Thanksgiving Weekend- mountain top cabin

We have a great family tradition for Thanksgiving.  It starts with what we call "Fakesgiving."  On the week prior to Thanksgiving, our family and my sisters get together and celebrate together with a somewhat non-traditional fall feast.  So, last Saturday, Nick, Katie, Lydia, George and Stephanie all came to visit.  We had a great time.

Then the second part of our family tradition is to make a trip out for the actual long holiday weekend.  We have taken overnight trips to Waynesboro or Norfolk or Luray or other Virginia destinations. 

This year was just slightly different.  We rented a cabin in Narrows, Virginia.  It was a really great weekend.

We headed out on Thanksgiving day.  While passing through Staunton we stopped at a local restaurant and enjoyed the Holiday buffet.  It was the closest thing we'll see to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, which is just fine.  It was a fun meal.

We got to our cabin and checked in.

This place has got character.  First of all, you need to use a spare truck from the owner.  Only an off-road vehicle will make it up to this mountain top location.  The owner was super friendly and led us up to the cabin.  He was planning to do some hunting after he finished with us, so his buddy was carrying a rifle as we went up.  All part of the character.

Cabin and the truck

This cabin was just right for our group.  There were two bedrooms.  A queen bed in one and 4 bunks in the other.

Kids' bunks

Little window to look into the living room from Laurel's bunk

So, we had free range of the property all over the mountain.  Just stay off the side of the mountain with the gun range.  

We went for our first hike.

So, I think you get the idea, this place is set up for hunting.  This is a hunting blind.  The first, but not the only one we would encounter.

On a later hike out, we actually came across a hunter using this blind.  His name is Smokey.  He was friendly.  I can't imagine our presence helped his chances of catching anything.  We were very noisy hikers.  We weren't interested in coming across any of the wildlife.  Many bears on this mountain.

We came back to the cabin for dinner (frozen pizzas) and games.

Horse themed game in the cabin.  We brought some of our own games, too.  (Forbidden Desert!)

Then we settled down for movie night.  We watched the original Star Wars trilogy over the next three evenings.

The next day was a much bigger hike. 

We wanted to get all the way to the mountain summit.  However, we couldn't find a trail that goes up.  We later found out that the owner has never been that high.  The mountain is just too steep.  Nonetheless, Scott, Clark, Spencer and Grant tried to forge a path to the top.  We did quite a climb.  A lot of it required both hands on the ground, grabbing from one tree to the next.

We did not make it to the top.  It was quite a climb to make it as far as we did.  We came across a thick stand of rhododendrons and couldn't get through, so we called it close enough.  Coming down was hilarious.  The only thing to do was turn around, sit down and scoot through the leaves.

We went back to the cabin and met up with the girls.  They had hot chocolate ready for us.  Then we ranged back out for more exploring.  There were lots of paths to explore, we couldn't do them all.

After all that hiking, we were up for a big dinner.  Hot dogs and Pudgies cooked around the campfire.

This pie iron is a new edition to our camp gear.  I don't know how we lived without one.  It makes the most amazing sandwiches (pudgies).  We had grilled cheddar apple mustard sandwiches.  One minute in the fire and it comes out golden, melty and amazing.

Apparently there is wild cow on the mountain that makes an appearance sometimes.  We never saw him but had fun telling ghost-cow stories.  We waited outside to see the stars.  It was a clear sky and boy, did they come out.

Then we went back inside and popped some popcorn for The Empire Strikes back.

That was about it.  We had a restful night and then packed up to come home this morning.  Of course, we had to do some off roading to get back to our van.

We listened to some audio books on the ride, so it went by enjoyably.  Everything was in order when we came home.  We got all cleaned up and unpacked and even had a chance to fit in The Return of the Jedi.

Overall, a really family-fun, adventuresome trip. 

Happy Thanksgiving!