Dolly Sods

 This past weekend we took a little trip to Canaan Valley, West Virginia to see the fall leaves.  Last year we drove up early on a Saturday morning and came home late that night.  This year we decided to stay at the Canaan Resort for the night so we could have more time to see all of the sights.  We had planned that we would go to Dolly Sods on our way home Sunday.  Much to our surprise it was extremely foggy once we got there. 

 And it was raining...  We have never been up there in these types of elements.  It was a different experience to say the least. 

Even though it was raining with a lot of fog we did have a good time looking at God's beauty that he created for us to see at Dolly Sods.  I have wrote several other posts of us going to Dolly Sods that you can see HERE.  I just realized that I have been there more than that without sharing some of my pictures from there so I'll share one from this summer now so you can see a comparison of what it looks like on a beautiful clear day.  It looks like you could reach up and touch Heaven there! 

 

At times we could only see not more than 30 feet in front of us if that!  It was that foggy!

Angela

Canaan Valley Fall Color ~ Part 2

A few more pictures from our drive up to Canaan Valley, West Virginia to see the fall colors on the trees.

This view is breathtakingly beautiful in person.  I would love to have a house overlooking that view.

The clouds were wispy that entire day.  I loved this one in particular.  What do you think it looks like to you?  I will have to say that usually when you see a cloud like this it quickly disappears or moves on.  This particular cloud followed us for a good hour or so.  Every time I looked up there it was.  Beautiful!

I really wanted to go back this weekend to see more, but my husband had to work so we couldn't go.  No worries though, we will see more fall colors in the coming weeks as not all of West Virginia has turned to fall completely.  I'm watching the peak maps and the pictures others put up to gauge when we need to go back to Babcock State Park.  I really want to go back there to see the fall colors also.  I love living in a 4 season state! 

Angela

Canaan Valley Fall Color ~ Part 1

Last weekend we took a road trip to Canaan Valley, West Virginia to see the fall colors.  I have been wanting to see the fall colors there for a few years now and this year was the year to do just that.
 

My camera just didn't do it justice to just how beautiful it actually was when we were there. 
 

It was such a beautiful day.  The weather was perfect.  We had a great time.

Angela

Breakfast at the Bright Morning Inn

 When we stay at Canaan Valley we have to check out of the rental house at 10am so that doesn't leave much time for us to make breakfast before we leave.  There are a lot of things we have to do before we leave the house like start the dishwasher, wash and start drying all of the towels, stripe all of the beds and my husband always runs the vacuum throughout the house just to make sure we get our security deposit back.  We also have to load up all of our stuff and take out the trash on our way out. 

 We are always looking for a nice place to have breakfast before we make our long journey home.  This year we discovered there was a place in Davis that only serves breakfast which is why I don't think we had ever noticed it.  Well, that and the fact that it is an Inn.  The Bright Morning Inn serves breakfast until 11am.  I had their omelet with sausage, onions, mushrooms and cheese with their home style potatoes and wheat toast with blackberry jam.  It was really good!  We will be going back to this place on our next trip there on our way home for sure!

 My Little Man had their biscuit with gravy.  He ate it all!  There wasn't anything let for us to even give it a taste to see if we would like it! 

 My husband had their scrabbled eggs with bacon, home style potatoes, wheat toast and blackberry jam.  My Young Lady had one of their breakfast sandwiches that I didn't get a picture of. 

 They have some pretty flowers in their flowerbeds.

I highly recommend the Bright Morning Inn if you are looking for a good healthy and hearty breakfast to start your day!  We will be back there next year!  

Angela

GPS was WRONG!

 About two weeks ago we went to Canaan Valley, West Virginia for a nice cool relaxing vacation.  We love to go geocaching there because we get to see new and different areas when we are looking for a cache.  My husband found a place where he wanted to go to look for a cache and so we went in search of finding some treasures.  He mapped out the route to where we were to go making sure that the road would be a good road for us to drive on. We drove through some very beautiful and scenic areas not far from Canaan Valley.  We finally came to a place where there was supposed to be a bridge according to the online map and his GPS!  The road came to an end right at a stream that from the looks of it there never ever was a bridge there at all!  lol  He drove us as far as he could and looked around.  We didn't see any sign of a bridge whatsoever!  lol   

Needless to say, we did not locate the geocache that we were looking for that day.  It was a fun drive so all wasn't lost.  Now on to the next geocache!

Angela

Albert Falls

I found this picture of Albert Falls located in Thomas, West Virginia just sitting in my drafts!  I can't believe I forgot to post this beauty.  Well, it's never to late to post a picture of a beautiful waterfall so here it is!  This was taken in the summer of 2012.

Breast Cancer Awareness Barn in West Virginia

On our way home from our vacation to Canaan Valley this summer I happened to notice this beautiful pink barn on our way home. I didn't see it on the way up because of how it is located from the road.  When I seen it I squealed in delight as I had seen other pictures of this barn and knew of it's existence and had hoped to see it in person.  I asked my husband to turn around so I could take a few pictures.  This is the last picture I took with my camera as I have lost my battery charger and can't seem to find it which has left me without a camera since August!  It is killing me not having my camera as some of you may know!  lol 

The Breast Cancer Awareness Barn is located in Harmon, West Virginia not far from Canaan Valley.  I have been waiting to share this picture until October in honor of breast cancer awareness month.  Many of my followers are aware that in February of 2012 I was diagnosed with breast cancer myself.  It was through early detection that we found my breast cancer through my yearly mammogram that saved my life.  I am truly greatful of the lady who did my mammogram that day and how diligent she was in locating my .5mm little teenie tiny spot of cancer that she found with the help of a magnifying glass.  May the Lord bless her forever!  If you are interested in reading more about my breast cancer just go down to my labels and click on the breast cancer link and it will bring up every post that I made about my journey.  I am a survivor by the grace of God!  Ladies please get your mammograms if you haven't already this year!  If you find a lump please get to your doctor asap!  Early detection does save your life!  I know that firsthand!

I'm linking to Barn Charm!  Go take a look at other beautiful barns HERE.

Angela

Blackwater Falls State Park

 This past week went were on our final summer vacation at Canaan Valley, West Virginia.  It is one of our favorite places to visit every year.  We've been going there for the past 9 years. 

 My Little Man loves this area and loves to go hiking through the woods.  I especially love this area myself as it is so peaceful and beautiful all at the same time.

 I love how the moss gross everywhere along with the ferns.  It just makes everything look so magical looking like ferries would live there!

 I don't know where the water came from but this man made stair stepped waterfall was beautiful.

My Young Lady with one of the beautiful rocks with moss growing on it.  We had a great time while we were there.  It was nice to get away from all of the every day life and just enjoy God's handiwork!

Angela

Beautiful Sunsets

Canaan Valley has the most beautiful sunsets.  We always try to watch them every evening when we are on vacation.  

Angela

Olson Observation Tower

My husband loves to go geocaching with the kids. One of their favorite geocaching sites is at teh Olson Observation Tower near Parsons, West Virginia. Built in 1963, the current tower is constructed of steel and features 133 steps leading to a cab on top. While the cab is closed to the public, the entire walkway up to the top is accessible. The tower provides 360-degree views of the surrounding area including the Cheat River watershed, Parsons, Blackwater Canyon, Canaan Mountain, Backbone Mountain and the Otter Creek Wilderness.

My husband always goes up with the kids and I stay down on the ground where I belong! I am a little scared of heights. I would probably be able to go up and look from the top if there were an elevator to get to the top. I would like to see the view from up there. My husband says it is windy up there and makes the kids hold on to the sides at all times.

If you look close you can see my husband and kids as they are coming down from the Olson Observation Tower. Below you can see a few pictures they took from the top of the tower.

The view is so worth the climb, that is if you can stand to climb that many stairs where you can see down the entire way up.

It is so beautiful in the Canaan Valley area!

Angela

Muttley's

We decided we wanted to try one of the other places to eat at while at Canaan. There is a restaurant that always looked packed when we are there and we hadn't tried it yet. The visit we did. Muttley's is famous for their steaks.

The above is what I had for dinner. The shrimp came with my husband's dinner. He gave them to me because he don't like shrimp. He did however like his crab cakes and filet minion. I didn't take a picture of his plate. Everything on my plate was very good and I would like to go back the next time we go to Canaan.

The kids opted for the usual chicken tenders and fries. Muttley's calls them chicken planks. They are homemade chicken tenders and were very good.

Our meal consisted of several courses. The first course was a homemade potato soup that had ham, celery and turnips in it. This was very tasty and I could have just ate a big bowl of that and been happy. The kids were served applesauce for their first course. The second course was a dinner salad. I forgot to take a picture of the salad but it was very good as well. The kids meal did not include a dinner salad. Then they brought out our main entrees above. Everything was really good and our waitress was very fast to serve us our meal. We will go back again!

Angela

Angels Watching Over Me!

While at Canaan Valley I noticed that I have Angels watching over me! Do you see my Angels?

Angela

Fun at Canaan

We just got back from another fun week at Canaan Valley, West Virginia. Most of you probably have heard me say it before and you will hear me say it again that I would live at Canaan Valley all summer long if I could. I love it there! We love it there! The weather is incredible there. Much cooler than the 90's and 100 degree temps where I live in West Virginia. Can you believe it was only 61 degrees there when we got there? It was! I don't like these high temperatures we've been having. I know I couldn't live where it's hot like that all year round. I love my 4 seasons that we have in West Virginia.

I took this picture of the kids at Blackwater Falls.

Angela

Wind Landing

When we go to Canaan Valley on vacation we always rent a house from one of the local rental agencies. There are many homes to pick from at reasonable prices. This year we found a new rental that we hadn't been to before. Wind Landing is in the Old Timberline section in the gated community. We love staying in the gated community because there is a lot of things to see and do in that area. You can't get past the guard at the gate without a special pass. You can't even ride your bike past the gate if you aren't staying in the gated community.

A beautiful rose stained glass window hangs in one of the windows at Wind Landing.

A beautiful hand carved foot stool with a rose carved on it too.

The patio deck with a terracotta pot to build a nice little fire in.

The kitchen was very nice complete with dishes, silverware, pots and pans. Everything you need to cook a nice meal for your family.

Lazyboy reclining sofa and loveseat. I'm not a fan of the glass coffee table but it works.

The dining room off to the side of the kitchen. Very cute and lots of room. The table has a built in lazy susan.

The breakfast bar over looking the kitchen.

A pool table in the family room.

And a fooseball table too! This house had it all. We had a great time staying at this house. If I had a lot of money I would put an offer on this house. I loved everything about it from the land that it was on to the style of the house. I even liked the layout of the house. The only thing I would change would be to get rid of that smooth top electric stove and replace it with gas! lol I don't like to cook on electric. Gas cooks faster.

Angela