When Blog Friends Meet!

A little background: A few years ago my friend Michael met a gal named Annette on the internet somewhere (he can’t remember – which is surprising!), a little while after that Annette met Russell (no idea how that went down!) and then after that sometime Russell met, and married, Amy. Somewhere along the line Susan got to know Russell, Amy, and Annette though their blogs, and about a year ago, I also got to know everyone too. Up until now we have communicated with each other and shared events of our lives through our blogs, however recently it was decided that we would all get together for a weekend in West Virginia!

The adventure began at 1:30 on Friday when Susan and Michael arrived at my house! We headed out and arrived at the cabin at 4:30 pm! I was very excited to see that the cabin was about a ¼ mile from the road to Dolly Sods that I’d discovered when I went to Canaan Valley at Christmas! Since we had about 45 mins of daylight left we decided to drive up as far as we could – if you recall the road is dirt and does not get plowed or anything and when there is snow on the ground the road becomes impassable. We were about a mile in (it’s about 10 miles from “paved road to paved road on the other side) when we encountered a Jeep Grand Cherokee coming the other direction – the driver was clearly flagging us down so I put the window down to see what he needed. They said that they were headed to Washington and that they were lost, their GPS had lead them here but they didn’t know where “here” was. I said “Washington DC?” and the man nodded – I said “WOW, you are really lost!” He didn’t find it funny! Good thing I knew exactly how to get to Washington – so I told him and he drove off. I have no idea how they got all the way through Dolly Sods! This was one of a few times this weekend that we heard about how GPS had lead people astray in WV – I guess John Denver was right when he said “Life is old here” – a paper map is the only way to go!  A few miles later I decided that the snow was too deep and it was time to go back – there was no where to turn around so I ended up making a 15 point (or more) turn to avoid the ditch and steep drop off! After we got back to the paved road we headed into Petersburg to the hoppingest Pizza Hut this side of the Mississippi!

When we returned to the cabin, Russell and Amy were there! Soon after Annette pulled in! It was so great to meet everyone and put faces with blogs! We spent the evening talking, hanging out, and getting to know each other in reality! The cabin was equipped with a hot tub and Susan and Michael and I wasted no time getting in – prompting Russell and Amy to share with us Eddie Murphy’s Celebrity Hot Tub skit from SNL in the 70s! I attempted to post the You Tube video of it, but it won’t work! Google it and watch it, it’s funny! We were up until well after midnight enjoying each other’s company!

The plan for Saturday was to travel to Helvetia, WV for their Fachnat celebration! Helevtia is a Swiss town in the heart of WV and every year on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday they celebrate Fachnat where they burn old man winter and dance the night away! We were very interested in what this was all about!

To get to Helvetia you need to drive to the middle of nowhere, turn right, and drive another hour or so! 

When I looked at the map I was skeptical that we’d make it out there – it looked like a really long way! I was interested to see how close it was to Kumbrabow – a state park where my family has been going “turkey hunting” for many years!

It took about 2 hours of driving to get there – the scenery was magnificent and it was a stunningly beautiful day! We stopped for lunch at the Bob Evans in Elkins and continued driving! The road into Helvetia was very windy and twisty and fun to drive!

We arrived at 3:30, the festivities had begun at 3:00 so we thought we’d had good timing! The town was quite small – there were three stores, 2 of which were closed!?!? There didn’t appear to be much going on. We went into the arts and crafts store and I had a nice chat with the owner – she was interested in my family history of Kumbrabow, my mom’s upbringing in Dunbar, and my Godparents connection to WV Wesleyan and the NEA (or at least she pretended to be!). We poked around the town and enjoyed some browsing in the General Store/Post Office and then it was time to hit the buffet dinner at the Hutte Restaurant. The restaurant opened at 5 pm and we were waiting outside, there was one other couple waiting with us. At the stroke of 5 the door opened a lady clad in a feather boa and Mardi Gras mask opened the door to begin seating. She asked us if we had a reservation. We did not. She himed and hawed and finally told us that we could eat, but we only had 1 hour, at 6 pm we’d have to get up and leave. We agreed and she escorted us to a secluded room way in the back. We had just gotten settled when we heard the hostess in the room next door saying “You all can sit out here with these other people who didn’t have reservations either!” and then she escorted in a retired couple from Buchannan. Their table was set up facing ours so we ended up chatting with them and making some new friends!

After dinner the town was starting to pick up! Folks were tricking in and the restaurant was hopping! There was a parade at 8:00 followed by a square dance, both of which sounded like fun, but we had 2 hours to drive back to the cabin so we headed out! It was nice to drive part of the twisty, turny, windy, 1 lane road in the daylight!

It was a neat treat to get to see the town and enjoy just being with good friends in the mountains!

When we got back to the cabin Susan, Michael, Amy and I hit the hot tub, then we snacked on popcorn and watched Robot Chicken before heading to bed early!

This morning I decided I wanted to hike up to “Top of the Rocks” so after my shower I headed out. It was very chilly and windy! I hiked up, enjoyed the view and hiked back down. It was about a 1.5 miles round trip with maybe 500 ft of elevation gain. I hadn’t brought my hiking sticks because the trail description said that it started steep and then leveled out, well, it leveled out by WV standards! I headed back to the cabin ready for the fondue that Amy and Susan were preparing for lunch! When I got back however, Russell decided that he wanted to go to the top of the rocks so we headed back out and went back up! Russell has recently lost 60 lbs (Go Russell!) and climbing this mountain was a huge victory for him! We decided to get a rock and have all of us write our names on it and Russell would leave it at the top!

When Russell and I returned, it was fondue time! The guys weren’t interested in fondue so they took off for the McDonald’s in Petersburg while we ladies enjoyed a fabulous lunch of cheese fondue – made from a recipe in a cookbook that Susan bought in Helvetia! For dessert Amy made chocolate fondue! Amy and Susan were trying to come up with “Swiss” food and fondue was all we could think of – swiss cheese and chocolate! 

After lunch Susan Michael and I headed home! It only took 2 ½ hours and we were home before dark!

It was a wonderful weekend and I can’t wait to get together with my blog friends again! I also discovered Harman’s North Fork Cabins and am making plans to return there another weekend in the near future!