West Virginia!

I recently took some time to visit Scott in his (far away) home of Lewisburg, West Virginia. It took a whole day to get there, and a whole day to get home, so we had one day to get as much in as possible. What followed was a FABULOUS day full of fun and new experiences!

Scott attends the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine -- in four years he will be a doctor. He had just finished a major lab exam in anatomy. I can't show pictures of the lab or the cadavers --- suffice to say as a scientist and an educator, I was completely blown away when he took me inside the lab. Seeing all the organs and systems and parts thereof of this generous woman who donated her body to science -- it was A-MAZ-ING. I will never forget it and have a whole new respect for teaching this subject, and the elegant design that comprises our body. Here are some pics from Scott's beautiful school - built where a military academy once existed (hence the canons...they don't use them on the medical students!).

This is the inside of  large theater sized classroom -- students had just finished their exams so no one was studying. You can see everyone has their space -- complete with food, supplies, personal items -- they practically LIVE in here, studying together, learning in a collaborative space. Totally awesome and completely in line with the research that tells us that studying together increases learning exponentially as opposed to studying alone (get in your study groups students!!!!).

Not every school has crystal chandeliers in the foyer...this place was both beautiful and functional in its mission - to train a future cohort of physicians.

We had dinner that night, and got up the next day to explore as much as possible. We headed to West Virginia's New River Gorge where the 3rd largest iron arched bridge (largest in the U.S.) was constructed over New River. You can stack two Statues of Liberty AND a Washington Monument under this bridge and still have 20 feet of clearance! On the way to the New River, we saw this:

WOW! Let's see the bridge from the air! And so we did!!!!! I had a BLAST!!

 
The helicopter had a glass bubble window and no doors. It's a Bell 47-G2 built in 1950-something. Our pilot was awesome and talked to us about the sights as we listened and gawked at the sights....it was a GLORIOUS day and perfect for my very first helicopter ride!

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SO excited!!!! The view was INCREDIBLE!

We landed and decided to hike over and see the bridge from the ground view...

 Then it was time to fill up at holy SHEETZ ...

 and proceed to our next destination!!

 This is Scott's home away from home when he isn't studying during the ski season. Snowshoe Mountain is close enough to Lewisburg to get in a good day of skiing, and is gorgeous. We decided it would be fun to go explore the mountain in the Fall and see the gorgeous and rugged country!

Here is a pic of Scott skiing this past winter - the snow was AWESOME!

The wildlife was pretty cool - some cool birds including a resident Red Tailed hawk and we heard a deer snort nearby. This was the only bear I saw the entire trip:

After hiking around Snow Shoe and hearing the tales of many skiing escapades, we headed back to Lewisburg, and I noticed yet another amazing rock outcrop. A former geology minor, I have always loved the rocks and stories they tell. This outcrop was fabulous...an anticline created millions of years ago from uplifted sedimentary  rock. We stopped and climbed and explored. I collected a few samples to put in my luggage, all of which created a bit of confusion when going through security at the airport!

Back on the road, listening to Blue Grass music on the satellite radio -- seemed appropriate -- what's for dinner?! The Mason Jar, a popular restuarant, had it's all-you-can-eat crab legs special -- we decided that was an EXCELLENT choice!

It was a fabulous trip and wonderful to explore with Scott. Can't wait to return!!!!!! I love you Scott!! xo