Last weekend we took a trip to West Virginia. It’s kind of funny to take a trip somewhere from a place that’s not my home in the first place, but Ross had the opportunity to do a concert for a friend in Nitro, WV, so we went. It was good timing. This family, Rob and Jennifer Jarvis, are people we met through my parents. Rob has been working for my dad’s company for about 4 years, and over that time, they have grown to like Ross’ music. They’ve been asking us to come to WV for a few years now, but the timing was never right. Living in Nashville made it easier since it’s technically only about a 6-7 hour drive (took us 8-9 hours with stops) from here. My parents wanted to go too so they flew into Nashville and we drove up there together. It was a really fun and fruitful weekend. It was also very exhausting as we did a lot in a very short amount of time.
First, I mentioned that it took us 8-9 hours to get there. It seems like we were always having to stop for someone to go to the bathroom (Jude) and our meal stops took a really long time. But the kids did pretty well in the car (watching lots of movies helps). They put us in a nice Wingate hotel and had a huge gift basket waiting for us with lots of goodies and toys for the kids.
On Friday we wanted to see some of West Virginia, whose motto is “Wild and Wonderful.” I had hoped we could experience some Civil War history and maybe even see a live re-enactment of a battle, but there was nothing like that near Charleston. Our wonderful hosts, Rob, Jennifer and their son, Matt, drove us up into the mountains. We stopped along the way to look at some waterfalls. At a state park, we rode a gondola down to the bottom of the mountain and hiked for a bit. It was a pretty short hike b/c kids can’t make it very far, but Jude found a bright orange lizard and Sam found some boulders to jump off of. After the state park, we drove to the New River Gorge Bridge. It is an incredible feat of engineering. It is the third largest arch bridge in the world and 5th highest. Every October they have Bridge Day where people parachute off of the bridge. It was amazing.
Rob, Jennifer, and Matt
That night we attended a party of some of the people in their church and Ross did a few songs, and later that night, Michael flew in. We spent Saturday in downtown Charleston which is an incredibly cute town and went to The Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences. It has lots to offer, but we primarily spent time in the interactive children’s museum which was one of the most unique and beautiful museums I have been to. I think I loved it as much as the kids.
The concert was Saturday night and had a great turnout. We had lots of fun and I got to sing since my parents were there to sit with the kids. The stage was decorated for their VBS which started Monday so it looked like Ross and Michael were playing in the middle of a forest. After the concert, we went back to Rob and Jennifer’s for snacks and homemade ice cream pie, compliments of Jennifer’s generosity.
Naomi found a friend, Taylor, Rob and Jennifer’s 12 year old niece. They were inseperable that night and the next day. Jennifer still had lots of her kids’ toys from when they were little so Sam and Jude felt like they hit the jackpot. And they have lots of pets so my kids got their fix.
Sunday morning we went to church and did a few songs then back to their house for lunch with their whole family. The kids got to hike up the hills in their backyard and play with the toys and animals again.
Ross and Michael had a house concert in Parkersburg Sunday night and it was great. We headed out Monday morning and made it back to Nashville that night.
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