West Virginia, Two: Beckley

A nice RV park, close to work! It was a comfortable place to call home for nine days.

And the downpours began. Or as I remember my Dad saying, the goose-drowners.

A wet Fourth of July

All that rain made for a lot of hardy and happy mushrooms.

One of the things we enjoy doing when we have some free time is to go to the local thrift shops. I had to get my camera from the truck when I spotted this sign posted in one :)
(double-click to read the fine print)

We finally had a break in the rain, so we drove to the nearby New River Gorge Bridge, featured on the WV State Commemorative Quarter. We had been here on an earlier trip, but had viewed it only from the Visitor's Center that is located near the top of the bridge. Here's the view going across the bridge. Note the bridge spanning the river at the bottom. This time we decided to see it from the bottom of the Gorge.

We zigzagged our way down narrow, bumpy roads...

...past numerous little waterfalls fed by the recent rains...

...and sparkling, rain washed rhododendrons.

There was a place to pull off the road so we took a walk through the woods and on to this bridge that crossed the fast running stream below. A jogger came across with her dog, which brought Janine to mind. We smiled as we commented on how she and Zoey would enjoy this trail!

George stopped here so I could take the next photo, where the GPS kept instructing us to "Turn left".

It went pretty much straight down. A long way.
Maybe it was confused from all the twists and turns. 

We made it!
This is the bridge that could be seen from the top of the Gorge.

The view from the bottom.

In all the grandeur of the big picture, I almost missed the beauty beneath my feet.

I am easily entertained when God's natural creation is involved.
I'm a big fan of His artwork.

Up the other side of the Gorge

Wild raspberries, within reach. Yum!

Back to the top!
And back to work!