We were so lucky to have William here for about 10 days after the Hanson's headed back to Minnesota. It was his summer to spend a week with Nani and Popi and his choice was camping and fishing and an amusement park. Luckily, all that was available here in Western Pennsylvania.
Now, this boy can tell stories, and lots of stories he has. You could learn a lot from this boy, and we did. He doesn't miss a beat and there were times we asked him to remind of us things because we don't have the memory he does.
The first day started out with a trip to the local ball field where Will and I played catch and practiced his fielding and even hit in the cage. When Popi arrived home from work, he and Will headed to Twin Lakes for some sunset fishing. How wonderful that we live in such a rural area that allows us fishing lakes so close by.
Miniature golf was on the list, along with a trip to the local pool and we also took in a "Wimpy Kid" movie. Popi even fixed my hybrid bike so Will could accompany me on some morning runs. We played Battleship and watched Olympics, and somehow we managed to prepare for our camping trip even with all the whirlwind of activity that comes with a 10 year old active young man! So, Friday we packed up the trailer and headed for the hills of West Virginia. Our destination - Cooper's Rock State Forest.
http://www.coopersrockstateforest.com/
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At Cooper's Rock State Forest
on the Rattlesnake Trail |
We arrived and set up camp pretty quickly so we could head over to the pond for some fishing before dinner! Will and Popi quickly set up the poles just the way each wanted, one with a lure, the other a bobber and weights. Will knew just what to do and forged ahead to try and be the first to catch a fish, and he was! Since it was so small, it went back into the pond to grow a bit for the next fisherman.
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| Will and his catch |
We were going to roast hot dogs over a campfire, but it started to rain, so we retreated to the trailer and had dinner inside and played Yahtzee all night.
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| Will trying for a Yahtzee under the watchful eye of Popi! |
The next morning, we headed over to Cheat Lake, just a short jaunt on a back road. We were chased by some dogs and Popi maneuvered the rocks and washed out road with skilled driving and we were at our destination in no time!
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| Will at Cheat Lake |
The lake was beautiful and had a walking/bike trail along it with several wooden bridges each with a covered pavilion for sharing a picnic! Will caught a rock bass and had several hits, while Popi and I were fish-less on this day.
We ended up having lunch at IHOP since we didn't pack a lunch and were really hungry. We also knew that it would be a longer drive back since we weren't going the 'scenic' route through the back roads we took on the way over!
We headed back to camp but stopped at the State Forest so we could check out the lookout from Cooper's Rock and see what my great Uncle Red and the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) built back in the 30's.
http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1195
We hiked a little bit on a trail and Will climbed
some of the rocks. It is a pretty cool place, we want
to come back and hike some of the trails down to the Cheat River which you can see in the picture of
the lookout.
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| Will and Popi on the trail |
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| Will, Popi and Nani along Rattlesnake Trail |
Once back, we played a serious game of wiffle ball, over-the-line style, it must have looked fun since another young camper joined in for a bit. Then we went fishing again, and guess who caught a trout? Nani, of course! Will and Popi had a few nibbles, but Nani caught the fish! Catch and release, so back it went.
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| The little fisherman |
We were having hamburgers tonight and the boys (Will and Popi) were in charge of getting the fire going so we could roast marshmallows for s'mores tonight. Well, the fire didn't work out so great, the wood must have been wet and after several attempts by Popi and Will, the fire died out. We did get a chance to have some s'mores before the flames went out. Yeah, our camping trip was now complete. We headed back in for some more Yahtzee, then Will and I started a Scrabble game but were both falling asleep so we jumped in bed to get some rest so we could go fishing again in the morning before we left for home.
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| Trying to get the campfire started |
Popi and Will got up the next morning and went fishing while I cleaned up the trailer and got breakfast together. I walked over to the pond and brought coffee and orange juice to the anglers only to find them packing up already. It seems the fish weren't biting.
It was our last day of camping and we got a text from Uncle Scot letting us know that the Long Beach Pony team he coached had a game at 3:00 pm, so we packed up, dumped the trailer and headed to Washington PA.
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| Popi showing Will how to dump the tanks |
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| Will learning how to pull the lever for the grey and black tanks |
We decided to stop in Morgantown and show Will where his great great grandpa had his shoe shop. It was only about 30 minutes to Washington and you could tell Will was excited about the game, so we got there early to check out the field and see Uncle Scot.
The field was groomed and the grass freshly mowed, it was so cool! We watched as the boys walked on the field, said the Pony Prayer and the National Anthem was played, you could feel the excitement in the air. It was very touching to see Popi and Will discussing the strategy of the game, why certain signs were given and how the different pitches were thrown. Although this was interesting to Will, he was itching to catch a foul ball and watched the rest of the game from below the stands so he could chase the balls that were hit out of the park. he ended up with 3, but gave one away to a boy who hadn't caught one yet. Such a big heart! Scot took the ball and had the team sign it and we promised to return on Tuesday to watch them play the team from Germany if they beat Laredo TX, and they did just that. It was a nail biter with the score ending 2-1.
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| Nani and Will in front of Grandpa Sam's Shoe Hospital |
Monday we headed to Idlywild, an amusement park with water slides and rollar coasters. Unfortunately, two of the three coasters were broken, but we rode the one they had and Will found his new favorite ride. Remember the Round Up?
Will rode that twice! We also rode the Bumper Cars, the Whip and the Log Ride and Will tried his hand at the Hand Pedal Cars. We also had the Soak Zone to tackle, so we headed over for the rest of the afternoon. I even braved riding a few water slides, Will remembers the names I'm sure, I was too busy screaming my way through. After riding the rapids in a raft and almost spinning completely around, Nani had enough, and I found a lounge chair and waited out the rest of the afternoon while Popi and Will body surfed in the Wave Pool and Will got his fill of short lines on some smaller slides.
It was a wonderful day, but we were all tired and headed to Chick-fil-A for one last chicken sandwich for Will. (they don't have them in Minneapolis).
Tuesday morning Will and I just chilled while Popi was at work. We had quite the weekend and day at Idlewild, so we hung out at home but decided to go mini golf again. I am going to write a book called "You know you're in a Small Town When...." and today gave me more fodder to fill the pages. We arrived at the Kistler course to find a sign that said "we only have one person working the executive and mini course, so please take your club and ball and when finished go over to the red brick building across the street to pay"
We decided we liked the course at Kistler better than the Statler's that we played the week before. I'm sure it had something to do with the hospitality! It started to rain and we played the last two holes getting fairly wet, but still ended up laughing it up!
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| Will at the Kistler course |
Tuesday evening we headed back to Washington PA, but on the way found out that the game against Germany was postponed due to rain. We stayed on course though because Will needed to get his signed ball from the team! After saying our good-byes to Scot and the team, we decided on one last trip to the Meadows for a frozen custard before calling it a night.
Popi and Will stayed up until 11:30 playing mini basketball and lessons on how to throw different pitches. I am certain that Will just might want to sign up for baseball next spring!
Our time with the little guy was coming to an end and we were secretly plotting ways to keep him in Pennsylvania, but realized mom, dad and sisters would probably not allow it. So, I tucked Will in, said prayers and scratched his back one last time before I retired for the night.
Popi set out for work the next morning and Will and I plugged the airport into the GPS and we were off, after a stop at Dunkin Donuts, of course! We enjoyed every minute of our time with Will and are so proud of the young man he is. He is smart, caring and so independent. We shared stories, laughs, teased each other and just loved on each other! And, being the world traveler that he is, I probably could have dropped him off on the curb at the airport and I am sure he would have made his way to the gate without me. But, I am glad that I didn't, I needed that last squeeze at the gate before he left and another opportunity to hear about the tales that only a 10 year old boy could tell.
