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Still Wandering in WVAug 5, 2010
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We visited here for a day...
The Seneca Rocks Discovery Center with Seneca Rocks behind it.
Another view of Seneca Rocks. People were climbing it but they don't...
After a relaxing and fun week at Pegasus Farm Campground in Elkins, WV, we headed back out on the road to see more of this lovely state. Our first stop was Seneca Rocks in the Monongahela National Forest.
I found Seneca Rocks interesting in that it caused my sense of perception to go a little off balance. As I stood at the Seneca Rocks Discovery Center, looking up at the nearly 900-feet of vertical walls, I thought, “Those don’t look so big…what’s all the fuss?” But then I saw a little speck of white and a little speck of red climbing straight up those rocks… “Oh my goodness, those specks are PEOPLE!”
The Discovery Center is full of great information about the area, provides an informative 12 minute movie about the Seneca Rocks, and is a great air-conditioned place to rest after hiking. Also, within walking distance of the Discovery Center is an old house – the Sites Homestead. The house was originally constructed in 1839 by Jacob Sites but had additions built onto it in 1839. Although we only looked through the windows and read the kiosk information about it, there are house tours available in the summer on Saturdays.
After our day in Seneca we headed for Buckhannon for the night. Buckhannon has a really gorgeous courthouse (the Upshur County Courthouse) but due to traffic I couldn’t get stopped to take a picture. But at least we got to see it driving by!
We spent yesterday and today in the Morgantown area - the home of West Virginia University.
Yesterday we had just settled in for the evening, in the forest right outside of Morgantown, when a HUGE storm blew through. The storm knocked over trees, taking out power lines and blocking roads. It was a good thing we didn’t have to be anywhere as it took road crews a good part of the evening to clear the main road back to town. The area lost power at the beginning of the storm (in the early evening) and when we left our campsite this morning they still had not restored power. As we drove along the branch strewn road we could see trees lying across power lines, power lines broken and on the ground, and power poles resting on their sides… it was more than obvious as to why power was still disrupted.
After our evening’s reminder that we must all respect the ferocious power of Mother Nature we headed out this morning to visit the West Virginia University campus. This is a lovely campus built on top of mountain ridges. However, in route to the campus, I made a wrong turn and we ended up on a very narrow and extremely steep cobblestone street. With many cars parked alongside the curb we had no way of turning around and found ourselves creeping down the hill in first gear with both of us hanging our heads out the windows watching our side clearance. Willis helped to guide me, “You have room here, you’ll miss this car, keep going…” as I cautiously maneuvered Clyde down the hill with my side of the RV occasionally scraping the bushes on my side of the street. Thank goodness we didn’t meet anyone wanting to come up the hill! One of us would have had to back up.
Finally we found the correct street, drove back up the mountain, and found a bustling but lovely campus. We couldn’t get over how busy it was for this time of year! Narrow streets full of students and vehicles - it was another challenge of my driving skills! But we made it through safely and are glad to have seen this urban campus.
We are now resting for the night, no storm so far, in Morgantown. Not sure where we will head tomorrow but if it’s in West Virginia then I’m sure it will be pretty.
Happy Travels,
Rebecca
