April 24, 2025 - May 1, 2025 -- Babcock State Park
Pies 856-872
Written By: Wendy
Leaving Williamsburg would mark the start of our slow and steady journey west. Since we had left Wenatchee a year and a half ago, we almost exclusively traveled eastward, and it felt strange mixed with a pang of sadness to be heading west again knowing our travels would be mostly likely coming to an end in the near future. Luckily, we still had many thousand miles to cover and lots of people left to see, so there was still much to look forward to. That afternoon we entered a new state for our family, West Virginia. We were meeting up with my friend from high school and her family at Babcock State Park, just outside of New River Gorge National Park. The last time we had seen them was at our Halloween event in New York, and our kids were eager for some more playtime with their buddies again.
We greeted each other in the pouring rain with big hugs, smiles, and laughs while water dripped off our noses. Our kids didn't care, though, and splashed in mud puddles until their hearts were content and their tummies were hungry and drew them in for dinner. Even though it was raining, it did not stop us from making pizza and pie for our friends that night for dinner. What other do we know to greet people than with pizza and pie?! And we had to at least get on the board for West Viriginia!
The next morning, we set out on a chilly misty morning to explore New River Gorge National Park. We loaded up on rain gear and snacks and prepared for a day full of adventure. After stopping by the visitor center and getting oriented with the area, we decided to do the Long Point Trail. It was a relatively short hike with a big bang for your buck at the end with magnificent views of the New River Gorge Bridge, an engineering marvel, and the lush surrounding mountains. Hiking with friends always makes things tremendously easier, and everyone happily walked along the trail chatting and playing games without a hint of a whine. Successful day in the books.
The next few days were warmer and sunny and we welcomed the warmth and sunshine to dry us out after the past several days of rain. We spent one day in the campground and hiked along a trail that left from a few campsites over, Manns Creek Trail. The kids happily splashed in the bubbling brook while the sun warmed their backs. I was excited to have more kids hiking with me so that I could try out a few of my forest school activities. On the way back, we played a game where they had to pick out a tree and then find it again while blindfolded with the help of a seeing partner. Another day we went into the National Park again to a different area of the park. We hiked along Glade Creek Trail until we came to a swimming hole. The dads took the kids down the steep embankment and striped everyone down to their underwear and jumped into the freezing water. My friend and I watched from above and gave encouraging shouts and whoops, but we refrained from jumping into the chilly water on the barely warm enough day. It was a core memory locked in, though, and all the kids were exhilarated talking about it on the whole walk back.
Our friends had to leave a few days before we did. As Parker has matured during our travels and formed stronger bonds with friends, he has often had a harder time leaving friends that he has particularly connected with. He cried when our friends left and waved good bye through big crocodile tears and sniffles. It broke my heart, but we reassured him that we would be seeing more friends very soon, and we would see these particular friends again in just over a month at their home.
Our big week long event that we were leading for 10 families was just days away, so we welcomed the couple of days to ourselves to get organized, check some more items off our never ending to-do list, and shop at a nearby Walmart. We did allow ourselves one afternoon to play and explore Babcock State Park a bit more by doing the Island in the Sky hike, which was beautiful. But then our week came to a close, and we had to make it to Kentucky to greet all our event participants that would soon be coming!