Victory Lap

In celebration of Tye's successful victory over school (and over St. Louis), we are on a little road trip 'round the country.


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Here are some pics and a little travelogue (Ok, technically it's a huge, long, boring travelogue. shut up.)
First up:
LBL, KY where we FULLY intended to take advantage of some great mountain biking trails. We spent the first day trying to find a bike shop (failed). The second day we went to pick up firewood and came out of the woods COVERED in thousands and thousands of ticks. So instead of riding we spent the day delousing from the tick infestation.



On our way to Lexington, we stopped at Pleasant Hill shaker village which was very cool. Coming into Lexington (beautiful city) we passed thru miles and miles of 'horse country' estates & farms where the horses for the Kentucky Derby are bred and trained.
The drive through Kentucky was beautiful.


Next destination was Beckley, WV where we stayed the night before heading into the New River Gorge. We went hiking, but skipped the biking there too (and the train ride. booo.) because Tye was about to rupture a blood vessel in his head he was so excited to get to Snowshoe.
The drive through West Virginia was absolutely amazing. So idyllic. Snowshoe Mountain, WV in theory is Tye's dream come true. But since this whole trip was sortof a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants spontaneous venture we didn't have the best timing.
For starters, it just so happened there was a big race the weekend we showed up, so most of the trails were closed. No biggie, we'll ride the few trails that are open. Or not. Right when we found the area of the open trails it started raining. Then the rain turned to snow. We rode the trail anyway. But it was a muddy, slippery, rocky mess. So after about 45 minutes of getting BEAT to DEATH by this hectic trail we decided to go back to our campsite and come back the next day (hoping for good weather).We camped at this REALLLLLY creepy place, called "Campers for Jesus" or something like that. We drove in and the place was totally abandoned so aparently not too many campers are "for" Jesus.

The next day was good weather so we FINALLY got a ride in. It was a TOTALLY easy trail and it completely kicked our asses. We get on this trail and start pedaling. The guide book says the trail is about 9 miles and at the midpoint there is a pavillion. It was pretty fun when we started out but about a CENTURY later we were pretty worn out. Tye said he thought we were getting pretty close to the end. I mentioned that we hadn't yet seen a pavillion and we decide we probably just didn't notice it.
Another century of pedaling goes by and still no end-of-trail and no pavillion. Again Tye reassures me that we've got to be getting really close the to end. We polish off the last of our water.
After another hour of riding we get to the pavillion. WHAT THE!! I don't know if we were in some alternate universe out there in the woods where time is slowed down or if we just really suck so bad that 2 miles seemed like 8, but I figure the first time Tye said "we're almost there" we had probably only gone about 1 mile.
Luckily the last half of the trail was mostly downhill and super fun and we got to ride FAST (or maybe it just seemed fast in that alternate universe). We were laughing so hard at ourselves. What a couple of dorks.
When we finally got back to the car we celebrated like rockstars for surviving that treacherous trail. We bought Pepsi and Dorritos and took a shower in a waterfall and basked in the glory of completing a bike ride that was rated a level "4" difficulty.
Overall though, Snowshoe/Pocahontas County was awesome and we will definitely go back there someday for a summer vacation. In fact, all of West Virginia was incredibly beautiful. You should go.
That night was a full moon and instead of camping we made a last minute decision to go visit Craig & Trish in Canton, Ohio. So we headed out and called them on the way and warned them we would be there at about 3 a.m.
The next day Craig reliably took us out for some yummy sushi and Tye and I both got plastered on sake while Craig and Trish and their 5 kids watched. or something like that. (that's a story for another time)
After a short stay with Craig and Trish, our next stop was at Fallingwater (in Mill Run, PA) which for me was a highlight. I've always wanted to see this place and it didn't disappoint. If you like architecture or FLW you would love this place. The inside was just as amazing as they outside but since they don't allow pictures to be taken inside here are a few I took of the exterior.We drove through Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania. This place has such a good vibe. We had lunch while watching people kayak the falls. The dogs are super friendly. Three of them hopped in the car to see what we were eating.

Now we are in DC visiting Barrci (Barr and Marci). The first day Barr and Tye and I rode our bikes to Mt. Vernon. Tye and Barr were going Full Retard the whole way. I told them, "Nobody goes Full Retard" but they did it anyway.

We also did the Mall, several museums and Georgetown.Tomorrow we are heading to Richmond, Virginia to hang out with Jake, Marci and Whit. I think the plan is to stop at Nordstrom Rack and Ikea then hit the shopping really hard in Williamsburg, VA. We'll stay till they get sick of us, then head back to St. Louis for our final days there before we strike out for the great trek westward.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who let us crash at their place while we were homeless: Denae, Ben, Julie, Craig, Trish, Barr, Marcy, Jake, Marci, and Leann and Randy. LOve you!!