Sunday offered up beautiful skies for riding. The rain was gone and we were off to see something new. I was anxious and very excited. This leg of the journey held special meaning to me. But, I am getting ahead of myself.
We left Mary Ann and Dave's house bright and early Sunday morning heading for West Virginia. We took US 23 to I64 and headed for Charleston. When we got to Charleston, we took HWY 60 and headed into unfamiliar territories. Our destination was to be Gauley Bridge, WV. This trip was special to me because my grandparents had adopted me as a child and raised me and so they were mom and dad. This was a second marriage for both of them as they had lost spouses prior. Mom was my maternal grandmother and her first husband, my maternal grandfather, was buried in the Gauley Bridge area in a mining camp called Gamoca, WV. I had never been there but today was the day. He had died from a heart attack at the age of 40 which is the same age I am now.
I had done research as much as possible before we left home and had found pics online that a cousin I had never heard of had posted. They were of my great-grandfathers grave in the same graveyard as my grandfather was buried in. I was feeling hopeful and optimistic. On the way there, just south of Gauley Bridge, there were waterfalls beside the road. We made a stop to take pics. The waterfalls were awesome. We came into Gauley Bridge about lunch time and, just like magic, a Ginos pizza was up ahead. We had not ate at a Ginos in years and the subs hit the spot. Just off the parking lot was a train tressle. I took pics and sent them to my sister Patty to see if they jogged any memories. It had been too long.
The GPS showed Gamoca, WV and we took off to go and find it. We passed where the GPS said to go and nothing was there. We turned and tried it again...not even a wide spot in the road. We headed back into Gauley Bridge knowing that we were going to have to ask someone where we were supposed to be. When we had first come into town, the police station was the first thing we had passed. I told Chowder if he would stop that I would go and ask for help. We stopped and I went in to ask for help. The officer on duty was absolutely awesome. Officer Roop took the time to tell me what that he could to help. He said that Gamoca was a mining town across the river and told me the location. He told me that the coal company had shut down about 1968 and that everyone abandoned the town when the work went. Unfortunately, there was no good way to get there. There is no bridge and we could not get there with our motorcycle.
I took this news rather well and we will return with the appropriate equipment to get across that river! Upon finding out all this info, we decided that we would head on north to Summersville where we would spend the night. What we had not anticipated was the natural beauty that we would encounter along the way. We meandered our way along the curvy road that is a motorcyclists dream. There were overlooks along the way that was well worth the stop for the spectacular views. We stopped off at one of the little towns along the way and enjoyed drinking ice cold gatorades on the porch area of the convenience store. It was here that I bought my lotto ticket. Unfortunately, to the cashier that I told if I won that I would remember you, I didn't win a thing. We went on up and found the New River Gorge. We went to the visitors center and then decided to go on the old winding road that is to the left of the center. It takes you to the bottom of the gorge and then winds you back up. It was awesome and offered many places to stop along the way. That bridge that crosses the gorge is HUGE! The rapids are beautiful and I was just astonished at the natural beauty. Love it! We plan on going back soon and taking the kids with us.
We made our way to Summersville and put up for the night. We are ahead of schedule as we thought we would be spending a couple of days in Gauley Bridge. I will need more time that that when we return. Love this area!!!
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