West Virginia Archives - Opossum Creek Retreat

Wet!!

I have an idea: volunteer vacation in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia!

There really is a thing called volunteer vacations/ voluntourism. You can sign up for trips to third-world countries online, and pay big bucks to do so. Lots of people do it every year.

Here is the great part: you don’t have to go to a third-world country to help. And West Virginia needs your help.

So here is the deal: you can stay in our really nice cabins, and we will give you 1 night free for every day you volunteer to help with flood cleanup. (There is some fine print to go with this offer— namely weeknights only, unless you stay for a full week, and it’s 1 free day per paid day.)

It will make you feel really good.

Volunteer part: We will help you get signed up with the local agency, so you have meaningful work to do each day.

Vacation Part: Then come back to your cabin in the woods to rest and relax. Take a river trip or some other adventure, and go out to dinner in Fayetteville.

Volunteer Part: Back out the next day to volunteer, because it made you feel great!

Vacation Part: Spend another night thanking your lucky stars and enjoying your cabin. Maybe head home after a morning zipline or Bridge Walk. Or just maybe do another day of helping out.

Warning! Some people get addicted to the volunteer work. (I have)

Most of the New River Gorge Area is up and running back to normal, minus a couple of trails and a backroad or 2. Summersville Lake is open again. We understand how the news would scare some people away. But it is not the whole state that got flooded, just some parts of 44 out of the 55 counties that make up Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.

Opossum Creek Retreat was unharmed by the floods. The latest numbers only tell part of the story, and many places will never be the same, never fully recover. The volunteer coordinators tell me they will need help throughout the summer, and in some places, much longer.

Come help. It will feel really good.

Shutdown Be Damned!

Shutdown be damned! Bridge day is really happening anyway.

BASE Jumping is still on for Bridge Day, despite Government Shutdown.

BASE Jump at Bridge Day — BASE Jumping is still on for Bridge Day, despite Government Shutdown.

It’s Official. “We will have Bridge Day even if the government is shut down,” said Sharon Cruikshank of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce.

Yes, it will be a little different, but who will notice? My guess is no one. All the security and traffic control supplied by the State Highway Patrol will be in place, and everything is going to run smooth as silk.

Will we see fewer park Rangers? They are designated as essential, so they will be there.

The crew from New River Jetboats will be leading the team picking the jumpers out of the river— one of my favorite parts. The Ossum food vendors will be there.

We will be there, and we hope you will be here, too.

Everything except the world-famous Visitor Centers are open now. This park does not have a gate, so we are free to enjoy our lands, and the weather has been beyond perfect for fall fun.

Come see us soon.

Cleanliness is next to…

Cleanliness is next to Ossumness!

Our guests always rank cleanliness at the very top of the scale on the exit surveys— something we are very proud of and work hard to ensure. Actually, now that I add them up, it is easily the highest-rated category. Looks like we need to work on signs, and we don’t answer the phone or respond to emails fast enough. (Why is everyone looking at me?)

So it was not a surprise to see this in the mail, and though it is not the first time, I had to take a pic and show it off.

Way to go, team!

Speed Puddles

Puddles. I hope this is my nickname in my old age.

I was talking to a guest and he was going on about what a great area the Gorge is, how much he liked the cabins, how private and peaceful it was, and how great restaurants in Fayetteville were. And then he asked, “Why don’t you fix the road?”

I knew immediately what he was talking about. You see, we have a long driveway, not really a road so much. It’s not a great road. It is really not even a great driveway.

I would like to see a strip of grass down the middle making it more of a two-track from my childhood, but… fix it? No WAY! Those puddles are staying!

Cities and fancy resorts and gated communities— these kinds of places have speed bumps. We have Speed PUDDLES! Yep, speed puddles. Some call them chuck holes or potholes or any number of endearing terms, but to us, they are speed puddles.

This one had a life of it’s own so we had to fill it in.

The straight away has lots of speed puddles to remind you to relax.

You see it is a one-lane gravel driveway, not a road. And if you are going too fast, you will miss something you don’t want to miss. I mean, you do want to miss the puddles, and you can work around them if you slow down enough. And you don’t want to miss all the cool things we have seen on the driveway.

Slow down, look around and relax. The mud will wash off.

Besides, they are a good weather gauge: if the puddles are dry we need rain. They have not been dry too much this year.

Come check out our speed puddles and slow down a little. You will like it.

Disney, but Dirtier: The BSA Summit is Not All Sparkle, But it Shines

Mud cakes the grounds at the Summit Reserve

Wow!

The BSA Summit is very “Disney-esque.” Very well organized; everyone knows what to do when. Amazing design, wonderfully constructed with attention to detail.

Yes, they are still studying mud.

I heard not one complaint about the mud. But there is lots of it.

But the Tree House is perfect. What an amazing piece of work! Every school kid in Fayette County needs to spend the day in it. Or better yet, every school kid in the region. Heck, the country. This is a truly world-class learning environment.

I would like a tour just to tell me about the bridge. The giant swinging bridge. Whoever thought this up was tripping for sure, and wow, is it OSSUM!

There are not many straight lines, and that is really cool. Even when they could go in a straight line, they did not, and man does it pay off in the overall feel of the place.

Could they do things better? Like have a lot more trash cans? And with every trash can a recycling bin? This is a big disconnect from the message that is so perfectly delivered in the Tree House.

Of course, “It will be better next time.”

But we saw so many happy faces, you had to smile along with them. From the fat old white guys in their scout outfits huffing up the hills talking about the wonders their troops had seen and experienced, to the solo young lady in her Venturer’s uniform from some foreign land studying every detail of the Tree House exhibit. I imagine her taking the idea back to her homeland and building something like it.

Geoff and his favorite part of the Summit!

The happy young locals laughed with the Scouts as they sold ice cream and lemonade from under little umbrellas, feeling the weight of the cash in their pockets and the newfound understanding that the Scouts are a lot like us.

Yes, business was slow for us, and all the other businesses I have talked to. Maybe that will change for the next one. Maybe we will see residual positive business from this long-term.

The most fantastic part, one way or another, no matter how distant or disjointed the connection between you and our visitors to the Summit is, this event changed people’s lives, because they came here to our WV.

Way to go Mountaineers! Gramp B would be proud.

Out of my comfort zone?

What is better than a costume party?

No, really, it is hard to make a party any better than starting with costumes and dressing up. It’s like Halloween in June.

But there are a few things that really made this day in one of America’s “Coolest Small Towns” even better.

Start with a town full of happy people. (Back in the day I could have used the word “gay” in place of happy, but it has been taken over to mean other things.)

Add: puppies!

Add: a WWII Biplane. A giant Sock Monkey and some dude in a tux.
Add: lots of kids, Kids are shameless when it comes to putting on a costume. When do we lose that?
Add: a skydiver.
Add: a film crew. You are going to want to share the fantastic images later.
Add: perfect weather.
Add: some bikes, trikes, roller blades, longboards, and anything else that moves

Add: more Sock Monkeys.

Next, have everyone run around a lot, laughing, smiling, screaming, and yelling. Then…

Dance! Dance in the streets while the police block traffic for you! You will have to watch the video for this part.

What a great way to spend the afternoon. It reminds me what a lucky bunch we are. Humans, that is.

Out of my comfort zone?

No not at all. You?

We’ve Got That Old-Fashioned 4th Pride

Back in the day, 4th of July was a stay-at-home holiday. Most families did not travel. That’s why we think of the hometown, American-feel Main Street parade when we think of July 4th. All those cliches are true, and give us a warm and fuzzy feeling about our nation’s birthday celebration.

Celebrate America and the values of the good old days

As well they should!

Today, our summer vacation schedule is compressed into 6 weeks: Mid-June to the end of July. That’s down from Memorial Day to Labor Day in the good old days, when there was a good solid 12 weeks of Summer.

There are lots of reasons why the summer has been smooshed, but let’s save that for another time and just say that if you still want that hometown feel while you’re traveling over the July 4th holiday…

We have all that in Fayetteville, WV.

Bring Grama and the kids and do some recreation, some relaxing and some cabining.

We have all that at Opossum Creek.

We’re Your Free WV Wilderness Guides

Let us be your guide. (For free!)

Why should you put that kind of trust in us?

We have been guides, really, all over the world!

Geoff’s got guide experience in fishing, rafting and other adventures.

Okay, the whole world is stretching it, but a big chunk of the Western Hemisphere is accurate.

From Montana’s ice cold waters and rugged back country, to the Grand Canyon, to the southernmost reaches of South America on rivers dammed long ago, to that narrow waist of Central America. Yes, raft guiding was very good to me. There was some fly fishing guiding, and there were some pack trips on horseback that took me to places I am sure no one has ever set foot. Keith and his family have led trips to the high plateaus of Peru building schools.

And we choose to make The New River Gorge our home.

Now, we don’t guide anymore, but we know the area well, and we do love to share our knowledge. Take advantage of our free info and ask us some questions! All guides love the sound of their own voice.

We have some fun and informative videos on Youtube that will really help you plan your vacation. Tours of town, trails and restaurants, to name a few.

We also show how to tell temperature based on rhododendron leaves, if you like that kind of thing.

If you visit our website, you will see full-day itineraries for almost every situation.

Let’s just say you want help with some questions about certain activities or the best time of year to come bird watching or to Girls Club. Okay, maybe we are not Girls Club experts, but… well, yes we are. At least the planning part.

Call us. We are good guides.

And did we mention it’s FREE?

Want $100 Off Your Next Stay?

UPDATE, JULY 17, 2013: This promotion is now closed; we had a great response to our question. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback to us. We’ll be in touch!

Our first Boy Scout reservation!

YES! Direct economic impact. One of the groups helping run the 2013 Jamboree booked 2 cabins for their VIP’s. This is our first reservation related to the Boy Scouts Summit Betchel Reserve.

The event is just 4 weeks away.

This raises lots of questions in my mind. Not long ago, we would have people call and book (pay a downpayment) months, if not a year ahead of time. That time frame has been shrinking and shrinking to the point we have had large, multi-family groups call the same day and book for a week.

Yikes!

Bribe time.

I am hoping you can help us understand this phenomenon. If you are so inspired to answer any or all of these questions we have, or pose some of your own, we will happily give you $100 off your next stay at OCR.*

No fine print. $100 off.*

So this is the strange part: why did they wait until now, the very last minute, to make a reservation?

Okay, it’s not completely last minute; we have 4 weeks to go. But they had to take cabins that we had, not the ones they wanted. And, well, we just do not, not, not like not being able to give people what they want!

Has our society as a whole become last-minute planners? Are you?

Or might it be that you have done your research, and just do not pull the trigger on a reservation until the last minute because, well, who knows what might come up?

What would compel you to pull the trigger and confirm a reservation well in advance?

If a national organization that has been hands-on involved with the Jamboree for years waits to the last second, why shouldn’t you?

UPDATE, JULY 17, 2013: This promotion is now closed; we had an great response to our question.Thanks to everyone who provided feedback to us. We’ll be in touch!