This weekend we headed to the mountains near the Virginia/West Virginia boarder. We stayed at a cabin (this is a picture of it to the left) in one of the state parks known for good mountain biking. While my only mountain biking experience was while in Peace Corps, Greg still tries to ride and recently bought a new bike so we thought it would be fun to go out for the weekend.
We left on Friday and arrived in the afternoon. The weather was great and in the low 70's. Saturday, Greg headed out early for the trails while Sarah and I checked out the park. We headed for the lake which has swimming in the summer and apparently great fishing. We walked around until we found a big playground, but it was still wet from the morning dew, so we ended up playing in the leaves. After Greg returned from his trip, we headed to the Homestead for lunch. The Homestead is a five star resort about 40 minutes from the park. It is a beautiful place and each year, my work holds a conference there because one of the community colleges nearby provides a lot of their employee training. They give us a very reduced rate on the hotel. The conference is next month, the second week after Thanksgiving (a slow time for all hotels), which is nice because it is decorated for Christmas.
We had a great lunch at the golf club overlooking the course and the hotel. People were playing croquet on the lawn next to us (if this gives you an idea of how surreal it seems for us middle classers). I always wonder what the people eating and staying there do and I am fascinated by listening to the conversations at the other tables to get a glimpse at what 'high rollers' talk about.
After our lunch, we headed back to the cabin to settle in for the night and give Sarah her first s'mores experience. She really enjoyed them and so did we. Greg went for another quick ride in the morning and I fought with Sarah to put a jacket on since the weather had turned much colder. I finally gave up and she ran around in a long sleeve shirt and cold nose. She didn't seem to mind, which further indicates that this is yet another gene that she did not inherit from me (for those that know me, I am always cold).
All in all, it was a great trip and we've decided to either head back to this park or check out some of the other state parks across the state with cabins. We were very impressed that the states manages them. They are by no means rustic. There's air conditioning and heat, full kitchen and bathroom, fireplaces and beautiful porches. We stayed in an older cabin, but the newer ones have screened in porches. According to the signs, Virginia's parks have been rated "number one" (not sure by who), but we agree!
A picture of the lake at the park.
Sarah plays fetch with Brody.
Sarah helping Apa make s'mores
Sarah eating her
s'more
Sarah poses in front of the Homestead. (Note: If you've been following our posts, you'll notice the small yellow duck in Sarah's hand. It seems to pop up in the strangest places. I am sure we'll do a story on it sometime when we have nothing to write about-so stay tuned...)
No comments:
Post a Comment