Woodcrest Beckwith

... 8221; and we were appalled at the number of unbelievably dirty, run-down, garbage strewn residences along the way. Some looked like the garbage has accumulated over at least a 20 year period and some were truly laughable. One home had hundreds of cast iron frying pans nailed on all sides of the house. Obviously the occupant doesn’t watch HGTV for decorating ideas. We also passed a little café that had a big ...

Along the Way:

The further south we went into West Virginia, the Appalachian mountains got bigger. We crested a summit at 2256ft where the mountains max out at 4800ft. Also, large open pit coal mines, oil drilling rigs and oilfield supply warehouses became more prevalent. With the exception of the odd patch of grass, there are no fields anywhere.

This is Hillbilly Country except they don't live in the ...

I awoke to drizzle and rain and hoped for clearing before touring the Boone Hall Plantation and it did. I had 30 minutes before the tour of the inside of the house, so I ook Charlie with me to look at the slave cabins. The history was palpable in the first cabin I stepped into. Each one had a particular time period in documents and photographs on the walls. The first cabin is an architectural site now. The ...

Waking up in the middle of the woods when the sun starts shining through the leaves, the birds are chirping and the air is cool is really the best way to wake up, ever. We were going whitewater rafting today and were super excited. (I was also excited that we didn't have to fight off any wild animals in the middle of the night :)

We were rafting with Rivermen, located right across the street from our campgrounds. They are currently ...

... s not like we could stop by the next gas station and pick up some batteries. Not to mention, we were heading for West Virginia where we were going to be camping and I would not get to plug in the battery charger.

After leaving the zoo, we head out on the highway towards Lansing, WV and figure we'll stop in Charlotte, NC and hopefully stumble upon a Best Buy so I can buy a new battery. As it turns out, a few miles before Charlotte, I see a Best Buy sign ...

... my concern was confirmed. Apparently, the quality standards vary for these types of rooms.

Although we were moved to a better room, I don't think I will ever stay at this hotel again and may avoid Country Inn & Suites altogether. Considering this was our last way-point before arriving in Erie, PA to see my family, I would say we did very well overall with our accommodations. No complaints for the first 3,300 miles.

We headed out from the DC area 2 hours behind schedule in 2 cars for 6 people. We took 70 west to 79 south. As we drove through Cumberland, MD we decided it looked like a very charming city and would be worth a visit sometime. We arrived in Hico after dark and it was very hard to find our cabin, because GPS navigators really don't get you anywhere in West Virginia. We had to pull over at a landmark and have the cabin ...

... at a decent hour so we can SWIM! I'm so excited to be going to the beach. I haven't been to the beach in years.

It just really sucks that we're driving to OBX. Five people in on car is a bit... claustrophobic.

Tomorrow will be amazing though.

... at that time; it has been a trend apparently for me to leave as close to check out time as possible. I made it to the south Yellowstone entrance station. The ranger gave me a map and let me pull through with no problem. Remember that my pass I paid for while entering Grand Teton was for both Grand Teton and Yellowstone for 7 days. After I entered I stopped to look at the map and decided what I was going to do for the rest of the afternoon. I decided that I would head over to ...

... out to be an angry tiger that day. Watching the raft in front of us get flipped over by it, we thought we were prepared. Oops. Though we didn't turn over completely, a handful of us were tossed out like popcorn in a hot pan. Pop! Pop! Bye-bye! There goes Frank... there goes Kay! This one was not as threatening, and we made it back to the raft pretty quickly. More fun and games as we finished off the rafting trip. A couple of ...