Skipping Rocks and Chasing Fireflies

 Oh West Virginia, you're gorgeous! 

You're hell on my transmission and I'm feeling the need to audibly apologize to my truck for all these switchbacks, mountainsides and harsh roads but I think my soul is crying a little from happiness. I feel like I can breathe and the boys seem to be feeling the same way. 

I believe I left you guys at Gauley Tailwaters, which was alright. Not the best but it served its use for the night. I needed coffee the next morning and the boys asked if we would be heading to a different campground. While it was a decent campground, I didn't entirely feel secure in just heading out and leaving all our gear there.

So with some imaginative cursing and awkward tiptoe-ing, the boys and I wrangled everything back into the bed of the truck and headed to the closest Starbucks. Gypsy was not thrilled to be back in the truck again so soon but she was at least eating a bit more and starting to perk up from the bedraggled mess she had been before. 

The boys took turns taking her out in the grass to do her business and much to their complaints, I laughed. If they wanted a pet, they had to deal with ALL aspects of pet care. Garrett was pouting and Camren appeared rather resigned at this but overall they were good about accepting their new duties. I'm more than willing to handle most of the unpacking and packing of camp, so long as they keep Tiny Fuzzy cared for. 

After a few hours at Starbucks, we headed to New River Gorge National Park. Driving over that bridge is...Incredible. There are almost no words to describe the mountains, the clouds clinging to the edges of the trees that line it. The faint silver shimmer of the river so far below, it's simply stunning in every aspect of that word. 

We settled at a new campground that ran along the New River and it was neatly tucked away in the trees. There is a larger parking lot by the restrooms and then the actual campground is just up a small hill. We settled in one of the smaller spots that had a fire ring and a picnic table. Simple and neat. There were quite a few other campers but they mostly stayed to themselves which was fine by me. 

Unless I know you, I can be rather introverted and I have no problems with this. Camp for us was quickly set up and since we would be there for a few days, I decided to unload all our our supplies so we could drain the standing water from the back of the truck that I'm pretty sure we brought with us all the way from Georgia. 

The tarp that kept most of our things dry was stretched between the singular metal pole and a tree to dry. We ended up setting Gypsy up with a bowl of food and water and walking down to the river. It's beautiful. Due to the constant rains, it was rushing and tumbling past the banks and you could see various eddies spinning from the undercurrents.

The boys instantly were knee deep in the water on the boat ramp, trying to find stones to skip. They managed to find quite a few but found it difficult to get the stones to actually skip against the current. We headed back to camp after an hour as we were feeling raindrops and needed to make sure everything was covered. 

The rain remained a slow steady light rain, thankfully but it quickly made plenty of slick spots on the already soaked ground. The boys looked like deer on ice trying to not lose their balance while I chose to carefully pick my way from grass tuft to grass tuft and avoid the mud altogether. The boys called me a cat, I didn't disagree. 

While I can't say we're having the nutritious meals that we're used to, I see no problem with curling up in a tent with a hot bowl of ramen in hand. Sometimes it's more about comfort food and my kids than anything else. 

As night fell, the rain tapered off and the boys were quickly asleep. I stayed up, attempting to work on my phone but unfortunately, due to being camped at the base of a literal mountain, I had zero service. No amount of The Lion King was going to get me service unless I went down to the parking lot and waited for one singular bar. 

Guess it's bedtime for me too and I'm okay with that. The nights down by the river dropped to a startling 58 degrees that had me cuddling closer to the boys who are practical space heaters in their sleep. So we all slept well, even the cat. 

The next day was more of the same, skipping rocks, splashing in the river and at least, for me, breathing smog free air. As the day grew late, one of the campers came over to us. He had found a little box turtle at the edge of his campsite and invited the boys to come see it. 

Camren and Garrett both scrambled to see the turtle and I'm quite sure gave it a rather harsh scare by skidding up to it. Camren almost got his fingers pinched as he closed his shell but managed to figure out how to pick it up correctly. Garrett sat and studied it inch by inch for at least ten minutes and I thanked the camper for letting them come see it. 

He said it was no problem as he had kids at home in Virginia so he was familiar with the enthusiasm that comes with finding animals in the "wild". He also let the boys know that since the rain had stopped for the night, that they were likely to see the fireflies fill the clearing.

With sudden demands for an early dinner, the boys were begging to stay up late. I haven't really enforced a bedtime this whole trip, so I didn't see the problem. Sure enough, the boys were racing around the campground and the center of the looped campsites catching fireflies. This also led to a rather loud disagreement about whether it was 'Lightning bugs, or Fireflies'. I was vetoed on commenting because I don't pronounce the 'G'. For me it's lightnin' bugs, complete with southern drawl. Always has been, always will be.

After washing very VERY muddy feet, the boys finally tumbled into bed, thoroughly exhausted and giggling.

It was a good night all around, so you'll hear no complaints from me. 

Love, 
Amie, The Boys, and Gypsy

Almost Heaven, West Virginia...

 Go on, finish the song. I know you know it!! "🎜🎜...Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River, life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze. Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong, West Virginia, mountain mama, country roads, take me home...🎜🎜"

Thank you John Denver, for such a lovely song. 

Back to our regularly scheduled programming now, although I'm willing to bet that song will be stuck in your head and you'll catch yourself humming it occasionally. 

Dear insanity, you've raised your head once again and now I have a scrawny yet fluffy kitten that weighs in at a whopping two pounds climbing around my truck. I'm aware most of you are laughing at me by this point, saying I brought it on myself and I'M AWARE OF THAT....

But come on!Could you have really left in it the rain?? 
Anyways, I'm pretty sure I might be banned from North Carolina at this point. I drive too slow for their tastes. We wound through back country roads, and I think the biggest town we went through was Blowing Rock. Between the constant drizzling rainfall and the fog that was as thick as pea soup, I think I reached a maximum speed of 30 miles an hour. 

Once we cleared that, the smaller highway we were on took us towards Bluefield VA, and Bluefield WV. They share the state line so we headed that direction. We crossed from North Carolina to Tennessee and then into Virginia on Route 91. With the mountain backdrops, rolling foothills dotted with farms and picturesque old red barns, it was a gorgeous drive. We wound through tiny towns like Saltville and Tazewell. Somewhere between those two towns, there was road work on Route 91. So there was a detour. My phone was getting absolutely zero signal, so what the GPS had saved, was all I had. That and a single sign that said DETOUR. 

Well, alrighty then. So we head off down a very steep hill, to another winding road. I don't see a single sign that says detour back to 91. Instead I find another 'ROAD CLOSED' sign. Are you kidding me?? Okay... Back the way we came. All the way back to 91, where the road is closed. There HAS to be a detour sign back on the road we just came from! 

So we turn the truck around AGAIN, and please keep in mind, this is a one and a half lane road. There's no middle line and no guard rails against the edges of the hills that seem to exist out of nowhere. So we crawl back down the road, and finally see the detour sign. It's on a T-post, and about 6 inches off the ground. HUH?? 

I'm rolling my eyes and I'm sure I said something unfavorable about the idiot that put the sign there. Detour to 91. Turn Left. OKAY!

So we turn left, and it starts to look correct...kind of. Winding back through the forest we had been in on 91...and it turned right. We found 91! So we continue on, thinking we'll be fine. Until we see a farm, dead ahead, and a sign. 91, turn left. 

...Left? You mean towards the farm and the Great Pyrenees that's now staring at my truck like it's a chew toy? Towards the gravel road?? ...Okayyy....

To say I was hesitant was an understatement. But I still had no service on my cell phone and all my trust is in this sign that says I'm good. Next sign I see, "15mph next 5 miles".  I'm on a gravel road, going past driveways to farms, the dog is still chasing my truck until I get past their property and I'm so absolutely confused. 

So gravel road...the road starts a gradual climb up. Not steep but enough that you notice. and then there's a hairpin turn to the left. More gradual climbing. Steep section, long curve to the right. Hairpin turn again to the right. Sharp turn to the left. I'M STILL ON GRAVEL! My ears have popped like three times due to the altitude. Sharp right, sharp left.. I'm saying its a turn, no this is straight up, mountain switchbacks and then it clicks. Oh. My. God. We're on the side of the mountain. 

Love and Mercy to any gods who were listening to me pray, cause I had a death grip on my steering wheel and thanking everything above and below I had a truck that could handle this road. Long turn to the right and suddenly the climb, becomes a slant. Down. Guess we rounded the top edge of the mountain and now its switchbacks all the way down. 

You know that movie scene in Return Of The King from Lord Of The Rings, where the camera pans out and you see a horse and rider ascending this super steep side of a mountain to get to the encampment of Rohan as they rode to Gondor's aid? IT WAS THAT STEEP!!!! 

If my transmission could cuss me out, I'm sure it would have because Good. Gods. By the third switchback, I'm sweating and riding my brake like it's our lifeline while both Camren and Garrett have their heads practically out the windows! 

"Mom I can see a road down there! It's like straight down from here!!" The boys think this is the coolest road ever, while I was probably imitating a terrified cat at this point. 

And the cat...was sound asleep, on a blanket...the...entire...time...

We finally crawl off the mountain and suddenly we're back on in the foothills, and there's farms all around us again. Check the GPS. No signal. Camren is zooming in on the map as much as he can and giving me directions because there's no signs!! 

I'm hoping someone doesn't start yelling at us because we accidentally cross a property line, but once I could take a deep breath again I could appreciate all the tiny cottage type houses, tucked away in the tree line. 

Finally we manage to hit blacktop road again, with clear signage and other cars! We saw two other cars...the entire time from the detour to blacktop. Two. A Forest Service Truck and someone in an SUV who gave us a very strange look.

I was physically shaking from nerves and as soon as my phone beeped that there was service, I called my mother because that was a harrowing drive and I needed coffee because it's practically my security blanket. We made it to Tazewell Virginia, and West Virginia was only a few miles away. 

The drive there was so much easier, and we crossed into Bluefield West Virginia within another thirty minutes. The rain had finally slackened off so I wanted to camp out. We made our way towards Gauley River and found a tiny little free campground. It was obvious the rain had been pouring recently as there were still a bunch of puddles of standing water but the higher edges of ground were clear. 

The rain started drizzling down again so I let the boys stay in the car with Gypsy while I set up our tent. It took me maybe four minutes and that included putting on the rainfly? Overall we were fine. I wiped down the inside of the tent with a towel as there were some damp spots and then had the boys hand me all the stacked blankets from inside the truck. Camren hopped out and scrambled into the tent, helping me lay them out into a giant mat for sleeping. Pillows, stuffed animals, sandwiches and water, cat food and cat all made their way into the tent as well. I think were were all more eager just to not be cramped in the truck than anything. 

Sandwiches were devoured, the kitten was fed and taken out to the bathroom. The rain pattered down on the rainfly but we were dry. Cool, as the temperature had shifted from a welcoming 75 degrees to a cloudy, rainy 62. I let mom know we were safe and before we really thought about it, we were all sound asleep.

xoxo

Amie, The Boys and Gypsy

Gypsy, Gypsy...Little Wandering Claws

 Oh, good. You are right where I left you. Now, for those who know me...You knew the instant 'kitten' popped up in this narrative, something major would happen. 

The next morning, I'm pretty sure before sunrise, my youngest was trying to pry my eyelids open in order to see if my phone had rang. I sent them off for hotel breakfast and took advantage of a scalding hot shower in an effort to wake up. 

Camren brought me another cup of coffee and to say he can be the sweetest thing on the planet sometimes is an understatement. Garrett came back with a bowl of Cheerios and a banana. I ended up going to the breakfast myself to get a cup of milk for Garrett as he forgot, and a raspberry danish for my "Breakfast". 

My phone rang about five minutes after nine in the morning. The animal shelter was prompt, I'll give them that. They had bathed the kitten, gotten it food and water and informed me that not only had the little girl made it through the night, but they were at capacity and unless we came to claim it, it would end up be euthanized. 

My heart sank and I knew then that I needed to stop at dollar general and pick up some food for the little bugger as it was only five and a half weeks old. I'm sure my mother was rolling her eyes at how soft hearted I can be but between my own useless self and the boys' big pleading eyes... We ended up taking the little bag of skin and bones of a kitten and claiming it as ours. 

And so, once again we set off to West Virginia. One mom, two boys...and a black and white kitten named Gypsy. 

What have I gotten myself into now...

Love, 
Amie, The Boys and Gypsy

Drip, Drip, Drop....June Showers?

 North Carolina, I'm mad at you. I HAD PLANS!!! The boys and I had an entire week mapped out to spend in the forests, visiting the Linville Caverns, the mountain outlooks in the Smokies; and all you did was pour rain! to the point I could barely see five feet in front of my truck on two lane winding mountain roads. 

There has to be at least a three mile long list of how many people I've annoyed because I drove as slow as cold molasses on those roads. I don't know the roads people! Read the license plate. T.E.X.A.S. Granted, my kids weren't too thrilled with the rain either, but they had their tablets so hey! If you have electronics, who cares!

I found a tiny little "General Store" at some half-drowned intersection and parked the truck. The boys scrambled in for a bathroom break, while I spent ten minutes reenacting The Lion King with my cell phone. Due to the rainfall, I had to throw camping out the window again and search for a hotel with the one bar of service on my phone. I managed to find one and then spent another ten minutes waiting for Google Maps to load and tell me where to go. 

We got heading in the right direction, and the rain slowly tapered off. I had a whole three bars of service, so I had Camren check the weather app. Turns out, the storm was following us and we were going to be drenched in the rain regardless. 

We found this tiny little motel, and it was really adorable honestly. They had rocking chairs out front of each room, a small covered walkway, and for the one hour that the weather was clear, I took full advantage of said chair and relaxed in the cold mountain air. It was about seventy degrees outside with a damp, cool breeze. The boys stretched out on the beds in the hotel room and played a rather bickering game of slapjack, followed by side by side arguments over who was better in Pokemon Unite. 

The rain started up again as a sprinkle..then a drizzle...and then a deluge. At that point, I gave up and went inside to plug in my laptop and try to get some work done. I can't say I got much done at this point, the internet was slow and glitchy. 

Either way, the boys had a brochure from the front desk the next morning and Camren brought it with him back to our room, along with a cup of coffee for me and a muffin stuffed in his mouth. Garrett found an ad that said they could "Mine Their Own Gems" at a little place called the Jackson Hole Gem Mine in Franklin, NC. 

I figured why not, so after a cup of coffee, half a muffin and double checking that we had all of our things, we headed to the gem mine. It was so cute and a rather lucrative business. You could purchase a bucket, and they set you up at a water table and a sifter. You get to sift out your gems and rinse them clean and then you keep what gems you find. 

The kids had a ton of fun with it and it was well worth it. While as adults, we know the truth that none of the gems they found were worth a lot of money, the experience was worth it for them. They were asking about getting the gems tumbled or cut. Aunt Amanda, I defer to you on these matters. 

After about an hour of gem 'mining' we decided to get back on the road. The roads were nerve-wracking to say the least. On one side, your sideview mirror is about 7 inches from a sheer rock wall, and on the other, is a sad, rusty guardrail and another six inches past that, is a sheer drop into the gorge. When I say, I drove less then twenty miles an hour...I think I saw snails passing me. 

So again, to all the people I irritated by not driving 45-50mph around those curves...Well...That's your problem, not mine. 

Camren double checked our weather for the day and it was icky. That leaden gray sky with the steady slow rainfall marked out our day once more. Nothing as heavy as the day before, but that steady soaking rain that just tends to make you miserable. 

Garrett seemed to develop narcolepsy and the moment he heard the rain on the cab and the swish of windshield wipers, he was sound asleep once again. Camren dozed off and on occasionally, but he kept me company for most of the second half of our drive. We headed for another hotel in North Carolina and after five and a half hours, we were almost there. Edging close to dinnertime and the rain was grating on my nerves. 

Camren was trying to give me directions but his timing on WHEN to turn is atrocious. I'm going to have to work with him on that. He can get left and right turns down, but if I have to move lanes... He tells me AT the stoplight that I should be turning and I'm stuck in the middle lane going straight. I didn't realize I could develop and eye twitch from bad directions but apparently I did. I know he was just trying to be helpful but....

Either way, we were maybe four miles from the hotel when I spot something in the middle of the lane, wet, black and white. It was a kitten. It was so small and still, that I went right over it with the truck and then slammed on my brakes. I put my truck in reverse and the kids were both asking what I was doing. I crawled backwards, keeping the tiny blob of wet fur in my sideview mirror. Once I was close enough, I threw it in park, checked the road, scrambled out and picked it up. Very loud meows shook it's tiny frame as it shivered. 

The boys were instantly cooing and wanting to hold this poor, completely drenched, squalling kitten. My head was wondering what I was doing, while my heart knew there was no way I could leave it to die in the road. 

A stray kitten.. The last thing we needed. But I wrapped it up in my hoodie, grumbled about the loss of warmth and plopped it down in Camren's lap so I could check into our hotel room. After getting checked in and getting a very large discount on our room, I found an animal shelter just down the way. The boys complained and begged but I said that if it lived through the night after we dropped it off, we could come check on it before we left town. 

The boys were mollified by getting to snuggle and pet the kitten after I gave it a quick bath in the hotel sink, and they finally agreed to let it go to the shelter for the night. We arrived and both boys were fighting back tears. The sweet lady at the receptionist desk agreed to put a note that I be called in the morning if the kitten makes it through the night. 

We went back to the hotel room, ordered pizza but unfortunately I was so distracted, I accidentally sent it to my mom's house in Texas. I called to tell her what happened after I reordered pizza for me and the boys and she got a good laugh out of it. 

She let me know, the dog really enjoyed the pepperoni pizza. I felt slightly betrayed. I talked with the kids over and over that we couldn't travel with a cat. It was too young and I didn't think it would make it through the night. I told them that the animal shelter would call us if it did and we could go see it and hope it had a good life. 

I still don't know what was going through my head when I made that statement. But to sleep we went, and I should have thought about things more.

--

Love, 
Amie and The Boys

Cityscape Hell and Sharks

I'm not a morning person. I love waking up late, and staying up late. I don't always have this luxury as I'm a parent, but having independent boys at least means I'm not up at the crack of dawn anymore. 

Camren woke me up to tell me he was hungry, so I dragged myself from bed to walk him to a hotel breakfast. He's my early riser, while Garrett asked for a cup of juice and promptly fell back asleep. 

I can't say much about hotel coffee...but caffeine is caffeine and I need my morning coffee if I have to be up and about. 

It was Friday, and I knew one of my high school friends had worked it out that he was going to fly to Atlanta to spend the weekend with us. But until then, I needed to work. 

The boys weren't arguing with their lack of sunshine, and I worked as much as I could for those quiet hours in the hotel room.

Unfortunately Max's flight was delayed and he wouldn't be in until midnight. So I soldiered on with work until I couldn't tell you what my screen said any longer. I was mentally tapped out and exhausted to boot. 

We drove to pick him up from the airport, laughed and talked for a short time and all soon promptly fell asleep as we had plans the next day. We were going into Atlanta to the Georgia Aquarium. The boys were nearly bouncing off the walls in excitement and so was I. 

The next morning, another hotel breakfast and 25 minutes down the road, we managed to find parking. I'm sure I've said it before, but I HATE cities. They're crowded, annoying, smell terrible and have me so consistently on edge that I get snappy. 

Despite my grumbling, we got into the Aquarium rather quickly, and all I can say is wow. Two stories, at least 3 dozen exhibits and all of us were walking around awestruck. I'm not going to tell you all of it, you're going to have to make the trip to see it yourself. But it is spectacular. Almost every exhibit is designed with kids in mind. From penguin tunnels to the absolutely giant aquarium that contains whale sharks. WHALE SHARKS!!!! Garrett was practically vibrating when he spotted a sea turtle and was shocked at how big it really was. Camren was practically glued to the sea otter tank and we got to see them get fed as well. 

Even I could barely pry Max from the jellyfish in order to keep up with the kids. 

All in all, we spend a solid four hours there and could have easily walked through again for a few more hours. The boys asked to get their faces painted and I couldn't tell them no. Garrett got an alligator and Camren, a sea dragon. They were so tired by the end but it was beyond worth it. 

As we left, there were the beginning set-ups for a Juneteenth concert and some sort of pride parade. We didn't stick around for that, and if I'm never accosted again by screaming people in the back of parade trucks, it will be too soon. 

Loaded baked potatoes and lemonade rounded out our meal for the night and we talked and talked about everything we saw. Next thing I know, Max and Garrett are snoring and Camren was fighting to keep his eyes open. 

It was worth it, every moment. 

Max was heading out the next day on a late flight so we checked out of the hotel, took the boys to a park for a few hours and after a late lunch of Wendy's, complete with french fries dipped in chocolate Frosties, we dropped Max off at the airport and drove a few hours up the road to one last hotel for the night. Mainly so I could squeeze in a bit more work. 

The next day, the goal was North Carolina, and I also needed some decent sleep for the drive. 

Xo!

Amie and The Boys