Back from West Virginia

Lots has been going on lately! Last Saturday, I took Kimberly on a fairly extensive tour of parks and hiking opportunities. It started out that Kimberly was just curious about seeing Uniontown. At first, I thought, "Why would someone want to see Uniontown?" I figured it was just because it was at the end of Route 51. But then, I got to thinking, it's surrounded by 3000 foot mountains. So then it seemed like a good idea. I was just going to take Kimberly to Uniontown and drive to the summit, which we did. On the way, we checked out Lick Hollow, which is part of the way up the summit. I want to go on a hike to the summit at that location because it goes up to 3,040 feet. Lick Hollow was really nice, so then we drove clear to the summit and looked out from the observation area. Then, Kimberly decided she'd like to see where Laurel Caverns are. So we went up Skyline Drive and drove to Laurel Caverns. The view was really pretty from there also. At that point, we were going home. I had picked up the latest pamphlet on the Quebec Run Wild Area at the Lick Hollow park office. So Kimberly decided she would be into checking out Quebec Run. Well, we drove down to the Skyline Drive parking lot for it. Then we started home, when Kimberly asked what else was in the area. I said Ohiopyle wasn't too far. It's a beautiful area with a big waterfall on the Youghiogheny River. So she said she'd go there with me. Well, we drove there and then she said that Mt. Davis really wasn't that far away! If we went to Confluence, she'd see where Lake Youghiogheny is, and then we could drive to Mt. Davis. Well, we went to Confluence. We didn't see Lake Youghiogheny, but we saw where the Youghiogheny River Trail starts. The end is very familiar to us, where the Yough River flows into the Monongahela at McKeesport. It was neat to see where it starts. We only had to drive about 5 miles up to Fort Hill to turn off to Mt. Davis. At Fort Hill, I found a parking area for the Allegheny Highlands Trail. Well, then we proceeded to Mt. Davis. I was so happy to get there twice in one week! Anyway, Kimberly and Angel saw the beautiful observation deck and its view, the picnic area, and High Point. I finally climbed clear to the top of the tower and am no longer afraid of it. The view is awesome from the top! On the way home from Mt. Davis, I took Kimberly to Laurel Hill State Park. I showed her the Pumphouse Trail I'd hiked on, the lake, the beach, the campground, and the picnic area. On the way back from there, I showed her Seven Springs and a parking area for the Roaring Run Natural Area.

Yesterday, it was really hot, so I decided to check out Tomlinson Run State Park in the northernmost corner of West Virginia. I figured I could find a place to hike there which was all forest, and I did. I was very impressed with the park. I hiked 4 1/2 miles, by the lake and up to the summit. I checked out the picnic area and campground, both of which are gorgeous! I also was able to pick up a whole bunch of pamphlets at the park store about all kinds of parks to visit and hike in in West Virginia.

A lot has gone on regarding my career direction. I have now decided I eventually want to be a health psychologist. So I'm debating in what order to do things. I still think I will probably get a masters in exercise physiology first and try to work awhile in that field. I feel that I need to work toward something I could do when I'm much older and not quite so mobile. I think it is important to have a career I could work at into my 80's and possibly 90's, so I feel this would be a good eventual career direction for me.