Trip to Mom and Dad's

I don't have anything to show as far as journaling today but I did want to share some of the photographs that I took of the beautiful scenery in the mountains of West Virginia.  I just wish there were more things in bloom in the pictures.  Usually this time of the season, the trees are in full leaf and the Redbuds are in bloom.

Here is a map of my route from Huntington to Petersburg.  Petersburg is in the mountains close to the eastern panhandle of West Virginia and I live on the most Western tip of the state.

 I think there are a total of 5 mountains - 2 lane roads- that I drive over.  It is a gorgeous drive once I get off the interstate and even though the trip takes approximately 4 1/2 hours from door to door, I usually enjoy it.

Here is a picture of one of the mountain views.  Even though the temperature was in the mid 60s, there was still snow on the mountain top.

This part of the country has some very interesting rock formations and I stopped to take a few photos that I just love.

This rock formation has a small cave that you can access through the water but believe me this water is ice cold.  The stream that runs here is fed by the water coming off the mountains from the snow melting.  It doesn't ever get very warm so not sure if I would like to swim into the cave even in the heat of summer.

This rock formation has a slow moving pool of water on the same stream as the previous picutre.  All the rock formations are vertically inclined. 

The next photo is of Seneca Rocks.  If you look in the area of the saddle shaped area where there is no rock, there used to be a large rock that stood there that was shaped like an Indian's head. 

A popular romance of the Rocks — "The Betrothal of Snow Bird, Princess of the Seneca Indians" — was written in 1932 by Harry Malcolm Wade.^[13] West Virginia writer J. Lawrence Smith provides the following short summary of the story:

"Princess Snow Bird, who had grown to maidenhood in the shadow of the rocks and scaled their heights many times, proposed a contest to her father, [Chief] Bald Eagle. She would climb to the crest of the rocks as prospective suitors followed. The first to take her hand would become her mate. Bald Eagle agreed, and at the end of the climb, of seven suitors, only one remained, the others having turned back from fear or fallen to their deaths. From their lofty perch, Snow Bird and her future mate surveyed the surrounding realm of the Seneca that would be theirs to rule one day."^[

I found this picture online that shows the Indian or "Sentinel"  in place from 1975 before it finally fell over.

My father has painted these rock formations many times and I have two that hang in my office at work now.  It is one of my favorite places.

I also saw some sheep and coudn't resist taking a couple of pictures of them.  In West Virginia the cow is king but in this part of the state there are a lot of sheep herds.

 Well, that is all the trip pictures for today.  Might share a few again tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by.