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.

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