Exercisin'

We ended our Tuesday with a ride into town for dinner at Fayetteville's Pies and Pints.  With the cooler weather and lower humidity, we sprawled on a grassy hill under some trees to await our table.  Outdoor dining only. And socially distanced. 

The pizza was differently delicious, but the flatbread with goat cheese and reduced balsamic vinegar is what we'll remember.  This appetizer was served looking like a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with hot fudge sauce with drizzled pizza crust slices.  This, too, was yummy.  We continue to be in awe of how the weather here is suitable for outdoor dining and adventures; we would've been miserable doing this at home in our southwest Georgia climate. 

Stuffed, we headed across the New River Gorge Bridge to the visitor's center for an after-dinner hike down to the observation deck just in time to catch the fading sunset.  Judge for yourself if the view was worth the steps down and back up.  I kicked myself the whole way because I only had my cell phone camera with me, but I upgraded my phone a while back just for such oversights. 

1) Sunset fades behind the New River Gorge Bridge

So, what do you think? Worth 178 steps down and then back up? 

Being back in the camper, we are reminded why we have enjoyed the SolAire so much and we are realizing we have missed her regular adventures far more than we realized.  I think we both sleep better in our little cocoon of a bedroom here with the white noise of the A/C drowning out all the exterior sounds. Ahhh. 

We actually slept in a little later than usual and awoke refreshed on Wednesday morning.  That's what we came for, right?  Jamie sizzled up some bacon on the camp stove and flipped a stack of pancakes for the four of us before we loaded up in the truck - John's truck! - to venture about in the area. 

We found the single lane paved road that winds its way down the gorge by the base of the bridge and then down river just a bit, crossing the railroad tracks and a lower bridge to cross the river and climb out of the gorge.  I don't need to understand the science behind bridge building to know what an awesome sight and incredible engineering feat it is to span a river nearly 800 feet above water level to connect two mountaintops.  I just had to stop frequently to take photographs of multiple views of this man-made wonder.  Fortunately, my travel mates don't seem to mind.

2) Purple wildflowers blooming near the bridge

3) View of the bridge from the railroad tracks

4) view of the bridge from the lower bridge

5) view of the bridge from near the center of the lower bridge

5) arch of the bridge

6) really close to the bridge!

7) view of the ironworks holding up the bridge

8) looking up under the bridge -- you mean we drove over that?

Our next stop for the day was Hawks Nest State Park. We arrived on Wednesday near noon to find that Wednesdays are reserved for servicing the tram that takes visitors down the mountain to the river.  Oh well. I'm not much for swinging cable cars anyway.  Instead, we believed the sign that read "100 steps to spectacular views." 

These steps made last night's steps look like a walk in the park.  Dilapidated (that's a nice word for rotten, isn't it?) railroad ties and steep grades of rough & rocky asphalt led to a rocky outcropping overlooking the river and a train trestle.  We definitely got our sweat on for the day with this midday hike.  The view was pretty.  Not spectacular, but pretty.  No regrets. 

9) view of the bridge in the distance taken from Hawks Nest State Park

10) Watching the train round the bend

11) trestle spanning the river

We continued south along the road we were on and discovered a nearly dry waterfall, Cathedral Falls.  With a full pool, this must be a pretty roadside waterfall, but not today.  I attempted some photographs here, but I wasn't pleased with the final product, so here you'll see a dud! A shady picnic table here was all it took for our crew to unload the cooler & have lunch.

12) Cathedral Falls - much too dry to be attractive

Further south we accessed Kanawha Falls which stretches across the river.  An "antique" power house suggests years of use harnessing the water for electricity.  A shady beach area provided adequate cover for me to read my camera settings and take a few slow exposures to capture the silky water flowing over the rocks. Yes!

13) Kanawha Falls power plant 

14) Kanawha Falls

15) Kanawha Falls

16) Kanawha Falls

Having gotten a bit accustomed to late afternoon naps during COVID closure, some of us were growing weary, so we headed for camp to rest a bit, edit photos, and prepare supper. 

I'll stop here for today.  We've had great day exploring the New River Gorge area.

Now that you've made it to the end of this blog post, which is your favorite photo? They are numbered 1-16. Let me know!