Blogs from Fayetteville, West Virginia, United States, North America

Cannon was insistent that he wanted to go zip lining. If you aren't familiar with zip lining it is a blast. See the videos and photos to prove it. I was only going to pay for him to go but he kept calling me chicken. Truth was I wasn't sure he could handle it and have problems up in trees. I was proven wrong. He was a monkey in the trees and I had more fun than I have in a long time. We ran 10 separate zip lines ranging from 300 to 900 feet and were everwhere from 40 to 140 feet in the air. Wow. Save this URL and think about coming here on a vacation. www.rivermen.com... read more

getting cold here. and run out time. but so fun climbing. so many good routs. I love to climb more here. I want to back in here again. ... read more

Today is the day I raft the New River. I signed up for the trip with Wildwater Adventures, which is the oldest outfitter in West Virginia. While no raft guide will deliberately dump guests in the river and keep their job, a number will not go out of their way to keep guests in the boat either. They run riskier lines through rapids, which can provide a thrilling ride but also a harrowing one. I wanted a guide service that was known for keeping this type of risk to a minimum (the rapids are already risky enough!) Wildwater fit the bill nicely. They also have a great reputation for customer service. In order to take this trip, I had to deal with some personal history. Four years ago, I rafted this river in early summer, and ... read more

Hawks Nest State Park is the West Virgnia’s version of visiting the New River Gorge without the assistance of the National Park Service. Set amidst an inn and banquet facility that more resembles a stark and cubic university administration building, the restaurant overlooks the gorge and a tramway that shuttles visitors to the river below for jetboat tours on the New River. Between the state park and Carol’s old high school near Winona, the scenery rarely changes from hilly mountain passes, rough and austere mobile homes, and a Baptist church about every 400 yards, or so it seems. “It’s the Bible Belt here”, remarks Carol. “I saw a Catholic church back near Glen Ferris.” “Yeah. The Italians (long “I” in her pronunciation) came here to work in the mines. See all the stone work on the ... read more

I booked four nights at a rustic mountain cottage, the New River. Doug and Sally have not been managing the facility for a year yet. As I pulled up off the single lane road and past the red barn mailbox, two dogs, close to a Golden Retriever, and an indescribable mutt of easily a dozen breeds, raced at me from behind a barn, both barking sternly. Naturally, my first reaction was to dive back in the car and try to defend myself with a can of mace to ensure they would not prance off with any of my internal organs. But, at second glance, they were harmless and simply there to greet me. The canine welcome became official when the larger pooch peed on the left front fender of my car. Now having been approved by ... read more