Take Me Home Country Roads

 So, West Virginia?  Turns out it's pretty nice.

As we loaded up our van for our THIRD big trip of the summer I thought to myself- am I maybe "traveled out"?  Could that be possible?  My motivation to drive 5 hours and sleep in a new place was low to say the least. 

Then we hit the foothills of the Applachains, all green and rocks and waterfalls.  Then we got to our lovely AirBnb, all full of our friends.  And I was not "traveled out" after all.   This little trip was the perfect mix of exploration and scenery and food and games and quality time with some of my favorite people, and I'm so grateful for all of it. 

Car full of teens plus box of 50 snack bacgs of doritos = lots of crunching.  We were so glad to take along Jack's friend Nolan, so that Jack would have someone to hang out with.  Turns out Nolan is both well mannered and hilarious, so it was a win all around.

These three set up camp in the bunk room, complete with blanket forts and a floor absolutely covered in clothing and other items.  Except for Lillian's area, which was neat as a pin.  I love these three together, how they are like one unit, yet each so unique. 

We warmed up to the the area with a short hike to view the New River Gorge bridge.  Thought we might venture further down one of these very poorly marked trails to a waterfall, but it quickly devolved into sliding along muddy paths through overgrown rhododenrons so we went back to the house for walking tacos instead. 

After dinner pool tournaments...

Also talking with these ladies.  How lucky are we to have each other for all these years.  I adore them. 

If you were looking for Jack and Nolan in the house, chances were good you would find them here. 

Night One game choice:  Cards against Humanity.  The adult version.  Kids' choice, much to the adults' chagrin.

Do we record for posterity here on the blog the last card Naomi read that night, or is it seared sufficiently into our memories!?

Quality parenting at work...  But they had so much fun being inappropriate and making their parents cringe!

Day two, morning adventure! Babcock State Park, a half hour from our place and apparently the "most photographed for calendars" mill and waterfall in America. We could see why.

Between the stream and mill and waterfalls and CCC-built shop and stairs and patios... it was a fairyland of dappled light.

Made a super quick stop at the National Park visitor center on the way home to get maps for the next day.  Took in the view while we were there...

Then it was off to our big adventure- White Water Rafting on the New River! We went through the "TryWVA" company and they were everything we were looking for, complete with a super sketchy school bus ride to river and tough-as-nails, hilarious guides- and just enough danger and excitement for everyone to have fun.  Class 4 rapids are our jam. 

It couldn't have been a nicer day out, and despite being quite nervous in anticipation of the trip, I really enjoyed hitting those rapids. Much more than I expected to, actually! Looking around the boat in between rapids, seeing the smiling faces of all these people I love, shining in the glorious sunshine to a backdrop of green and water...  Worth the price of admission to capture that one moment in my heart. When I told everyone as much, my friends and family mercilessly mocked me for being pre-emptively nostalgic, and I told them to deal because being sentimental is just who I am. :) 

Warming up back at the house...

Taco night number 2!  Yes, we had tacos every night.  Walking, Shawarma, and some sort of all-day-cooked magnificence that I can't remember the name of but which definitely earned Kate's new beau Dave a place in our hearts. 

Tried our hand at a new game- Ransom Notes.  Fun but not quite for kids-- they didn't quite understand how to write to the prompts and Dave just kicked all of our patooties at it.  So by popular demand it was back to Cards Against Humanity for the rest of the night.

Day 3:  It's that time on the group vacation when Nat and Amanda get tired of waiting for everyone to do things and just run off on their own.  We hiked the Endless Wall trail at NRGNP and it was so perfect.   Easy hiking, little offshoot paths to explore at all the "climbing access" points, each offering a view that we thought was more incredible until we got to Diamond Point where it was utterly breathtaking. 

Like, crazy-beautiful.

I could have stayed up on that cliff all day.

But we had shopping in Fayetteville to get to! :)  What a cute little town.  And what cute, tall, independent kids we have...They had such fun thrift shopping and buying alllll the bulk candy at Ben Franklin.

Our afternoon fun also included getting our van thermostat replaced. Because its not a vacation if we don't have an inconvenience to deal with.  Gratitude for a nearby shop that could get it right in, and for good friends and multiple cars so we could get ferried around all day. Gratitude also that a trouble some bolt was able to be removed without taking out large parts that would take days to get in.  We had the van back by 5pm and were able to join in on the swimming fun at Summersville Lake. 

Next to Summersville Dam, the lake is a lovely resevoir of very clear water which reminded me a lot of the Guernsey resevoir (only with a lot more green).

Hey look!  More hot tubbing!  Our teens took full advantage of the amenities at this Airbnb!

Final morning photo shoot.

Had lunch at the Cathedral Cafe on our way out of town.

Can I just tell you how happy I am soe my dear friend look this content?  It was great to meet Dave and welcome him into our extended Hiram family.  He clearly treasures Kate, so we all approve. 

West Virginia and the views! Hawk's Nest State Park delivered another. 

And to finish off here in "almost heaven West Virgnia"- Cathedral Falls.  Tucked about 50 feet off the road in a little niche in the mountain, this little spot was too perfect for words.  The pictures do not do it justice nor do they show the 100's of yellow butterflies flitting about in the sunhiney greeness of it all. 

Friends like these and views like these and smiles like these... I sure am glad we went through the trouble of packing that van again!  

July's End: Celebrations

We closed out July with wonderful weather, work, swimming and celebration...and just a few more days at home to enjoy views like this. 

Sweet Euclid Beach.  You have my heart.

One of the reasons we had to be home from Farley's for a bit was so that could have my annual mammogram and my 5 (!) year check in with my oncologist.  Five years is a milestone and I approached it with optimistic anxiety, keeping my mind off things by kayaking and day drinking..

Here I am waiting for 2 hours in  hospital robe in between my mammogram and seeing my doctor...

(It wasn't as bad as it seems in the photo.  Chatted with some nice ladies about family vacations, and listsned to my book on tape and tried not to freak out...)

Thankfully, the mammogram was clear and the appoiment was easy and I was declared officially cancer free at the 5 year mark!  Time to breathe again.

I have a new oncologist.  Dr. LeGrand, tiny forceful woman that she was, retired.  She was the doctor I needed then.  No nonsense, reassuring, clear.  Dr. Kruse is the doctor I need now.  Chatty and thorough and ready to give the full explanations that my brain (finally, five years in) is ready to hear.  I'd been planning on stopping Tamoxifen this summer if all was clear.  But Dr. Kruse decided, since I have literally no side effects and also I am "so young" (I like her!) that I might as well continue to the 10 year mark.  So my daily pill routine remains unchanged and I get to live with the extra 15 pounds that I like to blame on the medication. But I don't even care.  It turns out I like this body exactly the way it is.  Which is strong and healthy and cancer free.

Nat and I went out and bar hopped to celebrate.

Cocktails at the Fairmount.

Then several margaritas and allllll the tacos at Barrio.  A beautiful day

Energized by good news, I spent the next day embarking on my first and only house project of the summer-  clearing brush and preppinf the space by the sunroom for a future deck and hot tub.  I am tired of waiting to have a hot tub.  Target date for acquisition:  my birthday.  I'm going to need to give 46 something special so it can compete with the loveliness that is 45...

Any time I've had an extra hour, I've been at the pool.  Drink in hand, working on my tan, pretending to read but really surfing facebook, and just soaking up the absolute blessing that is being on summer break. 

I've also been running in Forest Hill- and sometimes taking walk breaks by waterfalls.  Have I ever mentioned I love where I live. 

On the 28th, Nat made an overnight trip to NY to fetch back our girl.  Taller and tanner and more mature than when we left her 10 days ago- and full of sweetness and stories.  She even let me hug her, several times!  I missed this sweet face. 

Sunny missed her too.

Lucky for our girl, she arrived home JUST in time for Swin Championships weekend.  (much to her dismay-- "Mom, this was YOUR idea for me to swim, I did NOT choose this!")

Little did she know this would end up being one of our best Champs ever.  Just a wonderful weekend for our kids and our community. 

We had a great campsite for Tigersharks, right by the action.  What a gift to have our lovely parent-friends all gathered together, so you could wander from tent to tent and catch up and chat and cheer together.  I wish more of life allowed this sort of connection, that we were not always so separate in our private homes.  These people, they are what I treasure in this community, even more than the architecture and the gardens...

Coach Dan's wife wandered the grounds as the Heights Tiger and it almost made me cry (not for the last time). This is the view from the top of the bleachers, from which vantage point you could see over the barbed wire around the pool and use your camera zoom to capture your swimmer.  The only drawback to Champs- not being able to be right there on deck, yelling into the water at the turn. But there was a certain air of festivity and adventure about climbing around people up the rickety metal steps to get to the very top...And then climbing down as fast as possible to go meet your swimmer with a towel...

What made the weekend even better was that our Morehouse swimmers absolutely rocked their events.  A special treat considering they had just taken 2 and 4 week breaks from practice...

 

Here'ss Ivy after winning her 50 Back heat.  Yay for ducks!

And here she is when we were surprised and thrilled to hear her name over the loudspeaker for getting 12th overall (out of 64 swimmers in her group)! Definitely one of the prime moments in a marvelous weekend. 

Also prime:  These girls making up and playing repeatedly the game "Tiger, tiger, shark."  This crew of 11-12 year olds are something special. 

At the end of day one we let the kids decompress at home and spent a lovely evening at our friend Keith's house, enjoying his spectacular garden and some great company.

And the turkey he roasted, which was raised for him by a frient and is pictured on this Christmas card. 

Day two:  back for more!  Jack wore his tech suit- ready to take names in his IM and 100 Breast.

As is the way with our kiddos, they were much more at ease and independent on day two.  They knew the ropes and could really relax with friends and enjoy the experience.  Even caught them being supportive to one another a few times.  Just add water for my kids to be their best selves.

Here's the boy on deck for his IM.

He swam so hard he almost collapsed after- and came in 5th overall in his age group!  Second green ribbon of the meet for him after his surprise 5th place (24.03 second) 50 Free on day one. 

The girls were covered with sharpie drawings for day two.

They also took over our tent,  And I loved it. 

How do you make a fabulous weekend even better? A spontaneous conga line before the final relays.  Our big kids... are still just kids.  Heart. 

At the end of the meet as we were ready to leave, laden with chairs and towels and bags, Jack says "Hang on" and veers off to his teammates, where he stayed for a good 15 minutes more, just soaking up the good times.   Tigersharks swimming has been so good to our family. 

Upon arriving home from the meet at 5:30, I turned around, packed a picnic and headed to Blossom with a friend from COC, to hear the Broadway legends orchestra performance.  A night like this one at Blossom is another way to take a great weekend and make it even better. I'd forgotten what a treasure this place is.

 And then it was August!  And we had yet another trip to pack and plan for (I asked Nat, "Are we maybe kind of traveled out?  Is that possible?)  After these lovely days at home there was a part of me that just wanted to keep going with it all, the pool and the beach and swim practice and watering the plants.  Summer at home is so good!  But as you will see in the next post- so is summer in West Virginia....