Closed for Snow

We went to WV Canaan Valley for some wholesome winter goodness. We have spent far too long in the warm weather winters of DC and have been suffering from lack of snow. We were very pleased to see that winter still does exist in the region. The location we chose for our winter exploration was the Blackwater Falls State Park. A great park that has many things to see and do and most importantly, snow. We arrived at the park around 8am. That was of course after an early departure. Yet when we saw all that snow we eagerly jumped to getting on our gear.

We spent a bit of time exploring around the falls. The trail to the falls viewing area was blocked off to keep people out. Considering all the footprints that were leading down those stairs I doubt many were abiding by those signs. We avoided being naughty and stood at the top and peered down at the frozen falls. After confirmation of seeing the falls we moved on to go explore in the forest. We followed a nice trail and made our way through the forest. The girls were more of a problem than first expected. We thought that we would put them in the sled and then drag them around as we made our way through the forest. That was not what happened. Well to be fair they did sit in the sled for about 10 minutes after that it was too much closeness. At another part of the park we began to trek through the forest with the expectation of going a fair bit further. The girls became more unruly and determined to walk in the waist deep snow. At this time our progress through the trails was so slow. Both of us grownups were getting irritated with our daughters shenanigans. After much complaining we found the trail to the huge sledding hill. We had our very own South Park episode in that sled. Two kids bundled up and vocalizing like Kenny. Rather funny. We took the hill down to the warming hut. There we took a moment to rest and warm up. Both girls were very cold. We purchased some hot chocolate and sipped on it to warm up. I told the girls to be careful use two hands and sit still. Then Olivia dropped her full cup of hot chocolate all over the chair, floor, her, me and wall. So we cleaned that up while she is threw a tantrum about her hot chocolate being lost all over the floor etc. We poured some of ours into another cup and about 10 seconds later she dropped that one too. It got all over me, Olivia and the floor. By this time we had made it clear to everyone in that hut we were idiots and not the outdoorsy people we are. We left after the second cleanup. It was time for lunch to pacify the cranky girls.

After a quick lunch Olivia needed a nap and Daddy needed to get out an explore on his own. While I remained in the car with the girls I knitted a bit and watched people. There were several folks coming to the park site to walk down to the falls. Some visited the little store there and some others played in the snow. When Keith returned it was my turn to go out and enjoy the snow. I made my way up the road and then broke through some bushes and wound around in the forest. I was very happy to be outside in the snow. The silence was perfect.

It was sad to go but we were all tired. This is certainly going to be a great place to return.