I-77 and VIRGINIA

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A little warning about I-81 - I-77 joins I-81 at exit 32, follows 81 west to Wytheville and then separates from I-81 to continue north to West Virginia. It only shares the highway with I-81 for 9 miles, but... frequently, when there is a NASCAR race at Bristol, the Interstate clear up here can be like a parking lot.
  If you are northbound on I-77 and find, when getting to I-81, that it is slow going, take exit 80 (the next exit) and follow VA-121 northbound to Max Meadows. 2 Blocks after you cross the railroad track is Peppers Ferry Road. Turn left and follow it (also signed as SR-610) to I-77 at exit 41 thereby bypassing all that traffic.

Cheap Gas! Another little note - exit 77 on I-81 has several gasoline stations and they are usually much less expensive (still not really cheap, but...) than the others within 50 miles or so.

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• Wytheville

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Wytheville

Visitors' Center - The Visitors' Center is downtown but easy to access.
  From I-77 northbound, take exit 73 (remember that at this point you are still on I-81) and follow US-11 into town to 3rd Street. Turn right, go 1 block to Monroe Street, turn left and the Wytheville Convention & Visitors Bureau is mid-block.
  From I-77 southbound, take exit 41. At Peppers Ferry Road turn right and follow it into town. In Wytheville Peppers Ferry Road becomes Monroe Street. The Wytheville Convention & Visitors Bureau is mid-block right after you cross 3rd Street.
  There are many interesting things to see in this little corner of Virginia. The Visitors' Center web site lists many of them and you can get details - and directions - from the folks in the Visitors' Center.
  For more information, phone 1-877-347-8307 (toll free).

Historic Downtown Wytheville - At the visitors' center you can pick up a nice brochure and directions for a 'self-guiding' walking tour of this historic downtown.

The Pencil - In the decade of the 1950s, the owner of the Wytheville Office Supply had a 30-fot long, "Big Pencil" constructed and mounted on his store front overlooking Main Street (US-11/21). He had a dream; Wytheville's Main Street would look like the English shops of old with symbols denoting what merchandise was available in each store. Nice idea, perhaps, but he wound up being very alone with his dream. He is gone, now, bit the giant pencil remains.

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Big Walker Tunnel - Between exit 47 and exit 52 at Bland is Big Walker Mountain - a 3,770 foot barrier between Wythe and Bland Counties. It used to take 40 to 45 minutes to drive from Wytheville to Bland. In 1972, after five years of construction (and some $30 million) the dual-tube Big Walker tunnel was opened to traffic. The trip from Wytheville to Bland now takes only 15 minutes.
  The Wytheville Enterprise newspaper publish a very interesting article about this tunnel. You can read it at BigWalker.

East River Mountain Tunnel - Between I-77 exit 66 in Virginia and exit 1 in West Virginia is the 3,600 foot East River Mountain: a barrier between Virginia and West Virginia. Another tunnel, opened in 1974. At 5,400 feet, it is not only longer than the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel but the longest, twin-tube tunnel in the United States. You can read a short sketch about it at EastRiver.

And, emerging from the East River Mountain Tunnel, your eyes greet the mountains of West Virginia.

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