Great Race 2025 June 26th & 27th

We spent the night in Lexington, Kentucky. We continued to have a heatwave and cars and people are falling apart. Despite the few mechanical issues we have endured, Jane keeps chugging along as do her driver and navigator.

We drove East toward Ohio this morning and spent the first half of the day rallying toward Huntington, West Virginia.

The landscape clearly changed from Western Kentucky to Eastern Kentucky. We are no longer in flat and rolling hills. Eastern Kentucky is more mountainous with roads lined by granite walls with a forest of a variety of trees on top of the walls.

We stopped for lunch in Ashland, Kentucky. Ashland is located on the southern bank of the Ohio River which is the boarder between Kentucky and Ohio. It is an economic and medical hub for the tri-state area.

We made our way into Ohio for a brief time heading East on Interstate 64 and Highway 60. We traversed across the hills making our way into Charleston, West Virginia.

Charleston is the capital of West Virginia. It is located on the Kanahwa River. Charleston has about 40,000 people making it the most populous city in West Virginia.

There are beautiful old homes on the river. Sadly, West Virginia has been killed by two major issues. First, the lack of jobs when coal mining was cut off, and then the opioid epidemic. You see what was once a thriving economy to the devastation of a dead economy.

It is one of the most beautiful states in the union. The landscape is mountainous with rivers and streams and trees everywhere. It is nature at its best.

June 27th

We started the morning heading up into the mountains. Like yesterday, we were surrounded by the beauty of nature. We were in the forest winding our way up through the hills of the Appalachian Mountains. We headed toward Lewisburg, West Virginia. While rallying through the mountains, we made a transit through The New River Gorge.

The New River Gorge is one of the must see National Parks! It is an outdoorsman’s paradise offering camping, hiking, kayaking, fishing and rock climbing. The drive through the gorge is worth the 45 minutes.

We first drove over the gorge, then went into the visitors center where we entered the road down to the bottom of the gorge.

The New River Gorge Bridge is an over 3000 foot steel arch bridge. It is a magnificent piece of engineering. The arch spans 1700 feet. The bridge was completed in 1977. The bridge saved travelers 45 minutes by allowing them to cross the bridge in one minute versus driving down mountain roads into the gorge and back out.

As we drove to the bottom of the gorge, we passed the bridge’s massive steel abutments. There were rock formations that hung over the road, and trees creating cool shade. There were waterfalls on the granite walls along the road. We reached the bottom and drove across the river and along its edge.

We were off the clock while we drove through the gorge, but we crossed through a check point where they checked our cars for extra watches, gps and calculators.

We continued back up to the highway while continuing to take in the sights of the gorge.

We were back on the clock after an hour and a half, heading toward Lewisburg, West Virginia. As we made our way toward lunch we were taken on a small detour. We drove across an old covered bridge.

Like many towns we visit, Lewisburg is a small town with a population of less than 4000 people. Lewisburg is located in the Greenbriar State Forest. Surprisingly, Lewisburg is the home to one of the 4 remaining active Carnegie Halls. They have many speakers and events at the hall serving over 75,000 people per year.

We left lunch heading toward Roanoke, Virginia. We drove down two lane highways and backroads. The terrain was rolling and the roads were lined with white fences in front of beautifully groomed farms. We were in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but it was not as harsh as the Appalachian Mountains.

We finished the day at the Roanoke Transportation Museum. We were greeted by our team from Mustang Country. We parked in a field behind the museum.

We have a shut down process each day, and before we even look up we complete our tasks. When I finally looked up, I saw Doug one of our friends and mechanics from Mustang Country and then saw the rest of the group standing with him. We jumped out of the car, and greeted them with one of the few Aces we earned this year.

Mustang Country sponsored the Aces this year, so we were excited to share the small victory with them.

We headed into the museum for dinner. We sat and visited with Brandon, Allan, Doug and Lori (our friends from Mustang Country). They shared their travels with us, it turned out their day was longer than ours. They had flown from Long Beach, California to Greenville, South Carolina and then drove 4 hours north to Roanoke. We quickly sent them back to the hotel to get some rest.

They are so fantastic, they met us later at the hotel to repair our air conditioner. We only use our a/c at the end of the day, but it makes a huge difference in how we feel.

We are so appreciative for all the help the team from Mustang Country have given us to prepare Jane for this long journey. Despite the few issues, the team effort has kept us going!