Local travels

A quick break from grocery shopping posts....

Do you ever visit state parks?  They're a great, free resource for family fun.  This weekend we visited Beartown State Park in Hillsboro, West Virginia. 

I left the perspective in this picture to show that most of the place is boardwalks.  Its at about 3000' elevation, in the trees, and very damp and cool.  What a nice change from the weather we've had lately!  There was no danger in letting the girls take the lead - except for the slippery wood in places - they couldn't get off the path!

Now, this is probably the most beautiful place we've been in weeks and weeks, and for the life of me, I couldn't get a decent picture of us or of the surroundings. There was so much moss, so many ferns and so much texture. I couldn't capture it all with the camera as I was too busy soaking it all in myself!

(Andy, do you want me to delete this picture?

Ignore the man in the picture...he's not pickin' anything - he's on the first day of a cold Abbo shared with us.  Perspective, again - they're looking down between the rocks - Hannah is telling us that this where Indians live....

Anyways, as we were leaving Beartown, a real live bear sauntered across the road heading into the woods!  As is the case with every other bear I've seen, it just melted into the woods so that by the time we made it to where he entered, he was nowhere to be found. 

A short drive up the road brought us to Droop Mountain State Park.  As a Virginian, I often forget that West Virginia was on the Union side during the Civil War, and that there were many battles fought in this area.  Droop Mountain was the site of the last major Civil War battle in West Virginia. 

We drove through the park, climbed the observation tower and let the girls get out some energy at the playground before the ride home.  Many thanks to that kid who seesawed with Hannah - there's rarely anyone around her size to play with her on the seesaw and she really appreciated it!

I just have to remind her, though, that she needs to give warning before getting off.  The boy got off, too, rubbing his back end.  No hard feelings, though - we'd seen him and his family at Beartown and told them about the bear.  He thought it was pretty cool and I heard him ask his parents if they'd take him back over there.....

Missed photo op

Seriously, I need some suggestions for a new camera. I'm missing some blissful photo ops because I've effectively killed two cameras in two months. And ran out of batteries for the SLR. Don't tell Andy. He'll kill ME. Any suggestions on digital cameras? Important features: a short lapse time between shots (to keep up with the girls), excellent image quality, and good zoom capabilities. All this for under $300. Soon.

Last weekend, in our WV Weekend tradition, we went here:
http://www.hangingrocktower.org/images/BooneAerial.htm
that I found out about on:
http://www.hangingrocktower.org/index.html
and yes, of course, the views were amazing....

But the wildflowers! We were literally wading through wild geraniums and side stepping Jack-in-the-Pulpits (Or is it Jacks-in-the-Pulpit. No. I'm pretty sure I just saw one Jack. And didja know that if you see a Jack, the plant is a Jenny?!), and wild columbine, Fire Pinks (which are actually bright - I mean, shockingly bright - red), may apples, trillium (not blooming yet), and what I think is Viper's Bugloss - an ugly name for an amethyst-colored spiky, quasi-shrub.

It was a "grueling" not-quite-one-mile-up hike for the mama with a Giant Baby on her back, a four and a half year old girl whose legs often-ly "needed a rest," but alas, thank goodness for Daddyo who played the encourager and peacemaker for a mama whose patience filled this space: {} and who took over the Baby Backpack 3/4 of the way up (to be fair, I carried her the whole way back!). Of course, once we made it to the top, it was so worth the walk. No raptors, but we did get eyeball to beak with several turkey vultures.... Even Han was asking when we were coming back to spend the night. (Can we do that there??)Andy made my ankles weak by resting his elbows ON and arms OVER the Hanging Rock and inviting Hannah Berry to join him - which she did - for a minute, anyways. BUT NO PICTURE! Grumble, grumble.....

I counted three peach trees in kissin' distance of the fort - just loaded. We stopped at the Cheese Store in Gap Mills for provisions before our journey, but fresh peaches at 3800' would be an exquisite treat. I can't wait to go back. With a camera, of course.

West Virginia Weekend

Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend, and we spent parts of the 3 days across the border in WV. Lessee, on Friday, we decided to go to the Kroger in Fairlea - just for something different - and we stopped in Lewisburg on the way home to let the girls play in the water fountain downtown.

I haven't laughed so hard in I don't know how long. Abba wasn't too interested after a fountain spray surprised her, but we couldn't get Hannah out of the water. I don't think her feet touched the ground for more than a minute or two the whole time we were there! Now, to be sure, she was fueled by sugar free gummy bears.

And speaking of sugar free gummy bears, my advice to you is, "don't." Because when we got home that night we surprised them with a camp-out in the back yard. Andy set up the tent and we piled in with our sleeping bags, books and lanterns. As soon as the sun set, Hannah felt some rumblings (frogs?) that had her sleeping in her own bed. Abba followed around midnight. Beware the sorbitol....!

Anyways, on Saturday we were back in West (BG) Virginia to visit Lost Caverns. Which we found (gotcha) to be a perfect adventure for our little family. Of course the girls were mostly interested in the gift shop and the wishing well filled with shiny dimes and pennies, but they didn't complain too much about the long walk (slick in places), the chilly temperatures or mama pointing out endless formations. I got a kick out of this sign....if you're not sure just what it is, be sure to catch the clue painted on the bottom left hand side [insert snide comment about West Virginians here]. I won't bore you with cavern pictures - which, to a point, all look the same in this region - but it seemed like there were an awful lot of rock slides and stalagmites that used to be stalactites. Just an observation, that's all.....because we'll definitely explore this place again.

Finally, on Sunday - or was it Monday? We chucked on over to White Sulphur Springs to enjoy the Dandelion Festival Parade. I think I didn't used to be a parade girl, and maybe one day I'll go back to not so much liking watching folks go by, but ya know, I really enjoy it! First of all, its legitimate people-watching, there's candy being thrown to you (or AT you as was the case by a rowdy bunch of Dandelion princesses), and there are loud, loud noises from Hogs, Internationals and a variety of rescue vehicles. We had a blast:

(those Hogs were a little too loud for the Sugar Baby, who found safety in a perch on Daddy-o's leg...)

Maybe its because of my Littles, but I think it is such great entertainment! Love it!

trip to WV

We stayed with my aunt and uncle and their two kids over in Fayetteville for the last couple days...Andy was in a class in Richmond. The girls love it - and although I didn't get a picture of it this time, I'm pleased to report that Han is getting rather adept at chicken wrangling. In fact, it is an activity at which she excels, if I do say so myself.

As far as the other livestock were concerned, Abigail got to ride her first pony:

Then it was Hannah's turn....
Then they rode together for awhile...

Now is the time to tell you about a Very Bad Horsie. Look closely at this picture and see if you can tell which is the bad horse:

Hint: None have been to the hair stylist.