Months ago we coordinated with Mark's childhood best friend Justin (Blank) to meet up in West Virginia. We found an awesome cabin at Bluestone State Park and met up for the weekend. They live in Ohio and West Virginia was almost halfway between Ohio and Virginia. I had high hopes that there would be fall colors everywhere but sadly there was not. It has been really hot here for so long and we are 10 inches below average for rain so instead of vibrant Fall colors we got dead trees. There were occasional spots of color but overall it was green or dead. But hanging out with the Blanks more than made up for the lack of vibrant colors. They are such good, kind, fun people. Mark and Justin grew up in Turlock together for most of middle and high school and roomed together at BYU Idaho. The 4 of us were able to hang out a little bit while we were at BYU Idaho and have sporadically met up over the years when we can. We have such a great time together. Our kids enjoy each other even though they don't know each other that well and it so easy to hang out with Justin and Hannah. It was so nice to meet up and have a whole weekend together. We all came away from it wanting to make it a yearly tradition. Their kids are Sienna (13), Porter (10) and Mairyn (6). Both Mairyn and Porter asked if we could meet up again soon, like next weekend. So cute. Hannah and Justin both want to add another day if we can next year. I think they are really busy at home and it was nice to be away from it all. We are definitely up for meeting again and making it a yearly thing.
We both got to the cabin around 7:30 -8:00 on Friday. We lucked out and only had a 3 hour drive while their's was closer to 5. The cabin was really nice. It had a large open floor plan with a well stocked kitchen, large dining area and living room. On each end there was a bathroom and two bedrooms. So we all had plenty private space. It was really nice. There was a large back porch with a swing and rocking chairs, and that was my favorite spot of the cabin. We were in charge of breakfast and lunch (sandwich stuff) and they covered dinner. Since it was conference weekend I made cinnamon rolls and we did end up watching part of one session together which was nice. Justin had also requested Orange pancakes and I was happy to make them. He had them when he came out last spring for a conference at UVA and stopped by to visit us. They were a hit. They grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner and we stopped at DQ for ice cream and ended up finding what has to be the DQ with the best view. The town closest to the cabin is called Hinton and it is really run down and does not have a lot going on. We were so surprised when we walked into this huge seating area right next to the river. It feels like you are sitting right over the river. It was so nice. So that was a fun surprise.
Cabin 26
We spent most of Saturday outside in the perfect Fall weather. I was so grateful that even if the colors were not there the Fall weather was. Our first hike was in Bluestone Park and the second one was about 45 minutes away in Grand View. It was so beautiful, definitely worth the drive. Sadly before we even ate breakfast Porter got injured. He and Jared were outside climbing a tree and one of the branches Porter was standing on snapped and he fell over 10 feet down to the ground. He was really scratched up and one leg really hurt. He tried icing it but could not put any pressure on it. When Mark and Justin went out to look at the tree they could see that most of the branches were really short like they had broken off because of the dry weather. Porter could not put weight on it all weekend and when they got back to Ohio they took him to the ER and he had fractured his tibula and fibula. It was so sad. I am so impressed with him. He hardly complained and just hopped around and waited in the car while we played around. He even went out in one of our kayaks. He will be on crutches and in a cast for the next 4 weeks.
Our first hike was a steep slippery downhill hike(dead leaves covered most of the trail). We were lucky that Hannah stayed in the car with Porter and was able to meet us at the end point because none of us wanted to climb back up that hill. We stayed by the river for awhile and played frisbee which Mark loved. I found some sidewalk chalk and Lydia, Mairyn and Sienna made a hopscotch game that had 50 squares. It was fun to see our kids playing together so well. The second hike was really beautiful and all the kids did a great job. Justin drove with Porter this time and met us about halfway through. He noticed that the trail went right by the road so we were pleasantly surprised when we saw his truck waiting for us. We had snacks and then carried on with our hike. Once we finished the hike we went back to Bluestone and did some kayaking. Sienna and Hannah went first and we had them get in the water at the upper boat ramp and then we drove down to meet them at the second boat ramp. This lake is huge. When they first put in there were huge waves because it was really windy. Neither of them had kayaked much and I know Sienna was nervous but they ended up having a great time. Jared jumped in a kayak next and took off. We thought he was just going to stay close to where we were but he thought we wanted him to kayak back to where Hannah and Sienna started. We did not. I tried to call him back but he could not hear me over the wind. Porter was paddling nearby so we called him in and Mark jumped in to go chase down Jared. He could not reach him in time though so the Blanks took Lydia back to the cabin with them to start dinner and I drove our car back to the boat ramp to meet Jared and then Mark. Even though we did not plan for Jared to go that far we were super impressed with his kayaking skills. He was going against the wind and current and Mark could not catch up with him. He just plowed ahead. This was only his second time using an adult kayak and he really liked it.
Hike # 1 Riverview Hike
Lydia, Mairyn, Justin, and Porter
Both Jared and Lydia think Justin is the coolest adult in the world. They love to play with him, talk to him, they just want to be around him. He is really great at making them feel like he really cares and wants to be with them and know all about them. All week Lydia could not stop talking about how excited she was to see Justin. I love it.
Hike # 2 GrandView Rim Trail
Spencers and Blanks
Dairy Queen with a view
Hannah (back) and Sienna Kayaking. It was a beautiful evening.
That night after dinner we drove back down to the boat ramp and star gazed. I had downloaded an app that you hold up to the sky and it shows you what constellations were nearby which was really cool and helpful. Sienna and I wandered around the lot holding my phone up to the sky trying to identify constellations and Jared, Lydia, Porter laid in the truck bed and looked up. Mark, Justin and Hannah stayed near the blanket with the little ones and after awhile I came back to lay down and look up and Mairyn came over and snuggled up to me and it was really cute. I'm really glad we went out to do that.
Sunday we packed up the cabin and went out for more kayaking. Mark felt very strongly that the more kayaking we did the better. It's not awful to drive with them on the car but you do have to go a little slower and stop more to make sure they are tight so he wanted them to be enjoyed and they really were. He and Justin went out for awhile and I was really happy they could have some one on one time. Jared went out with Sienna and they stayed out forever. They went much farther then we thought they were going to and ended up staying near this one cove for a really long time. They would not tell us all the details but they saw a catfish and apparently made up a long story about Bartholomew the catfish while they were out there. They were all giggles when they finally got back. I did not expect them to bond like that so it's fun that it happened. We apparently need to be very clear with Jared about distance with kayaking because he has a lot of confidence and it's unnerving to have them be far away and out of reach. Once they got back Lydia and Porter went out and then Hannah and Porter took a turn. Lydia had never used an adult kayak before and did a really good job. After that we said goodbye and headed home. We were able to listen to a few talks on the drive and made it home in time to watch the second Sunday session.
It was such a great weekend. I am so glad that the Blanks expressed interest in meeting up again. Sometimes I really like something and worry that others won't or that I care more about it then them so it was so nice to hear that they want to do it again too. I think the Blanks are really wonderful and am so glad we all enjoyed ourselves. Even poor Porter talked about how he wants to do it again and he basically broke his leg! He is a really tough kid.
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