Juliana Moves

It might already be Thursday but I am still thinking about this weekend. We drove out to West Virginia on Friday for the long weekend and I took Tuesday off to extend things. We changed it up this year and went to Elkins, WV, a significantly less touristy town than Davis or Thomas. Our Airbnb was small but nicely located, and we brought Alaska along! Erica and Derek came up from Richmond and we had a weekend full of running and cycling.

The weather was pretty amazing out there. Fall has officially arrived! We couldn’t tell if we had missed peak foliage or not, but the trees were beautiful too.

We got in late on Friday so we just bought some groceries and went to bed.

On Saturday we had a pretty slow morning and then went out to do a run on the Allegheny Highlands Trail! It is an old converted rail trail (the best), and it was so fun to do a long run in such beautiful weather, with gorgeous scenery, and nearly flat trails! I wore my North Face Vectivs and they were perfect. I don’t think I’d want to wear them on a technical trail, but they thrive on rail trails.

After the run, we made sandwiches and then went to explore the town. Davis and Thomas both have a bunch of cool little shops and are clearly catering to their touristy audiences. Elkins was… not that way LOL. It is a true little WV town – and that’s okay! There’s a coffee shop in Thomas called Tip Top that has another location in Elkins. It is a great shop and we ended up going three times over the weekend.

We finished off our trip around town at Big Timber Brewery. I, someone who famously hates beer, got a flight and it was gross. No shade to that brewery! Beer is just nasty hehe. I don’t drink a lot of alcohol, but I’d rather a wine tasting.

The West Virginia Trilogy, a big weekend of ultrarunning, was happening not far from our Airbnb, so we jumped into the half marathon on Sunday! It was fun, even if it rained the whole time! There were lots of friendly VHTRC faces running, the trails were gorgeous, and I got to climb over some barbed wire fence. Fun times! By the way, Patrick got second place. Casual.

After the race, we went by Seneca Rocks and stopped for a snack. 

We were all pretty tired after the race so we mostly chilled out.

On Monday we went riding on the West Fork Rail Trail! This is yet another rail to trail conversion and it was stunning. It felt like we were driving into the middle of nowhere for a bit, but then the trailhead appeared.

Let me tell you, cycling is hard. Riding those 16 miles was harder for me than running it would’ve been, and I am not even being dramatic! It did inspire me to try to get more comfort and fitness on the bike again because I’d love to be able to ride like that more often.

We stopped at a cute little roadside farm stand when we were driving away and we got jam and pumpkin rolls! We decided to make a detour to see the Bickle Knob Observation Tower. The views on the drive were gorgeous, but right as we got to the top of the tower the fog and mist rolled in. Truly, in the seconds it took us to climb to the top the view went away. Oh well! It was still a fun drive.

I stopped our car in the middle of the road so that we could take photos with the pretty road.

We had dinner in town and then Erica and Derek headed home! Patrick and I stayed the final night and made plans to get some activity in in the morning before the drive home. I was planning to run on the AHT again, and Patrick was going to ride it all the way from Elkins to Thomas, where I’d swing by to pick him up on the drive back to Arlington.

I had a really peaceful 5 mile run before I showered, finished packing the car, and headed out to get Patrick. Unfortunately, a chunk of the trail was closed due to highway construction and there were no safe detours so Patrick’s big ride was thwarted! I picked him up not far from Elkins and told him we’d have to make a plan for him to come back and try again. I think it’d be fun to piece together a bunch of those rail trails for a big weekend of riding.

It has basically become unofficial law in our household that we must stop in Wardensville anytime we pass through sooo we did! We went to Lost River Trading Company for kombuchas, the bathroom, and to walk Alaska. I was not ready to come back to real life but such is life.

One day we hope to have a cabin somewhere out there in WV! One day… Until the next trip!

Love,

JN