Every time we drive through West Virginia, I'm blown away by how beautiful it is. This state has gotten a bad wrap. The girls loved it and befriended some bears.
No wonder all the Germans at Oktoberfest in Munich we're belting out the song Country Roads every half hour. (I had never imagined it as a drinking song until then.) This place looks like Germany with its striking green mountains and little hamlets nestled in its valleys. And as the interstate follows the Kanawha River out of Charelston, you'd think you were driving along the Rhine.
The only thing we could do without is all the coal. It's a double-edged sword, because coal has brought a whole lot of money to this state. But you see barges laden with coal chugging up the Ohio River. You see mounds of coal ready to be loaded onto more barges. You see mountain tops decapitated to uncover its black gold. Then they pave it and build a Walmart on top of it and say, "See, everything's cool. This is progress." Sad. I hope this chapter in our energy history is coming to an end.
Enough of that...
We're in Blacksburg, VA, now -- home of Virginia Tech. We totally love this town. Feels great to be back. And the girls have been angels on this 920-mile trek from home. We celebrated by bowling in the hall of our hotel tonight. I hope our neighbors didn't mind!
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