Impromptu WV Trip

Last week, Liz made a half-joking comment on Facebook about having us come down for the weekend. It took us about two and a half seconds to decide we were going. After all, I haven't had an out of state ride since the beginning of September, and we are long overdue for a West Virginia trip (it's been three months, and we can't have that!) It would be a nice ending to what was proving to be a pretty miserable week.

We got up bright and early on Saturday morning to make the seven hour drive. We left the dogs home with Dyandra, and packed light. We also decided to take a new route down to avoid 81. Both Google Maps and Liz recommended the 220 exit in Bedford.

And then I got pulled over.

Mike, my trusty co-pilot, has a knack for spotting cops before they're a problem, but he had closed his eyes for a few minutes. I had just finished ditching a particularly rude Mazda driver and came whipping around a bend in the highway, admittedly going too fast. I saw the police car immediately, but it was too late. He pulled out right behind me, and I knew I'd gotten nailed. Mike woke up to a string of curse words from me. The cop followed me long enough to run my plates before flicking on his lights.

I pulled to the wide shoulder obediently, and had the engine off, the four-ways on, and my paperwork out before the officer was out of his car. I have found that being cooperative can help your case.

In the process of pulling out my paperwork, I realized that my current insurance card never made it to my glove box! It came in the mail when my car was in the shop after the accident in June, and even though I swear I stuck it in my purse, I couldn't find it there either. I had just enough time to really panic before I realized that Pennsylvania doesn't require insurance, and he wasn't even going to ask for it. Phew! (I called my insurance company right away and they emailed me a new card, which is now safely tucked with my license and registration.)

"The reason I pulled you over is because I clocked you going 85 in a 65," he told me. Ouch. I knew I was going fast, but I didn't think I was going that fast. Bad Dom! Also, of course I was on the stretch of turnpike that's not 70mph yet.
"I didn't realize I was going that fast. I'm very sorry," I told him, and handed over my paperwork.
"Where are you heading today?"
"West Virginia, sir."

He went back to his car and I could see him printing a citation. Twenty over in NJ is a huge deal and there's no way a state trooper at home would have let me get off with anything less than the full ticket. I was dreading this. Plus, in NJ, that kind of speeding is a mandatory court appearance. By this point, we were nearly four hours away from home. It was not a drive I was looking forward to making in the dead of winter.

When the officer came back, I was stunned. "As I said, I got you going 85 in a 65. I did write you a citation, but it's not for speeding." My brain raced. What the heck could it be instead? All my lights are in working order, I was wearing my seat belt, I wasn't on the phone, I signaled when I moved over. Every little nit picky thing that he could use as an excuse I had done right. "Here in Pennsylvania we have a mandate that you probably don't know about. I am issuing you a citation for 'not obeying the rules of the turnpike'. It's a fine, but no points, and it's not classified as a moving violation."
"Wow. Ok. Thank you so much..." I could feel Mike glaring at me.

It was a very generous thing of the trooper to do. I paid my $130 fine and it won't affect my driving record or my insurance. Plus I won't have to go back out to the middle of nowhere for court. My thought is that either the officer was being really nice to me, or that he didn't actually clock me. I'm sure he could tell I was speeding, which gave  him ample reason to pull me over, but if he didn't actually get a reading (I swear I wasn't going over 80mph!) he can't actually issue a speeding ticket. I don't know. Maybe I'm jaded. Either way, it was a relief, and didn't put as much of a damper on our trip as it could have.

The rest of the ride went uneventfully. The new route was an open country road that wound through the Appalachians with lovely scenery to stare at (and lots of cows). Before long, we were in familiar country in Maryland, then WV. We only stopped for gas, and arrived in Elkins around 1pm, famished.

Our GPS did try to take the creative route to where we were meeting Liz, but with the help of some landmarks, it didn't take her long to get us to our destination. After catching up for a few minutes and using the bathroom, we piled into Liz's car to get lunch.

We wound up going to Beander's, a local bar.

Photo stolen from the Beander's Facebook.

The whole place smelled delicious and we seated ourselves and grabbed menus. I was overwhelmed by the selection. Everything sounded absolutely amazing. Liz suggested getting the fries, promising that they were to die for. In the end, I went with a Hawaiian chicken sandwich, fries (with cheese), and a locally brewed blonde beer. As promised, the fries were incredible. The sandwich was also amazing, and I wolfed it down in record time. They even had the good pickles!

From there, we went over to Big Timber Brewing Company for more locally brewed beer. Hooray day drinking!

Also stolen from Facebook.

In the time we were there, we tried all their brews. We also watched ice skating and caught up on all the latest goings-on in each other's lives. I also bought some swag. I was overdue for a properly fitted hooded sweatshirt, so I snagged one of those. They also had t-shirts in blaze orange. I've been terrible about following my trail system's hunting rules. I deck my horse out in lime green for visibility, but I don't actually own anything orange. So I bought one of those too, and left the bar looking like a local (or something).

Somewhere in there, we realized that I've never really ridden Griffin. I've sat on him, but only after he was already worked, and only for a short period of time. Despite the cold temperatures and the fact that I had brought zero riding gear with me, we decided to change that right then and there. We trekked out to the barn, where Griffin was hiding on the other side of the barn from the rest of the herd. Liz retrieved him, and he came right in even though he had already been ridden that day. He looked a bit puzzled, but was game to play along. 

Liz ran him through his paces to see what kind of mood he was in, and I borrowed her helmet and climbed on board. What a nice little horse! After the initial, "Hi, do I know you?" he did everything I asked. I even asked him to frame up at the trot, and he did. Did I mention he has a lovely canter? I kept it short, but got a good feel for the horse in the mean time. It was interesting to ride him. He's pretty much exactly the same age as Booger, but has had a lot more miles, and has been handled properly longer than she has. I couldn't help but compare and contrast them. Booger feels lighter and softer in a lot of ways, but Griffin's willingness and attitude win hands down. He also has a better forward button than she does. 

We wrapped it up after that. Mike in particular was pretty frozen. 

Of course, no visit would be complete without seeing/torturing Atticus, so we swung by Liz's apartment to see him. He has gotten so big. While we were there, I totally fell in love with Hodor. Last time we saw him, Liz had just gotten him and he hadn't settled in yet. This time, he plunked himself right in my lap, purring up a storm. I want a handsome orange tabby to cuddle all over me! I would have taken him home in a heartbeat if Mike and I had any actual interest in having an indoor cat.

Next, we stopped at Walmart for supplies for the night. While we were there, we called in a dinner order for  El Gran Sabor, the Venezuelan place that we tried on our first visit. 

More internet photos.

I've been craving their cachapas regularly since then, and it was tough not to gobble down half my food on the car ride again. This time, I got a full meal, including a shrimp soup. Despite the fact that we had eaten a big lunch, the aroma had me ravenous again the second we walked through the door to pick up our order.

From there, we settled in for the night. Mike and I were looking forward to just relaxing and hanging out. All of our trips to WV have been whirlwind adventures, but we assured Liz that we were ok with just chilling and lazing around, especially since winter is fast approaching. 

So we ran back to the house, watched the second half of a Robin Williams movie, ate our dinner, and waited for some of Liz's friends to arrive. She was having a get together, and it promised to be a good time.

After that, it's a bit of a blur. We played Cards Against Humanity, drank rum, vodka, and beer, and generally had a good time. Mike finished his entire growler from Big Timber, and wound up doing a Boston Darth Vader impersonation that you would have to see to believe. 

Eventually, I wandered over to the arm chair on the other side of the room. Sadly for me, it turned out that it reclined and was super comfy. Before I knew it, I was out like a light. When I woke up again, there were faces I didn't even recognize, and Mike was sitting at the foot of the stairs, trying to have some kind of serious conversation. Haha.

Liz put us up in the guest bedroom for the night. We had our own bathroom and everything! Very fancy. Mike and I slept like the dead. The bed was very comfy, it was super dark, and the house was quiet. I wish I could sleep like that every night.

We were up around 9am on Sunday morning. I woke up feeling perky, but Mike had a pounding headache and was a bit sluggish, and not his usual sunshine self. Liz and her friend, D, were already up and had breakfast half ready when we got up. Eggs, coffee, and buckwheat pancakes (which I'd never had, but totally adore). 

While eating breakfast, we watched The Internship, which Mike and I have seen a bunch of times, but which cracks me up every single time. I also totally fell in love with Liz's parents' dog, Jetta. I think my next dog is going to be something small, quiet, and low energy. I could get used to a dog sitting in my lap without putting my legs to sleep!

After breakfast, we decided that a trip to WV wouldn't be complete without seeing 'pretty things'. After a brief discussion of our options, we settled on Spruce Knob. I've never been any other place like it, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of being up there.

The drive took a little over an hour, and it was interesting to watch the roads change with the elevation. There were parts where we made good time, and parts where Liz had to kick it in four-wheel and we were driving on snow. We wound our way up the mountain at a much less hair-raising pace than last time.

This time, instead of parking at the top by the lookout tower, Liz pulled into a pull-off and had us walk up to the boulder field. I was woefully under prepared for this short walk. I have gotten old and out of shape and was winded halfway up. Liz, meanwhile, pranced lightly ahead of us with Kenai darting happily in front of her. 

It was bitterly, bitterly cold up there, and I was shivering despite my hat and Carhartt. Still, the view was utterly worth it. I snapped a ton of photos in a short period of time before slip-sliding back down the trail to the car.

We took some time to pose for photos against the nice backdrop before piling back into the SUV. Liz and I goofed off for the camera, and would have totally forgotten to pose nicely at all if Mike hadn't reminded us to 'act normal for a minute'. I tried to goof off with Mike too, but he refuses to partake in my shenanigans. 

Liz decided to take us down the other side of the mountain on the way home. It would be a longer route in terms of mileage, but all the roads were paved that way. Plus, the added bonus was that we would get to drive past Seneca Rocks, the one famous landmark from Liz's blog that we hadn't seen yet! That was a rock formation unlike any other I'd seen in person before. I'm not badass enough to rock climb, but I can totally see the appeal!

After a brief stop for photos, we drove back to the house. Liz pointed out various points of interest while Mike dozed in the back. We had told Liz we wanted to leave around 2pm, and she got us back to my car at 2 o'clock on the dot! We packed our stuff, said our goodbyes, and hit the road.

I managed to make really good time on the way home, but without driving like a maniac or getting pulled over. We did a drive thru for chicken nuggets, which I only crave on road trips or after surgery, apparently. Other than that, we just made one gas stop. We were home before bed time, and were able to get a full night of sleep before getting back to the daily grind on Monday morning.

It was the perfect weekend get away. Just enough time to sort of reset. As always, Liz was the perfect host and tour guide, and we left WV wondering why on earth we still live up here.

Being mischievous. 

Kenai loves his car rides.

Loving the panorama on my new camera.

Kenai would NOT cooperate with me.

The boulder field from below.

"Are you guys on the wrong side of the road?"
"Shhhh..."