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KentuckyOct 24, 2007
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sandstone walkway
Oct 24 51067 8:20
We had a light drizzle overnight and a little fog this morning but there are patches of blue sky and it is clearing.
We are headed across West Virginia today and that will add another state on the map on the RV. I am behind and need to put on New Jersey and Delaware.
It is threatening to rain today and in fact you can see it off in the distance. Areas are fogged in but the colors of the trees are a bright spot in the landscape. Occasionally a spot of sun will shine through for a few minutes.
Well the rain has won but the temperatures are still high so the windows continually fog up.
It rains, drizzles, quits and starts the process all over again. We can still make good time because most of today will be on I-64, no towns, no lights and little traffic.
We stop at the Visitor Center for the New River Gorge Scenic Drive of the New River National Gorge National River. The park covers 53 miles of the New River as it winds it way through this area of West Virginia. The park encompasses the river, but the wetlands, the watershed and several historic towns, Hinton and Thurmond. This was a big coal mining area and the area made famous by "John Brown" and his famous battle against a mechanical spike driver. John Brown won the race but lost his life according to the story.
The Sandstone Visitor Center is a "green design". It serves as a model for state-of-the-art green design and construction. Native plants and materials are used in the landscaping outside. The building is on the footprint of an abandoned school and the materials used in the construction of the building allow it to use 60% less energy than traditional buildings.
The lights turn on automatically as you enter an area and then turn off as you leave, solar energy is used for heat and the materials used keep the building cool during hot weather. Storm water runoff is caught, filtered and then returned to the ground as natural irrigation.
Recycled items are used in the carpets and insulation and a geothermal system is used to heat and cool the building.
1:15 and the rain has finally stopped, which is good, we are getting ready to stop for the night and it is rough setting up in the rain.
We decide to not stay at our original stop as it is now a KOA and no wireless so we drive for another hour and stop in Grayson, Kentucky. It is a small private campground, $27.00 with full hookups.
