life list #37: visit new river gorge, west virginia

Last week, Larry and I got a wild hair that we should get out of town for Labor Day weekend for an impromptu getaway. The problem with these last minute plans is that our chances of finding a place to stay with availability were slim and we constantly have the problem as to finding someone to watch our dogs. Not only that, DC traffic before a holiday weekend (or actually on any given day) makes me suicidal, so we knew that we didn't want to head north/south/east towards the beaches where everyone else was going. (Also, many beaches along the east coast sustained some damage from Hurricane Irene.) That left one option: head West. Traffic and hurricane free, wild & wonderful, West By God, West Virginia to be exact!

Luckily, a quick Google search turned up some dog-friendly cabins near New River Gorge in Hico, West Virginia. Within 24 hours, I had e-mailed Hemlock Haven, learned that they had availability for the weekend, recruited a group of friends to tag along, and booked a three-night reservation.

New River Gorge is an area of West Virginia that I had been wanting to visit for quite some time.  The terrifying New River Gorge Bridge - which towers 876 feet above the New River below - is the second tallest bridge in the United States and the fifth tallest bridge in the world. Once a year, BASE jumpers crazy people are allowed to parachute off of it.  Looking at pictures of it makes my palms sweat, yet I still couldn't wait to see it. The New River (and the adjacent Gauley River) is also renowned for the best whitewater in the East.

Despite the area being a mecca for adrenaline junkies, we had a low-key and relaxing weekend with friends. Due to my jacked up joints and the fact that we had children with us, we opted out of a whitewater trip (though after seeing all the rafts on the river, I kind of wish we had done it). Instead we took a jet boat (and by jet boat, I mean "jet boat") ride from Hawksnest State Park to get a view of the gorge and bridge from the water.

Accessing the dock required a tram ride into the gorge:



The "jet boat":


This was not the scary bridge. Just an ordinary railroad bridge:


THIS was the scary bridge:





After the boat ride, we went to the New River Gorge National River Visitor Center to check out some views of the bridge from above:



And you may be wondering what it is actually like to drive across the bridge. We got up the nerve to try it, and I am proud to inform you that I did not pee pee in my pants. Success!

Actually, it wasn't scary at all. From atop the bridge, you had no idea that you were driving across something as tall as a 70 story skyscraper.

However, if you think about the fact that you're driving across something as tall as a 70 story skyscraper while you're crossing the bridge...well, that'll make your ass clench. Am I right?!

a weekend in west virginia

While in New River Gorge this weekend, we stayed at a place called Hemlock Haven, in Hico, West Virginia.

Bingo's Bungalow - our cabin:

The best part about Hemlock Haven is that it is dog-friendly AND each cabin has a FENCED-IN YARD. If you've ever taken your dog on vacation and known the joy that is leash-walking your dog at 6am (and every other time he has to take a shit...especially if you have a dog that refuses to do his business while on leash coughBANJOcough), you will understand what a huge deal this is.

"I can poop all over this yard! Sweet!"

The fenced-in yard was a great place for Banjo to play bitey-face and steal-the-stick with his buddy, Wrigley. 




Poor guy doesn't have anyone to play with him at home. Meanwhile, Gravy stayed on the porch and watched the silly dogs playing with disdain. "Look at those stupid animals."

The interior of the house was cozy and cabin-y:


Sleeping loft:

There was a game room in the garage for playing darts, air hockey, pool, and foosball. Plus, plenty of room in the yard for running around.

Time for some horseshoes:





After the game, the boys convinced me to attempt to throw a horseshoe. Emphasis on attempt. 

That quickly turned into this:

Can she even hit the sand pit? Answer: No.

Can she hit a tree? Answer: Yes.

Thankfully there is no photographic documentation of my attempts. And while I wish I was the kind of girl who could kick the boys' butts at games like this, it's sadly not to be. I think I'll stick with drawing. I was never good with the whole gross motor skills thing.

Banjo, however, was not happy to be left out of the game:

We spent our evenings hanging out in the cabin, cooking dinner, and playing Legos (well, some of us were playing, and some of us were stuffing Legos between the couch cushions...)


We also learned a few lessons. For example, three year olds don't like jalapeno cheetos:

Everyone likes cheese, though. (Including the predators lurking in the background. Since the little guy was busted drinking out of the dog bowl, I guess they figured it was only fair that he share his cheese with them.)

The cutest boys:

After the kids were in bed, we spent the remainder of the evening drinking and laughing until our faces hurt, relaxing in the hot tub, eating spiked watermelon, and burning things in the firepit, before tumbling into bed...and waking up with hangovers. Just some good clean, West Virginia fun!

My sleeping boys:

(Yes, that is a photo of my COONhound, who was sound asleep while a racCOON was rifling through the trash can. Worthless!)

DC/VA/MD bucket list

Jefferson Memorial + Dead Cherry Blossoms, 2005

Larry and I have recently been discussing The Future. As in, where do we want to be one year/five years/ten years from now? That's a lot of big decisions and while we don't really have a plan mapped out, one thing that we do know is that we don't want to be in the DC area forever. We'd like to live somewhere else and explore a new town/city/state. (Or country? I'd welcome the opportunity to live abroad, but we don't have a lot of opportunities like that coming our way.)

Except for five years in college (Syracuse, New York plus a summer in Spain and a semester in Italy), I've lived in Northern Virginia my whole life. Larry grew up in western Maryland - about three hours west of the DC area, though he's been in the DC area for the past 13 years. I don't think either of us ever intended to stay so local (I wanted to live anywhere BUT the DC area after I graduated from college), it's just one of those things that happened. And while we love being close to family and the great group of friends we have here, we hate the cost of living, the traffic, and the competitive and fast pace of life in the DC area.

Our talk of a future move has me excited, but also has me reflecting on the things I like about this area along with some things that I still haven't done. We've definitely taken a lot of weekend adventures and explored Virginia, Maryland, DC, and West Virginia, over the ten years we've been together. We've enjoyed that both the beach and the mountains are within easy driving distance from our house. We like that the Virginia countryside is especially beautiful in the fall, and yet we still have easy access to all the activity in the city. Throughout the last decade, we've tried to take advantage of living in this area as much as we can: we've stayed in modern and traditional cabins, visited local wineries, hiked in numerous parks, picked berries at local farms, explored several Civil War battlefields, toured the West Wing, visited museums, witnessed the space shuttle flyover, eaten at too many delicious restaurants (and food trucks!) to count, enjoyed live music and theater, photographed a field of sunflowers, and rooted for our local sports teams.

But there are some things we've missed, too - things that have been on our someday list for way too long. So I perused my brain and my out-of-date Life List and started making a DC/VA/MD Bucket List - a list of things that it would be embarrassing to leave the area without doing (can you believe as a lifelong Virginian I've never been to Williamsburg or Jamestown???) and some places I went to long ago, but are worth revisiting (I have happy childhood memories of kayaking the Shenandoah River with my Dad and of visiting Chincoteague and Assateague Islands):

DC/VA/MD Bucket List

+ Climb Old Rag
+ Go sailing at the Eastern Shore
+ Visit Smith Island
+ Visit Tangier Island
+ Return to Chincoteague/Assateague
+ Have more summer winery days with friends
+ Restaurants: Komi, Restaurant Eve, Two Amy's Pizza
+ Go kayaking with Larry
+ Visit Williamsburg
+ Visit Jamestown
+ Hike to the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain and visit Sugarloaf winery afterwards
+ Explore Charlottesville
+ Visit Dinosaur Land

So here's to the next chapter (whenever that may be) and to taking advantage of the DC area while we're here! There are still plenty of old favorites to revisit and new places to explore...

surviving winter, part 1: embrace it

Lost River Modern, West Virginia. February 2010.

I am an unabashed hater of winter. I hate cold weather. I hate winter coats. I hate that it gets dark early. I hate scraping my windshield and shivering and tracking snow in the house. Yuck. I hate winter.

Virginia winters are way too cold for me. Northerners are laughing, but we do get cold weather and snow here. And yes, I do have experience with extreme winters, too, since I went to college in the snowiest city in the country. Five years of my life were spent with frozen nipples here:

Via Golden Snow Globe.

Brrrr. What was I thinking going to school in Syracuse? I have no effing idea.

Anyway, February is a particularly difficult month for me. I'm so sick of winter by the time February rolls around. Luckily, it's a short month - because other than being able to stuff my face with cookies and chocolates on Valentine's Day, I have no use for this month.

The best way to survive winter, in my opinion, is to escape it and go somewhere warm. Of course, this method isn't always possible, so last year, my strategy was to just embrace it and we took a winter getaway in February to Lost River, WV. If you can't surround yourself with sunshine and white sand, I highly suggest cozying up in a cabin with your closest friends, cooking comfort foods, sitting by the wood stove reading books, and drinking copious amounts of beer.

And I actually enjoy a view like this, especially when it can be seen from my spot on the couch by the woodstove:

Lost River Modern is a fantastic place to visit. It's a modern prefab cabin just two hours from D.C. I love love love the modern architecture and simplicity of this place - a rare find in West Virginia. 



And also - it's dog friendly!


We ate well:

And the non-winter hating boys were willing to walk through the snow to refresh our beer supply:

Here's a video that I made after we returned from our trip last winter:

Lost River 2010 from Funnelcloud Rachel on Vimeo.

See the rest of the photos from our trip here.

So, how do you survive winter? I'm always open to suggestions! (And don't say skiing. I've been once and it ended with me removing my skis and walking down the mountain. I'm more of a hot tub/hot chocolate kind of girl.)