West Virginia - State #12!

After we left Lynchburg, VA, we traveled up to West Virginia and camped at Babcock State Park for a few days. One day we drove to Charleston to visit the state capitol building. I have to say that we were SO surprised and impressed with this capitol! The architecture is amazing! They also have an incredible State History Museum next door. The exhibits are so impressive! You could easily spend 3 to 4 hours there if you read and explored through the entire museum. And - it is FREE! BONUS!!!

This fancy chandelier found hanging in the dome weighs 4,000 pounds! It is lowered whenever a new governor is inaugurated into office for its regular cleaning.  The chandelier is lowered by hand, which takes over three hours.  After it is cleaned, it takes over four hours to bring it back up!

The inside of the building is incredibly ornate with marble columns and archways...

We also toured the historic House Chambers...

There was a large group of students from Thailand in our tour group that day.  The young girls were quite taken with Caleb and Joshua.  They kept smiling, chatting and taking pictures of the boys.  As you can see, I don't think they minded;)

Time for a press conference! Each boy took their turn at the podium and put on their best political face...

We found some interesting things walking through the halls by the offices...

 We also found an empty space just waiting for a statue. So- Alan and I decided to help them out:)

Alan- The Politician

Jill - The Drama Queen

We took a few more pictures outside, but I think we are so small compared to the building that you can barely see us...

On another day during our stay in West Virginia, we drove over the New River Gorge Bridge and explored the visitor center.  We actually drove over it a few times, but just in our mini-van and not in the RV! Whew! You can bet I was glad about that:)  This bridge is over 3,000 feet long and is tall enough to fit the Statue of Liberty twice standing on top of the Washington Monument with 20 feet to spare! Yikes!

The boys worked hard and they each earned another Junior Ranger Badge during our visit. YAY!

After our quick visit in West Virginia, we headed back to Virginia and stayed in Williamsburg for two weeks at the end of May.  It was Joshua's turn to put the sticker on our map for Virginia, and Caleb's turn for West Virginia...

Blessings to you and yours,

Jill and the boys:)