On our final day staying in Watoga State Park in West Virginia, we checked out the Greenbrier River Trail and rode a chunk of the route on our bikes. The day started out a tad overcast so we headed from our rustic cabin to the trail head, a short distance away, cognizant that time was likely not on our side.
Read MoreAfter weighing the weather report for the day and the following day, the Cranberry Glades area won out. Everything we had read about the area sold us on this decision. The Cranberry Glades are a unique bog environment, not typically found so far south. A more common location of a bog is Canada or far northern areas in the United States, not a spot a 7+ hour drive south of there. A bog is a freshwater wetland area with an soft, spongy ground because it is filled with peat, partially decayed plant matter.
Read MoreAfter swinging by the main park building to access wifi from the parking lot to get driving directions on the phone, we drove the 25 minutes or so to Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park. The route took us through the small area of Hillsboro, past the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace – a gorgeous, white house sitting along a rural thoroughfare. There were some steep altitude climbs and very windy roads, but it was overall an easy drive.
Read MoreWest Virginia is known as the Mountain State for a reason. While many states dip into the Appalachian region, West Virginia is the only state entirely within the Appalachian region. And because the Appalachian system of mountains is so vast - spanning from Georgia to Maine - it has sub-sections of mountains. West Virginia is home to the Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateau areas, the former of which is nestled against the Blue Ridge Mountains of our local area in Virginia.
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