - I was only 3 years old at the time and had no choice). I have always said and continue to say there is no National Park in Idaho. Oh sure! The map of Yellowstone Park shows a small portion along the Wyoming border as being in Idaho, but how many people know how to even get to this portion of the Park? If you look at the above map, there are no attractions at all listed in the Idaho part of the Park! There are no major roads from Idaho into the Park. Main Park entrances are from either Montana (3 entrances) or Wyoming (2 entrances) Any way, my wife Shirley and I have been taking our children and grand children to Yellowstone Park for forty years using one of the main Park entrances. This year three of our sons who live in Idaho talked us into going with them and their families into the Idaho part of Yellowstone. This is ho...

Road Trip 2015 Ohio Kirtland

Kirtland Ohio, was the headquarters of the Church of Latter Day Saints (later to change their name to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) from 1831 until early 1838. The first temple was completed in 1836. The Kirtland Temple is currently owned by the Community of Christ Church (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints). The Temple is open to the public. The Community of Christ Church conducts tours of the building, but does not allow pictures to be taken inside. Our tour was conducted by a Catholic tour guide who was very knowledgeable of the early church history and provided a spiritual tour of the Temple. The front doors of the temple are close to the street so we couldn't get a nice view of the Temple without the electrical wires. The Temple has three floors, the first floor was used as a meeting place for all members of the Church (much like a ward meeting house). The second floor is a...

Lake Creek Trail

Several years ago (probably more like 8 or 9) Shirley and I went camping with friends in the Lake Creek Campground, Salmon Challis National Forest, (about 60 miles from our home in Mackay, Idaho). Our friends went some where with their kids fishing, so we decided to check out the trail to the chain of Lake Creek lakes: Round Lake, Long Lake, Big Lake, Rough Lake, Golden Lake, etc.. Well we got up the trail about 6 miles or so and the trail being so rocky and rough and because we were both on one 4-Wheeler, we decided to turn back to camp. Also, no one knew where we were because we left after our friends had gone and we had been out several hours. We never got to any of the lakes, and always wondered what the rest of the trail was like and what the various lakes looked like. Well, a few weeks ago, we got to find out! Our son Dirk called and said that he and his family would like to go camping for the weekend. They wanted to camp at the Lake Cr...

Wayne's Reflections