Spur of the moment trips...
Can sometimes be the most interesting and the most trying for various different reasons,
Thursday night, dad decided we should get away for the weekend. We tossed ideas around of where to go (I wanted to stay in Ohio, close to home, and hopefully not overnight, so I could attend church on Sunday), from the air force museum near Dayton, to Columbus. We ended up finding information on the New River Gorge and Bridge over in West Virginia, and decided maybe we should head that way.
Well, my family has a habit of not going the direct direction. We started out heading to Portsmouth, then winding down to Ironton, crossing the bridge over to Ashland Kentucky. We walked through the mall there, which was fun, as I hadn't really been in a mall for quite some time. Some places just amaze me the things they market to young kids for clothing now a days. Gracie found a really cute pair of shoes for 5 bucks at Vanity, but ended up paying less than that for them. I am so happy I have a clearance happy kiddo, because they were normally priced at 15 or some other ridiculous price. I walked a Lane Bryant for the first time I left Texas. Wow, the pricing has changed a lot I there. Found a few cute things in the clearance area, but didn't purchase anything. I found a pair of jeans that I fell hard for in another store, but was unsure of the sizing of them, and even though they were only $16, I,new I would feel guilty purchasing something so nice, when I really need work jeans more than casual jeans right now.
You could tell that was a bit of sensory overload for Faith. She was an infant when she was last in a mall, so the sights and smells really got her riled up. She did good, but we could tell she was a bit tired, so after walking the entire length of the place, we walked across the parking lot to a Cheddars for dinner before heading towards Huntington. This was Grandmas chance to be a bit overwhelmed... She doesn't comprehend the price of places and things very well, but this place just amazed her with the food to the point she literally hadn't the foggiest idea what to order. We had a great meal (I had the monte cristo, which was fab, but I couldn't eat but half of it...), then headed down to Huntington.
We tried to get a hotel room there, but ended up down in Dunbar at the Travelodge for the night. This is where I wish dad would let me pre plan a bit more than just "hey, let's go". The price per room was only $68, but I think we could have done a bit better with some better planning. It was a holiday weekend, so people were everywhere. The rooms were nice, and I did my hotel ritual with the girls in my room, which is find a corner store, purchase a small amount of junk food, and find a good movie on tv. We curled up to Chex mix and m&ms to watch Toy Story before we crashed shortly before 10pm. I think everyone slept decently, and I was proud Faith didn't wet the bed.
We got gipped on their breakfast, because we turned in the keys before we could get to the "breakfast room", which was in a different building. Kinda unusual, but that's okay, because about a hour and half down the road, we found a Tudors Biscuit World to eat breakfast, and it was good. On down the road we headed out towards the intended destination.
Once we got around the crazy roads, we finally arrived, and Oh. My. Goodness. Amazing. Perfect day for our adventure. Since we had grandma with us, we really could go walking and hiking like we would if we were in Hocking Hills, but they had a nice visitors center and some great handicap overlook balconies we ventured to for views of the bridge and the gorge. Managed some great shots, including some of the girls. I posted what I could on Facebook in three different albums, and am pleased with how everything came out.
The drive home was kinda like agony, due to me just feeling like poo in general. I had some problems with my chest all weekend, but tried to not think about it and keep pushing on.
It was nice to get away for a bit. It sucked to come back to the reality of work and home. It was great to see Grandma smile, and enjoy something she's never seen before, and I know it was great to just breathe fresh air. Reminds me that I need to plan some more times to Hocking Hills.
Now... Back to cooking dinner and hopefully enjoying my day off.
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.