New River Gorge NP

Last weekend, we took a road trip to West Virginia to visit New River Gorge National Park. It was designated as a National Park in 2020 and it's our 42nd National Park! It's less than a five-hour drive from our house - not quite as close a Shenandoah NP, but compared to other NPs, it's practically in our backyard! As I shared in my last post, we’re on a quest to visit all 64 National Parks, and having this one nearby is great!

One of the most famous spots in the park is the New River Gorge Bridge, which is what’s often depicted in photos of the park, but since it just so happened to be "Bridge Day" on Saturday, October 17 (a yearly event where extreme sport enthusiasts jump from the bridge into the gorge), we avoided that area of the park because we'd read that it would be extremely busy and obviously have no personal interest in jumping from a bridge! LOL!

As you'll see, we had the most beautiful weather and Avalanche loved all of the trails; I'm sure the park is lovely during the rest of the year as well, but the changing leaves and cooler weather made for a pretty much perfect day!

what you can't see in the photo because of the grass
is that the bottom side of the frame reads
"Bark Ranger"

We spent Saturday night at a nearby hotel and Avalanche is truly becoming a hotel expert, even though he still does not enjoy an elevator experience whatsoever!

he is always confused by elevators, and honestly,
I get it - you start in one location and somehow
end up in another location just by standing
in a metal box

he can never exit an elevator
quickly enough!

once we're out of the elevator,
he's all about the hotel life

he got a swag bag when we checked in

it contained a ball, a bag of treat,
and some wipes and baggies

absolutely at home in a hotel room

the sunset was too pretty
to not take a picture

On Sunday morning, we drove home, stopping at the Blue Ridge Tunnel for a walk, which we'd done with Avalanche one other time. It's little less than a mile in length, but much of it is in complete darkness, so you need headlamps or flashlights. It's a pretty fun little adventure!

I think his shadow looks like Batman!

Another National Park and another fun weekend! We currently don't have another National Park trip planned until February, so we're hoping the weather cooperates and we're able to go!

Happy Tails to you!