Coopers Rock - October 2022

 We took a weekend trip to Coopers Rock near Morgantown WV, in early October 2022.  It was nice and close for us to try out the camper in case anything went awry.  

We have been driving by the Coopers Rock exit for many years on our way to Virginia, and we always said, "We should go there one day"!  The views did not disappoint!  There are SO many trails to hike, some easy, some more difficult!  The first day we hiked about 6 miles!  Thank goodness we stopped in Morgantown at the Bass Pro Shop, where I picked up a pair of hiking shoes!

We camped at McCollum Campground, which was quiet and beautiful!  The camp sites are spacious and we had quite a bit of privacy.  The restrooms were a little bit of a hike, through the woods, so we were really glad we had our own bathroom in the camper!

          

Day 2 brought a lot more hiking!  I should have journaled the names of the trails we hiked, but I think we went about 10 miles, give or take.  The scenery was worth it! 

Except when Ernie tried to scare me with a piece of bark he found along the trail!  I was trying read a 

trail map and this is what I saw when I turned around!

We will definitely go back to Coopers Rock!  We have a lot more trails to explore!

The Adventure Begins - August 2022

 We purchased our NorthStar 850sc (dubbed Norie-Marilyn!  Norie was what the previous owner called her, but also for Marilyn, my Mother) from a lovely couple in Madisonville, KY after many many many months of searching (well Ernie searched and I waited and waited for him to find one)!  After an 8 hour drive, and a couple of hours of going over the process of how the camper worked, we enjoyed pizza and a couple of cold ones with Jill (the previous owner).  We stayed the night in Jill's driveway and departed from home around 4:30am!  

Our plan was to go straight back to McDonald, but Ernie suggested we stop somewhere on the way back home.  After a little searching, we decided on Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky.  The first picture below, caught us off guard!  It was a tunnel that was apparently blasted into the mountain a hundred years ago (and is said to be haunted by the ghosts of those who were killed while working on the tunnel).  With nothing to tell us the clearance of the tunnel, and no where to turn around, we forged ahead and hoped for the best!  After all, this was our virgin trip in the "new" camper and it sure would have been a shame to get stuck!  Ernie drove as slow as a snail, and with a few choice words from both of us....we made it through to find a line of cars waiting for us to come out so they could have their turn.

We found a nice little campground, and then went to find a place to hike for the day.  We just thought we would take a stroll through the woods, but ended up finding a trail (can't remember the name of it) that seemed fitting for two older adults to walk.....1.1 miles?  No problem!  Let me just say, that 1.1 miles was straight up the side of the mountain.  We huffed and puffed our way up (stopping frequently to catch our breath....or should I say, Ernie stopped with ME so I could catch MY breath)! 

We hiked to the natural bridge, which was created by natural elements......we were awestruck at God's creation.  

And on up we went.............

A beautiful site greeted us at the top!

It was a wonderful first trip and we are looking forward to all of our adventures across the USA!