scenery to travel by

There is a stretch of road in West Virginia that we take to cut a good amount of time from our trip when we head north. Many years ago, when we first began using this road, it was only two lanes (one lane in each direction) and could actually take a good while to get through if you got stuck behind a slow vehicle. At that time there was very little on this road; only a couple of gas stations in nearly 60 miles and a poor variety of a few places to eat. Over time they widened the road. As we watched the construction progess one trip after the other, we began to see the final product take shape.

This highway has now become a major thoroughfare in its own right and businesses have sprung up all along the route. No more need to worry about having a full tank of gas or a full stomach before heading in this direction.

This photo shows one of the many places where the mountainside had to be cut away to make way for the wider road. I think these exposed rocks are both attractive and interesting to look at. There is a lot of history in there. I wish I had a better shot of it but I have to take what I can get when driving by at a high rate of speed.

Some other shots I got along the way were of an overturned semi surrounded by the emergency crews and one of us heading into one of the two tunnels along the highway. None of them were the best quality so I had a hard time deciding which to post. I finally decided on this one b/c it was a good representation of what was and what is.