What happens in WVA, stays in WVA!

Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. You probably have never been there, let alone even heard of this little town. I had not either until this past summer. There in that small, unknown town was a large gathering of several youth groups in the end of July. We were headed to the local high school for a Christian Endeavor workcamp through Life Builders. I did not realize that by the end of that week, this trip would end up being one the most amazing experiences of my entire life.

We were right in the middle of some of the most gorgeous West Virginia mountains that week. The land around us was just so magnificent. We would pass breath-taking waterfalls and creeks as we drove to and from our worksite.

During that unforgettable week, we worked on a house in an area called Hilltop. The house needed a lot of work, and we worked so hard all week. By the end of the week we were able to get roof trusses up, which we did not know if we were going to be able to get that far. I had such an amazing week in the hills of West Virginia. I got very close with my youth group. Who knew all this could happen in that little, unknown town of Gauley Bridge.

I can only hope

Viva Espana!

Ever since I began taking spanish in my freshman year of high school, I have fallen in love with the language. Spanish has been one of my favorite subjects since that wonderful day when I took my first steps into a language classroom.

I long to travel to the picturesque country of Spain. I hope to be able to study abroad there someday. I want to utilize the four years of spanish that I have taken in my high school years.

If I had a choice, I would travel to the cities of Barcelona and the capital city of Madrid. These two cities fascinate me the most. Since I have never been there, I just assume that these two cities are even more magnificent than what they appear in the pictures.

Me gustaria a visitar Espana algun dia. Las ciudads son muy interesante y bella.

(I would like to visit Spain some day. The cities are very interesting and beautfiul. :)

Surrounding Castles

Prior to this past summer, I had never been to another country. I had never been given the chance to travel outside of the United States, but that all changed at the beginning of January 2008. This is when an amazing trip opportunity appeared to my family.

I am a member of East Fairview Church of the Brethren. This year is the 300th anniversary of the Church of the Brethren and they were sponsoring tours to Europe. I will be describing many of the cities we visited in other entries because if I tried to explain them all in one entry it would be endless.

I am going to start off with my most favorite place that we went on the entire 12 day tour. On August 3, 2008, our tour group had the great opportunity to take a 2 hour river cruise down the Rhine River. The cruise took us to Rudesheim, Germany. The day of the cruise could not have been more picturesque or beautiful. There was a wonderful, refreshing breeze and the sun was shining brilliantly.

Mountains flanked the river on either side. These mountains were painted with neverending vineyards. We past castle after castle, some in ruins and others that were still inhabited.

When we docked in Rudesheim, we were able to go to the top of one the hills and look at the most magnificent views of the city and the Rhine. I could have stayed up there for hours.

Across the World...or at least the Atlantic Ocean

To fly or not to fly, that is the question that I ask myself a lot. I have taken on a love of traveling as I have grown older, but I have one problem. I detest flying in an airplane. Of course this makes it a little hard to get to far away places. But, I try to get over my fear so I can see and explore amazing new places!

This blog will be dedicated to my travels, both past and places I hope to discover in the future. I hope learn more about places I have been and new places that I go. Pack your bags, get a map, and lets get out of here!