My wife and I have been putting off this weekend getaway since November but finally made time to get the hell away from the place we live and go exploring and snowboarding. It's long overdue as I felt a huge change in my mood and outlook on life the farther away from home we got. Travel has always been fun for us but we've really enjoyed this trip so far!
Our destination for Saturday is Winterplace Ski Area in Ghent, West Virginia and boy is it cold! We rented a cabin through AirBNB and are very pleased with where we are staying but we didn't expect to see so much snow up here. Usually in the east there's only machine made snow on the ski slopes (and dirt, grass, and bare ground everywhere else) but this weekend we have the real thing and we're very excited!
There was a dusting on the ground about halfway through the 4 hour drive from East Tennessee to the southern part of West Virginia but the farther north we went the deeper the snow was. I put together some photos we snapped of the drive up here and you can see the change as we got into Virginia and West Virginia.
Interstate 77 goes directly underneath 2 mountains (each tunnel is close to a mile (1.6 km) long and after getting through the 2nd tunnel and into West Virginia we were shocked to see snow that was about 5-6 inches (12-15 cm) deep! Below shows the tunnels and their location on the map of Virginia / West Virginia.
When we came out the other side of the last tunnel everything was covered in a blanket of snow.We rarely get to experience this where we live (maybe once every 5 years) so it was a very pleasant surprise!
This morning it is 5 degrees F outside (-15 deg C) and we're waiting for it to warm up just a little before hitting the slopes. It's sunny and supposed to be above the freezing mark this afternoon which should make for great snowboarding conditions.
It'll also be nice to see what this place we're staying at looks like during the daytime (the city and area) because it was getting dark when we arrived yesterday.
I'm sure I'll have more to share after we get done spending the day snowboarding. We picked a great weekend to come up here and are very thankful.
Beautiful country! We had once talked about moving to eastern Tennessee a couple of years ago. I absolutely love that part of the country.
East TN is a good place to live in terms of cost of living and there's plenty to do. I've lived there for 36 out of 38 years of my life so I always enjoy traveling though.
Yes cost of living was a big consideration for us. Some day I hope to still relocate there.
Hi @cryptokeepr. Awesome story, but can you tell me what is AirBNB? I heared about it several times on Steemit but i really don't know what is this. Unbelievable to me is how you guys can live in -15 deg C?! I am from Poland and -3 deg C is so cold for us.. haha. I live near to Baltic Sea (less than one kilometer), if you want i can go someday for a walk there and send you some photos of Beach :) Your article shocked me, but it's nice. I want more, i love skiing. I'll follow you and upvoted of course. If you want and if you have time please visit my profile, maybe something will interest you like my introduceyourself in English language? :). Have a nice day! Cheers!
AirBNB is basically a service that helps people find vacation rentals (like condos, houses, apartment) instead of staying at a traditional hotel. It's pretty cool. This was my first rental through the site. Here's a bit more info...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbnb
I'll come check out your profile once we get done snowboarding for the day! Just checking in to respond to comments quickly and then off to the slopes! and yes it is very very cold here!
Thank you very much for short reply about Airbnb :). It's interesting. We don't have anything like this in Poland.. Okay :) Have a nice snowboarding day!
I was born and raised in East TN and now leave a few miles from those tunnels on 77! Nice to see this on Steemit. It's a great area to ski as well as white water raft in the summer! Thanks for sharing.
Yes those tunnels are so cool! There's a lot of outdoor activities to do in WV and the surrounding area. Where we're staying is apparently one of the best places in the country to ride all-terrain vehicles...we're here for the snowboarding though.
I am looking forward to this kind of adventure for me and my family as well.
Is great adventure, snow is very beautiful.
wow. It's a beautiful country i ever see. I also want to go there for travel.
But the temperature 5 degree F i don't think i can handle it but i love snow..
Good stuff... Looks like you're having a lot of fun
what a great adventure, looking forward to it sometime
Hello @cryptokeepr,
Beautiful photos, congratulation for you post.
I live in Canary Islands and this landscapes re not common here, its exciting to see it and imagine hows the life over there.
I keep following you for more nice content.
Soon i´ll be posting the introducemyself, I ve been working on it few weeks since i just landed in Steemit World.
Regards from Gran Canaria( Canary Islands)
It's nice, I just upvoted u. You can also follow me @benjaminskyblue
Moga is always on vacation which always pleases friends
Beautiful
I was just looking through your profile bc I saw that you were also a yogi. Then I see that 14 days ago you were in WV, that’s where I live. I haven’t met really anybody that visits here on Steemit yet.
Plus we have like-minded interests. I’m definitely going to give you a follow my friend.
Too many synchronicities not to.