September 29 & 30 - Bluegrass country and into the mountains!

     We left the Louisville KOA and headed east on the interstates, through Bluegrass country and along the Kentucky Whiskey Trail, as it's called.  One could tour from Distillery to Distillery just by following the signs, should one choose to do so.  It's very pretty through northern Kentucky, with rolling hills, neat and well kept ranches, and lots of trees.  At one point on the journey traffic slowed to a halt.  On the other side of the road, an 18-wheeler carrying cattle had overturned and it was lying across the highway.  Every kind of emergency vehicle one can imagine was there, supplemented by 2 small cattle trailers pulled by trucks, and a temporary cattle pen had been set up on the median for the stray cattle who hadn't been hurt.  Fortunately it was a grassy, 100-foot wide median at that point.  Traffic was backed up for miles, and the State Police were detouring vehicles off the road some 10 miles back.  We only had a short delay as they moved our traffic into one lane going by it.

     Near the Ohio river, we drove north on highway 23.  Part of the journey was up into the hills, where it appeared to have been mined in the past.  Both sides of the road were covered with off-road vehicle tracks, obviously a popular sport there.  Down along the river we went through a number of sleepy towns.  One had a Veteran's monument featuring a tank, a landing craft, and an F-84 fighter!  After crossing the river into Ohio, we had a short journey to Holiday Point Marina in Franklin Furnace, where Becky's cousin Wendy Hickman and her husband Carl have an Airstream they are living in for the time being.

     Carl works for SunCoke, and is one of their senior safety experts.  Their home is in Fernandina Beach, Florida but his job is now based out of Ohio, 5 minutes from their campground. With the Florida housing market being what it is, they were unable to sell their place and they tried the "commuter" routine for a while.  That got old, so they bought an Airstream, Wendy moved north, and they go back to Florida every few months or so.  Not a long term situation, but they're doing a great job of making lemonade out of lemons.
   
That being said, we spent a wonderful afternoon and evening with them, and were able to camp in the same RV park about 100 yards away.  Wendy cooked a delicious stew, and the weather couldn't have been nicer.  A Marina is also part of the campground, and we walked with their 3-pound Chihuahua Chula down to it.  They also have a German Shepard and a cat with them!   Wendy cooked, and we sat around the campfire till 10:30pm talking about every subject imaginable.

 

          Monday morning saw us off to West Virginia, and we again decided to do much of it cross country.  We drove down US 52 to Huntington, WV and got on US 60.  Though neither of us had heard of the Kanawha River, it is obviously a major waterway for the coal and chemical industries.  We passed numerous plants, and coal processing facilities.  The area is not particularly prosperous, and the homes are very typical of mining and industrial locations.

     We also passed a number of Hydroelectic dams and plants, each with large electrical facilities.  Not a particularly attractive part of the country, but then we passed through a number of more scenic areas.  It was quite a mixed bag going down the Kanawha to Charleston, the Capital.  The one thing that stood out to us in that city was the gold dome on the State House.  It looked disproportionately tall, and had some very intricate designs on it.

     Something that really surprised us was the proliferation of Kudzu, that out-of-control scourge so prominent in the Southeast US.  We didn't think it grew in the north, but it surely does and is all over the Kanawha river area.  In some places it has devoured trees and turned them into grotesque green statues!

     The intermediate destination was the New River Gorge, an area of natural beauty and home to the New River Bridge.  The bridge, built in 1977 is America's second highest bridge, and it the world's longest single arch steel span bridge.  The U.S. Park Service runs the surrounding park, and we were lucky to be there on September 30 with the government closing down on October 1st!  The other notable feature, for those in good physical condition, is the viewing platform.  It is 175 steps to get down to it.  Then you get to hike another 175 steps back up.  Yes, we did it!  From this point on we descended back down to the river.  We had done enough sightseeing for the day, so we got on the interstate, went by Beckley, and finished the day near Lewisburg. 
     The Greenbriar River Campground is primarily a fishing and river activities kind of place, not much of a transient facility.  We're here for one night, then on to the Greenbriar Resort and the famous Underground Bunker!