Travel Log, Day Two

I stayed with the cousin on the far right.
I'm second from the left.

Our Trip to WV and MD*

 Ward and I struck out on our own today to visit North Bend State Park. I hadn't been there since I was a child and wanted to see it again. This is one of many places where I've wanted to stop over the years when we were on the way to visit my parents. But the visit with them was always more important than sightseeing, so I just tucked the ideas away. Now our time is freer, so we're exploring some of these places.

North Bend is one of the many good state parks in West Virginia. It has cabins, a lodge, camping spots, a lake, a swimming pool, and many hiking trails. We drove around and got a feel for the park and then hiked on two different trails. It was all going well until Ward got a call from work that needed attention. We had to cut our visit short and go into town to find WiFi for him. But when you're on vacation, even work doesn't bother you, so all was good. North Bend is definitely a place that we plan to visit again in the future.

We ended the day with a cookout with more of my cousins. The family we were visiting had four sisters just like in my family and when they were all together it got lively. I turned to Ward and said, "See, it's just not me and my sisters, it's them too. It's all normal."  :)

Here are a few pictures from our visit to the park.

We enjoyed wildflowers in bloom along the trails we hiked.

The trail went up a steep hill next to a creek.

Ward investigated a cave we found along the way.

Bluets

A family of geese were enjoying the lake.

The park hooks up with the 72 mile Rail Trail that goes through north central WV.

The excitement continues on Day Three-coming soon. :)

*The town where we stayed is on the Ohio River, so we were back and forth between WV and OH several times. So actually, this was our trip to WV, MD, and OH.

Travel Log, Day one

Quilt shop at Penn Alps

 I've been back for a couple of days now after Ward and I spent a five days travelling around West Virginia and Maryland. The laundry was done and the suitcases were put away just in time to return to work. As I was trying to catch up on the outside work, a thunderstorm drove me inside.  So there's time to give you an update of our travels.

The overall goal of the trip was to visit with family--mostly cousins. While not everyone felt up to a visit, we had a great time with the cousins we were able to see. I don't remember the last time, if ever, I got to spend extended time with them. Ward enjoyed himself and was finally able to remember who was who. I have 23 first cousins on this side and when you add in spouses and kids, it is a pretty big group. Of course, he has met them over the years, but usually in a big chaotic group. He especially enjoyed getting to know them better.

The first day, we drove 5 hours to our destination in West Virginia. We stopped midway in Maryland to have lunch at the Penn Alps Restaurant and associated Spruce Forest. The area has artisans and craftsmen demonstrating their crafts in log cabins, many which were moved there from other sites. After a delicious lunch (actually in an uncrowded restaurant!), we wondered about the Spruce Forest. However, we didn't see many spruce trees. A linear tornado came through April 5 of this year and took down many of the trees and damaged buildings. They are trying to regroup, but still have a lot of uncertainties of how they are going to proceed. However, we didn't see how things were before, so we enjoyed wandering around the buildings and talking with crafts people. 

Here are a few pictures from our stop.

One of the damaged buildings. Some buildings were totally destroyed, and the old church across the street was condemned because it had been knocked off its foundation.

Also, in the village was the Yoder History House.
This was a replica of the Yoder family house from the mid 1700s.

The house is set up for a self-guided tour, but we were the only ones visiting,
so we got a personal tour from the guide there that day.

The village is along the Castleman River where George Washington with British General Braddock crossed on their way to Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh. That is where Braddock's Defeat happened when fighting the French and Indian War.

Later, in 1813 this bridge was built at Washington's crossing. They built a high arch so boats could go under in anticipation of expanding the C and O Canal to this area. The Canal never made it this far, but the tall-arched bridge is still standing and ready. 

After we arrived, we saw family, but I am saving those pictures for just family. However, let's just say that it was good to see people after not being able to travel for over a year. 

Day Two coming soon.

This and That

Iris

Long time, no see. Or something like that. My life has been going along in a very ordinary way with nothing inspiring me to post, but I'm going to do it anyway today. 

Goldfinch

The moderate weather and rainfall continue to make everything outside happy. The grass is growing rapidly and needs to be cut twice a week now. New flowers are blooming and the vegetables in the garden are thriving. We have harvested radishes, and beets should follow soon. I can see the first head of broccoli forming and the cabbage is growing like crazy. Unfortunately, the cabbage worms have found them, also. And unfortunately, the deer found our little apple tree and enjoyed the new growth on it. I guess all of God's creatures have to eat, she says trying to be positive while really being aggravated.

The birds are showing their bright spring mating colors and we've seen a nest of robins and a nest of house finches fledge. In the meantime, our birdfeeder is emptying at a new rate of speed. All God's creatures...

If you look closely, you can see the
orangish pollen sac (corbicula) on the bumble bee.

Tomorrow, Ward and I are leaving to spend a few days in West Virginia. We are now fully vaccinated and feel a bit more comfortable being out and about. Much of the visit will be spent visiting cousins and other family and friends with the hopes of working in some hiking and such. The weather is predicted to be in the low 90's, so we'll see how fast I fade when we are actually doing outdoor activities. 

One of our two vegetable beds.

And speaking of cousins, I found out at this week another cousin has been moved to hospice. I hope to be able to visit her on this trip. She is the kindest person who was always doing good deeds for others in a very quiet way. This makes me very sad. But life goes on and I plan to celebrate how lucky I am to have the extended family I have.

Now onto the practical of getting ready. I've started with the easy and am doing a load of laundry so we have plenty of clean clothes to choose from when we pack. And when I finish here, I'll try to not work another online jigsaw puzzle and procrastinate from the next chore on the list.

Until next time...

Spring Just Keeps Coming

Either I don't have a good memory of last year or this spring has outdone itself with color.  Or perhaps this time last year, I was so preoccupied with the serious beginnings of COVID outbreaks, I didn't notice what was going on around me. And perhaps, as I am starting to feel lighter about COVID, I am noticing things more. Whatever the case, here are some of things blooming this week in my yard.

Rhododendron

Lily of the Valley

Dianthus

Dianthus

Iris

Phlox

Dianthus

Until next time...

This and That

 Stream of Consciousness Morning

Three types of radishes I harvested yesterday. Miss Landers shared her seeds for them.

Here's more or less what's tossing around in head this morning. It's not actually not stream of consciousness, because I don't think you could keep up with that. I know I have a hard time sorting out the rapid fire thoughts that keep me company every day.

I am trying to figure out where I can plant more things without making a new bed. I have very generous friends who have shared many plants and seeds with me. They all seem interesting, but I've run out of space. So far this year, I've added two pussy willow bushes, two beauty berries, one butterfly bush, a mum, coneflowers, astilbe, four o'clocks, and columbine that I can remember. Some of these are in new spots and some are additions to old beds. I like to tuck things in here and there for little surprises as the year goes on. It brings me great joy. Some of the plantings are for curb appeal and others are for my enjoyment. Now the problem with all of this is that instead of making the yard easier to care for, I'm making harder. Oh, well. Spring will do that to you.

I also went overboard with planting my spring weather vegetables. I didn't expect all of them to survive the transplanting or even sprout, but they all have hung on and begun to thrive. It's long way between here and harvest, so we'll see what happens. Sometimes, nature has other plans. I did manage to plant 4 tomato plants over the weekend from my father-in-law. But that's all the room I have. The squash and beans will just have to wait.

My cousin is in her last days on earth. She is quite a bit younger than I am and I haven't seen her much since we were adults. But still it makes me sad. Mostly because she and her sisters have had a very, very hard life. I feel so fortunate to be on the branch of the family I am on and to have had parents who were able to break the cycle of problems and give me a stable and good beginning. Life is so complex and how it turns out is the luck of the draw sometimes. However, I do believe that we each have some control over our destiny. As I said, it's all so complex.

I had leftovers from yesterday for lunch today. I love leftovers. I made the menu for Mother's Day and the men prepared it. We had grilled hot dogs, potato salad, and a green salad. I'm not sure you would call me a foodie. But I know what I like. :)

Time to go to work. I'm hoping for a quiet day, so I can catch on some things, but we shall see.

Hope everyone has had a good day and seen or heard something that made them smile.

Until next time...