We crossed into West Virginia just an hour or so after we left Fairfield.
There was still some snow in West Virginia but we grabbed our first state sign picture really quickly. I am hoping to get as many state sign pictures as we can as we go from state to state.
When we stopped at the West Virginia Welcome Center, Brent picked up a copy of their travel guide for this year. He had a photograph bought last year to be used in the guide, but we had nor seen it yet.
See the beautiful 2 page spread of his photo in the guide! This is Grandview. Below is his name in the photography credits! We are so proud of him and especially in a state magazine in a state besides where we live!
We made our first National Park stop at the New River Gorge in West Virginia to get their first stamps of the trip for their National Park passports.
We ate lunch at Tamarack and shared an awesome piece of Granny Smith apple pie. It was delicious!
This was a happy girl after lunch and ready for a long afternoon nap through the rest of West Virginia and part of Kentucky!
We crossed into Kentucky just before dark with plans to drive to Louisville for the night. However, the gas tank said that we needed to stop in Lexington, Kentucky. Lexington was a little over an hour from Louisville but we decided to go ahead and eat supper while we were already making a stop.
These girls had done really well in the car but they were definitely glad to take a break. Bekah loved her piggy pancakes from "Bob Heavens"
We got back on the road and headed toward Louisville. All the girls were traveling great with full tummies so we decided to see if we could go ahead toward St. Louis so we wouldn't have to get up and drive 4 hours the next morning.
We did find Louisville to be a beautiful city at night as we went through there. Maybe we will get a chance to come back and see it on another trip!
We made it Indiana and the state sign and all the girls were ready to nap after that so Brent and I took turns driving through into Illinois and to within about 10 miles of St. Louis.
5 states, almost 700 miles, mountains to flatlands and we are almost to St. Louis! Tomorrow we cross the Mississippi!
Some fun facts from today:
Bethany likes the word "flattened." I said one of the mountain tops in West Virginia looked flattened and she used that word all day.
Favorite place name from today: Salt Lick, Kentucky
Because this is a school trip and a family trip, we are learning about each state as we are traveling so here are some things we learned on Day 1.
Fun state facts:(from 50states.com)
*Pikeville, West Virginia (where our friend Melissa is a 1st grade teacher ) has the highest per capita consumption of Pepsi products in the nation each year.
*The Golden Delicious apple orginates in West Virginia.
*Abraham Lincoln was actually born in Kentucky.
*The Happy Birthday song originates in Kentucky.
* Cynthiana, Indiana is town were Post-it Notes are made. We drove by it and also found out that they do not disclose how many Post-it Notes are made each year.
* Yes, there is a Santa Claus...Indiana, which apparently receives hundreds of letters each year.
Day 2 is up ahead: Tomorrow we take a driving break and spend a day in St. Louis including 2 surprise destinations!
