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Vacation Report
Yes, finally, What I did on my autumn vacation.
We left Sunday morning thinking we had plenty of time. We failed to account for several accidents on the Baltimore Beltway, and nearly had the whole thing derailed by a huge honkin' pothole in a middle lane of the DC Beltway. I think most of my left front tire is still in it. I almost went through the windshield, and my shoulders still hurt 10 days later. Yippee. Anyhoo, we arrived in Winchester a few minutes late and decided to keep it simple and just go to Outback Steakhouse to watch the Ravens. Except they didn't have the Ravens. Apparently Winchester is too far from Baltimore, so the NFL decided we should see the Eagles instead. At least Michael Vick's play was mediocre at best and a few Chiefs knocked him into another time zone, so that was good to see. Meanwhile most of the TVs were on the Redskins, so I ragged on the guys at the bar as they lost to the Lions. Tee hee.
Then to the cabin. Mom is a horrible back seat driver, not just picky but can't read a map and refuses to believe that I can read one, much less study it well beforehand. Fun. I found the cabin without much ado, but getting to it was another story. A very steep 'road' that was just shale gravel, really, and too much for a 4 cylinder, front wheel compact. Poor Baby Blue. Left the rest of the left front tire on the hill. Yeesh. But we made it, barely. The cabin itself was hunter green, rather than the teal it seemed on the website, and very compact. Everything was scaled down, but everything was there (except tissues). Even a washer/dryer. And a lot of bugs, which haunted the lone door and got themselves into everything. Oh, and a seemingly misplaced portrait of Bob Marley, which didn't quite fit the casual country decor.
The cabin, side view.
The cabin, deck view.
We settled in, took a few dips in the hot tub (Mom couldn't quite get in and out of it), watched the Bengals dismantle the Steelers and then we both dozed off watching The National Parks. The next morning CJ of course woke me at the usual 7am. Swell. She seemed to like the cabin, other than the stairs to the loft. She's never taken stairs so slowly or cautiously before these. Her nails, despite a recent clipping, clattered like heck on the hardwood floors. She couldn't sneak up on the dead, much less us. Once up and moving, Mom opted to watch a movie while CJ and I walked to the lake. Straight downhill. CJ pulled me the whole way, but of course didn't pull me on the way back, uphill, when I needed the help! I also forgot bug spray and that became a problem on the way back. At the lake, we met a very tame duck. He came waddling right towards us until CJ barked, then he hopped into the lake. CJ investigated the edge of the lake, thought it was a puddle, and charged in after the duck. Landed up to her neck in the water and couldn't get out fast enough. Now the duck knew how far she would go...and kept swimming up to that point, quacking at CJ and then swimming away again when she tried to get him. Ballsy duck, I must say. After another dip in the hot tub, we drove into Front Royal looking for dinner. Turned out most places were closed, but we found The Apple House in Linden open. Very casual, and very...generously portioned. I ate about 1/3 of my steak sub and gave up. Mom didn't do much better. So we had food for the next few days. We drove back to the cabin, barely made it up the driveway again, took another dip in the hot tub and then watched 'Waitress' before turning in. But I wasn't feeling well to my tummy and spent much of the night in and out of the bathroom. Great.
CJ's adversary.
CJ's reluctant perch.
Tuesday I was wakened by a phone call from the spa where we were supposed to have a spa day; the aesthetician had stomach flu, they couldn't find another one and therefore couldn't do our facials. Was it OK if they just did the manicures & pedicures? Well, yes, not like we had other options! And since it was evident by then I had the stomach flu myself, I couldn't really complain. So we rolled into town for our spa day. Tres Bella was very pleasant and relaxing, and Mom absolutely loved it. I enjoyed it to the extent my stomach permitted. Afterwards, I bought her a 'custard' (soft ice cream) at a fast food burger joint with a Japanese garden and koi pond in front. Yes, for real. And the custard was a flavor called 'Purple Cow' - black raspberry with white chocolate chips. The chips were overkill, but otherwise she found it tasty. We now had several hours to kill before our massages at the cabin and no idea what we wanted to do, so we just started driving. Took an obscure road south and kept going past all the farms and critters. Interesting: we saw more donkeys on the vacation than dairy cattle. We saw more Longhorns than non-Angus beef breeds. It was all horses and Angus and more Angus. I'm used to seeing all Holstein cattle. Different. The drive was great for Mom but exhausting for me, so we came back to the cabin (one more uphill battle) and discovered that CJ had somehow gotten the tray out of her crate, then ate the throw rug the crate was on. It wasn't our throw rug. Eep. The cabin owners said not to worry about it, it was a $2 rug, but I was embarrassed all the same. Then the masseuse showed up and CJ tried to attack her. Fortunately the masseuse had 4 dogs and was having none of this - she went right after CJ! CJ conceded defeat and by the end of the evening she and Cheryl were friends. Once again, Mom loved the massage, I was okay other than the wibbly tummy.
Wednesday we packed up everything and headed out early to the Apple House. On the way, we stopped to drive around on Blue Mountain a bit and were surprised to meet a deer relaxing on the side of the road. As in six feet from the car. She ran off a bit when I got out the camera, but was still close. She was the only deer we saw the whole trip. At the Apple House we went a little crazy on souvenirs and gifts, but not food (I hadn't eaten since Monday). Then off to home, dodging showers and showing Mom what Harpers Ferry looks like in sunshine (very pretty). Home just in time to go to therapy. And that's the way it was.
One very tame deer.
We left Sunday morning thinking we had plenty of time. We failed to account for several accidents on the Baltimore Beltway, and nearly had the whole thing derailed by a huge honkin' pothole in a middle lane of the DC Beltway. I think most of my left front tire is still in it. I almost went through the windshield, and my shoulders still hurt 10 days later. Yippee. Anyhoo, we arrived in Winchester a few minutes late and decided to keep it simple and just go to Outback Steakhouse to watch the Ravens. Except they didn't have the Ravens. Apparently Winchester is too far from Baltimore, so the NFL decided we should see the Eagles instead. At least Michael Vick's play was mediocre at best and a few Chiefs knocked him into another time zone, so that was good to see. Meanwhile most of the TVs were on the Redskins, so I ragged on the guys at the bar as they lost to the Lions. Tee hee.
Then to the cabin. Mom is a horrible back seat driver, not just picky but can't read a map and refuses to believe that I can read one, much less study it well beforehand. Fun. I found the cabin without much ado, but getting to it was another story. A very steep 'road' that was just shale gravel, really, and too much for a 4 cylinder, front wheel compact. Poor Baby Blue. Left the rest of the left front tire on the hill. Yeesh. But we made it, barely. The cabin itself was hunter green, rather than the teal it seemed on the website, and very compact. Everything was scaled down, but everything was there (except tissues). Even a washer/dryer. And a lot of bugs, which haunted the lone door and got themselves into everything. Oh, and a seemingly misplaced portrait of Bob Marley, which didn't quite fit the casual country decor.
The cabin, side view. The cabin, deck view.We settled in, took a few dips in the hot tub (Mom couldn't quite get in and out of it), watched the Bengals dismantle the Steelers and then we both dozed off watching The National Parks. The next morning CJ of course woke me at the usual 7am. Swell. She seemed to like the cabin, other than the stairs to the loft. She's never taken stairs so slowly or cautiously before these. Her nails, despite a recent clipping, clattered like heck on the hardwood floors. She couldn't sneak up on the dead, much less us. Once up and moving, Mom opted to watch a movie while CJ and I walked to the lake. Straight downhill. CJ pulled me the whole way, but of course didn't pull me on the way back, uphill, when I needed the help! I also forgot bug spray and that became a problem on the way back. At the lake, we met a very tame duck. He came waddling right towards us until CJ barked, then he hopped into the lake. CJ investigated the edge of the lake, thought it was a puddle, and charged in after the duck. Landed up to her neck in the water and couldn't get out fast enough. Now the duck knew how far she would go...and kept swimming up to that point, quacking at CJ and then swimming away again when she tried to get him. Ballsy duck, I must say. After another dip in the hot tub, we drove into Front Royal looking for dinner. Turned out most places were closed, but we found The Apple House in Linden open. Very casual, and very...generously portioned. I ate about 1/3 of my steak sub and gave up. Mom didn't do much better. So we had food for the next few days. We drove back to the cabin, barely made it up the driveway again, took another dip in the hot tub and then watched 'Waitress' before turning in. But I wasn't feeling well to my tummy and spent much of the night in and out of the bathroom. Great.
CJ's adversary. CJ's reluctant perch.Tuesday I was wakened by a phone call from the spa where we were supposed to have a spa day; the aesthetician had stomach flu, they couldn't find another one and therefore couldn't do our facials. Was it OK if they just did the manicures & pedicures? Well, yes, not like we had other options! And since it was evident by then I had the stomach flu myself, I couldn't really complain. So we rolled into town for our spa day. Tres Bella was very pleasant and relaxing, and Mom absolutely loved it. I enjoyed it to the extent my stomach permitted. Afterwards, I bought her a 'custard' (soft ice cream) at a fast food burger joint with a Japanese garden and koi pond in front. Yes, for real. And the custard was a flavor called 'Purple Cow' - black raspberry with white chocolate chips. The chips were overkill, but otherwise she found it tasty. We now had several hours to kill before our massages at the cabin and no idea what we wanted to do, so we just started driving. Took an obscure road south and kept going past all the farms and critters. Interesting: we saw more donkeys on the vacation than dairy cattle. We saw more Longhorns than non-Angus beef breeds. It was all horses and Angus and more Angus. I'm used to seeing all Holstein cattle. Different. The drive was great for Mom but exhausting for me, so we came back to the cabin (one more uphill battle) and discovered that CJ had somehow gotten the tray out of her crate, then ate the throw rug the crate was on. It wasn't our throw rug. Eep. The cabin owners said not to worry about it, it was a $2 rug, but I was embarrassed all the same. Then the masseuse showed up and CJ tried to attack her. Fortunately the masseuse had 4 dogs and was having none of this - she went right after CJ! CJ conceded defeat and by the end of the evening she and Cheryl were friends. Once again, Mom loved the massage, I was okay other than the wibbly tummy.
Wednesday we packed up everything and headed out early to the Apple House. On the way, we stopped to drive around on Blue Mountain a bit and were surprised to meet a deer relaxing on the side of the road. As in six feet from the car. She ran off a bit when I got out the camera, but was still close. She was the only deer we saw the whole trip. At the Apple House we went a little crazy on souvenirs and gifts, but not food (I hadn't eaten since Monday). Then off to home, dodging showers and showing Mom what Harpers Ferry looks like in sunshine (very pretty). Home just in time to go to therapy. And that's the way it was.
One very tame deer.