It's been over a decade since we last visited West Virginia and I had no clue if I would find enough boys to make this trip certain. All of our recent trips have been to relatively far-away places so didn't know if kids would want to do some exploring closer to home. Happy to report we have a packed trip with 20 boys and five adults all raring to go. I've been making reservations for some really great activities like the Cass Scenic Railroad, Lost World Caverns, a bike ride on the Greenbrier River Trail, and more. I'm especially excited about getting a chance to tour "the Bunker" at The Greenbrier Resort. This was a Cold War era "secret" for over 30 years until it was exposed by a reporter and had to be declassified. This bunker was built to house hundreds of top-level government employees like the president and congress in case of war.
And even though our Europe trip is mostly a "plan it as we travel" experience with boys deciding where to go, what to see, how long to stay...I have made reservations for our first two nights hotel stay in Bruges, Belgium and our last three nights hotel stay in Munich, Germany. The rest of the trip is completely up to the boys. Bruges is about a 75 minutes train ride from Brussels and is a UNESCO World Heritage Cultural City and I'm really looking forward to starting our trip there.
Stay tuned to this blog this summer for photos and reports about both trips.