2013-06-16 39 -78

Location

On the bank of the Cacapon River near Berkeley Springs WV

Participants

OfficeLinebacker
Allison

Plans

We decided to make a whole day of it and made reservations to ride horses at 11 am in nearby Cacapon Lodge State Park, then planned to visit the hashpoint, then had reservations for a Roman Bath/massage at the famous baths at Berkeley Springs State Park at 2pm.

Expedition

This was truly an epic day. We rode out to WV on about a 1.5 hour ride. There was one spot of traffic where a car had rear ended a truck on a steep upgrade. We saw the driver being stretchered to an ambulance.

We arrived at Cacapon Lodge State Park and there was a car stopped ahead of us in the middle of the road on the way to the stables. There was a tiny fawn stood unsteadily, legs akimbo, in the middle of the street. When another came in the opposite direction, the fawn finally started and ambled over to it's mom and tried to suckle some milk. The mom was just chilling by the side of the road, munching some leaves. We continued on to the stables, having to drive around the car ahead that was still stopped. Doggone city slickers were gawking like they'd never seen a deer before.

We got to the stables and had a nice chat with the stable master. We got to meet the horses and another couple and a three person group joined us for a slow walk through the woods. We saw about 10 deer, two woodpeckers, a turkey, and some squirrels.

After the ride we headed for the hash. We changed our appointment time to 3:30 give us some slack. On the way to the hash we were hungry so we stopped at Earth Dog cafe in Berkeley Springs. Berkeley Springs seems to attract equal parts bikers and New Age/Hippie types. We continued on the route and passed a breathtaking overlook. We decided to stop on the way back and got to the hashpoint. The hashpoint was conveniently located right next to a pull-off for stream access and a narrow path led us right to it. No cell reception at the hashpoint so we took the pic to upload later. I stripped down to a bathing suit and went out on a big tree trunk.

On the way back we stopped at a breathtaking overlook. It was absolutely awe inspiring. The plaques say that one rating agency rates it the 10th best in the world, and another rates it the 5th best in the USA. I can't disagree. I literally had my breath taken away and by heart quickened as I stared out onto the vista. A truly visceral experience.

We continued back to Berkeley Springs for our second scheduled touristy thing--a Roman Bath and massage experience at the famous hot springs. We disrobed down to our underwear and were shown to a small bath with a heated pool. Since we had the room to ourselves, we went buff for the truly natural experience and soaked up the heat, which made us feel like we had high blood pressure.

After 15 minutes of 102 degree water we were led to the massage area where we each got a Swedish massage. My masseur was a retired campus policeman. After the massage we got dressed and got back in the car.

We hit terrible traffic on the way back, but we stopped at a Pilot for gas and coffee. Note: we finally realized that we mistook a Pilot for a Sheetz, which is pretty bad. Sheetz is a poor excuse for a Wawa, and Pilot truck stops are awesome, great coffee selection. Wawa also has a great coffee selection as well as great subs. Sheetz is just terrible and to be used only as a last resort.

Anyway we hit really bad traffic on the way home, but got home safely for a nice nap (well Allison did) while I did some computer programming for a personal project.

Truly a unique experience. The Berkeley Springs area offers some great recreation opportunities at a reasonable price and we were very fortunate to experience them.