Now that I have that song firmly stuck in your head-your welcome-let's continue on with the latest. As we last reported, our efforts to avoid the snow was for naught. So with that in mind we continued north, the weather be damned.
First stop - a quick overnight- was in Upper Tract, WV called Swilled Dog. A Cider and Spirits Distillery. And as usual Stella added to her fan base as both customers and staff thought that a cat on a leash was super cool.
The story of how this place came to be is a good one and you can read it in the picture below. With that said, I give you; Swilled Dog.
Next stop on this leg is Kick Back and Camp. We stayed at this 3 year old campground for 2 weeks, and we had the best time there. Mike's wildly adventurous fishing day, that included catching Crappie, Large mouth bass, and a snapping turtle - 3 times! Yes, you read that right, he caught a snapping turtle 3 times, but because the hook he had was for fish he couldn't get the ruddy bastard on shore.
It turned out to be the talk of the campground, and quite the spectator's sport. That's how we met Betty and Kenny, and ended up hanging around their campfire for the last couple of nights of our stay. They were really fun people to hang out with and I hope their future travels are safe and full of laughter.
There were days of great food as well. I even took a shot at the grill for the first time. Bacon with asparagus and Burgers with mushrooms and onions.
Stella, of course was super stressed out. And after escaping twice, she opted to take some time to pout.
And let's not forget, at this point there was no more avoiding snow. But because we didn't have to shovel, we'll still call it a win. It sucked, but the next day it was gone, so there's that.
What really makes this place special are the people. Daniel and Maggie, who own this place and work their butts off. They also have gotten themselves the best hosts in Jimmy and Heather. Let me tell you why.....
We spent one of our afternoons wandering around the campground with our "road sodas", visiting and by the end of the evening had gone a bit over center- I know, your stunned right?! The next day we went into hibernation mode, that day was also Mike's birthday and I had told Jimmy and Heather. So, when they hadn't seen us by the end of their shift they came a knockin'! With a lighter for a candle and an ice cream sandwich for a birthday cake they proceeded to sing Happy Birthday to Mike! It was absolutely awesome. And it's people like them that will keep campers coming back to this very special and beautiful place.
There are 5 more stops to tell you about, they include wine, farms and another escape attempt, but we'll save those for another post. Until then- Be Well, Be Happy and Safe Travels.