Almost Kanawha, West Virginia

We’re off from Springfield, OH, headed towards the Ohio River and West Virginia beyond.

We’ve visited West Virginia many times in the past, so we’re really starting to feel like we’re getting close to our goal, plus just having the word “Virginia” in its name probably has something to do with it. Incidentally, the original name selected for West Virginia was Kanawha, named after the river and then county in the area which was, until then, part of Virginia itself but there was concern it would be confusing to have a county and a state called Kanawha, plus the western Virginians who were seceding from Virginia during the Civil War still wanted a name to reflect their Virginian heritage, so here we are.

We’ll make plans to pass through Athens, OH, and cross the Ohio River into West Virginia at Parkersburg, where once the longest railroad bridge in the world was built, before pressing on towards Clarksburg, WV if we are making okay time. Our last few days will be back in the mountains, albeit the eastern kind, but they can still make for slow going.