.
After visiting Kanawha falls, we headed towards New River George Bridge. We a hoping to see a huge bridge but we didn't see any until the GPS indicates that we passed it. We were surprised that we really didn't see one. Then we found the visitor center of New river bridge nearby and the lady explained what happened.

We had crossed it without knowing we are crossing it. The bridge is not visible when we cross it. It just looks like the road connecting mountain tops. If you want see the bridge, you have to take the scenic trail which runs under the bridge. Then you can view the huge bridge from the bottom side.

.

.
We visited Kanawha Falls on the first day of our Washington trip. We reached there around 2 pm.

The waterfall has a very small height but it is really wide. You can access the fall very easily as it is adjacent to the main road.

.

.
We planned a trip to Washington D.C. with my parents in May, 2012. We thought to cover West Virginia, Virginia, Washington D.C. and Pittsburgh, PA in this trip.

On day one, we started from Bloomington, IN and drove to West Virginia via Kentucky. It was aroun 8 hr drive to our lodge. This was our route from Bloomington to Lewisburg, WV.



View Larger Map

We visited Kanawha falls, New river George bridge and Grandview park on our way.
.

.
Presque Isle state park is in Pennsylvania, near lake Erie. This is what it looks like.

This curve shaped land has amazing beaches. You can do various activities like kiting, cycling, fishing and jogging there.

We were coming back from Niagara(for the 2nd time) towards Indiana. We just found this park on the GPS and thought to have a look (glad we did). We stopped by a beach named "Mill road beach". It was really beautiful and sunny. We spent about an hour there enjoying and relaxing. Too bad we had to leave the place so soon as we still had to cover a major potion of the journey.

.

.
It was a one day trip to French Lick, IN in winter 2011. It was about 1 hr away from Bloomington, IN. We had fun in BIg splash water park in the morning.

It was a small sized indoor water park. Though it is relatively small, it is more than enough to have fun if you are with friends. It was a part of a hotel. If your group has 4 people or more, you get a room from the hotel. I think it is a great deal.

We had lunch from a nice Amish restaurant in the city. Then we headed to West Baden Springs hotel and to French Lick Springs hotel. These hotels offer tours but we couldn't get one because we were too late. Those were nice hotels and we spent some time to to look and walk around.

.

.
After visiting Gateway arch which is nearby Mississippi river,  we went for a ferry ride. There were two steam boat style ferries named "Tom Sawyer" and "Becky Thatcher". We got into Tom Sawyer.

The ferry went about 2 miles down the river and came back. It was right before winter. Therefore the surrounding was not that beautiful. It could have been much better if we visited there in Fall or Summer.
.

.
We visited Gateway Arch in Labor day 2011. It was 4 hr drive from Bloomington, IN. So we decided to make it a one day trip.

We crossed Illinois state and reached the border of Illinois and Missouri (the Mississippi river). The Gateway arch is built beside the river.

We had reserved tickets but had to wait in a queue for security checks. Ticket price for an adult was $10. Finally we got into small elevators and stayed seated till the elevators reach the top of the arch. The view from the top was beautiful. We could see the river and state of Illinois on one side and state of Missouri on the other side.

We had to wait in a queue to get down too. The staff said it's because it was Labor day. Then we headed towards the Mississippi river to take a Ferry ride.
.