Just What the Doctor Ordered

 This past weekend I experienced 'just what the doctor ordered'.  In my last post I talked about the last few years and how it has been really difficult on me emotionally and how it has really drug me down. I am hoping my new job that I start next week is the turning point and I am moving forward with that belief.  But I decided to kick  off this 'new era' with a bang.  I went on a girls weekend! (OK, the plans were made before I got this job.....at that time it was planned as a pick me up, it then turned into a celebration!)

It was about 4.5 years ago when I met Linda.  I was leading a training class of new hires for the team that I worked on.  We talked a bit on breaks and at the end of the work days during the training and I recognized immediately that we meshed as humans and our friendship was born.  When the training class was over our managers assigned Linda to the region that I was responsible for and I couldn't have been happier to work more closely with her and the friendship quickly segued to phone calls and texts on our own time.  For four years we have talked hours upon hours on the phone , worked virtually side by side and got laid off together.  However, we never met in person as she lives in Indiana and I am in Pennsylvania.  Finally, this past weekend we got to meet each other face to face on our own girls weekend........and it was a blast!

 We decided to go to New River Gorge as she had never been to West Virginia and I obviously love the New River Gorge area.  This has been evident over and over such as in  this post about my first trip when I clearly said "I will be back".  I also wrote this post about another visit.   Heck, I even got married there on yet another visit!  I couldn't wait!  Little did I know how much we would pack into our weekend!

We arrived on Friday mid afternoon.  I don't have many pictures from that day as it was a low key day.  We walked all around downtown and checked out the shops.  We went to the visitor center to give her the first glimpse of the gorge and the bridge.  We also stopped at a few shops to pick up a few things for Jason that I know he loves from the area.  It was low key but laden with laughter.

We were up early for our first full day.  The fog was hanging low so we headed straight to the visitor center to walk to the overlook on the Canyon Rim Trail.   Let me tell you, early in the morning is fabulous!  We didn't have to deal with the any crowds and of course the view was fabulous!

From there we headed to the abandoned town of Thurmond.  It doesn't matter how many times I go to this town, it never fails to charm!  What is the charm?  Is it the abundantly beautiful nature that surrounds the town?  Does the charm come from from the old buildings?  Does the fascination come from knowing that this abandoned town and the empty buildings were once a thriving town.  I don't know, but it charms me each and every time!    

After roaming around Thurmond we headed to Hawks Nest State Park.  While it is a great state park and we did enjoy our visit and the views, the main reason we were going was because that is where the Jet Boat Marina rides are.  Yes, we took a boat ride on the river!  It was awesome!  We went down to the dam and the whole way back up to the New River Gorge Bridge on the water.....on the only still water in that area.   

 

 

 We were so close, so we headed to Cathedral Falls after we were done at Hawks Nest.  Of course I had to go there, because that was where I got married!  This waterfall is absolutely gorgeous.  The water was flowing quite a bit more than when we got married.  Absolutely beautiful!

Our first full day was amazing but could we top it for our second full day?   Absolutely!   We again started early, but this time we had a bit of a drive before we reached our first destination.   For our first destination we decided to drive the hour to view the Sandstone Falls on the river. Sandstone Falls is also part of the New River Gorge National Park. On the drive to the falls we stopped to admire the beauty which was splendid and served as a prelude to the awesome views we got when we reached the waterfall.

 

We explored a bit in the town of Hinton and then decided to drive back to Beckley via a different route on the opposite side of the river.  We stopped at the Sandstone Falls Visitor center and then headed back to Beckley.   Once in Beckley we headed to the Exhibition Mine.  The highlight of this attraction is the tour into a coal mine.  The guides are ex-mine workers and are fabulous!   But even though the mine tour is the main attraction, the site also has a recreated mine camp so that visitors can walk through the buildings and see how people would live in a coal camp.   Nearby and also included is the homestead tour.  This is a recreated village that predated the coal camp village.   Also fascinating! 

 

It was so hot but we weren't done yet.  After we were done with the Beckley Exhibition Mine we headed to Grandview.  Grandview is another area within the National Park.  The main overlook at Grandview is ....well....grand.   The river bends and the overlook clearly displays the bend!   We stood there for a while and watched some rafters go down the river and navigate the rapids, but it was so stinkin' hot that it became a bit unbearable.  I actually said "I think the sun is roasting my internal organs".  Even with the heat, it was still worth it to see it!

 One might think that we were done for the day, but we were still going strong.  Just maybe not strong enough to deal with the heat for long periods of time.  What better than to go for a drive down the Fayette Station Road!  This is honestly a must do when you go to New River Gorge.  Jason and I do it at least once each visit and many times at least twice with each of us driving once so that the other person can enjoy the views also.  Since I had previously experienced it, I drove to allow Linda to have the full experience!  I still enjoyed it immensely!   

We had a lazy evening at are accommodations and the next morning we were up early and ready to head home.  I had one more thing to do though.  I had always seen the various locations for the restaurant Tudors Biscuit World and I had always wanted to go, but had never been there.  This visit I was determined to satisfy my curiosity.   So we headed out for breakfast before we said our goodbyes.   This is a West Virginia chain restaurant, although there appear to be a few locations in Ohio and a few in Kentucky.  It is basically a fast food restaurant...but they do serve it to you (at least at our location) and used baskets, real silverware and real cups....so a cross between sit down restaurant and fast food.  The food WAS good.  For being kinda like a fast food joint, it tasted fresh!  We sat and talked for a while after we finished our breakfast but we both had a 5 hour drive ahead of us. We said our goodbyes and headed out.

The weekend was just what I needed.  We laughed so hard that we cried......it's been a long time since I laughed that hard.   Even more important, it was the perfect start to my new happier less sadness era! (I am choosing to believe that!)