Why West Virginia? (Elkins, Spencer: homes, stores, safe)

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by MaryBeth2

You are going to love it, too, Megan! It is a bit of heaven on earth!

Stop rubbing it in, MaryBeth. I'm just kidding you know, and I am so happy for you that you got the heck out of Texas.

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by MeganAK

Two more days until we leave to finish the trip to West Virginia. I have a bunch of interviews set up and we are SO EXCITED!! Thanks to everyone for all of your wonderful thoughts. Hopefully we will soon be able to call WV home.

Drive carefully!!!

[MaryBeth2]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

Stop rubbing it in, MaryBeth. I'm just kidding you know, and I am so happy for you that you got the heck out of Texas.

Oh yes Canine Castle... and now you and the girls have a place to visit!

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by MaryBeth2

Oh yes Canine Castle... and now you and the girls have a place to visit!

Thank you. We may take you up on it some time. Who knows, we may even become a close neighbor. I can dream!!

[MeganAK]

WE MADE IT!! It IS beautiful here. I feel like I am in a foreign country though, in terms of all the unknown plants, trees, bugs, snakes, etc. I have much to learn!! I saw my first sycamore tree, and some crazy black snake. The weather has been great. Anyway, off to my interviews!

[snorpus]

If you think it's beautiful now, Megan, just wait about 2 1/2 months, when all those trees and plants will put on the prettiest show you're ever gonna see.

Glad to see you arrived safely, and good luck at your interviews.

[MaryBeth2]

Oh yeah snorpus!!! I can't wait either!

Enjoy yourself Megan, and the wonders of West Viginia!

The motel we're staying at busted a meth lab next to us, so we had to move too! Now it is worse here trying to walk our 3 dogs. I'll be so glad to get moved and settled down to enjoy the wonders of WV!

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by nikongirl24

I'm born and raised in WV. Love this state. I'm a college grad, my husband, my parents, siblings, etc... are all also educated and employed. When we lived for a year in FL people would ask us all the time where we were from ( I have quite the accent... can't really help it, and I'm proud of it!). Whenever I'd tell them WV, they would think i meant VA and ask if I was from near Roanoke! I live NO WHERE NEAR VA. Seriously. I wonder if people realize that we really are a state sometimes.

I love it here. It is beautiful, clean and honestly, the people here are some of the nicest I've met compared to any other state I've been too (And I've been to all the states along the east coast, and quite a few in the midwest.)

People who automatically think these things about WV, who judge us prematurely, have obviously NEVER been here.

Next time someone asks you "Why WV?" why don't you ask them "WHy not?". I'd love for someone from another state give me a valid reason other than what they think they know from movies or books. I could easily say the same about numerous other states. Besides, if they think WV is bad, then KY and Mississippi, not to mention Alabama, must be HORRIBLE.

So if you love West Virginia so much, and wish it to remain the same, then why try and correct these people's misguided views of WV? If you succeed with too many of the misguided, they might be curious enough to visit the state. Then find out otherwise. They then tell their friends, and their relatives, and before you know it, you'll have a ton of migrants or tourists to the state and then, only too late, you had wished you had reconfirmed their views and even exaggerated to deter them from even visiting the state you love so much.

It's like when I tell people I'm heading for El Salvador or Honduras for a vacation. They're usually so puzzled, all they can utter is: But it's so dangerous down there!! You'll get killed!!

I used to try and correct them, educate them, but now as I so enjoy traveling where there's no other tourists around, espcially American tourists, I just tell them that I hire two bodyguards to trail me everywhere I go down there because it's so, so, so dangerous. I tell them they even sleep in my room at night, for fear I'll be kidnapped.

That's the route to go with ill-informed idiots. If you really love WV, make up some stories that will scare them to death, exaggerate all you can, but do what you must do to protect the paradise you live in.

[MaryBeth2]

Originally Posted by tijlover

So if you love West Virginia so much, and wish it to remain the same, then why try and correct these people's misguided views of WV? If you succeed with too many of the misguided, they might be curious enough to visit the state. Then find out otherwise. They then tell their friends, and their relatives, and before you know it, you'll have a ton of migrants or tourists to the state and then, only too late, you had wished you had reconfirmed their views and even exaggerated to deter them from even visiting the state you love so much.

It's like when I tell people I'm heading for El Salvador or Honduras for a vacation. They're usually so puzzled, all they can utter is: But it's so dangerous down there!! You'll get killed!!

I used to try and correct them, educate them, but now as I so enjoy traveling where there's no other tourists around, espcially American tourists, I just tell them that I hire two bodyguards to trail me everywhere I go down there because it's so, so, so dangerous. I tell them they even sleep in my room at night, for fear I'll be kidnapped.

That's the route to go with ill-informed idiots. If you really love WV, make up some stories that will scare them to death, exaggerate all you can, but do what you must do to protect the paradise you live in.

Although it is hard not to protect and stand up for what you love, I love your sense of humor! Bravo!

[MeganAK]

It's funny to go back and read my posts from back in Alaska. Here I sit in beautiful West Virginia (Elkins) thinking about my original post 'Why West Virginia?', and laughing. The more time we spend here, the more we ask, why anywhere else? I have had two interviews and have not heard yet, but we are really rooting for Elkins. It is the perfect weather, the most beautiful mountains, a nice town, affordable living. We could definitely make it work here, and have a great time doing it! Today we ate some fresh potatoes from the garden of our hosts, and yummmy! So here we sit and wait to hear about where our final destination will be. It will ultimately depend on the job- Elkins, Clarksburg, Lewisburg, or Grantsville. But I know where we are rooting for.