Day Four, My Trip Across the Mountains

For years now, I have traveled across the Allegheny Mountains to visit my parents. Whether it was flying in from the Gulf Coast and then crossing the hills or traveling from our home in Maryland, we've had a long, focused drive to get there. There was beautiful scenery and interesting things to see and do along the way, but because spending time with my parents was always more important than taking time out to see the sights we pressed forward without much stopping. But this year is different. With no more on our agenda than a family reunion on Saturday, Ward and I are going to traverse the state and see some of those things we have wanted to see for years now. And maybe find somethings to see that we didn't know about.

Day Four:

Telescopes, Towns, and Twisty-turny

Today we had rain showers on and off as we drove about 2 1/2 hours east to our first destination. Because of the different days of when things are open and closed, we are driving further some days than we originally planned.

We saw some breathtaking scenery today, especially at the higher elevations. However, we were only able to get a couple of pictures because there was no safe place to get off the twisty-turny mountain roads. It's hard to get perspective, but that mountain in the background is far away.

Our first stop was at the Green Bank Observatory. The observatory is home to several radio telescopes that can detect faint radio waves from far outer space. Because man made radio waves (think cell pones, gasoline powered vehicles*, etc.) cause interference, it is in the middle of a radio quiet zone. No chance of getting a cell phone signal for miles around.

This is the largest and newest telescope at the facility.  It is almost 500 ft. tall and weighs 17 million pounds. Recently it discovered the most massive neutron star ever found. We got this picture at the one spot we could get a photo before we had to turn everything off. The  Allegheny mountains that surround it help protect from man-made radio waves. That is one reason for its location.

I think this is one of the coolest places I've ever been. I was awed to be in a place that was detecting things from the "edge" of the universe.

Next we went to Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. As you might have guessed, they have regular steam engine train rides from here. However, the trains don't run on Monday, so we explored the town.

Cass was built in the early 1900's as company town for a pulp company. After about 50 years, the the business left and there was not much but a ghost town left. The state bought the town in the 1960's and made it into a park featuring the train rides up the mountain to where the logging was done. In the picture, you can see the company row houses that still exist. The whole town is now on the the national historical register.

Timbering is one of the oldest and largest industries in the state of West Virginia and still going on. We saw two log trucks go through town while we were there.

To take a break from the twisty-turny roads, we stopped at Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park. Droop Mountain was the scene of an important Civil War Battle.

The park was a pleasant place. You can see Ward heading toward the log cabin that houses a museum.

Until next time...