Saddle Time

I've spent a lot of time in the car recently . . . and have pretty much loved every moment of it. My job has taken me to Huntington, WV twice in the past three weeks and then today to Ironton, Ohio, which is only about 30 minutes up the road from Huntington. Since February 28 I've filled up my tank six times and I'm down to a quarter tank right now! During this time I've gotten some pretty good gas mileage. I'm getting in the neighborhood of 22 m.p.g. on the highway and got nearly 18 m.p.g. in my most recently mostly-around-town tank.

Anyways, the trip to Ironton can be pretty boring. Usually I take U.S. Route 23 south to almost Portsmouth where I zip around Portsmouth by taking a fun back-road trip that winds up a mountain. Eventually I end up on U.S. Route 52 which I take down to Ironton. It's easy; it's not terribly slow; and it's boring. Today, though, I took a slightly different route. I took 23 south to Chillicothe where I picked up U.S. Route 35. I took 35 east into the Hocking Hills and down to Jackson, where I caught Ohio Route 93, which I took south into Ironton. This drive was a blast. Lots of curves and hills . . . good scenery. I planned to do this in advance and consequently took my camera with me. Luckily, I was able to find an okay location to take some pics.