Sunday, March 17 2024
This year I am meeting my friends Rita and Christian in Memphis for Spring Break and, as before, I am driving and they will fly from Washington to join me on the 25th.
Finding different routes out of the Washington area to write about is becoming a challenge but one of the areas that I visit frequently, during short excursions, is West Virginia which has some of the best driving and scenery in the east. This seemed like a good blog trip to include some of those highlights and I headed to Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia today. The first part of the drive is along interstate highways 66 and 81 which have appeared here many times but, once west of I88, the route becomes a combination of small rural roads, picturesque villages and congestion free highway. It traverses the many scenic ridges and valleys of the Appalachian mountains that you often see in photos from Skyline Drive and provided a very pleasant drive in the spring like weather today. The road video only shows this section of the 166 mile (267 km) drive.
This was the getaway drive and, since I have visited Blackwater Falls Park several times, I only made two stops today. One to visit the falls that are the central feature of the park and a second for a short hike to a viewpoint over the Blackwater River valley.
My previous visits were in the fall or winter and the flow of water over the 65 feet (20 m) falls today was impressive. You may notice that the water looks a little dark in places resulting in the name. This is caused by the presence of tannic acid from fallen Hemlock trees and Red Spruce needles in the water.
I enjoyed a short, but muddy, hike to Lindy Point Overlook in the park before checking in at the park lodge. It has been a particularly wet winter and early spring around here.
On the road again…. And the sun is out….. marvellous. I look forward to your journey and reading about Memphis. Have a good one.
Thanks. It’s freezing and cloudy this morning. Just the sort of variations we have had all winter.
I always love to read about and SEE your journeys. It’s the very best armchair travel experience.
You’re too kind. I hope the trip lives up to expectations 🙂
Have a safe trip, Steve. I look forward to your updates.
Thanks, good to hear from you.
On the road again! Have fun with Rita and Christian and on the way there.
Thanks. I’ll try.
Enjoy your trip! I will by proxy. (I have 9 days in Poland and two lots of 4 days in the English Lake District booked, so will be leaving Liverpool more than once in the next 3 months).
Thanks. Hope to hear about your travels when I come to the UK in July.
Hey Steve!! Have so much fun!!
Thanks, should be no problem.
Finally got to your Blog. How did it fall into my Spam folder? This AI or whatever is very stupid. If I am not alert I will lose my friends.
Have a wonderful trip and looking forward to joining you on Monday.
I love that you’re nutty in all areas of the world!
The same message sent to many people often ends up in spam. Thanks, see you Monday.