Family Vacation: Canaan Valley, WV

This has been a no or minimal travel year due to COVID-19.  Evan and I went away for one night in September and this past weekend we took a trip as a family of three to Canaan Valley, WV.  One thing we can be grateful to COVID-19 for is that we've had to expand our minds to possibilities that we might not have before.  We knew we didn't want to travel far if we were going to travel at all so that limited our choices to local-ish places within a three-hour drive.  

I hadn't considered West Virginia as a travel destination previously and now I realize just how much we were missing out on. First of all, we saw some of the best fall foliage we've seen in our adult lives.  Evan and I always try to incorporate fall foliage in our anniversary-themed vacations and we're pretty much always disappointed.  Not this year! Granted, this wasn't really an anniversary trip but I suppose we could've considered it one, though our toddler would've put a damper on any romance.  

We stayed at an airbnb cabin in Timberline or Old Timberline as the locals call it.  It's an amazing location and to us, anyway, a well-kept secret.  The various cabins sprinkled throughout the area are spread out, there are a few dirt roads, lots of trees, a couple of lakes, an abundance of deer, and few people.  You really feel like you're off the grid and one with nature. We ran into a few people when we took our daily hikes around the lakes but even then, it was extremely easy to social distance.  We also brought our own food from home and cooked in the cabin.  It's the perfect place to hide during a pandemic and the perfect place to unwind and disconnect under normal circumstances.  

Our only complaint was that our specific cabin was not cleaned well prior to our arrival.  It didn't get our trip off to a great start. Evan spent the afternoon trying to clean what he could so I wouldn't have a panic attack.  I'm a clean-freak in general but knowing that we're in a pandemic and have a toddler who touches/puts everything in her mouth kind of sent me off the edge.

It was also tough because we haven't traveled with AJ since she was a year old.  All of this is because of the pandemic since by this time we should've had several more trips under our belts.  Consequently, the disruption to her schedule was very difficult to overcome.  She wouldn't drink her milk, nap, or sleep in the travel toddler bed we brought with us.  She ended up staying up late both nights and sleeping in between us in a tight queen bed.  None of us slept well and there were a few meltdowns from both adults and child.  

That said, we did get to appreciate the natural beauty of the area with a couple of hikes around the community lakes.  AJ's favorite part was seeing a very friendly pup who didn't want to leave her side.  The dog literally ignored its owner's commands to come back for more pets.  

Anyway, it's a place that's definitely on my radar now and somewhere we'd love to return.  There are many hiking opportunities that we didn't even get to explore.  You can rent canoes to use in the lakes.  There's fishing, skiing (in the winter, obviously), birding, etc.  So many activities!  And the best part is that you can also do absolutely nothing and just forest bathe.  The only sounds we could hear outside were birds or the leaves rustling in the breeze.  We never heard another person while in our little enclave.  It's an amazing retreat from urban and suburban life where your neighbors are either on the other side of the wall or close enough that you can hear them taking out their garbage or having a party.

The highlights:

The long lake hike:

One of our many deer sightings:

Blackwater Falls State Park:  

Another deer sighting in our community:

Our driveway:

From our hike around the smaller lake:

We were surprised to discover wind turbines on the way to/from home on the West Virginia side:

Overnight in Sperryville, VA

Evan and I have been needing a prolonged break for a while and especially because of the pandemic.  We were originally going to go away for two nights but because AJ's been particularly clingy lately we shortened our getaway to one night.  Our getaway happened to coincide with the terrible twos hitting hard.  Right beforehand AJ had refused to nap for four days in a row.  We finally wore her down for a nap the day before we left but she reignited her stubborn streak to give my parents a hard time while we were gone.  Ugh.  Honestly, it made it challenging to relax and focus on the present.  I don't foresee any adults-only overnight excursions again for a while.  I just think AJ's at a challenging age.  She's extremely stubborn, strong-willed, and the tantrums are pretty epic.  

We started the day with a curbside pickup from Red Truck Rural Bakery.  The lemon blueberry muffins are so scrumptious! Then we worked those off with a hike in Shenandoah National Park at White Oak Canyon Trail.  The trail follows several waterfalls. We hiked to the lower falls, though there's an opportunity to continue to an upper fall beyond.  We were so impressed with the lower falls that I don't think we missed much by not seeing the upper fall.  Our hike is labeled "easiest" but the problem with any rating system is that everyone's standards are different.  It was NOT an easy hike.  It was extremely rocky and much of it was uphill on the way to the falls.  We also had to cross the stream a couple of times and the final time, right before the lower falls, the current is very strong.  We saw people take off their socks and shoes to wade across but Evan and I challenged ourselves by walking across some big rocks.  To get close enough to the lower falls for a nice picture we had to do some rock scrambling, which was a first for me.  All in all, I'd probably label it a moderate hike.  I was sweating, breathing hard, and the rocks definitely tripped me up here and there.  It was an extremely rewarding and beautiful experience.  Definitely the highlight of our getaway.  

Some of the views from the country roads on the way to the trailhead:

We spied this hawk looking for prey:

On the hike:

We saw this crayfish before we crossed the rushing stream toward the falls.  Nutty!

From there we went to The Inn at Mount Vernon Farm in Sperryville, one of the gateway towns into Shenandoah National Park.  There are several interior rooms in the main house but we booked the cabin so that we could be as isolated from other guests as much as possible.  On the one hand, the grounds are magnificent and the views of the mountains are amazing. On the other hand, I'd say that the cabin was more shabby than chic.  It definitely had a rustic, sometimes dingy feel and there was mold or mildew or both that caused me some problems.  My nose was constantly running, I had a headache, I didn't sleep well, and I had a scratchy throat the next morning.  It's also expensive and I don't feel like we got our money's worth. Breakfast was decent and we got to eat it on our mini-patio so we could simultaneously look at the mountains.  

The Inn and grounds:

The next morning:

We also had an unimpressive dinner (for me, Evan liked his burger) from Headmaster's Pub.  We were both very much wanting to have some local, flatbread-style pizza but their hours are wonky due to the pandemic and they were closed the one night we were in town.  Of course.  

Another unfortunate footnote to our trip is that there were obnoxious political ads all over the place for the orange menace.  It just really put a bad taste in our mouths and made us eager to get back home.  Otherwise, Sperryville is a really cute, quaint town with lots of charms.

We're looking forward to taking more hikes in and near Shenandoah National Park.  We bought an annual pass so that will be a motivating factor.  One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that it's made us appreciate what's local to us.  There's so much to do around here!