Rick, you never cease to amaze me or to outdo yourself. This tour and your account of it is by far my favorite, probably because it ventures even closer to my old regular stomping grounds.
I lived in Lexington from about 1987 to 1989 while my dad taught American History at a military institute that shall remain nameless. It was his first teaching job after he earned his Doctorate at W&M. Despite having been very young then and not spending much time there since I recognize the sites.
I also haven't seen Natural Bridge since about that same time and it was a welcome site. A distant cousin of mine is (was?) the president of the investment company (I think?) that owns (owned?) it. My family history has gotten a little rusty lately. I need to brush up a bit.
Edit: Found this. Angelo Puglisi is my distant cousin. I was unaware of the recent news.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3332505.html
You picked some absolutely beautiful roads for this trip and it makes me miss the east coast even more but, yes, VA southwest of the area you visited does very much resemble WV. I spent most of my formative years in Bristol and I can say there's not much going on SW of Roanoke.
Thanks, Rick!