Rain and serenity 9/29/2015

Today was an opportunity for us to see the beautiful hills of Virginia//Kentucky in a different way. It started raining early on in the day, so we took our umbrellas and headed out to explore Breaks. Breaks Interstate  Park is administered by both Virginia and Kentucky as it emcompasses land from each state. It was first envisioned by some to be a national park, but Congress denied funding. So the two states set this land aside as a state park. It is considered to be a "resort" park, with a conference center, a lodge, cabins, campground, water park, pool, and restaurant located here. I had originally thought we could go to the restaurant here to celebrate our anniversary, but after Labor Day, the restaurant is closed on Mondays and tuesdays. Many people use the facilities here for business

conferences, weddings and family reunions, and those functions usually have people arriving here on Wednesday or Thursday. When we arrived, there wwas virtually noone in the park. We were the only campers along with 2-3 others in the entire campground, where there are a total of ta least 100 sites.

There are a number of short trails that lead to overlooks that provide sweeping views of the valleys below. This area is incredibly beautiful. The valleys between the mountains here are not wide and flat, but very narrow. Most roads are nestled in the hollows with hills to either side, with a creek to the side of the road. Any homes are built across the creek, and are connected to the road by a small bridge. While this is not always the case, it is very common. This is the heart of Appalachia. Coal

country. From up on the high overlooks at Breaks, we were provided an incredible view of all the mountain folds, their hollows, the changing fall foliage, the river and the railroad that carries coal out of the area. Clouds were low in the hollows.. We stood there in the quiet (we were the only people there), rain coming down, umbrellas in hand, mesmerized by the serenity of the moment. Ray mentioned that it would be great to have our lounge chairs there and then to sit in the silence, sipping a cold beer, and feel the

peace of the place.

We visited all of the overlook trails, and started down one other longer trail, but it started to rain even harder. It was getting to midday by then, and we opted to return to the RV, at least until the rain stopped. We had lunch, read a bit, surfed the web (using our phone signals--there's Verizon 4G here), and I took a short nap while listening to the rain patter on the roof of the RV.

The rain did stop later in the afternoon, and we decided that a hike would be too soggy, so we revisited  a few of the spots we had so enjoyed that morning.

Our anniversary day finished with dinner and a movie in our little retreat in the woods.