How Do You Think We Stay So Happy?*Final Thoughts & Farewells* 10/7 p100

[eandesmom]

And, one by one, we all made it to the end.

Tracy got the growl like an animal post (or something like that)

Here comes Mary Ellen!

She was scared

I kid you not when I say you will get a TON of pictures…there’s still more of all of us! And clearly, I decided to post them all!

Continued in next post

 

[MEK]

The PP Pics are AWESOME!!!!!!!

They turned out really great!!!!! I actually really like the ones of me, which is unusual because I usually hate all my pictures!!!!!!

Thanks Cynthia!

 

[eandesmom]

The critters below

I’m going to stop here and I’ll post more animal and lunch pictures separately (tomorrow I swear!) otherwise it will be a bit much. As you can see, we all had a LOT of fun on that bridge!

 

[eandesmom]

While I'm at it, here are the missed photopass pics from our KP mission the day before, as well as our entry into AK before the trek! As you can see, these are still huge and this was the second upload, and then I gave up and haven't resized them. Sorry about that!

We had a lot of fun with the PP in France. He was from Hawaii and really hoping he'd get to work at Aualani! It was BRIGHT out though, not ideal photo conditions.

 

[MEK]

Gosh we did it years ago. I am thinking 2002 after 9-11 would not let us do the annual class trip to Williamsburg. A bunch of moms took the kids over Spring break instead. I am sure another mom booked it so I have no idea.


We did meet and tour around the colonial buildings at dusk. Quite a few historical stories and everyone was quite entertained.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

I actually think they are all pretty much the same. I was asking because one of the tours got a bad rating on trip advisor, but sometimes people bash on that web site.

It sounds really interesting because its a combo of ghost stories and historical information.

You were great help. Thanks!

 

[glennbo123]

More great pictures!

Could you put other photopass pictures from the parks etc. on the photopass cd you got from the trek, or did you have to buy that separately?

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great photopass pictures!! I hope they continue to offer that as part of the trek - that would be a big selling point for me.

 

[feyrerm]

This one is just bizarre! I don't remember ever seeing it!

Those drinks look mighty yummy!!

 

[MEK]

I finally uploaded my West Virginia pics. We traveled there in early July to pick Nick up from soccer camp. How could I not take pictures???

Here we finally found some mountains in Western Md

Don't remember what town this is.

I'm always on the look-out for interesting things. Why would a lighthouse be located 200 miles in land?

Why, because its part of the Lighthouse Church. Of course!

Wooooooo..........Downhill drop.

Finally - Welcome to WV.

This was the nicest Welcome Center. It was really cute inside and it even smelled good.

You Are Here

They had a little craft shop

There was even a TV with the weather channel on.

Wonder what happened here?

Patriotism Alive and Well!

I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that at least 15 people got out of a van. I was trying hard not to take pictures, but they kept coming.

The grounds were so pretty

Bye Rest Stop:

Because we made excellent time to WV (I think it was 1200), we decided to stop at Cooper's Forest State Park (?? that may not be the correct name).

It's been a long time since I've seen any mountains, but I'm not too crazy about that muddy river. Perhaps it had just rained heavily.

They had a cool little look-out area.

Seems like lots of folks had visited before us.

1943?

Continued.......

 

[MEK]

Couldn't resist taking a picture of Denny's initials carved in the rock.

I took this picture of the trees as we were leaving. We didn't stay too long. We were anxious to reach Morgantown and get checked in.

Finally, our exit.

Our hotel room was not ready so we took a side trip to a local winery.

We started by tasting the bad cat

We tried several other fruit based wines. They were all quite tasty. Our favorite was a chocolate / merlot mix that was sooooooooo delicious. The chocolate was the last thing that hit the palate. So good. We bought two bottles of that plus a couple other bottles. Unfortunately the bag that had all the wine in it got wet and one of the chocovin hit the cement when we got home. What a waste. Don't think I didn't consider just licking it up off the cement!

This was in the bathroom.

The grounds were very pretty

Up Next:

The Rest of our WV Day!

 

[MEK]

More great pictures!

Could you put other photopass pictures from the parks etc. on the photopass cd you got from the trek, or did you have to buy that separately?

The pp cd was included in the price of the trek, but it was one per group so it went to Cynthia. It is separate from any other photopass CD that you might purchase. It's a nice feature because everyone wants pictures of the trek, but not everyone wants to be bothered with a camera!

This one is just bizarre! I don't remember ever seeing it!

Perhaps it is! Maybe they "retool" things every once in awhile. It's pretty cool. Actually, everything in there was cool!

Those drinks look mighty yummy!!

How I wish I could have one right now!

 

[Nermel9]

Ughh, there is too much for me to comment on!!! I'll never remember everything I wanted to say, so I'll try to keep it brief! Gotta start taking notes on this TR!

Beautiful AK pictures! Your TR's always make me want to explore AK more than I do, MEK, because of your amazing pictures!

Dawa Bar looks so cute! I need to stop there this year, especially if they have sangria!

I love that animal print Mickey head mug! Do you know what store you found it in?

Yum, those drinks you made back at the resort look yummy!

The PP pictures turned out great! That reminds me, I have to pre order my CD soon!

Yay for a trip to Williamsburg, I went there all the time when I was a kid, I love it! I really need to go there again someday, with my DH, he's never been! He will love Busch Gardens, with all the crazy roller coasters! I love all the colonial stuff in that area, I'm a huge American history dork!

Great pics of WV! I drove through WV on the way down to NC last year, and I have to say, it definitely wasn't as picturesque as your photos make it look!

 

[TanzUnited99]

I love the PP pics! What great pictures to have to remind you all of your time together

Also the pics of WV look great - sounds like you had a great time!

 

[MEK]

West virginia continued........

Denny and I spent the night in a Fairfield Inn. It was a new hotel and got decent review on trip advisor. Of course I had to take a few pictures so I could write a trip advisor review.

They had an indoor pool and I kid you not, I almost watched some little girl drown.

The baby looked like she was 24-36 months and her mom had her in some kind of floaty thing. Her older brother was pushing the baby into the deep end and then suddenly she just flipped over and went face down in the water. The little boy kept trying to flip her floaty device, so her head would come up. The mom was on the other side of pool and she came running over and literally drug the girl out by her feet. But the first time she grabbed her, she missed. I just stood there and watched, sort of dumb founded. I knew the mom had time to get her and if I needed to, I would have jumped in. I was just shocked that the baby was in the pool like that in such an unsafe situation.

Denny and I sat outside with a beer.

When it got too hot we ran back inside and jumped in the pool. After the near drowning we had the whole pool to ourselves.

We had no idea where to go for dinner, but we settled on the wharf district. It is right along the water and WV is big into the rails to trails project. The restaurant was actually called the Wharf. I did not take pictures. I was actually really hungry by the time we got there, so I was a tad grumpy till I got some food in me.

This walk way was right outside the restaurant.

So was this (talk about murky water)

And this.....

After dinner we decided to walk the trail and take a few pics.

Playground on the trail

We thought we might try to catch the end of Nick's practice, but we really had no idea where we were going.

We first stopped here. I just thought it was such a pretty building.

Then we drove over to the football stadium

We knew there was some type of practice field over here, but we couldn't find anyone.

We even walked up these stairs to look around.

That's when I realized that attending WVU must be really good for weight control. Morgantown is very hilly.

We watched the sun set.

The stadium shared its parking lot with the medical center. Huge hospital. Right next to the hospital were the schools of Medicine, physical therapy, and nursing. How convenient.

And with that we drove back to our hotel.

In the morning we went back to the stadium to watch their last game. At least we knew where to go.

Check out the sunrise from our room

Continued..........

 

[MEK]

I heard the boys played in the stadium, but it took Denny and I awhile to figure out how to actually get inside. Fortunately, another parent showed us.

I can honestly saw this was the first time I was ever in a Big East Football stadium. Pretty cool.

They had the most obnoxious angry bird recording playing in there. Apparently it keeps the birds from making nests in the stadium.

At the end of the camp the head soccer coach talked with the boys.

He reminded them that they should all be grateful for the opportunity to attend such a camp because there were plenty of kids out there who couldn't. Thanks coach!

Nick looked beat

We went back to the dorm so Nick could shower and collect his belongings.

Here's a picture of Nick with his roomie and team mate Andrew, plus Andrew's younger sisters.

With Nick now in our possession we decided to, well actually I decided, to have a closer look at the campus. After all, for two years Brian was positive he wanted to attend school here, yet he never visited it. I wanted to see it a little more up close and personal.

Check out the creepy little faces in one of the buildings

This monorail-like device is how students get around in Morgantown. The campus is so spread out that this is a necessity.

Here's the track

Our ride home was pretty uneventful. We decided to come up via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We thought the traffic would be better and it was, even though the ride was slightly longer.

So that's it....My overnighter to Morgantown, WV. It was a lot of fun. I really wasn't crazy about the school, though. It's too spread out. I just thought the campus was a little too chaotic. But that's just me.

 

[MEK]

Ughh, there is too much for me to comment on!!! I'll never remember everything I wanted to say, so I'll try to keep it brief! Gotta start taking notes on this TR!

It's a mega update weekend, that's for sure! I can't even remember what I wrote about.

Beautiful AK pictures! Your TR's always make me want to explore AK more than I do, MEK, because of your amazing pictures!

The funny thing about AK is that I see all the details so much better behind the lens of a camera. Taking pictures there is always a mystery for me, because I never know what I am going to get!

Dawa Bar looks so cute! I need to stop there this year, especially if they have sangria!

I love sangria myself. One of my favorite standbys when I'm not sure what else I want. I have already promised myself I am definitely hitting the Dawa Bar! No question!

I love that animal print Mickey head mug! Do you know what store you found it in?

Well, I don't know the name to all the stores, but we found it in the store closest to the Dawa Bar. The one right near the safari entrance. Last May I bought it in the store across from ITTBAB. I hope you find it!!!!!

Yum, those drinks you made back at the resort look yummy!

It was quite tasty. The mango rum worked perfectly!

The PP pictures turned out great! That reminds me, I have to pre order my CD soon!

I love the PP pix they took on the trek. I'm so glad it was included. And I'm so glad I liked all the pix of me, because I rarely ever do.

Yay for a trip to Williamsburg, I went there all the time when I was a kid, I love it! I really need to go there again someday, with my DH, he's never been! He will love Busch Gardens, with all the crazy roller coasters! I love all the colonial stuff in that area, I'm a huge American history dork!

:

I am looking forward to Williamsburg. I remember being frustrated with BG the last time I was there. It's just not Disney and I hated the way they queued the rides. I'm a little disappointed they got rid of the big bad wolf. I loved that ride in the dark. I don't think I am brave enough for the new griffon ride. I promise to take tons of pix and not get frustrated. I do love their water park. It's really almost on par with Disney.

I also love all the colonial stuff. I could easily stay a week there and do all the history stuff.

Great pics of WV! I drove through WV on the way down to NC last year, and I have to say, it definitely wasn't as picturesque as your photos make it look!

There are some pretty depressed parts of WV, but Morgantown is not one of them. It was a very interesting place to visit. Glad I went.

I love the PP pics! What great pictures to have to remind you all of your time together

They really are perfect PP pics of the trek. What a great addition to the tour. Not that I ever would have locked up my camera, but its nice to know I could have.

Also the pics of WV look great - sounds like you had a great time!

We really did. It was a fun weekend! So glad I finally saw the school.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Cynthia, great Pics- thanks for posting. I love the way the PP CM captured the fun of the day. Miss Chatty made me

Thanks for sharing your WV trip, Mary Ellen! The pics are amazing! The lookout made me dizzy!

about the baby almost drowning. Some people just don't think
I didn't know Rails to Trails was nationwide - we live next to a bike path that is part of that program. I can't imagine a train running through there.
That building is beautiful. I love old historical places!

Looks like you had a great trip!

 

[DisMomAmy]

West Virginia looks beautiful! Amazing pictures!

 

[eandesmom]

SO pretty Mary Ellen! Thanks for sharing those.

I agree about the PP, there are some really good ones in there and I feel the same about pictures of me.

 

[MEK]

Cynthia, great Pics- thanks for posting. I love the way the PP CM captured the fun of the day. Miss Chatty made me

I love our PP pix! They are great. I did get a good out of Chatty Cathy being front and center in the group shot. Never noticed it at the time, but that was before she started talking.

Thanks for sharing your WV trip, Mary Ellen! The pics are amazing! The lookout made me dizzy!

You're welcome. I enjoyed going there because it was a new experience for me. It also made me crave a mountain vacation, which is a big reason why I wanted to go to NH this summer. But caved for proximity.

about the baby almost drowning. Some people just don't think

It just wasn't a save flotation device meaning that she should not have been left unattended in it. It was a little shocking. I will admit I did freeze for a second. It was like seeing a train coming down the track and not being able to stop it.

I didn't know Rails to Trails was nationwide - we live next to a bike path that is part of that program. I can't imagine a train running through there.

I'm not sure how many states participate in it, but it really is a wonderful program and we only saw a small section of it. There was a hotel right on the trail and I considered staying there, but it got mixed reviews so I nixed that idea.

That building is beautiful. I love old historical places!
!

That building was clearly restore and quite nice inside. The buildings on campus were also quite beautiful, but there were parts of Morgantown that just seemed misplaced. It was like the original university was in the center of town but all the add on campuses seemed chaotic.

Looks like you had a great trip!

For only being gone about 36 hours we really had a nice time!

West Virginia looks beautiful! Amazing pictures!

Its not as pretty as NH, IMHO, but it was very fun to see a new area of the country. I've skied once at Snowshoe, but this was my first time going west. Seriously, I have never drive West - anywhere. It's good to explore!

Glad you liked the pictures!