Skip to main content

An Appalachian Hipcamp Road Trip: On a West Virginia Farm with Friends You've Never Met Before

Next we headed south for our last night in West Virginia.

Another Heaven West Virginia
Pontiac Thunderbird in the wilds of West Virginia? Totally.

Another Heaven West Virginia

I loved seeing all the old homes situated near a creek or river.

Well, it turns out they don't have any lakes, so they need to get their water from somewhere.

Then we arrived at Gaea Farm. Immediately after meeting our host family we were greeted with beers and a tour of their homesteading farm.

Doug, April and the boys definitely know how to greet their guests. 



They had goats, cows, a pig, chickens, geese, and cats.

Mountain Farm Hipcamp
And breathtaking views of the West Virginia mountains. 

Mountain Farm Hipcamp
Back inside they had bacon aging and garlic drying out.


Mountain Farm Hipcamp
I loved that they made a slide with the tree.

I had mentioned that I had just bought a bike back in Milwaukee and they told us we could have their old one. I was really liking Doug and April.

Meadow was excited to have a kid her age to play with.

We setup camp under some bending branches and then explored the farmstead.

Their house was from the 1840's and was oh so charming.

April informed us that she was going to make us dinner featuring the farm's cheese and eggs.

I could not wait to eat this pasta bake.

Meadow was shy at first, but eventually these two were off on their own having adventures.




The trampoline was a favorite with the kids.

I went for a little drive to find a fishing hole while dinner cooked and Doug was still away.

Dropping Lick Creek West Virginia
The river was roaring. Probably not the best place to cast.

Dropping Lick Creek West Virginia

The drive along Dropping Lick Creek was something out of a dream.

There was even a quaint mill amidst the valley.

I found a fishing hole, but did not find any fish. I'm still relatively new to the whole fishing thing after all.

When Scott returned it was time for our home cooked meal. 

The boys were excited to share a farmstead meal and tall tales.

After our meal we enjoyed more beers and homemade goodies.

They even made us homemade ice cream.

Then we said goodnight and headed down to our tent.

Day 6
Another foggy morning in West Virginia. I guess this must be a common occurrence in Spring here.

We always get up too early for Meadow.

Sometimes we have too much fun with hour hosts and fail to have a fire.

Gaea Mountain Farm West Virginia

Our last few hours in West Virginia and the sun decides to finally come out.


Gaea Mountain Farm West Virginia
We were spoiled again with a homemade breakfast made from foods from their farm.

Eggs many ways with asparagus from the garden.

April, Doug and the body at Gaea Mountain Farm West Virginia
Then the excitement really began when we got to watch the mama cow get milked.

This place was amazing I wish we could've stayed longer.

Gaea Mountain Farm West Virginia

We made one last round to see the animals.

Gaea Mountain Farm West Virginia

I think we all wished we could've stayed another day or two, but onwards we went.

Doug, April and the boys were beyond hospitable. I wish we could pay them back someday. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Yardwork, Ikea and Pumpkins

My new parents-in-law got us a dehydrator for the wedding. Knowing we were going to be cleaning up the garden and going to farmer's market, we took a gander at our millionth kitchen device during breakfast.   Scott added granola to his oatmeal.  The oatmeal was rather bland, just the way Brooke likes it.   Scott was actually cleaning up so I had to take a quick photo of him as proof.  Scott told me he was, "putting a blanket down for Peanut," while singing. During the winter months peanut needs a warm place to peer through the window. Seeing as it was nearly November, I setup his blanket for him. Seeing as the farmers market season is dwindling down, we headed to the market...once again. The close proximity to the cities central farmer's market has to be one of the best assets of living in NoMi. We were both amazed by the bounty of produce still on sale. We quickly filled up our first bag and took it back to the car....

Dakotas Road Trip: Badlands and Black Hills

  I thought we would skip Wall Drug this time since we've seen it before but Scott was gun ho on going.  Come on. You can't go to the Badlands and skip the world's greatest tourist trap. First stop ice cream.  We thought we would have lunch here but after seeing the prices decided we would cook something at the park instead. But first we had to take a couple tourist pics. When we we decided we were coming here I was expecting it to be 90's and hot. Did not think it would be rainy, chilly and foggy.  I always make Brooke look cool. She on the other hand always finds a way to take a pic at the most awkward possible moment. Either that or I'm just really awkward. Earlier this year, I asked Theo where he wanted to go on vacations this year. He said he wanted to backpack camp at the Badlands because he was sad he didn't get to go yet. This is all for you buddy.

A 50s Era Map Guides Us on a Twin Cities Day Trip in the Fiala's Giant SUV

Another week and another house full of crazy Fiala kids. One day June asked if he could have a half-sandwich/half-bagel. We obliged.