West Virginia

Wed. The picture below is when we went on the coal mining tour. Top left is a coal miner with his hat and light and lunch bucket with the top being a pie tray, next his sandwich then the lower part for water which they would put their deceased false teeth in so no one would drink their water.  The top middle is a one ton coal car which they would fill and get paid for every car they filled. Top right they explained the different light they used over the years and how they worked. Bottom left the modern way they get coal not the pick and shovel.  Middle the train car that pulled us through the mountain.  Right I stood outside the entrance to the mine.  Although I could not stand up it would have been two foot smaller when the mine was in use.  They got around on knees and would lay on there side to pick at the coal.

 Top left is a church that the coal miner owners would build for the miners. Middle is a class room and rest are the rules. You should read some of them! Very interesting.

 Top left is a bachelor home the next picture is inside.  Right is a married housing which at time they would sometimes rent out the bedroom to a single or a man who came to the mine during the work week(if they lived far away the hours they worked they could not get their and home and have rested). Bottom left is the superintendent's home (The three story home was very nice).  All the coal miners would have to rent from the owners and the rent would be taken from their pay. Bottom middle was the company store. The owners would pay the miners money they had made for them so miners could not shop at other company stores or else where(so come the phrase from the song "I owe my soul to the company store" .  Bottom right each of the small homes had a "out house" but the super. had inside pluming.

 Top left is what was used for curling ladies hair. Middle was a barber chair (the barber were like physicians which they bloodletting and tooth extractions. The red stripes on the barber pole symbolised blood; white bandages; and the blue the veins). Top right some of the places had a doctor this is his office. bottom left is the post office. Middle we went to the Tamarack(which the people from West Virginia would display there arts, crafts, and other goodies)bottom right is one of the tables someone made(the fisherman on top of the table and his legs and fish under the table gave you the feeling the glass was the water.

Thur. we drove to Charleston W.V. we had tours of the 30 room  Governor's Mansion and the State Capital. Picture below in middle is the Governor's Mansion. Top left the formal dinning room in the middle is the every day dinning room.  top right is a table Linda loves with a antique clock. Middle left top the stair case as you enter with the Schwartz crystal at base. Middle bottom the columns with gold paint on top. Middle right two antique clocks. Bottom left in the library done in W.V. hardwood in the Georgian-style butternut paneling which was very rare wood. Right a statue in the garden.

 Below left is the seal of W.V. the seal is also on their flag. Middle is the dome which is covered in gold. Right is the Senate and House chambers. Middle left where the Governor will make his public announcements. Middle is a fireplace in the same room. Right is the W.V. Supreme Court.  We were lucky enough to have a cub scout troop on our tours and one of the  ladies knew the guide for the Supreme Court and he spoke to us about their Supreme Justice. Bottom left is Robert C. Byrd served for 50 years holding the Constitution and pointing to the Senate chambers. Next a picture of the Capital building next to that is a picture from the rear of the building and bottom right is taken from the second floor at the dome.

 Before the civil war she organized mother club to raise money for medicine and food.  She wanted them to be neutral during the war helping both sides with the wounded. After the war she organized Mother Friendship Day to bring soldiers and neighbors together. After her death in 1905 her daughter campaigned to establish a nationally recognized Mother's day.  The first one was May 10 1908 six years later Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution setting aside Mother's Day as a national holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Top right civil war medals which their are still unclaimed ones.  Below the flag quilts by Mary Levy.  She collected flags in premium cigarette packages and made them into a quilt to teach her children.

 Some of the quilts that were showed  at the museum.

 Water drain barrels found in the middle of city.

Fri. At Little Beaver state Park we went on a walk along the dam and lake.  As you can see there were many  types of mushrooms and flowers.

 We then drove to New River Gorge National River Park.  We went for a walk along the Grandview top left if you look you can see Linda at bottom of picture.  Top middle the path was very narrow and steep we walked 1.6 miles to a overlook as you can see in the top right.  The picture just does not capture the beauty God has made in these mountains.  At the park they had a play,before the play a church group came and sang songs for hour (bottom left). Then you have the McCoy's middle and the Hatfield's right. I know the story of the Hatfield and McCoy's but I can't remember seeing it.

 Sat. After a short night we went to Babcock State Park.  Along the way we passed a coal train (top left). They had a mill there(bottom left).  At the park office built in the 30's(Top 3rd picture) they had many items carved out of coal(top right). In the Second row left Linda and I stopped for lunch overlooking the mountains. Next picture you see a swinging bridge which was close to the two log cabins also built in the 30's(last two in the row). At the park they had a swimming pool,volleyball, baseball, tennis and a lake where you could rent boats (third row). Next to the lake a person was driving along the rocks which was like us extremely narrow road. In the fourth row you can see the road in the woods.

 This is Hawks Nest State Park. top three pictures are of the famous New River Gorge Bridge.  We took pictures from many angles(walking, truck and boat).  They had a cat walk which you can go across and we were going to do that but ran out of time.It spans 1,700 ft and is the largest single span arch bridge in the hemisphere.To picture it: It is 876ft high.Beneath the bridge, the Statue of Liberty could stand twice atop the Washington Monument with 20 ft to spare!! Second row first two pictures we were driving over the bridge.  second row right we drove over  the narrow old bridge which was the bridge before the big one. While we were down there we picked and ate red raspberries they were ripe and full of flavor(THIRD LEFT). Next we went to Hawks Nest State Park and walked a trail to lovers leap(3rd middle)Short of the story goes Indian chief daughter forced to marry chief of another tribe. She is in love with warrior of her tribe they escape hunted by tribe end up on cliff wanted to be together so with arms around each other they jumped to death. We went on the tram 3rd row right then on a jet boat (4th middle) on our boat ride we passed many fish houses on the river(4th row right). None of these houses have elec. sewer, or water.

Sun. Linda made pancakes for breakfast then we went to church and at bible class they had sausage and biscuits. We went shopping then back to Church.Mon. It was time to move again.  We drove to Flatwood, West Virginia a core of eng.park called Gerald R Freeman Campground.  It is a very nice park with alot of tent sites.  They have 3 playgrounds, 2 volleyball courts, 2 boat launches,marina, and Snak Shak(Top two pictures). They also have washing machine so we got caught up on it.  Tues. We had a hard rain last night and most of the morning.  We drove to a Amish bulk store had ice cream and did some work on the computer.  There is no internet (that is with our personal hot spot) and poor phone service at the camp ground. We drove to Flatwoods, Sutton(bottom four pictures), and Gassaway.  I did not know that there was so many Civil War battles in this area and in W.V.  The top right picture is of Holly Gray Park a park used for their fairs and special events.

 We also found out that in this area there was a Legendary Branxton County Monster aka the Flatwoods monster or Phantom of Flatwoods short of the story 4 boys playing football on Sept 12, 1952 they saw like a shooting star adjacent hill top.  Went to check it out Mrs. May and her 2 boys came. they saw object glowing and hissing about 10 feet tall. Two lights about 12 inches apart, bright red face, bright green clothing. Face looked like ace of spades, and it looked like it was floating on air  toward them.

Wed. We traveled to Cass W.V.  where they started logging in 1901 and the town started in 1902.  They have many trains from the early 1900's.  They have taken the train cars that carried the logs from the mountains and made them so they could carry people (top right). Top left picture is the conductor oiling the engine. This train was made to haul heavy loads in the mountain top speed on flat ground was around 10 mph.  If you look closely you can see the gears are on the side of the wheels and only driven from the one side of the train. Top middle you can see how crooked the tracks get going up the mountain. Middle left top is a wood mill that has been burned down. Middle bottom left a diesel and steam loaders built in the 30's. Picture in the middle is at  Cass station. Middle right pictures of the caboose. It was a kitchen on tracks. Bottom a portable camp shanty 12 x 16 built for the cook, superintendent, lever man, and surveyor the rest of the crew lived in bunk cars. Bottom right a view from camp at Whittaker.

 From their we traveled to National Radio Astronomy Observatory.  Top right is a example of the world,s largest movable radio telescope and bottom two pictures we are just outside of the fenced in area.  The surface is bigger than a football field by 20 yards.  It is as tall as the Washington monument. We saw a short movie presentation of what it does and I still do not understand it (but I think it is important to discover outer space).

 We then went thou Seneca State Forest to Cranberry Mountain Nature Center to find it closed on Tues. and Wed. We then traveled to Cranberry Glades Botanical Area where we took pictures of some of the flowers.  Then to Cranberry Wilderness trail where we saw one of the three falls(bottom middle.  Bottom right is a swing bridge to a house along the highway.  Folks park on the highway and walk to there home across the river!