Scenes From a Mountain Weekend 1

We had a wonderful weekend in the mountains with my family. We took so many photos I want to share that it is hard to tell where to begin!

We drove up Friday night, and did hit some crappy traffic on the way. It was after 10 when we finally arrived, so we just had a glass of wine with my mom and then headed to bed. Lee was up bright and early Saturday morning, and was out taking pictures while I was still lounging around sipping coffee.

This is my mom's birdfeeder at the cabin with some early fall colors in the background. I love this photo.

 

And here's the cabin itself, built from scratch by my dad and a bunch of his friends about 17 years ago:

 

After a big country breakfast made courtesy of Mom while Lee, my niece and I took a ride to The Roadkill, a local restaurant/convenience store/gas station/ice cream shop/hunting and fishin' gear place, we cleaned up and piled into Dad's truck. We were headed to the Berkeley Springs Apple Butter Festival, in West Virginia.

 

This annual festival is always packed, and tons of fun. Berkeley is a cute little historic town known for the mountain springs where people have been going for healing baths and such since the 1700s. Nowadays, it is a very artsy place, full of quaint little shops, history, and natural beauty. During the festival, it is also full of people!

 

We wandered the festival for several hours, and stocked up on wine from several local vineyards. I also found two rings I just had to had from local crafters. Lee, Dad and I tired of roaming the vendor crowds much sooner than Mom or my niece. Dad went back to the truck to listen to college football on the radio, and Lee and I headed to the springs and park area and took a load off, just sitting and enjoying a gorgeous fall day and people-watching:

 

 

The people sitting in the corner there are danging their feet in the springs. There were lots of little ones playing in them too.

We met my aunt and uncle at the festival, and we all headed out together for dinner at the Roadkill, then back to the cabin for a campfire and some sampling of all the wine we'd bought.

On the way back, we stopped at a scenic overlook:

 

 

 

In the distance in the above photo, you can see where the mountain has been cut into so that Interstate 68 can pass through it. That's called Sideling Overpass. We have to go through it to get to the cabin, and it is also the way we used to travel to West Virginia when I was a child. When I was little, the mountain rising up on each side of the road used to remind me of two butt cheeks, and I started calling it "Buttcrack Mountain." I still do.

And I call this one "why are you taking a picture of me sitting in the truck when there's all this gorgeous scenery around?" That's my dad at the wheel and my mom in the passenger seat.

 

 

And just to prove it, we really ARE brave enough to eat at a place called "The Roadkill" in the middle of the mountains:

 

It takes a while to get your food there, so long that you start wondering if maybe it IS roadkill:

 

But the chow is worth the wait!

I'll post the rest in another entry ... it's getting late and even though I don't have to work tomorrow, my eyes are starting to shut on their own and I'd better drag my butt to bed!