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:
Blackwater Falls State Park:
