Day 15, April 30, Rain, rain go away!

We left an overcast, damp Pipestem RV camp this morning, headed toward Charleston. We decided to continue on SR20 south, rather than retracing our steps to go SR20 north back to I-64. The SR20 south route would take us to I-77, and then we would need to go north on I-77 for about seven (7) mile to get back to I-64. Although this alternate route would like us a little to get to Charleston, it would be easier driving than the SR20 north route, which is a lot of narrow two-lane, rough, mountain roads.

(Passing through the town of Athens, WV, just south of the Pipestem RV Camp.)

The I-64 West/I-77 North combined interstate could not be called a "freeway." It also has the designation of being the West Virginia Turnpike; and so we had to stop at three toll booths, at a price of $5.25 each. And the entire drive was in a steady rainfall, complete with lots of fog on long stretches of the road. Here are some of photos.

As I said yesterday, West Virginia -- at least the parts we've seen -- is a beautiful state.. There is no way to convey that in mere words, and Doug can't take a lot of pictures while driving -- Patrise is not the photographer in the family --so you'll have to take our word for it. Very wooded, with lots of streams, creeks, and rivers. One of the noticeable characteristics about the state is that the towns are "squeezed into" tight valleys between mountains. Therefore, they tend to be very dense, with housing and other buildings so close together, even though their populations are small.

We arrived to Charleston in relatively good time, despite rain, fog, and tolls. We pulled into the city about 12:30om. We had decided much earlier in the trip, to stay in a hotel for two nights here, before continuing on the rest of the trip. Our reservation is at the Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Charleston.

(Interior of the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Charleston, WV)

After checking in and resting for a brief while, we explored a local mall -- shopping for jeans, getting manicures, grabbing some lunch.

Here are some views of downtown Charleston, at least in the proximity of the hotel. The downtown is not a very big city, nor does it appear to be particularly vibrant, but given that its 2021 population is 44,600 (250,662 metro) I suppose it wouldn't be either -- big nor vibrant.

We returned to the hotel, did some work and watched some tv. We have watched very little television on the trip so far and for the most part we have not missed it. However, every now and then, Patrise wants to see one of her westerns, and I would like to see a Braves game; neither has been possible with the equipment we have on the RV, so we are taking advantage of being in a hotel for two days. (Smile)

We ended the day by going to dinner at a nearby restaurant, the Tidewater. It was a disappointing experience, but the desserts were good. Tomorrow, we will do a little home maintenance work and then have a tour of the city in the afternoon. There are no organized tours of Charleston, so one of the hotel employees has offered to give us a tour of the city when his shift ends. Kind of sad, but we'll take what we can get.