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.

Good Weekend

Now that Mike and I are done working the hay ride, we've got our weekends back! This weekend was packed (just the way I like it).

On Friday night, Cait came down and the four of us had a tequila night. Mike picked up a bottle of Cabo Wabo, Bryce picked up a whole bunch of limes, and the two of them built a fire in the backyard.

This is all you need to know.

The following morning, Mike and I were bright eyed and busy tailed. Bryce was... not so much. We devoured leftover Chinese food for breakfast then drove up to his place to work on getting the yard cleaned up after the snow damage. On the way, I decided I was famished so we stopped at Tommy D's, where I had the world's best Italian sub. OMG. We also stopped at the chainsaw store, where I  named the giant wooden eagle on the counter. 

Herbie was with us for the afternoon and was having a blast running around the yard playing with anyone who would pay attention with her. It turned out to be a good timing sort of thing because Mike's sister brought her new puppy, Hemi, over for a visit. 

Not my picture, but  OMG he's so cute!

That night was the after party for Haunted. We drove out to the Moose Lodge for a night of drinks, food, and laughter. It didn't hurt to get paid either (although I didn't see a penny of the money. It went straight to rent.) We were definitely the cool table that night. I'm not sure  what that says about  the rest of the crowd ;)

Yesterday morning, Mike and I woke up early because we've been sleeping a lot lately. We sipped coffee and mulled over our laptops until Bryce got home around 10am, at which point the three of us went to the Amwell Diner for breakfast. They have the world's best cream of turkey soup on Sundays and I love to go gobble it down. It was apparently Be at the Diner Day and the place was more crowded than I've ever seen it. 

From there, Mike and I went to his house so he could change the oil in my car (the advantages of dating this guy never end!)

The plan was to get that done and go hiking at Hacklebarney. Originally it was just the two of us, but Dev texted me as we were leaving the diner, saying, "Wanna go for a hike?" We invited him and C to join us. Bryce had figured that since he was all the way at the diner he should go to TSC. Then he decided that since he was all the way there, he might as well go see his parents. Then he decided that since he was all the way at his parents', he might as well come hiking with us. And so it became a group thing (and an afternoon worth its own entry). 

When it got dark and cold, Mike and I drove up to MO to meet up at the diner with two friends who I haven't seen in years. Kelly, who moved to Virginia in high school, decided to come to Jersey just because she felt like it, and Ryan, who moved to Kansas after graduation, has been back in Jersey for a while, but our lives have been too hectic for us to meet up. We were at the diner for hours and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time (complete with snorting and choking on my coffee). We played catch up and had a blast. Ryan and I definitely need to hang out more now that she lives in the state again. 

Margaret's Visit

Two years ago, Margaret came to visit. It was March and she swore the next time she came by it would be for warmer weather. Wish granted! She flew in on Saturday and spent four days in 90 degree weather. Luckily it was a three day weekend for me so we got to do a lot of fun stuff. Last time she had to shadow me at work for a couple days (not that she was complaining). Still, the SRF Charity Golf Outing was on Tuesday. I couldn't get out of it so there were a lot of things we didn't get around to (like seeing Carolyn's farm).

I picked Margaret up at the train station on Saturday afternoon. I had looked up the schedule of trains from Newark to Hamilton and, remembering that she had said something about 3 o'clock, guessed that it was either the 3:09 or the 3:21. To be safe, I got to the train station at 3pm. As it turns out, it was the 3:21 train... 3:21 at NEWARK!!! It was 4:10 by the time it arrived in Hamilton. Doh!

We went back to the house so Margaret could settle in, put her stuff down, and catch her breath for a little while. There wasn't a whole lot of daylight left so I decided to just give her a quick tour of the farms in the area and call it a night.

We were going to start at SRF, but it looked busy, what with the upcoming golf outing and all. Instead we went to White Birch, then Showplace and Gaitway, with a stop at historic Walnford in the middle. Margaret took a ton of photos and we even walked all the way around the track at Gaitway so she could see all the barns lined up against the sunset. I must be getting jaded because I didn't take a single photo the whole time we were out.


On Sunday Erin joined us and the three of us went to Devon. Jenn had scored free tickets and there promised to be carriages and pony jumpers. We had a grand old time wandering the booths and window shopping.

I brought Herbie, whose little puppy brain was rather fried by all the people, dogs, food, and new smells. She was very excited at first, but settled nicely. I was really proud of her and we gathered compliments on how cute, pretty, and well behaved she was.

There was a mentally challenged woman sitting in front of the grandstand with her mother. Herbie picked her out of the crowd immediately and walked toward her, tail wagging. The woman grinned from ear to ear and gave a squeal of delight, gesturing wildly to ask permission to pet my dog. Herbie walked over and was on her very best behavior. Turns out the woman loves puppy kisses, which Herbie coincidentally loves giving, but she didn't jump up until she was invited.The two made friends right away and Herbie even listened when the woman told her to sit and lay down over and over again. Good puppy!

It was a very tiring day for a pup. Towards the end of our stay we found a lovely elderly couple who liked Herbie and offered to watch her while we stood in the sun at the rail to take pictures. I tied Herbie to the bench and she napped peacefully under their feet. After that she was recharged and ready for round two.

Unfortunately, it was blistering hot and all three of us had had quite enough time outside long before the pony jumpers entered the ring. All the same, I got a good selection of photos and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

We made the drive back to Jersey and took turns showering and getting cleaned up. Not long after that Bryce's best friend, Mike, Dev, and C showed up for a night of drinking and hanging out.

Dev brought food and the boys grilled it up in the backyard while C and I took our first double shots of vodka in the kitchen.C warned me right off the bat that I was going to make myself sick if I kept going the way I was going, but Mike told her he's seen me handle my liquor and I backed him up, saying that he'd always cut me off in time before.

As the night progressed, I got increasingly drunk. We were making a valiant effort at watching Tangled, but failed in the end. I was begging for one more shot and getting voted down. They told me I could drink again when we reached the Snuggly Duckling scene in the movie, but when the time came C and I got distracted and locked ourselves in the bedroom instead. Margaret joined us.

What came next was your typical drunk scene, with C and I having a heart to heart about everything and Margaret soberly laughing at us from the other end of the bed. Somewhere in there, Bryce stumbled in. He was apparently also quite drunk and the boys were trying to convince him to sell everything he owns and buy a cruiser.

Me: I love you.
C: I love you too, man.
Bryce: I don't wanna be a boy!

Sadly, C was right and I did make myself sick so my night was cut short. In the end, Mikey ended up scooping me off the floor and carrying me to bed. I'm pretty sure I was still drunk when I woke up at 8am to people leaving the house. The hangover that follows is one I would prefer not to revisit. Ginger capsules and aspirin were my mid-morning companions and I didn't fully feel better until late afternoon.

We re-watched Tangled while I nursed my nausea and headache. I wolfed down some coleslaw for breakfast and managed to keep some coffee down.

Around 3pm we all re-grouped at Mikey's house and went down to his beach on Round Valley. And when I say his beach, I mean the one he made himself. He picked the rocks off of it one by one and toted in 500 pounds of sand, one bag at a time. This must have been no easy task since getting there meant walking down a good bit of winding trail through the woods. Of course people have discovered it and liked it and therefore done extensive damage, and there were tons of people hanging out for Memorial Day, but we had a good time nonetheless. The water is so clean that you can see 30 feet down and the weather was to die for. We swam and splashed and watched Bryce act like a giant toddler. Mike's sister joined us with her boyfriend and their dog, a pit/lab cross named Maggie. The dogs ran and swam and played fetch.

After a few hours, we hiked back to the cars and drove back to Mike's. From there we were headed to Dev's house. We had a bit of a scare when Dev's motorcycle wouldn't start. I popped my hood and we tried to jump it, but we couldn't even get lights. Dev was in the process of calling for assistance when Bryce, who'd been tinkering with the engine, found the starter relay loose. He popped it back into place and announced that we had lights. From there we were able to jump it and get on the road. Phew!

At Dev's we made shish-kebabs on the grill and relaxed. We wound up on the dock where Bryce nearly fell off the new high seats. We watched the sunset over the water before deciding to break diet and go out for ice cream. We made one last stop at the castle before parting ways for the night. I drove Mike home where we hung out under the stars while the temperatures dropped. Bryce, Margaret, and I were ready to go to bed by the time we got home.

Yesterday was the golf outing which will get its own blog entry. We didn't get home until 10pm and Margaret had a train to catch at 6:09am. I hugged her goodbye and wished her a safe flight then went home to catch up on sleep. Her trip really flew by and it was a jam packed weekend. I'll probably be recovering until this coming weekend.

More photos from Devon under the cut.