July 7, 2015
It was a hazy morning and a cooler 74 degrees! Ahhhhh! We were on the road by 8 AM, ready for another long day of driving. Our destination would be Cambridge, OH for the night. The terrain changed from the salt marshes at sea level in Georgia to the rolling hills of North Carolina.
We crossed through the small western tip of Virginia, about 70 miles, before hitting the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains and into West Virginia.
In traveling the length of West Virginia, from south to north today on I-77, we crossed the Allegheny Mountains, which played havoc on our gas mileage as we climbed up and over the mountains. These forested mountains were lush and green and sparsely populated.
We approached the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel on one end of a range of mountains. The tunnel was about a mile long of solid rock.
On the other side there was another tunnel–the East River Mountain Tunnel— which was also about a mile long.
Bob had to switch out his sunglasses for his regular ones in order to see anything in the tunnel. It was pretty dark….and narrow.
The temperature stayed a pleasant 82 degrees in the mountains. I-77 was a toll road that snaked its way up and down through the mountains— over rivers and streams, through valleys and tunnels. It was beautiful countryside.
We crossed the bridge over the Kanawha River, that runs through Charleston, the state capital of West Virginia.
The picturesque capitol building stood tall near the highway. Its sparkling, gold dome glistened in the sunlight. It was absolutely beautiful!
Next, we crossed the bridge over the mighty Ohio River that forms the boundary between Ohio and West Virginia.
We were on the final leg of our drive today as we entered Ohio around 2:00.
The river was wide and devoid of any tugs or barges that you would normally see on a “working river” such as this.
The weather co-operated with partly cloudy skies and a light (but helpful) tailwind. The terrain remained hilly, but not as steep as what we saw in West Virginia. We had a longer day of driving than the two previous days and much more stressful with all the mountain driving that Bob did. We pulled into our destination, Spring Valley Campground near Cambridge, OH at 3:00 and set up camp.
We had a nice open site near the pool and office. We like to have a site where we can stay hooked up when we are only staying for one night. That allows us to make a quick departure in the morning. We are getting so good at setting up camp that we were done in less than 10 minutes and ready to relax.
Bob needed to relax and Auggie and I needed to stretch our legs after a long drive of 360 miles. Auggie and I took a walk in the campground to look around. It was much bigger than I thought. We discovered a lake near the back of the campground, complete with a slide and swimming area.
The campground is huge with a nice pool and lots of open spaces. The radar picked up some rain that was headed our way later this afternoon. We relaxed a little with a cocktail before dinner and then cooked pork tenderloin on the grill after the first wave of rain had passed. Tomorrow we would be in Niagara Falls and would be able to stay put for a few days. That will be a welcome relief to having to move camp every day.
