scHere’s the scoop on everything that went wrong (and right) with our trip . . . from disappearing reservations to broken teeth and adventures with denture adhesive. Oh yeah. If the trip’s a sign, then this is bound to be an interesting year.
Seriously. What a trip.
A few friends, my boyfriend and I were all set to enjoy a toasty and restful five-day New Years Eve vacation in a rustic, secluded cabin at the base of Shenandoah National Park. Alas, this was not to be. Instead, the cloud’s silver lining turned out to be better than the trip we’d planned!
Wednesday morning was stressful, thanks to a mix-up with the cabin reservation. The volunteer-run trail club organization which handles the backwoods cabin reservations had booked us for the following year instead of this year. All their cabins were booked, but my friends in Richmond found a fabulous alternative – one that even allowed all 4 of our dogs!
Scenic views of the river and foothills
Rustic cabin with cozy fireplace
Gorgeous sunsets, as seen from the cabin
We didn’t arrive at James River State Park (in the foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains, south of Charlottesville) until close to sundown, but better a late start to vacation than no start at all, right? To our delight, instead of hiking half a mile in the 20-degree weather to a one-room cabin with no electricity, we were faced with a three-bedroom modern cabin with parking spaces out front, a fireplace, electricity, large kitchen, and sweeping views of the James River.
Gorgeous sunsets behind the hills across the river
Hiking with dogs
Relaxing (with world’s cuddliest Pit Bull)
And sitting around
On Friday afternoon my friends left, and the boyfriend and I settled in to unwind from a whirlwind holiday.
As I commented to him how wonderfully relaxing and romantic it was, I took a bite of a salami slice. With a snap, my fake tooth snapped off.
*Ok, so technically it’s a veneer covering a broken front tooth from a childhood accident.*
Regardless, it was a major pain in the ass. Thanks to the snapped-off veneer, this weekend I became the youngest person to ever use Polident (denture adhesive). At least the boyfriend and I had fun “snapping” tooth jokes at each other.
And that’s the “tooth” about my backwoods vacation.
4 Comments
It looks gorgeous! Need to follow the link to figure out what went wrong!
This looks like an incredible place to spend the holidays!
Thank you so much for all of your well wishes! 🙂
Incidentally, a nature post is a great foil to the whole meditation/prayer thing. I think observing nature and admiring it is pretty much the same as meditating or praying out of gratitude for it. I love Portland by the way. Such a gorgeous city.
I’m such a lamo dog person that my heart soared when I saw all those happy pups snuggling up with their owners. So cute!
I’m glad you enjoyed your time down here!