Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Monday, April 6, 2020

West Virginia or Bust!!!!! (3/7 and 3/8--2020)

"Country Roads---Take me Home..."
Since none of us can travel these days,  I want to take you on a "Virtual Ride" to West Virginia...  For George's special Birthday Trip this year,   we took a little trip to Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia (from March 7-12, 2020).   I am so glad we got to make this trip before the COVID-19 Corona Virus restrictions happened...  BUT--after reading about the few number of cases in West Virginia now,  I wonder why we just didn't stay there longer!!!!! ha

Hope you enjoy Day 1 and 2 of this little trip.... Get your cuppa,  sit back,  put on your seat belt --and come along with us to see what we saw those first two days!!!!


As we traveled through Virginia,  I took this picture of snow-capped Mt. Rogers  (near Marion, VA).



Cutie Pie Georgie----enjoying some Carrot Cake in our motel (Princeton, West VA) on our first night on the road. The Birthday Celebration BEGINS!!!!!




After leaving Princeton on Day 2,   we headed north, opting to take the 'backroads' through the mountains.   Taking the backroads takes a little longer --but OH --so worth it!




We just had to stop and check out this little Covered Bridge.  The name is the Indian Creek Covered Bridge and it was built in 1898.  This bridge is located in Monroe County, West VA.




George took this picture of me standing at the Indian Creek Covered Bridge.




While taking pictures at the Indian Creek Covered Bridge,  I spotted this little country church nearby!!!!




Beautiful OLD home we passed  (near Lewisburg I think);





Look at this beautiful home!!!!!   WOW!





Buckle up tight.... We're headed UP UP UP the mountains!!!!!  Higher and Higher we go!!!!   Guess what????  The female in the car was SO excited to see SNOW!!!!  If you are following us on a map,  we are on Highway 219,  near Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort, elevation 4800 feet.





We stopped at a Dairy Queen at Elkins so that the Birthday Boy could enjoy his favorite,  a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard.... YUM...




WE MADE IT!!!!!   Welcome to Blackwater Falls State Park!!!!!  (This state park is located near Davis, West VA,  and is almost into the state of Maryland!!!!)




The day before his "official" birthday,  we checked into Blackwater Lodge for 3 nights.  



Of course,  we just HAD to take a short walk around the lodge area.   What a wonderful view of the canyon below.  Want to come and sit with me for awhile?   Our room for the week looked out over this awesome canyon.



The old lady SNOW LOVER just had to play in the left-over snow!!!!! ha ha




WELL---this completes Day 2!!!!!   Stay tuned to see what we did on Day 3 (George's Official 78th Birthday)...

Hope you enjoyed today's little trip... George and I both love West Virginia and have taken several trips throughout the state all through the years.   I'll bet this won't be the last one!!!!!

Have an awesome week ---and please do everything you need to do to stay HEALTHY --and Virus-Free....

Hugs,


23 comments:

diane b said...

Thanks for the ride. The scenery is beautiful and so are you two. The lodge looks a great place to stay.

Ann said...

Looks like a wonderful birthday trip. So glad you were able to get it in before the stay at home orders were put in effect.

Marcia said...

Looks very familiar but the snow wasn't there for us in February.

My parents lived in Elkins for 10 years - retirement days. Then to a retirement community in PA. we loved visiting them in WV in the summer and at Christmas.

Lady Fi said...

What a wonderful trip! And you had blue skies and snow - so you must have been very happy! :-)

Happytrails said...

Thanks for the awesome ride....love the mountains!!!
My mom grew up in and around Marion, Va. such a beautiful area. Mike and I love West Virginia!!! Great choice for a wonderful celebration!!!

George said...

You did a great job of summarizing the first two days of our wonderful trip. I think you enjoyed the snow as much as I enjoyed the carrot cake and the cookie dough ice cream!

David said...

Betsy, First of all...belated Happy Birthday George! Finally, someone who's older than I am...by about 4 months. West Virginia is a beautiful state and the back roads are the way to go...actually in every state. We are going nutty from a lack of travel and exploration right now! We've stayed in Princeton and we love Lewisburg! Todate, WV ranks all the way down at 55th among the states' covid-19 cases. Happily for us, our family lives in Nebraska and that state ranks 54th. Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Ah this just makes me want to be out there more. I miss my short trips to the country side. Spring is very late here. Stay well.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Your header is astounding! Thanks for the trip - I really needed it! I love your first picture, and the covered bridge. George looks SO happy!

linda m said...

I definitely want to sit on the chairs t the Lodge and enjoy the view. What a beautiful place.

Betsy said...

Thank you for taking us on such a fun trip with you. Hopefully you and George will soon be back out on the road again enjoying the beautiful scenery. Stay well.
Blessings,
Betsy

Arkansas Patti said...

I think George is right that you enjoyed the snow as much as he did the cake. Your smiles are identical. So glad the current restrictions weren't in place yet.
Stay well and take care of eachother.

Connie said...

Great pictures! Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Happy belated birthday to George!

Fun60 said...

What a special trip. The snow would make it for me.

Sandi said...

Ahh...what a lovely trip! Thanks for taking all of us along.

R's Rue said...

Lovely photos. 😀

Chatty Crone said...

I have never been to West Virginia. One of my dear friends lived there though.
It looks gorgeous. Such a nice trip. I enjoyed going with you! lol

Ruth Hiebert said...

That was fun! I'm ready to do some more exploring . Beautiful scenery all around. I think I'm getting bored at home, cause I don't even care for DQ Blizzards that much but now I'm craving one. HA! HA!

The Furry Gnome said...

Looks like a great trip!

Beth said...

Love your header! Beautiful pictures! We went to Harper's Ferry WV this past September and the Antitiem(I don't know how to spell this) Battle ground. We stopped and took a train up to Bald Mt. lookout. Really enjoyed that. I just put another post up.

Carrizo said...

Hello Betsy and George.

What a lovely post! Thank you.

Stay safe and healthy.

Jeevan said...

This looks quite cool ride to a mountainous stay and i simply loved the mild snow covers and a pretty girl enjoying there :) Glad you able to make this special trip to enjoy George's birthday before lockdown begins. Hope you guys are healthy and staying safe at home. I everytime hear about the covid causes in US I only remember the blog friends like you from there and beleive you all were fine and kept away from this dangerous scenario.

Take care

Linda said...

They call it almost heaven for a reason! I love Blackwater Falls. Right now we are grounded and it is starting to bother me. Well, stay healthy.