Kentucky Bluegrass to West Virginia Mountains

What a great day!  We knew it would be a long day today (442 miles total) so we were on the road shortly before 8:00.  The sun was shining and the sky was blue -- that was a good sign.  It was 42 degrees so it was a little chilly but we were ready for it.

Two-thirds of the day were on highways but we did not run into any extreme traffic even in Lexington or Charleston.  (The only spot we ran into real heavy traffic so far was Memphis at rush hour).

We took the Bluegrass Parkway which was a 70 mph highway but it had some good scenery and very little traffic -- and also passed by the Daniel Boone National Forest.  We also crossed back into the eastern time zone so we know we are getting closer to home.

After lunch we crossed into Ohio and took a scenic ride along the Ohio River, got gas, and crossed into West Virginia.  We pulled off the highway onto secondary roads on the Midland Trail and followed it along a canal and river through a number of small towns.  West Virginia is no doubt coal country with the rail cars full for transport.

We left the river valley and started to climb into the WVA mountains.  We were on a route called the Mountaineer Highway and then truned onto our final route and broke through the Gulley National Forest as we worked up and down the mountain and into Marlinton, WVA for the night.

We are at the Old Clark Inn -- a wonderful B&B that was listed on the Backroads Magazine as motorcycle friendly.  And it definitely is - even with covered parking for the bikes

Our cell coverage has been odd throughout the trip.  We each have different carriers and there are times we all have all our service, there are times one person has partial coverage and the others have full, there are times we have phone coverage and no Internet access, and here Maury has cell coverage and Rick and I have nothing!

But thanks to the B&B we have computer access to share with you today.

If you are in WVA... stay at the Old Clark Inn in Marlinton!!!!

Bob