Days 3 and 4 - Wolf Spider Hollow and Stars and Stripes Forever

Falls Church, VA to Yellow Spring, WV

FACT: In his 10+ years of life, Conor and I have never been camping together. I mean, sure - we've set up tents in a friend's backyard along side a home with running water, power, etc., but we've not been truly camping. Always intended to! Always wanted to! Never did it. And of course, Sara's idea of camping was a Holiday Inn, so she was never a consideration for living in the woods for a weekend. This camping stop along the Healing Road would be a first test of our collective constitution for roughing it, and we sailed through with flying colors.

Close friends, Rob and Jessica Rodgers, recently purchased 20 acres in a quaint, easy to reach spot from their home in Falls Church, VA; a place called Yellow Spring, West Virginia. Yellow Spring is rural, and is situated along the Cacapon River just over the Virginia State line. Once the wheels left the pavement, we had a 10 minute climb up the mountain down a fairly well maintained gravel road, but once we left the gravel, it was deep woods and the first time Ms. Sylvia (the big black truck) and all her modifications had seen any semblance of off road action. And to be fair, any four-wheel drive vehicle could have made it back through those woods, but that didn't make it any less fun. Slowly weaving in and out of trees up a rutted trail just felt good and I immediately felt a sense of ease back in those woods.

I also got a great deal of peace from the fact we had no cell reception. Like, none. It'd been so long since I've been fully unplugged, it felt like therapy! In about one hour, all three families had situated our camp along the top of a holler; six adults, three boys, three dogs, and no internet - sublime. 

I dubbed this place "Wolf Spider Hollow" because we would see many large, otherwise harmless, spiders throughout the camp and marvel at their size. I don't love spiders, but we were on their turf and so certainly, we would respect it. Reaching the camping destination and getting set up was the goal for day three of our journey, and it went as well as anyone could hope for. 

DAY 4 - Yellow Spring, West Virginia

 The day would begin with Rob's (pre-made at home) breakfast burrito bombs and open-fire percolator coffee. Rob placed the foil-wrapped burritos directly onto the hot coals of the fire for a few minutes to heat them through and get a little char on the tortilla, then handed them out with Tabasco and a bit of glee. These things were outstanding! And coupled with the coffee? As good a way to start the day as any I've had. What's more, the weather was sublime. Low humidity, low 80s during the day, high 50s / low 60s at night. It was mail order camping weather! After breakfast and a few cups of that delicious coffee, we were off to the river.

The river was a little more than a mile away down a winding gravel road at the foot of the mountain. When we got there, we noted an open meadow, a large picnic table, and not another soul within shouting distance. The Rodgers explained that this part of the river is public domain, but each time they'd visited it they've never seen another person.

The moment we parked, the doors flew open and all three boys went charging into the shallow water. Conor and his "fusins" (friends / cousins) Nate and Drew fancy themselves naturalists. At this part of the river, the water was a few inches to only a few feet with small rapids through the center and little eddies along the river's bank. The boys took to flipping river-rocks in shallow water and capturing salamanders, crawfish, and catfish by hand. Meanwhile, the men grabbed some fishing rods and picked out a few honey-holes to target for bass, sunfish, and trout.

Standing in ankle deep water with a fishing rod and nothing more than the sound of gently rushing water over river stones was as close to pure peace as any I've known since I can remember. I committed to myself in that moment that Conor and I would absolutely be doing more of this. In fact, I'd given some consideration for a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Ashville, NC prior to that moment. If nothing else, this day re-stoked that fire...

After several hours at the river we made our way back to camp for lunch and to set-up a long cook on my Kudu (open fire) grill. I was making Chuckies (flame grilled then braised chuck roast) for dinner and "Crack-Dip" (taco-meat, Rotel, and Velveeta) in a cast iron skillet for an appetizer. While I was cooking, a make-shift gun-range was set up and Paul and Rob began instructing the boys in their first ever pistol shooting class. With the sound of gunfire cracking only 50 yards away, the ladies playing cards, and me working the grill, I legitimately asked myself if the day could get any better!

After a breakfast burrito to make Chipotle blush, a peaceful moment and a few caught fish in the river, a makeshift gun-range (I did eventually go over and crack off a few .22 shots and a magazine worth of my .40 caliber), and a decent meal, it was time for the cherry on top - Fourth of July fireworks! Huge Roman Candles, a few dozen mortars, and a massive roll of 2,000 black-cats - and those were just the highlights - we ended what I would consider one of the best Fourth of July celebrations I've ever known. We were all in for a good night's sleep... For in the morning we would break camp and Conor and I would crack on to Louisville, KY to visit family and keep on driving down the Healing Road...