Daddy-Daughter Trip - Day 7

Daddy woke up early and cleaned up the campsite. He decided to throw away the tent - he said it was old and we could get a new one! We left kind of early and ate some breakfast bars in the car. It finally stopped raining. We went down the road to the Monongahela Forest and looked at all the beautiful views. It was amazing! We visited a nature center and looked for bears - we didn't see any. Then we got some lunch - Brenna got nachos and Erin got macaroni and cheese. Daddy had some fruit. We went up to the top of a big mountain and looked around a ski resort called "Snowshoe." It was so cool - now I really want to go there! Then we drove down to see a big telescope [National Radio Astronomy Observatory]. It is called a radio telescope. We took a tour - it was very interesting. We also got to see the Seneca Rocks nearby. Daddy wanted to check out a place in Sugar Grove where he heard there were cabins. It was a tiny place with nothing to do. We had to drive over some big mountains to get back to Virginia! After we got back to the interstate, we stopped for dinner at Burger King (chicken fries & cheesy tots - mmmm). It took a long time, but we finally got home. That was the end of our trip!!!

Daddy-Daughter Trip - Day 6

We woke up and had more pancakes for breakfast. Today we went to Hawk's Nest State Park. First, we got information about the park and then we went to the bottom of the New River Gorge in a little tram. When we got to the bottom, we had a picnic lunch - with leftover pizza! Then we got on a jet boat. It took us up the river - we saw lots of people who built little houses along the river so they could spend the day swimming and having fun. We saw the New River Gorge Bridge from another place. We took lots of videos and pictures. After that, we walked around a little bit more and then went back to the top in the tram. We bought lots of souvenirs and post cards. We had ice cream at Dairy Queen. It was so hot and we kept telling Daddy that we wanted to go back to Summersville Lake. We finally went and we had a chance to swim for awhile and get cool! After that, we went back to camp. It wasn't dark yet, so we cooked our dinner and started up a fire. Daddy cooked chicken noodle soup and rolls. We roasted marshmellows after it got dark. Daddy told us ghost stories and we sang some campfire songs. But then it started to rain. We thought it wouldn't last long, so Daddy drove us around for awhile. It looked like it was stopping, so we went back to camp. When we checked in the tent, Daddy figured out there was a big hole - and water had got everything wet! We ended up sleeping in the car and it rained all night...

Daddy-Daughter Trip - Day 5

We woke up and went to Bob Evans for breakfast. It was really good and we had pancakes, eggs and potatoes (Brenna had grits too!). We stopped at the Canyon Rim visitors center and showed the ranger our Junior Ranger books. She gave us patches for getting our workbooks done and some stickers. Then we drove to Summersville Lake. First we stopped for some sub sandwiches to take for a picnic. We were glad to be at the lake today - it was really hot!!! We swam in the shallow water - letting the cold water cool us off - and then we played games. We played "Marco Polo" and "Find the Rock" and then Daddy threw us up in the air! We had a lot of fun at the lake - we like it better than the ocean. When we were done swimming, we had ice cream at "Fat Eddie's." Next, we went to Babcock State Park and saw an old grist mill. It was really interesting and pretty. We got to walk on more rocks and saw a pretty water fall. We drove over to see the place where John Henry made a tunnel through a mountain - he died after he was through. We went back to Grandview to talk to the rangers again and saw some more beautiful views. On the way back to camp we had dinner at Pizza Hut - yummy! We went to bed when we got to our campsite.

Daddy-Daughter Trip - Day 4

We woke up early and got ready to go river rafting! When we were ready we had some breakfast at Tudor's Biscuit World. The food was great and their biscuits were almost the size of an apple! Then we rushed over to Wildwater Expeditions to get our gear and rafts. After that they taught us some water safety! Then we left. When we got to Thurmond, we all carried coolers and put them in the rafts. Then we started paddling down the Upper New River. Later, we came to a rock about 15 feet high and everyone started jumping off of it! Brenna jumped twice from the top and Erin jumped from a place almost at the top. Then we stopped for some lunch. Brenna had two sandwiches and some fruit. When we got to the big rapids, our favorites were the ones called "Surprise" and "Little Deer's Foot." Brenna rode with Daddy in the "Duckie" and Erin rode on the big raft with our guide "Mr. Bodie." Daddy and Brenna almost fell in the rapids! We got to do a lot of swimming and played a game called "King of the Duckie." After we had rafted for eight miles, the ride was over. The big bus picked us up again and drove us back to Wildwater. We changed out of our wet clothes and went back to camp. For dinner we had hot dogs and baked beans. We hate baked beans!!! We worked on our journals and wrote post cards to Mommy and Mollie. We also finished our Junior Ranger workbooks. Then we went to bed.

Daddy-Daughter Trip - Day 3

We woke up to have some pancakes! Then we went to the bottom of the New River Gorge again and saw the huge bridge. It was the size of one Washington Monument and two Statues of Liberty! We went wading in the water near some rapids and climbed on the rocks! Then we went to the Thurmond visitors center and looked around the old railroad ghost town and learned a lot about the town and trains. Then we went to a place called Stone Cliff. Daddy decided to take the McKendree Road - a gravel road on the Park map. It was soooo long and scary. We were on the side of a cliff! It was long and went on and on and on, until we were finally off that road! Daddy kept saying we would make it, but we kept asking "what if we get stuck in the mud?" When we finally made it out of there, we went to see the Sandstone Falls. It was beautiful - not a big drop. People were climbing on the rocks and hiking on nature trails. We went to Grandview to watch the meteor shower. It was fun. We saw a bat house - and lots of bats at sunset! The ranger lady told us about the bats' habitat. She also talked about the stars, the constellations and the planet Jupiter (we could see it!!!). We sat out on our tarp again and saw lots of deer all around. We got back to camp really late and went to sleep!

Daddy-Daughter Trip - Day 2

We woke up and had breakfast in the hotel - then we were on our way [0825]! When we were driving, we saw pretty mountains and we went over many big bridges (under them were beautiful rivers)!!! We got into West Virginia around noon and stopped at the Welcome Center for information. They told us about the State Fair nearby - maybe we can go! Next, we drove to the New River Gorge Park and looked around. After we got our Junior Ranger workbooks at the Sandstone visitors center, we started looking for campsites. We finally found one [Chestnut Creek] and started to put up tents and put our stuff away. Daddy drove us down to the Canyon Rim visitors center so we could go on a nature walk with the park rangers. It was called "Kids Nature Hike Adventure" and we had a fun time. We didn't see any ticks... Next we had dinner at the campsite. We ate hot dogs, peas and corn that Daddy cooked on our new camp stove. We drove down into the New River Gorge near the big bridge after it got dark. We saw some deer. Then we went back to the campground. Earlier today we bought a big tarp at Walmart and we laid it out in a big field so we could watch the shooting stars [Perseid Meteor Shower]. We saw lots of stars and made lots of wishes. It was beautiful!!! Then we went back to our tent and went to bed.

Daddy-Daughter Trip - Day 1

The day we left, Erin really didn't want to go. Now she is really glad she went! Before we left we had to do a lot of packing, making lists. Then we were on our way! We stopped at the Bass Pro Shops to get some camping supplies. When we came out of the store, Daddy noticed that we had a flat tire. We got it fixed at the service station by a nice man who helped us. We got some more supplies at Walmart. Then we started driving. When we got near Thomas Jefferson's house [Charlottesville, VA], we started to see lots and lots of mountains - and some big bridges. Everything was so beautiful! We stopped for dinner at a Burger King and shared some Cheesy Tots and Chicken Fries. Then we finally got to the hotel - a Howard Johnsons in Lexington, VA [1935]. It had miniature golfing and a pool! We put our stuff in the room and were going to go swimming - until we heard about a horse event nearby. We went to the Virginia Horse Center and watched a Barrel Racing competition. It was so fun and exciting. Then we went back to the hotel and went to sleep!

San Antonio, TX (USA)

[Norfolk to Camp Springs to San Antonio to Norfolk - with Julius]