Our Fifth Season at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

Tim and I have worked at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (NERI) every year since 2017 on volunteer and/or contract museum assignments. We were happy to travel back to NERI in early May of this year for two reasons. One, the travel fund needed a serious infusion of capital after our travel booking spree in April. Most importantly, however, we really love working at NERI and feel like it is “our” park and “our” museum collection. 

You may have noticed a new designation for NERI. Last December, NERI was “upgraded,” or redesignated, from a National River to a National Park and Preserve, thus the new moniker.

A New Designation for NERI

Because of the size of our RV, we are not able to tow a car behind it. When we started full-timing, we decided to keep our car and drive it separately. Although this was a solution that few RVers adopt, it worked very well for us. We could set up the RV at a campsite, make the Kitty comfortable, and do our touring and errands with the car. 

This setup was almost a necessity during our museum projects, where we could be parked for up to two months. This time, however, we decided to leave the car behind and rent one when we arrived at NERI. We were able to get a good rate with Enterprise, and we would save additional wear and tear on our car. 

We left Colorado on May 4 and spent the first night at a lovely campground in Ellis, Kansas. We traveled through four more states before arriving in West Virginia on May 7.

From Colorado to Kansas

Traveling through Four States to Get to West Virginia

Because of a communication snafu, our favorite volunteer RV site at Grandview had been promised to someone else. We therefore were assigned a site at Burnwood. Although we were disappointed at first, we grew to really appreciate our new location. Although not as scenic or private as Grandview, Burnwood was so much closer to work, cutting our commuting time in half.

Our RV Site at Burnwood