Cleanliness is next to Ossumness!
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!
Tag: cabin vacations
HELP WVU!
Okay, we need your help. Well, WVU needs your help. Well, WVU and New River Gorge CVB. We all need your help.
We will bribe you to help us, too.
It is easy; it will take a few minutes. It’s just a quick survey. And if you are like me, you will get mad at one or more of the questions because some PHD can’t speak English, and the question becomes, well, weird, confusing and/or stupid.
But all that aside, it is good stuff they are doing, and I (we) hope you will play along.
If you do play along, we will put you in a drawing for a free nights’ stay with your next reservation. There are some hoops, but, hey, it’s still free! This offer has a maximum value of $250, and requires a minimum 3-night stay (So, you could pay for two nights and get the third night free, up to a $250 value).
Pretty cool, because we know not everyone will spend the time to fill out a survey. Which means you have a greater chance of winning!
If you are on-site and seeing this, we will hand you a free T-shirt in exchange for the completed survey. (And give you bonus points for adding comments in the sidebar about better wording options for the question.)
They are not trying to talk down to us, they just can’t talk any other way. Maybe they could hire a 5th grader to translate? Next time.
Do What?
In a Cabin? In West Virginia? You are doing what?
Does it have electricity?
People do all kinds of things here at OCR:
Start writing books.
Finish books (a woman stayed in cabin 3 writing for a month because she was “on a roll”.)
Paint.
Get married.
Get inspired to get married.
Get inspired to stay married! (Maybe not in that order.)
Read books.
Draw.
Fall in love.
Forgive a loved one.
Explore, outside and in.
We talk about relaxing all the time.
These are the kinds of things people experience once they do relax.
All of these are stories we have heard from our guests, who have written in the guest books or in a note on the comment card. Some even have gone to the trouble to send us a thank-you letter. We are humbled and thrilled that you think of us this way.
Caution: you may get more than you bargained for.
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.
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.
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!
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!
Mowing Grass is Our Least Favorite Chore at Opossum Creek Retreat
I hate to mow! Especially hate it in the spring when all the pretty flowers are coming up. Only two of the cabins really have yards; The Meadows and The Farm House. All the others are in the woods.
But even with just two yards, we still have to mow.
The Farm House has rich bottom land and a lush yard that requires constant mowing or it will quickly become a jungle. Good thing it is a small, oddly-shaped yard.
The Meadows is another beast entirely. We have worked very hard to get grass to grow on the hard clay ground there, and now it does. Too well sometimes. There are several acres of grass to cut, hence the name The Meadows. The old garden spot is truly a meadow at this point, and we have never mowed it.
It’s not that we don’t appreciate nicely mowed grounds, especially if there’s a tee box and green on either end of it. Those long, even, alternating stripes are beautiful and hold such promise and challenge.
But we don’t have the patience to make our yards look like a golf course. After all, these are cabins in the woods in the country. So, just keep this in mind, and don’t be surprised if the grass is a little tall and the flowers a little taller when you show up for your cabin vacation.
See you soon?
We Give Good Phone
We also understand “I just don’t want to talk to them now.“
Yes, we love Little Feat. Lowell George put it very well in Apolitical Blues.
Thats why we put alot into our website.
You may just not feel like talking and that’s okay, we understand. Lots of times I prefer digging around in cyberspace, I am just trying to dig up some info. Do some research, comparison shopping, check availability that sort of thing. We hope we make it easy for you to do just that.
The website has a new look and some new info. Please let us know what you like or don’t.
Is there something you were looking for and could not find or should be easier to find?
We are hoping we have made all that research fun, easy, and informative.
FYI: we wrote all that vacation-planning ‘stuff’, so if you want to go to the source and get the info first hand or you just want to talk to someone, we are ready for ya.
Darn computers anyway.
For good phone, call 888-488-4836.
How to Guarantee a Blue Bird Day
Do not try this at home (unless you are a glutton for punishment).
I have tested this theory many times in the past and twice in the last 4 days. It works.
I know how to make a bluebird day.
Please do not subject yourself to this experiment. Trust me!
This is the formula to guarantee a perfect weather day.
Find a project that you loathe. For me it is anything that makes me sit at my desk, especially accounting/data entry. Add in a heavy fine or penalty from some humorless bureaucracy.
Next, schedule other good stuff you like to do right up to said projects deadline.
Sprinkle on tons of procrastination, dogged, sour, heels dug in to the bitter last minute. Now I lock myself in the office before dawn and start entering months worth of old info into the computer and, voila! The weather outside is perfect.
I know some of you reaped the benefits of my sacrifice the past couple days, as I have yours many times over the years.
FYI: On how to end the perfect day. As the sun was setting, I lost all but one of the 5 months of data and will be back at it tomorrow. Plan accordingly.
I think I need my own cabin getaway. How about you?
Ever had a day like this? Tell me about it.
What’s a picture of your perfect day look like?