May
13
Last weekend we spent 3 days/2 nights at the beautiful Massanutten Resort
. It’s a huge resort (8,000 rooms) in the Shenandoah Valley. We really enjoyed our time there, and would love to go back.
To get the “free” stay we had to make a $75 deposit, and sit through a time share sales pitch. We knew this going in, and we escaped without purchasing anything. It wasn’t too bad, though they certainly had the process perfected. A dedicated sales person was assigned to tell us about the resort, give us a tour of the place, and give us the sales 
pitch. Once we said “no,” she got her manager to cut the prices in half. (I’m sure they don’t do that for just anyone.) After saying “no” to that, they shuffled us through a few other people that each verified some info, at which point we got our $75 deposit back as well as a $100 Visa card. Well worth it.
We stayed in one of the hotels on the resort (they also have condos for all the time share holders). It was a very nice hotel, with impressive staff and a lovely view of the mountains and the valley. The goal of the resort is to keep you on the resort, so they had plenty to do (horse riding, tubing, canoing, golfing, water park, pools, arcades). We went to one of the indoor pools, 
where Micah had his first swimming experience. He seemed to enjoy it.
It was nice seeing that portion of Virginia, and it was beautiful driving through the mountains. (We even crossed the Apalachian Trial, albeit in our car.) On the way there we hit up the Luray Caverns. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen caverns like that. They were impressive. The weekend was a good combination of adventure and relaxation.
Jan
6
gas station boycott
Filed Under signs, travel | Leave a Comment
It’s no secret that some people are boycotting Citgo for various reasons. Me? I’m avoiding them simply because their gas is too expensive:
Sure, gas is more expensive than it used to be, but $22.60 per gallon for regular and $246 per gallon for premium?! The decimal points in their prices have moved from position to position with each passing price change, though never in the correct place. It was amusing at first, but after a couple months, I’m now beginning to wonder.
Dec
31
pics from CA trip
Filed Under California, travel | Leave a Comment
Rachel and Micah recently took a trip to Southern California to visit Rachel’s parents. Here are a couple pictures from the trip.
A photo shoot on the beach, at Oceanside:
And my personal favorite. This is Micah on the plane ride home:
That’s my boy.