Girlfriend Getaway; An Annual Tradition

A Tradition That Lasts

This winter was a brutal one for a lot of us on the east coast.  It just seemed like we couldn't get a break.  I especially felt bad for those living in Boston.  They got dumped on all winter long! Here in Southwest Virginia, we were spared much of the snow. We typically will get a good snow once or twice each winter. But it's short-lived and Spring starts showing signs around late March. And that's when I go away.  My girlfriends and I have made it a tradition to get together one weekend in March -- and we've been lucky so far with the weather. This year, however, Mother Nature was planning  to spoil all the fun with a major snowstorm a day before we were to leave.  But she didn't realize that 5 women were so determined. This is OUR weekend -- and come hell or high water - we're going!!

The day before our trip, we all watched the weather forecast closely because it was looking like it was going to dump about 8 inches of snow near Winchester, Virginia.  Great! That's exactly where we were headed.  We had a cabin booked from Friday to Sunday - and no, I discovered, we couldn't get our money back if Mother Nature decided to ruin our plans.  We could reschedule (right, like that's going to work out.  Just try to get 5 very busy moms and working women together on another weekend last minute.  Doesn't happen).  So all we could do is watch the weather updates - and hope and pray.

One of the girls who lives in Winchester was giving us weather updates throughout the day on Thursday.   Snapping photos of the snow quickly accumulating.  This did not make me a happy camper.  You see, I look forward to this trip every year.  It's my "sunshine" through the long winter months.  It's my time to get away from family, work and daily responsibilities.  It's my time to let loose with my girlfriends.  If we couldn't get out this weekend - it wasn't going to happen. And chances were pretty good that I would lose my mind.

The snow was piling up

To make matters even worse,  the forecast was calling for brutal cold to follow all this snow.  Anything that fell on Thursday, was going to freeze.  This was just getting better and better.  As we got closer to leaving, I was e-mailing the owner of the cabin.  She was very clear: if you don't have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, you better not chance it.  The roads to the cabin may or may not be plowed, and if you didn't have 4-wheel drive you wouldn't make it.  She did say they were hoping it would clear long enough for the plows to come through.  Awesome.  We did have a 4-wheel drive truck, but we still wondered, what should we do?  Cancel the trip and take a loss or head on out and hope we make it?  Well, like I said earlier, we're a determined bunch of ladies and we decided to go for it.  Worse comes to worse we would find a Holiday Inn nearby for Friday night.  The weekend weather was going to warm up, and we could probably get in to the cabin by Saturday. We were off!

The temperature that morning

We headed out early on Friday morning and as you can see above, the temperature outside was 5 degrees - but the good news was, the roads were passable.  Hallelujah!

The view as we headed out

All that worry and we were absolutely fine.  The sun was out - and even though it was cold, it helped melt all that snow on the main roads.  The only time driving became a little difficult was on the back roads as we got closer to the cabin.  The plows did get through,  but you did need a good 4-wheel drive truck.  We made it, but didn't dare head down the driveway with the truck.  The driveway was a steep slope - and we were told that if we wanted to go home on Sunday, we would need to park at the top and walk down.  And that's just what we did.  We put our bags on top of the plastic lids of our totes and slid everything down the hill.  We did slip and slide a bit, but we all made it down to the cabin without getting hurt - and, most importantly, no bottles of wine were broken in the process - success!!

The view looking down at the cabin

The view looking up at the top of the driveway

Here is a picture of the driveway looking up at the truck where we head to park it.  It is a miracle that no bottle were broken.

Once inside, we all needed a drink - and a toast to another year!

The owners were very good at communicating with us and tell us what we would need for our stay.  We were grateful for a shovel and a bag of sand at the property... since we had to shovel a little walkway to the door.  No problem with that though, where there is a will - there is always a way!

Thank goodness for the shovel!

Our cabin was called Beaver Hill Cabin and is located in Linden Virginia - not far from Front Royal.  I picked this spot because it was close to restaurants and shopping and was surrounded by 10 wineries! You can check out their website for more information.  I usually go through HomeAway.com and highly recommend it if you're looking for a house to rent.  Reputable renters and the website has accurate pictures so you know what you're getting when you're having to book sight unseen.
Once we got inside the cabin we found that it was a cute little home with three bedrooms and three baths - all nicely decorated.  Everything was brand new and it had a fully stocked kitchen and a hot tub.  We were very pleased.  It was clean, affordable and offered all the comforts of home.

We spent much of the day Friday inside the cabin, but did manage to venture out to Fox Meadow Winery and then to Piccadilly's Public House and Restaurant in Winchester on Saturday.  A great weekend full of fun times and great belly laughs.  We all agreed that these weekends are worth the effort each year.   They have become more than just a fun weekend away from home.  They have become an opportunity to bond, recharge and refocus on what really matters in life; true friendship.  And I think we'd all agree that when the weekend comes to a close each year, we are reminded of the old saying: True friends are hard to find, harder to leave and impossible to forget. Thanks ladies for the memories.