Blog – Page 8 – Nic of Time

Happy New Year 2022!!

I hope the new year brings you all happiness, health and lots of fun.

For our family, what better way to start out 2022 with a hike! We participated in the Virginia State Parks: First Day Hike 2022.

We are fortunate enough that we have York River State Park right down the street from us. The park was pretty crowded when we arrived around 3:30. This is always nice to see, since before the pandemic it was rare to see more than 20 cars in the parking lot at a time.

We only did a 1.2 mile loop hike because we were all pretty exhausted and recovering from having a stomach bug.

We started in the parking lot and hiked along the river and made a right onto the Beaver trail, a short spurt on the backbone trail and back to the parking lot. Yes it was short, but we all got out in the 70 degree sunny weather and stretched our legs and had a good time during the hike.

Before heading back to the house, we made a stop by Croaker Landing (also park of the State Park) to see if we could see any ducks.

We saw a bunch of Bufflehead and Ruddy Ducks and the kids enjoyed the playing on the pier.

Not much of a get away or hike but it was nice to get outside and enjoy the beautiful 70 degree day. We then had a traditional New Year’s Day dinner with my parents to finish off our day.

Humpback Rocks…..Take 2 11/7/2021

Still wanting to take the kids to Humpback Rocks and still having hopes of the fall foliage being peak, Blake and I decided to attempt taking the kids again after breakfast. Taylor got up early and we made our Sunday pancake breakfast. This is the earliest we have ever had our pancake breakfast.

After breakfast we all get ready and got in the car to head up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to hike to Humpback Rocks.

Humpback Rocks:

Location: Lyndhurst, VA – Blue Ridge Parkway MP 5.8
Distance: 1.99 Miles
Trail Type: Out and Back
Elevation Gain: 804 Feet
Trail: Humpback Rocks Trail (Blue Blazes)
Moving Time: 1:16:26
Weather: 43 degrees and breezy
Terrain: Rocks, Boulders and Roots (lots of erosion)

On the drive up, I was nervous because our experience trying to get the kids to Humpback Rocks 2 weeks ago was very unsuccessful.

We arrived to the parking area of Humpback rocks around 11:20 and circled the parking lot twice before finding a spot. If you are unfamiliar with Humpback rocks, this trail is a very popular “tourist trail” as we would call it and parking is hard to come by, despite a decent parking lot and visitors center close by. People park where they can squeeze their vehicles and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is also the parking lot for the Jack Albright Trail, this trail is the site of a 1960s plane crash involving a Beechcraft Bonanza.

We began our hike at 11:38 and of course the kids go off ahead of us. The trail does not have many switchbacks and is very steep for being such a short trail. What makes the ascent worse it the trail has heavy erosion and is very rough because of it.

The ascent to the summit is pretty rough (I will admit, I am out of shape), even the kids said it was a steep climb. We all made the most of it and the kids found ways to stay occupied on the way up.

About halfway to the summit, there is a side trail that people have made as an “easier” way to the summit, however this is not a sanctioned trail and is not marked with blazes and from the summit it is roped off but people still take it anyways. We continue on the correct trail and continue to follow the blue blazes and make it to the few switchbacks on the trail. Once you get to this point, the rocks are larger and steeper and there is a section of stairs that are spaced out just far enough that the average person would have to take more than one step per stair.

We made it to the summit and the views are immediately breathtaking. The fall colors were in full effect. The summit was very crowded but you don’t even notice due to the beauty of the views.

We let the kids go and explore and we head out to the left rock outcropping. It is extremely cold and windy when we reached the summit. The temperature in the parking lot was around 43 degrees and the summit is almost 800 feet higher in elevation making temperature a lot colder.

We sat at the top for a while taking in the view.

A few minutes later we see a head coming up from the rocks in front of us. We look down and it is Ethan. He had climbed the rocks from the lower platform. We initially got on him for doing it and telling him how dangerous it is. Nick was behind him and we told him to not even think about trying to climb the rocks.

Blake and I take a couple pictures at the top. We never took Taylor out of her carrier because it was too cold and windy.

After we look the pictures, I went back to the base of the rocks and fed Taylor while Blake and the kids explored. Blake also went with Ethan and Nick back to where they started climbing the rocks. We decided that it was okay for them to climb and proceeded to let them have at it. The boys were overly excited and climbed it a bunch of times.

Ethan Climbing Humpback Rocks

Nick Climbing Humpback Rocks

The kids played on the rocks for a little bit longer.

The rocks are directly above the parking lot and from the top we could pick our car out and this kids thought it was pretty cool.

We had a nice descent down the mountain, it was a little rough because of the grade and rocks, all of the kids did great and a lot of times had a lot of momentum and had to run.

1:58 PM, we made it back to the trailhead.

On the way back to the car, we stopped to show the kids where we did the Jack Albright trail with them as well as the trailhead for the hike up the backside of the mountain.

We get back to the car and the kids had a snack and Taylor played on the hill next to the car.

Across the street from the parking lot is the Mountain Farm Trail which leads to the Humpback Rocks Visitor Center (unfortunately it is closed due to COVID). The Mountain Farm Trail is an informational trail that has buildings and signage talking about Appalachian mountain life in the 1890s.

Mountain Farm Trail:

Distance: 0.5 mile, out and back

Elevation Gain: 32 feet

On our way back to the car, still on the Mountain Farm Trail, we could see the outcropping of Humpback Rocks.

On the way home, we stopped at an overlook to get some pictures. We drove past the first overlook we wanted to stop at and the second one we tried to stop at had a bunch of trees blocking the view.

The kids asked to eat at Blue Mountain Brewery and of course we stopped there for them. Our experience this time was not the best, not sure what was up that day at the restaurant. Everyone enjoyed their meal though and then we drove the little over 2 hours home.

The Priest Hike 10/30/2021

Blake got home from work around 7:30 and we started to get ready to head to the mountains. We talked the night before about possibly hiking The Priest, I was very hesitant though given what happened during our last attempt. The weather was horrible, cold, windy, rainy etc. We knew the fall colors are at full peek but also knew we wouldn’t be able to get good pictures. We decided to go anyways and hope for the best.

Normally on the way to the trail, lately we have been stopping at Bojangles for breakfast. We decided we wanted something different and Blake suggested Salt and Forge in Richmond. I gave them a call when we were about 25 minutes out and was told they now do online ordering and to please place the order online. I ordered and we arrived about 15 minutes later. I went inside and was told the order was not printed yet and it would be about 30-45 more minutes. This was disappointing because we wanted to get to the hike but we waited and as always the food was delicious. Taylor finished off about half of my sandwich; the girl can eat!

We arrive to the trailhead around 12:45, a lot later than we wanted to. We got Taylor ready, began recording our hike on AllTrails and headed towards the trailhead. We began our hike at 12:52pm. The weather was terrible, cold, completely in the clouds, wet, raining off and on.

The Priest

Location: Nelson County, VA (Crabtree Falls Hwy.)
Distance: 8.66
Trail Type: Out and Back
Elevation Gain: 3,117 feet
Trail: Appalachian Trail
Moving time: 4:59:21 (UNDER 5 hours!!!!!!!)
Weather: Base of mountain: 55 degrees, Summit: 47 degrees
Terrain: Rocks, large rocks, rocks covered with leaves, roots, and wet/slippery

Right away the hike started out steep, not as steep as I remembered from the first time but steep. We made it to the point where we turned around last time and I was feeling good and didn’t want to stop.

We hiked along Cripple Creek for a little bit and it turned into a small waterfall. I say small because I have not been able to find a name. The waterfall is larger than some of the others we have hiked to.

We get to the creek crossing and due to all of the rain it had a very nice flow to it.

We make our way across the creek and continue ascending the mountain. The elevation and terrain are no joke. The terrain is terrible and made the hike even harder. The leaves covered the rocks and we kept tripping on the wet rocks. Large and small rocks and roots everywhere and it was hard to skip any of them. Blake fell once and I slipped a couple of times. I slipped on a root once and almost did the splits.

At 3:03 we made it to the outcropping and had the most spectacular views………

NOT!!!!! No views at all, we were completely in a cloud. We stayed here for a few minutes, had a waffle and some Gatorade. We talked about if we should turn around at this point. Already being after 3:00 pm we knew we had at least another hour and a half to go on our ascent and we forgot our headlamps. It was also raining pretty steadily at this point. We decided to keep on going and see how it goes.

The AllTrails reviews talk about the last push to the summit being a grind. We thought we made it to that “last push” but we were very wrong. The terrain got worse, the elevation and grade got steeper and steeper, still a series a switchbacks but not like the ones on the beginning of the trail. The reviews also talk about the lack of a marker at the summit. This is disappointing, especially since this is a well known hike within the hiking community.

4:39, we made it to the summit!!!! I was happy, proud, emotional because this is one of the hardest hikes we have done, especially since the onset of my medical issues. I was also proud of Blake because he does these hikes with Taylor on his back and that is no joke especially with an elevation gain like The Priest.

We take some pictures at the summit and head back to the base. We knew that we were running out of sunlight. With the calculations we made, if we got to the car by 6:45 we should be okay on light. We were on the backside of the mountain which means it was going to get darker quicker but we would have enough residual light to get back to the car safely. This would be that our entire descent would have to be under 2 hours.

Descending the mounting is a lot easier but harder at the same time. We had to be very careful because of all the momentum gain combined with the slippery rocks and roots.

I paused for a moment to take a couple pictures of the red leaves. About the only fall foliage we could see.

The hike through the forest back to the car was more in the clouds and provided a feeling of being in a horror movie.

We made it back to the creek crossing and this time the cloud coverage made for majestic shots.

I snapped a photo of Blake and Taylor with the AT blaze to add it to our collection.

We had spotty cell coverage along the trail and one of the times we did, Blake snapped a picture of him and Taylor to send to his brother Ty, letting him know that we summited The Priest!

We did it! We made it back to the trailhead at 6:35, 10 minutes earlier that we calculated, another accomplishment.

We got back to the car and loaded everything up and both drank a bunch of Gatorade. We were trying to think of a place for dinner and figured Blue Mountain Brewery would be busy due to the rain and everyone wanting indoor seating. We talked about a restaurant at Zion Crossroads but decided against it because it was about 45 minutes away and we didn’t want Taylor to fall asleep and have to quickly wake her up.

We passed 2 local restaurants that had a lot of cars and figured with the amount of cars they had to be good. One being a Mexican restaurant and one an Italian restaurant. We chose the Italian restaurant – Giuseppes Ristorante Italiano. Blake and I split the pasta trio (lasagna, chicken parm. and fettuccini alfredo) and Taylor had some butter noodles. The food came out and as was delicious. We both had dessert, Blake a chocolate mousse cake and I had limoncello cake. Taylor ate over half of my cake and a lot of Blakes.

After a tasty dinner, we headed home feeling very accomplished!

Humpback Rocks attempt….Take 1 – 10/24/2021

Blake got home from work and we had our traditional Sunday pancake breakfast. After breakfast Blake and I cleaned up while the kids played. We talked about wanting to take the kids on a short hike to see the fall colors, this time of the year the foliage should be around peak. We decided on Humpback Rocks. Humpback rocks is a shorter hike with a lot of elevation gain and amazing views. We tell the kids and they get their packs together and we get in the car and head towards Humpback rocks.

We were on I295 about to get off onto I95 when Blake hit a ratchet strap. He didn’t think anything of it at first and then all of a sudden my car started having warning messages come up and switched to the tire pressure screen. The tire pressure in the tire that hit the ratchet strap went from 38 to 28 to 12 to 0 in less than 1 minute. We were able to get off the interstate safely and pull into an empty parking lot.

The kids had no idea what was going on. Blake and I got out of the car to access the damage and sure enough my tire was completely flat. The ratchet strap we though was still attached to the tire.

I text Blake’s brother because he lives about 25 minutes away and has equipment to help with the tire. Unfortunately my van does not come with a spare tire, it only comes with a tire repair kit. If I purchased the van with the spare tire, it would have taken up half of the trunk space and with 8 kids we need all the trunk space we can get.

We get the kids out of the car and they run around the empty parking lot, using their imaginations to come up with things to do. Kids being kids of course they had to use the bathroom. I would take them one by one to the bathroom at a near by hotel. One by one wasn’t my choice, they said they didn’t need to go and as soon as I got back another would need to.

Ty arrived with his jack and tools and him and Blake went to work to fix the tire. I researched places nearby that were open on Sundays to get the tire looked at an possibly a new tire.

They got the tire off and it was indeed flat. We also caught the culprit.

Ty was able to put a plug in the tire and get the tire inflated.

While we let the plug set, the kids enjoyed their hiking snack and Taylor got to visit with her Uncle Ty.

Blake and Ty got the tire back on the van and hopefully we were good to go. I did find a GoodYear down the street and we took the car by to see if they could look at it. They said that since the plug was in it, they couldn’t do anything and that if it is holding pressure, we should be good to go.

We left GoodYear and headed for home. Of course Blake and I were nervous driving the hour back to the house but we made it back without issues.

This shows that unplanned travel can have unplanned added *bonuses*

We felt bad for the kids and tried to figure out something to do while driving back. We didn’t want to go far incase the tire didn’t hold out.

We ended up taking them to the local pumpkin patch to play until they had to go back to their dads.

We did get one picture of the kids together where they are all looking.

Everyone played on the slide, including Taylor.

At one point Ethan put Taylor in a wagon and played with her for a bit. The whole time Taylor screamed “Go Go Go”

We were able to catch a hayride as it was pulling in and of course the kids loved it. This was a wild hayride. We were flying all over the place and it only made it a lot more fun.

The last think we did at the pumpkin patch is the corn made. The made was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed running around and playing hide and seek. Taylor also decided she wanted to take a walk.

The kids had a blast at the pumpkin patch. It was a perfect solution to our unexpected, unplanned travel experience.

Pennsylvania/Maryland Highpoint Trip 10/15/2021-10/17/2021

Knowing the fall colors will be at full peak this weekend in the western part of the state, Blake and I talked about a bunch of different places we could go. We ended up choosing to Highpoint Pennsylvania and Maryland. I wanted to book a hotel that would be in a good proximity to both highpoints. The total driving distance between the highpoints is 1 hour and 20 minutes. I started to book the Microtel Inn & Suites in Hazelton/Bruceton Mill but Priceline kept timing out on me every time I tried to book it and eventually I found out that the hotel was already booked up and Priceline had not updated their listings. (No big deal at all. Plenty of other hotels). This hotel is also located next to a major penitently. I ended up coming across the Comfort Inn Grantsville-Deep Creek Lake. Moderately priced hotel and it has all the basic essentials we needed for the 2 night trip. It also had an extra bed in case Blake’s mom wanted to join us. The hotel also advertised a HOT breakfast which is nice. The hotels we have stayed in lately have been about 50/50 when it comes to hot breakfast vs bagged breakfast. Unfortunately the breakfast ended up being a bagged breakfast.

I got off work around noon and met Blake at the house. We packed up the car, loaded up Taylor and Gander and set off for our weekend getaway.

Knowing it would be dark by the time we reached the Hotel and just about everything there is to do around the area is outdoors we decided to make a couple of winery stops.

Our first winery stop was Chateau Merrill Anne https://chateaumerrillanne.com. We were the only visitors during our stop and it was nice to once again have a personal one on one wine tasting. A lot of wineries have not gone back to actual tastings and for the ones that have, it is much appreciated!

Our next winery stop is Quievremont Winery https://www.quievremont.com. The menu provided by the winery had a red tasting and a white tasting. We purchased one of each and the tastings ended up being tasting flights. The wine list provided did not have a lot of wine notes and that was disappointing. We love to know wine notes as well as what each wine pairs well with. We finished our tasting and both decided that none of the wines jumped out at us and we did not purchase any bottles. While the wine was not as good as we hoped (remember, wines taste different to each people, just because we didn’t like it, doesn’t mean you wont) the location of the winery was beautiful and well landscaped. Side note: the winery allows dogs!

We did manage to catch the sunset before leaving the winery.

We stopped by Main Street Mill Restaurant http://mainstreetmillfr.com/ located on the Historic Main Street in Front Royal for dinner. The restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor dinning. Taylor was not her best self during our visit and it made for a harder dinning experience, but she is a toddler and that is just life with a toddler. Blake had a seafood bisque and I had cheese fries for our appetizers. For our entrees, Blake had the meatloaf and I had the Southwestern Chicken. All of the food and the service – fantastic! This was a great find for dinner. (in the photo below, you can see the old train tracks)

The entire Main Street in Front Royal is a quaint historic downtown. We look Taylor to the pumpkin displays in the gazebo that are set up for photos. She loved all of the pumpkins.

We got back in our car and drove another 2 hours to our Hotel – Comfort Inn Grantsville-Deep Creek Lake.

Having goals for the weekend of the PA and MD highpoint we knew in the morning that due to the rain we had to change our plans. Not knowing much of what to do in the area, I got on the TripAdvisor App and looked for things to do in the area. I checked TripAdvisor while dinning at The Roosters Nest for breakfast. The Rooster’s Nest is a local county restaurant with great food (so much so we ate here 2 more times). Blake had the Steak, Egg and Cheese Melt and I had the Breakfast Pizza. Once we finished breakfast, we decided to check out Downtown Cumberland, MD. Downtown Cumberland is home of the C&O Canal National Historic Park visitors center (Cumberland Visitors Center). Hoping to get our Cancellation Stamp, we head for the visitors center. Unfortunately the visitors center is closed. They do have signs on their door saying they have someone there and to call and an employee will come down to provide information, etc. I called the number and was told they had 2 employees that recently quit and no employees were working, however the gentleman said he would be there tomorrow if we wanted to come back for the stamp.

We saw the scenic train for the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad above us in the station and decided to go upstairs to check it out. A scenic train ride was about to depart and we thought about taking it to see the mountains but with the weather being on the bad side, we decided to continue exploring the area. Plus the ride is 4.5 hours long and we wouldn’t get back until about 3/3:30 and the rain was supposed to clear up around 2:30. We did book a future visit on the train for the kids this upcoming December. Taylor watched the train depart the station.

We walked around the downtown area for a bit and read signs on the history of the area.

After exploring the area, we sat down for a wine flight at Charis Winery.

https://www.chariswinery.com

The wine flight included 4 wine and all were delicious. We had a hard time decided between a red and wine to purchase. I highly recommend stopping at this winery for a tasting or a bottle. Charis Winery also has a distillery on site and an olive oil bar.

Goats being my favorite animal, Toasted Goat Winery https://toastedgoatwinery.com seemed like an appropriate next stop. Toasted Goat is located in Frostburg, MD in the Gunter Hotel. The tasting room for the winery is located in the Hotel’s Speakeasy (this is actually the site of an old Speakeasy). Blake and I did a tasting consisting of 1 white and 5 reds. We purchased the bottle of white but all 6 we tried were fantastic.

Once we left Frostburg, MD, we headed for Shanksville, PA – the site of the Flight 93 Memorial. We arrived at the National Memorial Park and immediately we were both filled with emotion. The weather also made for an even more emotional experience. The memorial park features, the main visitors center which contains artifacts and information from flight 93. Photography is not allowed in the visitors center. Just past the visitors center is the memorial site that contains the wall of names of all of the crew and passengers that lost their lives on 9/11/2001 as well as a bolder in the field to mark the location of where the plane went down. At the exit of the memorial park is the Tower of Voices, a 93 foot (flight number) musical instrument consisting of 40 chimes (number of passengers and crew members).

PA Highpoint: Mount Davis

4:35 – We arrived at the trailhead for Mount Davis highpoint. No other cars were in the parking lot and we thought we would have the high point to ourselves.

Hike: Mount Davis Trail

Distance: 1.97 miles

Elevation gain: 118 feet

Weather: 48 degrees/cloudy

Avg. Pace: 22:24

The hike through the woods was exceptionally beautiful with the fall colors. We stopped a few times to look at all of the leaves. We arrived at the summit about 23 minutes after we began our hike.

Along with signs and a benchmark at the summit, there is also an observation tower. The tower is above the trees and allows for 360 views of the mountains. We were really hoping for more sun to highlight the fall colors but due to the rain we didn’t get lucky. We did get to take in some of the sunset from the top of the tower. We didn’t stay at the top of the tower long because it was very windy and chilly. Plus it is small and other people were coming and going. (Yes we were the only people on the trail, however if you want to quickly check off a high point, there is a parking lot that is right at the tower, this access is also ADA friendly).

Before hiking back to the car we made sure to take Taylor out of her backpack carrier for her to walk in PA. This is her first time being in PA.

We arrived back at the Trailhead and took our end of hike selfie and Taylor/Daddy picture.

Before leaving the area to head back to the hotel, we stop by the Baughman Rocks access.

Blake, Taylor and I are all able to check off another high point!

Blake – #6 (WA, VA, NC, WV, TN, PA)

Taylor and Nicole – #5 (VA, NC, WV, TN, PA)

We wanted to get back to the hotel at a decent time to get Taylor in bed early. Plus with Blake being the huge Washington Capitals fan that he is, he wanted to get back to watch the game. This game is also a good game for us because it was against the Tampa Bay Lightening. I was born in Tampa and I have always been fans of Tampa teams (especially the Buccaneers – long before people really knew where the Bucs were, prior to Tom Brady). To be funny when the Capitals play the Lightening I also cheer for Tampa Bay. Friendly competition.

Needing somewhere to eat, we stopped at the Rooster’s Nest for dinner. Grantsville does not have a lot of options for restaurants and we both thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast and figured it was a safe option. Like breakfast, dinner was great and filling.

We head back to the hotel, get Taylor in bed and try to turn the Hockey Game on. We turned it onto NBC-Sports and for some reason it was CBS. I was able to pull the game up on my phone. All in all this was a better option with less noise and light for the sleeping TOT. The game went into overtime and guess who won????? TAMPA BAY!!

The next morning, we waited for Taylor to wake up before getting up. We like her to wake up on her own as she loves her sleep. Once TOT woke up we fed her, got ready for the day and packed up. We go back to The Rooster’s Nest for a 3rd time for breakfast. This time Blake got the Breakfast Pizza and I got the Breakfast Quesadilla. The staff are very friendly, at the time we were the only table in the restaurant and our server talked to us the entire time and helped with Taylor when she was dropping things. It was a nice interaction and morning talk before heading out.

MD Highpoint: Backbone Mountain (Hoye-Crest)

11:05 We begin our hike to the MD highpoint. I read a lot of reviews on the paid App I used called Alltrails (highly recommend for hiking as it offers offline navigation). Many of the reviews were negative – no views, made a few people angry because of logging that was done on private proterty, poorly marked, no views from the highpoint, etc. As always, we like to find out for ourselves, plus this will check another highpoint off our list.

We pulled up to on the side of the road where there is a sign that says Maryland highpoint. The spot to pull over gives about 8 cars a place to park. Not much parking at all and you walk back towards the old logging road to begin the hike.

Hike: Backbone Mountain (Hoye-Crest)

Distance: 2.49 Miles

Elevation Gain: 682 feet

Weather: 48 degrees/partly cloudy

Avg. Pace: 29:54 ( I did forget to stop my app for about 7 minutes while packing the car up)

Just like the reviews said, the first 1/2 mile is a logging site, however from the way the site looked, it appeared to have been logged about a year ago, plus it occurred on private property. Blake and I both had to see forest destroyed by logging, we do however know it is a fact of life. The logging did open up nice views of the valley that would have otherwise remained unseen.

As for the review with poor signage, that was incorrect. Tree along the trail had HP with an arrow on them as the blaze. Also at the very few switchbacks, there were signs with arrows.

The neat thing about this hike is that the majority of the hike occurs in West Virginia. It isn’t until you reach the summit, it changes to Maryland. After a very long continuous hike to the summit (2 turns over 650 feet of elevation gain), we made it to the summit. The views from the summit were incredible.

We took our mandatory summit pictures.

We could not locate a bench mark at the summit but a sign and mailbox marked the spot. The mailbox contained a log for people to sign that reached the summit as well as a sign to hold.

I snapped a couple pictures of Taylor and let her play for a few minutes before hiking back down.

One of the trail marker signs had an arrow pointing towards a small side trail with the MD/WV border. We wanted to check it out. Sure enough in the middle of the woods is a Bolder indicating the MD/WV border.

We got to enjoy the views of the valley on our hike back to the car. Our hike down was also a lot shorter than our hike up, we did have to be careful due to it being such a steep incline, the decent can be tough on your legs.

We made it back to our car and got to check another highpoint off our list!

Blake – #7 (WA, VA, NC, WV, TN, PA, MD)

Taylor and Nicole – #6 (VA, NC, WV, TN, PA, MD)

We really enjoyed being able to complete 2 more high points in the same weekend. It is very helpful when they are a little over an hour apart.

We did not have a lot of service on our cell phones and were unable to get GPS, we decided to drive and eventually we came across enough cell coverage to map us home.

Being so close to Seneca Rocks, WV, we had enough time to take a picture. Seneca Rocks is special to me because it is the first place Blake and I ever went together for a weekend vacation. Blake has been going for years and years and I was overjoyed when we went because he wanted to share it with me. Last year we took our daughter there for her first time when she was 6 months old. We didn’t have enough time to hike the mount today, we were however able to get a fantastic picture of the sun lighting up the rocks. (I was also able to get my cancellation stamp in the visitors center).

We had a great weekend and made lots of memories. Checked off 2 more high points off our list and Taylor added another state to her list.

States Taylor has visited: VA(obviously), NC, TN, KY, MD, DE PA, WV, CO, MT, WY, ID, (TX and IL Airport), (WA/OR in my belly).

Westmoreland State Park 10/3/2021

No real plans today, Blake and I had talked about doing something we just didn’t know what. We did have it narrowed down to a hike in the mountains or Westmoreland State Park and visit a couple of wineries. As soon as Taylor woke up we headed out. Stopping at the West Point, VA McDonald’s on the way. McDonald’s was under new management and on the slower side.

We arrived at Westmoreland State Park https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/westmoreland around 11:50. As we were driving down the main road we came across a fountain and we pulled over to check it out. We love to read signs that talk about the history of the locations we visit. I also noticed a 2×2 sticking out of the ground with a sign attached to it. The sign was a marker for a time capsule that was buried June 15, 2016 for the 80th anniversary of the park and is to be opened June 15, 2036.

While we sat here we mapped out our hike. We decided to hike the Big Meadow Trail down to Fossil Beach then connect to the Beaver Dam Trail to Turkey Neck Trail and back to the parking lot.

Our next stop was at the Discovery Center. Taylor loved touching the different animal furs. The Discovery Center offered lots of activities and events for kids to participate in both at the discovery center and around the park. Next we went to the visitors center and it was actually open. Visitor centers have been spotty with being opened or closed due to COVID. We looked around the visitor center for a few and purchased our state park pin to add to our board. The visitor center only had 1 pin and we needed 2. We each have a board and collect pins from hikes we do and places we have been. Blake and I share a board and the kids have their own. Virginia State parks also does a state park trail quest. You can get a pin for hiking in 1 state park, then when you hit 5 parks, 10 parks, 20 parks and all VA State Parks. We were directed to go to the camp store near the front of the park as they possibly had another pin. The employee was right and we were able to get the 2nd pin.

Tree from the garden across from Discovery Center

We get to the trailhead sign to head to Fossil Beach. Attached to the trailhead sign was a notice that the Boardwalk and Turkey Neck Trail were closed and the Big Meadow trail no longer connects to form a loop, making the trail an out an back. Most of the trail was through sand with a little bit of dirt. We had our dog Gander with us and he was having a blast running back and forth along the trail. The nice thing about Gander is he never leaves the trail.

After hiking the 0.7 miles to fossil beach, Gander sees the water and heads straight for it. He was in his happy place. He stayed in the water almost the entire time. We walked down the beach to a spot that didn’t have as many people and began to sift for Sharks Teeth.

Westmoreland State Park is known for Fossil Beach and sifting in the sand for Shark Teeth. You can purchase for 2.99 or rent the sifters (spaghetti strainer) from the visitor center or bring your own. Blake and I both began looking for Shark Teeth. Taylor hung out on her Daddy’s back most of the time until it was her lunchtime. Taylor ate and Gander stayed by her side in case she dropped something. Taylor did not want to go back in her carrier and wanted to play in the water. She got to play in the water for about 30 minutes while Blake and I kept looking for Shark Teeth. I ended up finding 2 and a piece of another one. Blake did not find any. This was my first time finding Shark teeth (finding them on the shelf at a beach store doesn’t count).

We hike 0.7 miles back to the parking lot and return the sifters to the visitor center. We also take our obligatory trailhead selfies and Taylor picture.

I stopped on the way back from the visitor center to take some sign pictures to read on the way back. The signs talk about the history of the area.

After we leave the park we head to our first of three wineries. The first Winery we visited was Hague Winery. https://thehaguewinery.com Hague winery grows all of their own grapes onsite. We enjoyed a wine tasting with the manager of the winery. We were very happy they had a tasting vs a tasting flight. We love doing tasting because you get to interact with staff, learn more history about the winery and learn more about the wine and food pairings for each wine. We write on the bottles we purchase with a Chalk Marker what the wine pairs well with so when we grab a bottle for dinner we don’t have to guess. We also mark more expensive bottles for special occasions and not accidentally grab it for a quick chicken nugget dinner with the kids . We enjoyed all 6 wines Hague had to offer. We purchased 3 of the bottles to enjoy later.

The next Winery we went to was Triple V Farms

https://www.triplevfarms.com

The winery was not listed on our 2020-2021 wineries of Virginia map. I did a Google search on the way from Hague Winery to Kilmarnock and the winery came up. We arrived at Triple V Farms. It was a very pretty location and the tasting room was quaint and filled with art items for sale from local crafters. The owners were very pleasant and didn’t mind having Taylor there. The wines were very tasty and we were able to do an actual tasting. We purchased 2 bottles.

Our last winery stop was at Good Luck Cellars

https://www.goodluckcellars.com › wines

Good Luck Cellars has tasting flights and have not gone back to traditional tastings. We got a red and white tasting flight. The wines were okay but nothing that made us want to purchase any bottles.

Skyline Caverns and Mirror Maze

Skyline Caverns website

Home

We arrived at Skyline Caverns and Blake and I went inside to purchase the tickets for everyone. We also purchased the tickets for the Mirror Maze. I downloaded a coupon from the website for $2 off per person for the Cavern tour.

CAVERNS

$24/PERSON

CHILDREN (AGES 7-13) – $12
CHILDREN 6 AND UNDER – FREE

MIRROR MAZE

$6/PERSON

CHILDREN UNDER 5 – FREE

They also have a Miniature Train Ride however it was not in operation today.

Brief History

In 1937 Walter Amos discovered the caverns after studying the land topography and the caverns were open to the public in 1939. Skyline Caverns are also amongst the very few caverns around the world where you can see Anthodites.

Caverns

A lot of the cavern have colored lights strung throughout to highlight the formations. The cavern also features a waterfall and river running through it. The took a total of 1 hour and we learned a lot and saw a bunch of really neat formations.

The waterfall and river run throughout a lot of the caverns.

Waterfall

River

One area of the cavern has places that if you jump and hit the formations you can make music.

Making cavern music

Anthodites – give the appearance of cave crystals

Arianna wanted to stay with me during the tour and I got a couple of pictures of her. She was able to explore a little cave outcrop of the cavern. It was pitch black when I turned my camera on to take her picture.

We all had a great time with the cavern tour. It was definitely one of the most unique caverns I have been to.

Mirror Maze

Once we finished the cavern tour we headed across the parking lot to the mirror maze. Blake did the mirror maze years ago and talked it up as being awesome. The maze is called the Enchanted Dragon. It does have arrows on the floor to “help” guide you though the maze. The arrows did not help, just lead to more confusing fun. I may have run into the wall a couple of times. The kids had a blast, running around playing tag and hide and seek. Taylor enjoyed herself but wasn’t sure what to think. Everyone had a great time. We spent about 25 minutes in the maze. No time limit was placed on the maze and you could go in and out as many times as you wanted.

Needless to say the maze did not disappoint.

Once we left the maze we went to Castiglia’s Italian Restaurant and Pizza for lunch. It was alright, if we are in the area again I would try a different restaurant.

Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park – Luray, VA 9/24/2021-9/26/2021

3 of my children have birthday 28 days apart and we ask them every year if they would rather have an experience/trip or a present. Every year they choose to have the experience/trip. This year we decided to take them to Jellystone Park in Luray, VA. I booked the cabin on Tuesday 9/21/2021 and we took them as soon as they got home on Friday 9/24/2021 and stayed through Sunday 9/26/2021.

Jellystone Parks always send out Birthday cards for children campers when you sign your children up. These cards are to be taken to the camp store and each child will receive a special birthday toy. It doesn’t matter what month you take the card, it can always be redeemed. I took one of the cards and wrapped it in a box and we had grandparents over for dinner and presented all of the kids with the box.

Kids receiving their present

The kids were so excited. As you can tell from the video they love Jellystone (see the Tie- Dyed T-Shirt). This was going to be the kids 3rd trip to Jellystone in Luray, VA.

As soon as all of the kids got home from school we loaded them up and headed for Jellystone. We stopped at Arby’s for dinner and actually allowed the kids to eat in the car. We were trying to make it to the campground before the outdoor movie started. The first night the movie was Hocus Pocus.

Jellystone Luray, VA does themed weekends and the weekends from 9/24-10/31 is the Halloween Weekends. The events and movies are the same each weekend from 9/24-10/31.

Friday, September 24

9:00am Don’t Forget to purchase your magic pumpkin Seeds!!! 💰

4:00pm Arts and Crafts💰

5:30pm Bears on the Prowl

6:30pm Free Craft

7:00pm Candy Bar Bingo 💰🍫

8:30pm Monster Mash Dance Party!🐻

9:00pm Movie Night : Hocus Pocus (PG)🎥

Saturday, September 25

9:00am Don’t Forget to purchase your magic pumpkin Seeds!!! 💰

9:00am Pledge and Yogicize🐻

10:00am Arts and Crafts💰

11:00am Plant your Magic Pumpkin Seeds ⭐

11:30am Photo Op 🐻

12:30pm Pumpkin Pick up and Painting ⭐

2:00pm Costume Contest

4:00pm Fall Carnival

5:00pm Trick or Treating

7:00pm Bears on the Prowl🐻

8:00pm Haunted Trail ⭐

8:00pm Movie Night : (PG)🎥

Halloweentown

Sunday, September 26

9:00am Arts and Crafts💰

10:30am Fall Hey Hey RIde

12:00pm Bears on the Prowl🐻

1:00pm Coloring Pages with Friends

2:00pm Sand Art 💰

3:30pm Farewell to the Bears🐻

8:00pm Movie Night: Scooby Doo on Zombie Island (PG)🎥

Arrival

We arrived at 9:05 and the camp store to check-in was already closed for the day but we were able to catch an employee and get our key. We were told to come back in the morning to get the rest of the weekend information. We found our cabin which was a different location from where we normally camp. This site was in the woods and gave you a more camping feel. While Blake and I unloaded the car and got the cabin set up, the kids went to see the outdoor movie.

Saturday

We stayed at the campground and did activities with the kids all day. At 9:00 each morning, one of the bears goes to the flag pole and meet the kids to say the Pledge and do some “yogi’cize. The kids love this and getting to have a picture with the bears. Unfortunately this morning it was just the pledge, no exercise.

We headed to the camp store to purchase our magic pumpkin seeds. The magic pumpkin seeds were bags filled with a few pumpkin seeds and glitter (ugh, I HATE glitter).

My mom wanted a tie dyed shirt from the campground so my daughter Arianna, Blake and I headed down to the recreation center to dye a shirt. The other kids were playing on the jumping pillow and zip line.

At 11:00 it was time for everyone to plant their magic pumpkin seeds in the large sandbox. All the kids picked out a spot in the sandbox and began to dig and plant their seeds.

Blake and I went back to the cabin and the kids went to the playground to play until it was time to pick up their pumpkins. We picked up our pumpkins and had the opportunity to paint them but for transport back home we felt it was better to paint them at home (we do not lack paint in our house).

After bringing the pumpkins back, we got the kids ready for the costume contest. The boys put on their zombie tattoos and face paint and the girls put on their dragon fly, unicorn princess and Elmo costumes. The boys went as zombie campers. The boys decided they didn’t want to participate in the costume contest and went to the bouncing pillows to play. The girls went to the costume contest but were too embarrassed to go on stage and just played with a friend they met instead.

4:00 began the fall carnival. We went to the rec center for the kids to participate in the games set up. They all played a few games and won medals. The medals were really cute.

After the carnival, we went back to the cabin to finish getting everyone ready for Trick or Treating. We loaded Taylor in the stroller (she refused to wear her Elmo hat) and everyone else grabbed their candy buckets and off we went. The kids got so much candy and only went through half of the campground. We left a bucket of candy out in front of our cabin since we were going with the kids Trick or Treating. A lot of the cabins and camper sites had decorations set up. There was a campsite contest as well. People went all out for this.

Once we were finished with trick or treating, we went back to the cabin to have hot dogs, pasta salad and chip. The kids finished eating and went to watch the movie while Blake and I cleaned up and got things organized to leave in the morning. The movie was supposed to be Halloweentown but ended up being Frankenweenie. The younger kids did not want to watch all of it and came back to the cabin. We loaded them up with glow sticks and headed to the Haunted Trail the campground had set up. They were nervous (ages: 5, 6 and 8) but said they wanted to try it. It was about 1/4 of a mile and the campground did a fantastic job with the characters and decorations. The kids were scared but powered through it and were very proud of themselves when it was over. We told them going in that it was all fake, that helped some. Once the movie was over the boys came back to the cabin and wanted to do the haunted trail. Blake and I take the 2 of them over and Ethan (11) was hesitant but went through, Nick (9) ended up deciding not to go. Ethan had a blast and was laughing when it was over. We all got back to the cabin and called it a night.

Sunday

The kids slept in a little bit. We made waffles and sausage for breakfast. The kids went to play once they were done with breakfast and Blake and I packed the car and cleaned up the cabin. Once the kids got back to the cabin we loaded them up and took them to the Yogi statue at the exit of the park to get pictures. We forgot to do this on our 4th of July trip.

We headed out to our next birthday surprise for the kids…….Skyline Caverns and the Mirror Maze. Until next time Yogi!

Crabtree Falls VA Hike with the Kids 9/11/2021

Hike: Crabtree Falls

Distance: 3.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 1109 feet

Terrain: Stairs, Muddy, Rocks, Rooty

Blake had the day off from work and we decided that morning we wanted to take the kids hiking. It was a clear day in the mountains which makes for beautiful views. We decided to take the kids to Spy Rock. Blake and I hiked Spy Rock 6/9/2020 and didn’t have the best views due to the weather. We pile the wolf pack in the car and head to Spy Rock. When Blake and I hiked, we parked in the parking lot at the Montebello Fish Hatchery and this is where went with the kids. Unfortunately this parking area is now closed to the public and is private property. The trailhead sign remains. Signs up at the trailhead state to hike to Spy Rock via the Cash Hallow Trailhead. With the new parking area being further away than we wanted to go, we decided to take the kids to Crabtree Falls.

For those without a National Park Pass there is a $3 fee to park at the trailhead for Crabtree Falls. Once we got to the trailhead, we all had lunch before the hike.

The hike to the base of the falls is all paved and fairly flat. This also allows for ADA and strollers to access the view of the lower falls.

View of the lower falls

As we were about to continue up the trail Ethan spots a Ringneck snake. Of course all of the kids were excited to see the snake.

We continue up the trail, checking out all of the viewpoints of the falls. Crabtree falls are a series of cascading falls and unfortunately cannot be captured all in one photo. There are however, 5 platforms to capture amazing views of the falls.

We made it to the top of the falls after completing a series of switchbacks and lots of stairs. The hike is a very steep hike and we were very proud of all of the kids. Especially Austin, being only 5 years old.

There are no views of the waterfall from the top, you do get gorgeous mountain views. We met a bunch of really friendly dogs at the top as well. One dog was in training and had never been around children before and our kids were great with the dog and the dog just loved the kids.

On the way back down the trail the kids all go through the bolder cave on the side of the trail.

We made it back to the trailhead about 2.5 hours after we started out hike and took our pictures. Extremely proud of the kids for completing the hike.

Before heading home we stop by Blue Mountain Brewery for dinner. The kids love this restaurant and say it is one of their favorites. They love that they can run around outside before and after dinner.

Blacksburg Waterfall Trip 8/27/2021-8/29/2021

Wanting to take the kids on one more trip before school starts, we decided to take them to Blacksburg to hike a couple of waterfalls. On the drive to Blacksburg, I book a hotel room for 2 nights at the Hyatt Place Blacksburg/University. They had a suite available which is perfect for our family. We arrived at the hotel, checked in and went to our room to set up for the next 2 nights. While setting up, I called in a togo order at Macado’s which was a couple of blocks from the hotel. Our food took a long time to come out. The kids patiently waited and once we got our food, we went back to the hotel to eat.

Overstuffed Sandwiches, Burgers, Wings & More

8/28/2021

The hotel had a huge all you can eat buffet breakfast and we made sure everyone was good and full before we left for the day.

First stop: Cascade Falls

https://www.virginia.org/listing/cascades-national-recreation-trail/6927/

Hike:

Distance: 4.2 miles

Elevation: 696 Feet gained

We stress to the kids when it comes to hike, state parks, national parks, etc. Leave no trace – Leave only footprints, take nothing but memories. Cascade Falls has a rock on the trailhead stressing this message.

The hike on the way to the falls was a beautiful hike through the woods alongside Little Stony Creek.

We made it to the falls and the kids quickly went to play. Cascade falls is a larger waterfall with a giant natural swimming hole. The falls are very popular and very busy today. The first thing the kids did when we got to the falls was play on what they called a “natural slip and slide”.

Taylor enjoyed playing in the water as well.

We all enjoyed playing in the water and under the waterfall. Ethan, Nick and Izzy are strong swimmers and kept jumping in by the waterfall and swimming back to the side.

We took so family pictures in front of the falls.

Blake and I snapped some pictures before we began our hike out.

In total we spent about 3 hours at the falls. The kids really enjoyed playing and swimming (we did too). The falls are beautiful and the area gives you plenty to do. We began our hike out and stopped at the creek a few times to cool off.

Once back at the trailhead we take some pictures and load up to head to our next waterfall.

We head to Falls of the Dismal after leaving Cascade Falls.

Dismal falls is a roadside waterfall. To get to the falls, just pull over on the side of the road and walk 0.1 miles down the mountain and you will arrive at the falls. Dismal falls is a smaller waterfall but has a large pool for swimming and rock for jumping off of. The kids enjoyed jumping from different heights on the rocks and had a great time. All of them (except Taylor) jumped.

Blake’s Uncle lives in Blacksburg and we met up with him, his wife and cousin for dinner. We went to Eastern Divide Brewing Company. The brewery has a dinner menu for which had many entrees for the kids as well as a large area for the kids to run around and play. The kids played with all of the other kids at the brewery and we sat with Blake’s family and enjoyed conversation and a drink.

The next morning, we had another great breakfast at the hotel, packed up and headed for our next waterfall before driving home.

We arrived at Falls Ridge Nature Preserve to hike the Bradley Trail.

Hike:

Distance: 1.28 miles

Elevation: 164 feet

The Waterfall is one of the most unique falls because it is a spring fed Travertine Waterfall around 80 feet tall. If you have ever be in a cavern this waterfall is basically a cavern waterfall and rock structure except instead of being underground, it is above ground and not enclosed. The rocks the waterfall flows over appears muddy but it is actually rock and the water is crystal clear.

The hike is a short hike to the falls and then the trail continues up a set of stairs and takes you on a loop around the falls. Just before the falls there are a couple of caves that can be explored.