When we were still living overseas, we often get the question of where we are from Virginia. We would always tell them that we are from West Virginia and not from Virginia. Apparently, some people think that Virginia and West Virginia is just one state. For those who are still confused, here's a map. Virginia is a lot larger than our small state.
not my photo
Anyway, I want to share this place that we saw during our recent road trip to New River Gorge.
The place is called I-79 Technology Park. It is located within the heart of the I-79 High Technology Corridor just south of Fairmont, West Virginia. The location of the I-79 Technology Park places is within one day’s drive of 60% of the U.S. population and some of the Nation’s largest cities including New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis.
The I-79 Technology Park is a home to over 30 businesses which includes FirstEnergy Corp., Lockheed Martin, Time Warner Cable, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) just to name a few. It would be neat to tour this huge facility.
My children were amazed of the humongous technology infrastructure that you can see from the road. It must be nice to really see what it's like inside the facility.
I didn't know about this until we did our road trip. Traveling is really a pleasure and at the same time educational.
The visitor and Tourism Centers in West Virginia all looks like this one.
If you ever want to enjoy some nature adventure, come visit the Mountain State. West Virginia has a lot of beautiful parks that would sure satisfy your experience.
We still have a lot of exploring to do in our own state. I told my husband that I would like to visit every parks we have here. I know that when we talk about vacation, our tendency is to visit places from other state but for me, exploring our own is also fun. I'll show some more places we drove through during our fun road trip.
My husband was born and raised here in West Virginia but he went away when he joined the military. He spent most of his 20 years of service overseas so he never really got the chance to see much of his home state. When we came back here in the US and settled down for good after he retired from the Navy, I wanted to explore the beautiful mountain state.
The New River Gorge is one of the many attractions here in WV but we have never been there because it is a 4 hour drive from our city. In fact my husband have never seen it even though he was born here. But as a treat to our daughter's 12th birthday, we finally went and see it last Sunday. I can tell my husband was dreading the long hours of drive but he was glad we did it when he saw how beautiful it was down state. It was worth it.
To be able to see the New River Gorge Bridge, we went to Hawks Nest State Park. They offer jet boats ride tour in the river. We rode a tram going down and there was a one hour wait before the next jet boat ride so we had the chance to explore the place. Nature has always been my favorite spot of relaxation so it was a treat for me. There was so many butterflies in that place.
I love the set up of the state park. If you want the jet boat tour, you have to ride the tram also so it was kind of a package. However, you can go down and see the river without riding the tram, you can walk down the Lovers Leap trail which I wanted to do but we had limited time so we didn't get to do that.
Hawks Nest State Park is located in Ansted West Virginia. We drove 320 miles from our place and back.
We had a great time riding the jet boat as the captain was very funny. He was an older witty man who told us a lot of jokes
The captain took us upstream to see the famous New River Gorge bridge. The ride is 6 miles long and it takes approximately 25-30 minutes.
It was a very relaxing tour, my husband was all smiles. We all enjoyed the ride especially with a captain that made the ride very entertaining.
According to the captain of the boat, the New River Gorge bridge was completed in 1977. It is the longest single span steel arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere. Spanning the picturesque New River at 876 feet high. The bridge is a spectacular site and has become a nationally recognized icon for Southern West Virginia.
Locals just calls it "The Bridge" according to the captain. We couldn't advanced the boat due to the rough water flowing through. This is the place where they do white water rafting. We passed by a lot of folks that does that. I want to do white water rafting, maybe when the kids are old enough to do that, we will come back there and do it.
So after a 30 minute minute of relaxing tour, it's time to head up and ride the tram again.
Folks downstate are so friendly. They make every visitor feel so welcome. The old lady that was receiving the tickets before the jet boat ride was originally from England. My husband talked to her and we just love hearing her talk because of her English accent.
If you want to connect with nature and have an invigorating experience of natural beauty, West Virginia has it. Take a deep breath and head downstate, you'll find national and state parks that offers some of the most breath taking natural settings in the world.
Southern West Virginia is blessed with ten spectacular state parks that offers breath taking scenery. There's a lot of historical sites, fabulous golf, hunting and fishing, resort style lodges, and wonderful camping sites.
My husband wants to return there where we can stay for a couple of days and fully explore the place. I told him we can go back and celebrate our wedding anniversary there, that would be romantic. There's nothing like bonding with nature. At least for me because I love outdoors. There's more pics to come in the next post or two so tune in.
After a disappointing car hunting trip but later turned to a fun road trip to Columbiana Ohio, we headed to Indiana, PA the next day. Driving to Pennsylvania, I feel so different whenever we drive to Ohio. For some reason, I feel relax with our road trips in Ohio than PA. I think it has something to do with the roads we take. In Ohio, we usually go on mostly farm area roads while when we go to PA, it is always on the highway. I think it all depends on the places we go but that is just how I feel. I still enjoy any road trips though.
We left around 11 in the morning, right after my daughter's piano lesson. I had the time to prepare some fruit snack. I scooped some watermelon balls and brought some trail mix to nibble on our way. It took us almost 2 hours to reach our destination driving 94.2 miles from our city.
Although there are farm lands in PA, I still favored going on road trips in Ohio side, I just love the relaxing scenery there compared to PA. Again, that's just my personal opinion.
Anyway, here are some of the photos I took during the trip.
According to Wikipedia, "Indiana is a borough and the principal city of the Indiana, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The borough and the region as a whole promotes itself as the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World" because the national Christmas Tree Grower's Association was founded there. There are still a large number of Christmas tree farms in the area." We have seen some Pine tree farms on our way there and hubby and I wondered if they grow it to sell on Christmas or what. That's why searched on it online when we arrived home.
We didn't really have time to explore because there was a time crunch but we enjoyed the ride.
Indiana is another quaint city. It seems like people there are so friendly. We ate at their Eat 'n Park restaurant and everybody greet you with a smile. I opened a door for an old woman and she gave me the sweetest smile and thank me for being "kind".
We passed by this big ranch or mansion and the kids were inspired. They dream of getting a good job when they grow up and getting them a big house. I told them that a big house is not really necessary that they should focus on having a comfortable life and healthy lifestyle and not bury themselves in debt just to have nice things. They got the point but they still dream of having a mansion lol. Well, it is good to have dreams so I will let them dream about stuff. I also told them that if they put their mind to becoming successful, anything can happen and anything is possible. That's one good thing about road trips too, the conversation you make with your family is precious.
The kids got excited when we drove by Punxsutawney, they remembered the famous ground hog, Punxsutawney Phil. Ground hog is one of their favorite wild animals. We are always on the look out for them when we drive as they are fun to watch when they eat and do their stuff.
I am not sure what kind of industrial establishment is this but they are huge.
Seeing farm animals along the way is always a great bonus for us.
When we do road trips, I feel bad for my husband because we all get tired and wants to fall asleep but he can't take a rest because he is the official driver. He doesn't complain at all, he loves being on the road, in fact almost every time, he wants to go constantly. For me, I am good staying at home or go somewhere, I am a good sports as long as I won't drive lol.
While the guys inspect and ponder upon whether or not they get the this Saturn Sky or not, my daughter and I spent our time having fun outside enjoying the view and taking pictures.
The reason why my husband wants this sports car because he said it can be a collectible someday since they stopped making it. I can see how in-love he is on this car so I gave him the go to get it.
Oh did I tell you that my son is as obsessed as his Dad with this car is? Yep, they do share the same passion on cars,. The way they describe car sometimes, you would think they are talking about a hot lady model. I could care less of how car looks like, as long as it takes you from Point A to Point B without problem, that's what matters. For men, it's a different case lol.
