Our trip to WVU and back was an emotional rollercoaster. It started on August 6th with our oldest child flying home from his summer internship. The plan ahead of us was for him to get here on the 6th in the morning, spread Kain’s ashes (our dog), finish packing all of his stuff, get it loaded in the truck by Tuesday (8th) afternoon, and head out to WVU where we would be leaving him.
He came in as scheduled and was exhausted. He had driven from Great Barrington to Morgantown the day before, slept on a hard floor in his new place, and got up at 6 am to fly home. Over the next two days, he did an online class in the morning and packed the rest of the day. On the 8th, Duncan and I packed all of his stuff into the back of the truck during his class. When he finished his class, we headed down the street to the lake where Kain loved to swim and run to spread his ashes. Then we said our goodbyes to our youngest and Nana, and off we went.
We needed and did drive straight through to Morgantown since our son had class again the next morning. We got there at 2 am and unloaded the truck which only took 30 minutes or so. Our son headed off to bed on the mattress we brought with us while Duncan and I laid out moving blankets on the floor and went to sleep.
The next morning while the kid was in class we went and got a few things for his apartment like dishes, an air mattress, and camp chairs. Can you tell I wanted some comfort? Then we headed back to his house to unload and head to the DMV. We planned to transfer his car to his name, but we realized we had forgotten the title. Instead, we went and got a few more things he needed for his apartment, took a walk through the Core Arboretum, and got dinner. The Core Arboretum is amazing, I knew quite a few of the plants and many I didn’t know. I would love to spend a few days just walking around and learning about all the plants there.
The next morning Duncan and I headed toward home. We planned to stop at a bunch of things along the way and take 3 or 4 days to get back home. Our first stop was the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum for their four-hour history tour. It was such an interesting tour; I want to go back and do all the other tours too. They do a lot of fun things in the month of September. From there we headed to Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, but we got there 30 minutes before they closed so we couldn’t do the tour. We did get great fudge from their gift shop. Next was Wolf Creek Indian Village which we managed to get there just in time to take the last self-guided tour. It is a cute little village that looks like it does a lot of children’s programs.
The morning of August 11th found us in Mayberry! Yes, the one on TV. It is really Mt. Airy NC. You can visit the Andy Griffith Museum, see many of the places in the show, and take a tour of the old police cars. We chose just to walk the main street of Mayberry and take in the sights and shops. We stopped for malts in the soda shop, and they were awesome! Our next stop for the day was The Blue Ridge Music Center to listen to bluegrass music and see the museum. It was quite a lovely time. The next stop was Lazy 5 Ranch. When we got there, we found that they only took cash which we didn’t have so we headed to the little country store we just came from to get cash. By the time we got back over there, we had decided we didn’t really want to do Lazy 5 Ranch and would rather just find a hotel and relax for the night.
August 12th, we headed to Tiger World. I had been looking forward to this from the time I heard about it. It is a place that recuses tigers and other big cats. We got there when they opened so that we could watch the morning feeding. It was SO AMAZING! Next time I want to be there at 2 pm so I can feed the tiger. Afterward, we headed to Big Rock Nature Preserve to see the big rocks. It was a nice little urban park. Before heading home, Swan Lake Iris Garden was the last stop to see the swans. We both were so tired that we didn’t stay long.
It was a great and emotional trip, but it was great!