From The Ground Up - Day TenThe Finale

Up The Mountain

What better way for me to end my From The Ground Up project with Jeremiah than to give you a West Virginia mountain! I always like to think ahead as to what my closing photo on a project will be. I had thought for a few days that a mountain from the ground up would be the perfect ending for me to share.

This past Sunday on my way home from visiting my son I had turned off the road to visit a Civil War site. (I'll share it on a later post.) When I came back out to the main road this site was in front of me and I knew this was the shot I had been waiting for. I hope you enjoy it.

I want to thank old friends and new friends who came to visit and left such wonderful comments on my efforts. I truly appreciate it. I enjoyed visiting all of you and seeing such imaginative ideas. And thank you, Jeremiah,for hosting the project - it was a great idea and a lot of fun!!!

A Trip Down the Turnpike

This weekend I traveled a couple of hours to see my brother and his family in Beckley, West Virginia. My route included the West Virginia Turnpike. A pleasurable and scenic hour drive. "The Turnpike" as locals call it was once a treacherous two lane road with many curves and a tunnel through the mountain. Built in 1952 it has only been since 1986 that it was upgraded to Interstate standards. I have traveled it more times in my life than probably any other roadway. It was the gateway between my family home in West Virginia and my then home in Virginia. Fifteen years were traveled when it was that treacherous two lane. The old saying, "I survived the West Virginia Turnpike" was around for years. I guess you could say I survived it many times. I marvel at the construction that had to be done to make this roadway. The cutting through the mountains and rock must have been difficult to say the least. I marvel at the rock landscape beside the highway - the texture and roughness and beauty as well. It always tugs at my heart that these West Virginia mountains are "mine. " This weekend's travels reminded me how good it is indeed to be "home.



It has still been very cold here as is evidenced by the ice on the rock cliffs along the highway. This particular shot reminded me of flowing milk over barren ground and look at that blue sky - a beautiful day!