Rochefort Family Serendipities: June 2010

In May, we traveled with my sister and her family up to Zenith, West Virginia to meet up with my parents at their vacation house. It's so beautiful in the lush green mountains, and it's a nice get-away from the busyness of our everyday lives. We saw lots of wildlife: deer, birds, buffalo, cows, horses, butterflies, and a chipmunk! The people are "country", but oh-so friendly and hospitable. It's a slower way of life... people aren't really in a hurry (except when they're speeding down the hilly curvy roads cause they know to "stay to the right" and "look out for deer"). One day we headed into the tiny town of Gap Mills, where the Minnonites live and work. They build beautiful wood furniture, and operate a "Cheese N More" shop selling homemade meats, cheeses, candy, soups, dips, you name it! We also went to the "city" of Lewisburg, which has a neat historical downtown area with eccentric shops and cafes. That weekend, after we went, they had a Civil War reenactment going on. We'll have to catch it next time. (Did you know that West Virginia was considered "Union" and Virginia was "Confederate" interesting fact...and it's weird where Zenith is, because as you drive around that whole area, you cross into VA, then back to WVA, then VA, etc.) The closest town to Zenith is Union, which looks like it's straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. We visited the Greenbriar Estate, which is a large resort with a hotel, cottages, golf course, tennis courts, restaurants, spa, bowling alley, expensive shops like Lilly Pulitzer, etc. It's really old and has been used as a hospital during war time, meeting place for important political conferences, lodging for many Presidents, resort for the elite, and also had an underground bunker for the President and cabinet for emergencies. They're now remodeling the front entrance, and building a casino underground. And it has beautiful grounds of course. John and I went back one day and toured the Presidents' Cottage, which is now a museum. In the main hotel building, Jerry West has a restaurant and there's tons of his memorabilia! Another place we went to is called Paint Bank, VA., where we ate at a restaurant near an old mill. And they serve buffalo! I think I got a chicken salad though... everyone else had the buffalo sandwich. On the last day we were there, we picnicked at a lovely park, sandwiched between an old church and a house with a small patch of land. While we ate, we watched a guy (Kenny Chesney look-a-like with his cut off t-shirt) get on his tractor and get hay together (don't know what the process is called really). Almost every afternoon after a day into "town" John and I would go for a little hike up the mountain in their backyard or lay a blanket out for Meredith to play on. She played with grass and we blowed bubbles for her. After the kids were all asleep, the adults would sit around the firepit and talk until you could see every star in the clear night sky. Ahh...

This is my parents' place: old "farmhouse" although not really on a farm, it used to be used as a meeting place for hunting deer, bear, wild turkey. Has living room, kitchen, bathroom, one bedroom downstairs. Then two bedrooms upstairs. Yes, one bathroom-although next month they're adding on a bathroom upstairs.