we broke the trip up there into 2 days, which helps immensely. unless you have a dog that's never stayed in a motel before and wants to bark at every noise she hears through out the night. then you might as well just drive through the night, cause you'd get about the same amount of sleep.
we stopped at our regular rest area as we made it into the state. i think this welcome sign gives you an idea of what we were dealing with...
but this is my favorite part. getting the dog to go to the bathroom on 3 feet of snow.
the layers of snow from various plowings looked like layers of rock on the side of a canyon. pretty crazy (and almost up to justin's nose!)
one thing that we did figure out for this trip--pepper can get comfy sitting up high on the backseat with a blanket or two over her kennel or the cooler. she would lay up there for hours at a time and look out the window or nap.
we stopped in morgantown for lunch and to visit with justin's grandmother who lives there. since we were stopping by on a saturday, i finally got a treat that i had waited a couple of years to enjoy...
TCBY! one of my favorite places to go as a kid, and then they all disappeared. every time we passed this one in morgantown, i would make justin stop and see if it was open. but it was either too early, too late, or closed for the day. this day, however, it was open! i got a swirl cup of peanut butter and white chocolate mousse, and i loved every bite of it. i think we should get TCBYs back in north carolina.back up at the house, we took in the crazy amount of snow and let pepper loose to run off some of her energy.
there was a nice little path dug out from the driveway to the house, but i'll be honest--by monday, i was so tired of slipping and sliding my way down the path, i was ready to hop a plane back to NC.
the porch had about 3-4 feet of snow piled up to the railings, and i honestly don't know that i've seen that much snow in my life. definitely a new experience for this eastern NC girl!
i love how pepper looks like she's ready to rule the world.
justin's good at that pose, too.
we made our way to the ski slopes on sunday, which included some beautiful vistas along the way. i will say, if the roads are clear and i'm not driving, west virginia is a beautiful state!
with my recent news and health situation out in the open, it had been recommended to me by many people to sit out with skiing. i do enjoy skiing and am decent on most greens and a few blues. but i inevitably take a couple of spills during the day, and i just didn't want to risk anything. so this was my view for the day...
a comfy adirondack chair by the outdoor fireplace with a good book. i was content. (we were also just there for the afternoon, so i only had a couple of hours to kill.)i did venture out to the base of the slopes to take a couple of pictures of the guys as they came down.
such a natural.
justin's dad held his own out there, too!
i returned to my chair, only to have a ladybug land on me and visit for a bit.
she must've known i was bored and looking for some company.
but before long, the ladybug left me and the sun began to set. it was time to head home.
nothing beats a good mountain sunset, i have to say.
we got up the next morning and made the whole trek back home without any traffic issues or major delays. really good for a winter trip, as we've had some bad experiences with that drive in the past. though i'm a beach girl at heart, i have grown to appreciate and love the mountains of west virginia. i like the confident way my husband drives the roads, the quaint little towns that dot the valleys and the hillsides, and some of the cultural specialties that you just don't find anywhere else--we always pick up a pack of pepperoni rolls and some buckwheat flour to take back home. it was a short trip, but exciting to share our news with the WV side of the family and take just a small part in what has been a memorable winter in the mountains :)
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