Vacation in 10 days!!!

The countdown has officially begun - I can count down the days till vacation on both hands so therefore it is officially becoming real! In 10 days there will be no more work to deal with and we'll leave all the craziness of the real world behind us and head out to our vacation home in WV. My sister-in-law and her family will be joining us for the first half of the vacation so they'll be staying in the guest house and we will occupy the main home. It will be nice to go out there for some much needed down time. I've already instructed my husband that this is not a trip to do work on the main house - this is a trip designed to relax.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I've been planning out things for us to do and this time around it's been quite easy to accomplish. Maybe it's due to the time of year that we are going out or perhaps it's because we are getting familiar with the Marlinton area - nevertheless - we've got tons of stuff to do. We'll all be rolling in on Friday, July 11th so on Saturday, July 12th we'll spend the day at Snowshoe Mountain at the Fire on the Mountain Chili Cookoff. My nephew is also crazy about anything having to do with the Civil War so I'm hoping to get him down to Droop Mountain National Park. I am sure that he will get a kick out of climbing up inside this lookout tower! While down that way I'd also like to visit Beartown National Park - this is one of the coolest parks I have ever been to. Of course, as I mentioned in an earlier post we'll be hitting the Blueberry bushes at White Oak Farm and I'd also like to spend another day up at Snowshoe Mountain playing at the Split Rocks Pool and riding the ski lift down to the bottom of the mountain to check out all of the activities at the lake. Somehow in all of that we'll probably spend some lazy time at the house just hanging out - it's nice for the kids to have a big yard to play in and not have to worry about them getting hurt!

Renick, WV Blueberries are in season!

Our family will be making it's annual summer trek out to WV for a week of relaxation at our vacation place. For one week in July we'll be selfish to any potential renters and use the entire "compound" solely for our family and any other friends who care to join us. Being the Type-A exteremist that I am I feel it's my utmost duty to ensure proper planning is done beforehand to maximize every second we are on vacation. This intensive planning goes against the very nature of this type of vacation but nonetheless I have been proceeding full steam ahead and will continue to do so until there is a complete itinerary full of things to do. My husband particularly finds this planning rather amusing since by day two or three all plans tend to fly out the window and we proceed to his prefered "let's just wing it" method of vacationing. Planning for this year's trip has been especially complex since this will be the first family vacation since the arrival of our littlest one. The true leader of the family has just turned 14 months old so balancing the needs of a 10 year old with "the boss" in general is proving to be quite challenging lately. Throw in the potential of the 21 year-old tagging along and this whole adverture could be quite interesting.....

Two years ago we happened upon a great place in Renick, WV for picking Blueberries. The place is called White Oak Farm and is located about 45 minutes south of our cabin. I'll never forget the last time we were there - we were having so much fun going up and down the rows of berries that we totally lost track of how many we had actually gathered and ended up with pounds and pounds of them at checkout. After recovering from the embarassment of looking like total tourists on the way home we wondered what we were going to do with all these berries. When we got back home and started eating them we quickly realized how delicious they were and shortly thereafter figured we'd have no problems getting rid of them :)..... These things were amazing!!! Ever since that experience I've never found a Blueberry that compares to the ones from White Oak Farm and believe me I've tried. Checking on the web this week I found that their Blueberry crop is shaping up to be excellent this year and will be available during the time that we are in WV. Information on the crop can be found at the following website: http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M13870 This day trip to Renick is definitely on our list of things to do this year - I can't wait to go back next month to get some more WV candy! Not to mention the fact that this is something that both the 14 month and 10-year old can do together - phew..... Now on to planning day #2................

Fixing up the Main House

This week my husband will begin renovations on the upstairs portion of our main house. Once the upstairs is complete I think that it will be quite fair to say that we (well mainly he....) have updated practically every square inch of our main house. Renovations on the main house have been an ongoing effort for nearly three years and I think (or I should say I hope) that we are getting close to completion. Technically the house is categorized as a 1 1/2 story with the upstairs portion set up like a loft with enough space to sleep four. The stairs leading up to the loft are a nightmare - they are categorized as half-steps meaning that they look more like a ladder leading up to the loft rather than a set of true stairs. I have always hated this setup with the house - if you aren't careful you mistake the stairs for normal size and this quickly gets you in trouble. It's pretty safe to say that each one of us, including the dog, have taken a tumble on that contraption. The current stairs are probably the only bad thing about the house and I am glad to say that ripping the steps out and replacing them with a modern style spiral staircase is part of the upstairs renovation. In addition to replacing the stairs he'll also be ripping out the vintage 1985 carpet and replacing it with hardwood flooring. We'll also be replacing the shabby king-sized bed in the one room with a brand new model and we'll also be adding a set of two twin beds in the other room. In another post I'll include both before and after shots - stay tuned!!!!!

Our Guest House

One of the things that attracted us the most when we purchased our getaway home in Pocahontas County was the cute and cozy guest house that came along with the deal. What an awesome thing to have as part of our property - friends and family could come and stay with us and have their own place to hang out or relax for the night. Over the three years we've had the property we've used it numerous times to host both friends and family. All those who have stayed in it have loved the privacy and modern flare that it offers. Our guest house was finished a few years before we bought the property so it's interior is up to date but yet rustic enough that it fits in with our wilderness surrounding.

Our guest house is a home away from home with every amenity needed to make your stay pleasurable. The guest house has one private bedroom that houses a queen sized bed and looks out over our front yard. The house also has a full sized bathroom and kitchen with stove, sink, fridge and microwave. The kitchen is stocked with pots, pans, cooking utensils, dishes, etc. Our sitting room has a futon that can sleep an additional two guests and overlooks the backyard with an awesome view of the Monongahela National Forest. By opening the sitting room door and stepping out onto the deck you can listen real close and hear the water running through the small stream in our backyard. For folks like us who live in one of the many wall to wall housing developments that make up the Washington DC/Baltimore suburbs this experience is truly tranquilizing!

Welcome Home!

Hello and welcome to my blog! I hope to use this blog as a way to share with everyone all of the great things our West Virginia vacation home has to offer. Nestled in the heart of Pocahontas County, West Virginia our private getaway is a great retreat for escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We purchased our home almost three years ago in 2005 after falling in love with the area on a visit to Snowshoe ski resort. Our place is a truly incredible find nestled on two acres atop Woodrow Mountain. We're located about 15 minutes outside of Marlinton, West Virginia and about 25 miles south of Snowshoe Ski Resort. On our property there is a main home as well as a smaller guest house off to the left located above the garage. Currently we rent the smaller guest house out to vacationers and are renovating the main home with plans to start renting that home also to vacationers starting in September 2008. Current rental information for the guest house can be found at www.vrbo.com/204158

Please check back often as we will be posting updates of our renovations as well as details on all of the great adventures we have as a family as we explore more and more of all the great and wonderful things West Virginia has to offer!