Day 4 - Jackson, OH to Boone, NCRoute - OH 124 to OH 833 to WV 62 to US 33 to WV 16 to US 19 to US 19 Bus to US 19 to US 19 Bus to US 19 to US 421 to Boone Man, today was a day. I vastly overestimated how fast I could travel through Appalachia on two lane roads (I knew it would be slower, but was way off on how much slower), and combined with a lot of rain and even some snow, ended up a good hour behind schedule. Didn't get to the NC line until well after sundown, which was a bummer because it looked like the scenery was quite good. I can't wait to see what Boone looks like in the morning.
Oh well, for next trip I think I know how I need to budget time.
Anyway, took Ohio 124 to Ohio 833 (old US 33) to start the day. Here is the cable-stayed bridge over the Ohio River, taken from Pomeroy, OH.


Ohio 833 technically turns into WV 62 Spur, but it's signed as Ohio 833 from the West Virginia side.

I'd never seen a nuclear power plant in person before, so that was neat, in New Haven WV.

West Virginia signage is awfully sparse. It's not that it's not there in the important parts- it is, but reassurance shields and mileage signs between state highway junctions are very infrequent.

Can somebody give me a quick primer on West Virginia shield types?
Squares are obviously state highways.
Fractional routes...are they state or county maintained? What are routes in a circle that aren't fractional- are they more or less significant than the circle routes? And then what are the routes that are signed with a trapezoid sort of shield- are those tertiary routes of some kind? Who maintains those?
Fortunately, it stopped raining briefly as I arrived at the New River Gorge. I had planned to take some time to explore it, and I took some time to explore it.
I was intrigued by the CAR banner over the [circle] highway that heads down and provides the best bridge view vantages.

Here's some shots of the bridge from under the bridge


Went ahead and walked the Endless Wall trail too- a nice 3 mile walk roundtrip. I twas good to get out of the car and do something physical.
Here is a smaller bridge

I was amazed by how clear the water is. Out west, at this time of year, the water is all snowmelt and because of that it's usually quite brown. March water is icky, but not here.
Here's some gorge shots:




As I have gotten older I have gotten more afraid of heights. Taking this picture scared the crap out of me, and that's with me standing another couple feet back and extending my arm out with the camera.

I'm intrigued by how WV signs routes as lettered emergency detours for the turnpike

A bit later, I entered the Old Dominion...these cutouts in Bluefield are not standard-spec anything right?

These are the sorts of cutouts I was expecting, and they're both smaller and more impressive in person.

19 is a nice road through Virginia. It moves well as a divided highway, but it's a lot more intimate than a freeway. You still feel like you're traversing the landscape and seeing stuff, without being burdened by slowness.
421 from Bristol to Boone is a neat drive. Unfortunately, it was getting dark so no photos, and then up by the North Carolina line it was snowing pretty good. I'd like to come back and try it again some time, so maybe I will.