{"id":281,"date":"2023-03-07T14:08:28","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T14:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/?p=281"},"modified":"2023-03-24T14:23:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T14:23:33","slug":"birthday-weekend-getaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/?p=281","title":{"rendered":"Birthday Weekend Getaway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our oldest kiddo turned 17 yesterday! She&#8217;s had a job for 6 months, puts money into savings and retirement every paycheck, and is just an all around responsible awesome person. We&#8217;ve been burned out with cookies, so we decided to visit my grandparents in the hills of West Virginia over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230304_2158182508786852374780216.jpg?resize=640%2C853\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230304_2158182508786852374780216-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230304_2158182508786852374780216-scaled.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230304_2158182508786852374780216-scaled.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230304_2158182508786852374780216-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230304_2158182508786852374780216-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230304_2158182508786852374780216-scaled.jpg?resize=850%2C1133&amp;ssl=1 850w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230304_2158182508786852374780216-scaled.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230304_2158182508786852374780216-scaled.jpg?w=1280 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sub>Orion above my grandparents house.<\/sub><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grandma went all out with two birthday cakes! Red Velvet one day and a DQ Reese Cup Blizzard Ice Cream Cake the next night! We had some rain, so the creek was up and the hills were full of mini waterfalls. We did manage to get out and climb the hillside a bit and go for a few walks with Apollo. This was his last trip down. He is having health issues and we will probably have to put him down sometime in April. He enjoys exploring down there so we made sure he had a chance to sniff everything his heart desired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?resize=640%2C640\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?resize=1536%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?resize=850%2C850&amp;ssl=1 850w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666632208.jpg?w=1920 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?resize=640%2C640\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?resize=1536%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?resize=850%2C850&amp;ssl=1 850w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/PhotoGrid_1679666775512.jpg?w=1920 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where we go is considered a dark sky zone, so I played with the night mode on my phone camera and took some night sky photos on the clear night we had. Since they are further South than we are, there were already things blooming down there. I also got to see my knotted patch quilt my great-grandma had made for me. I gave it to grandma to fix because it was ripped in places, so she has been patching it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls src=\"http:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230303_155553.mp4\"><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sub>Hillside waterfall after the rain.<\/sub><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall it was a great trip. It was nice to get away from cookies and house projects and work. We get so burnt out this time of year that it gets difficult to function.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our oldest kiddo turned 17 yesterday! She&#8217;s had a job for 6 months, puts money into savings and retirement every paycheck, and is just an all around responsible awesome person. We&#8217;ve been burned out with cookies, so we decided to visit my grandparents in the hills of West Virginia over the weekend. Grandma went all&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[121,126,128,127,124,129,125],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-121","tag-birthday","tag-dogs","tag-nature","tag-travel","tag-weekend-getaway","tag-west-virginia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/20211229_112234_00004580558369207410023.png?fit=3000%2C1500&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":298,"url":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/?p=298","url_meta":{"origin":281,"position":0},"title":"A Supernatural Birthday","date":"August 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"We just finished a quick trip to West Virginia over my birthday. It's always fun to see the grandparents and get away from everything for a day or two. We decided to delve into the world of cryptozoology. We made our way to Point Pleasant, WV to see The Mothman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Travel&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/20211229_112234_00004580558369207410023.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":86,"url":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/?p=86","url_meta":{"origin":281,"position":1},"title":"Traditions and Superstitions for the New Year","date":"January 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Every family has some tradition or superstition. As a kid, I never really thought anything about it. The family does it, so that\u2019s what I\u2019ll do too. Becoming an adult, I looked back and wondered, why did we do this? For as long as I can remember, on New Year\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Holidays&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/png_20211229_102820_00009059326814827529005.png?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":240,"url":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/?p=240","url_meta":{"origin":281,"position":2},"title":"It&#8217;s Fall, Ya&#8217;ll!","date":"September 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My favorite season! Autumn, Fall, Mabon celebrations, leaves, apples, sweaters, fires, flannels, blankets, fog... the list goes on. September is always a busy month. Our county fair happens, our anniversary is this month, Fall festivals happen, scouts and school start up, Christmas setup at work starts, and now this year,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Holidays&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/20220922_102957_0000.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":900,"url":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/?p=900","url_meta":{"origin":281,"position":3},"title":"Cleveland Airshow 2024! &#8211; Part 1","date":"September 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It's no secret that we are aviation enthusiasts, and the Cleveland National Airshow is the closest major aviation event to us, so we try to go each year. (It always falls on Labor Day weekend) This year was the Navy's Blue Angels! Our oldest two have seen them fly when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Field Trips&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1_20240812_093005_0000.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":705,"url":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/?p=705","url_meta":{"origin":281,"position":4},"title":"Surviving AirVenture 2023 &#8211; Part 2 &#8211; Super Guppy","date":"August 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"So, back in 2019, NASA's Super Guppy flew into Mansfield, Ohio with part of Orion so NASA could do testing at Plum Brook Station (now the Neil Armstrong Test Facility) in Sandusky. It was a wild day for us, because we had spent the day in Marietta, Ohio having lunch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Field Trips&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Purple-Music-Store-Etsy-Banner.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":714,"url":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/?p=714","url_meta":{"origin":281,"position":5},"title":"Reflections on Life","date":"January 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Things always seem to be busy. I have tons of blog posts I haven't written. We've been doing house renovations, the older two kids started ground school, we've had holidays, gone to see real mummies, went to the hills, had our last visit (unless someone breaks something) with the Orthopedic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Day to Day Happenings&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catastrophicstardust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/20211229_095421_00008393513576783207482.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283,"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions\/283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catastrophicstardust.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}