Memorial Day Roadtrip to West Virginia

Way back in last fall we decided that our next trip would need to be something that would allow the dogs to go along.  They love to travel and it is fun to take them new places... and for a while we had mostly just taken them to visit one of the parents.  So it was time for a roadtrip.

Over the winter we debated about places.  I really want to head down to New Orleans but that was too far for how much time we had... We thought about the Smokey Mountains and almost went there but the people for rentals were being complete PITAs.  So, we settled on the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.  It looked cute, had hiking, wasn't too far and we found a vacation rental that would work for us. Then it was just the waiting game as we both were itching for a break from the city.

Finally, the Thursday before Memorial Day rolled around and it was time to hit the road.  I took the day off so loaded up the Jeep, picked up the dogs from the groomer (clean dogs are more fun to travel with) and headed out to Dan's office to pick him up.  Then it was time to start the random roadtrip observations... like how once you get close to Indiana the billboards become all about fireworks, casinos and gentlemen's lounges (ahem).  It is quite classy section of the country.  It was an easy drive to our hotel in the Cleveland area.

The next day we drove the rest of the way to Berkeley Springs.  We were surprised with how pretty Pennsylvania was, the area around Pittsburg was filled with great scenery.  On a whim we stopped at a Primanti Bros location in the burbs to try one of those famous sandwiches.  The dogs scared the crap out of some woman.  Seriously.  We asked the hostess if we could have them on the patio- "of course, people bring dogs all the time". 

As we walked up to the edge a woman at a nearby table ran to the wall (with sandwich in hand) freaking out about how terrified of dogs she is, a while later we noticed that she was standing over by the entrance as the rest of the table finished their meals.  Wow.  The dogs were hurt but one of that ladies friends made it up to them by coming over to give them love.  The sandwich was awesome.  We really enjoyed the stop- much better than a drive thru.

Berkeley Springs was pretty.  After the dogs had a blast checking out the rental house (biggest grins ever) we headed into town for a stroll.  Dinner was at a place that uses local sourced ingredients and had a beautiful view.

Saturday was filled with driving some fun twisty roads, a small town parade, saving a turtle that was crossing the road, a jaunt into Maryland to see a super old canal, and almost going to a wine festival.  The wine festival ended up being a small disappointment- we were so pumped to randomly come across it but they didn't allow dogs.  Traveling with dogs is awesome but it does limit things a bit so we try to do our homework before heading out; this was an almost spontaneous addition to the trip but whatever, we were consoled with an ice cream cone.

Hiking was one of the highlights.  We did one of the most challenging hikes as of late.  The trail we wanted wasn't quite marked, so we made it up as we barreled over 'Pine Ridge' until we found the next trail.  And then it was a super steep incline that gave us all a work out.  The dogs of course loved it and were totally game for going off trail.

Steamed crabs on the deck at a local joint was another highlight.  The place had a great atmosphere.  There was a local musician playing who was clearly having fun.  Blue Moon and Raspberry Shock Top kept finding its way onto our table.  I kind of whimped out about ripping into the crabs (something about food that still looks like an animal just creeps me out) but it was a great evening.

The drive home was fairly uneventful.  The roads were packed as to be expected.  Ohio was never ending.  We didn't have any major decisions to mull over so just chatted and watched the scenery change from hilly to flat.  We were home with plenty of time left for watching a movie while doing laundry to get ready for the week ahead.  It was an awesome little getaway.