It had been two days since I messaged our Airbnb host asking for an early check-in for our reservation this weekend. She still hadn’t texted me back, but I wasn’t too worried about that. Look, Cody’s sister and her family were coming to visit us in Luray, and it would be nice to check into our Airbnb early. But if not, it’s not a big deal. Our plans wouldn’t change much. The plan was simple. We walk in the rain into town, take a shuttle from the hostel, spend the night there, and head to Airbnb the next day as soon as the host allows us. Spoiler: things didn’t go as planned.
Having breakfast on the trail
We woke up, quite early in fact, and packed up camp in the rain. This rain has been relentless these last few days. And with no respite in the forecast for this weekend, we were looking forward to some free time. On our walk into town, we stopped at a Skyland Resort for lunch. It was a bit fancy for two soaked hikers and the views normally seen from the dining room were obscured by a blanket of fog. However, the hot food was much appreciated. We both savored the delicious blackberry French toast.
Good news from Airbnb
The incredible views we had on this rainy day.
To my surprise, the Airbnb host responded to me while we were eating. She informed me that we could check in right away and assured me that the house was ready for us…today. That’s strange, I thought, a little suspicious. I explicitly stated our arrival day (which was tomorrow) in my original message. Then I decided to clarify that our check in was tomorrow. But he said we would be happy to arrive today if you could send us the check-in instructions. And I made sure he didn’t need us to change the reservation… I wasn’t going to pay for an extra night. She sent me the door code and said we could come in today, no changes needed to be made. This had never happened to me, but we were excited. A little surprised, but excited to have a free night in the house we had booked for the weekend.
In fact, I was so excited that we offered two friends to spend the night with us. They agreed and we headed towards the trail at a brisk pace! We messaged the hostel and canceled the bunk beds we had booked. And then I found a problem from a super friendly local named Barb. He took us through the post office and the. To Walmart before leaving us and one of our friends at Airbnb. I punched in the door code and the front door opened. Finally, we could relax… or so I thought.
Strangers in our Airbnb
The first red joy I saw were the shoes by the front door. Then the pot on the stove and the charger on the counter. I peeked into a room to look for luggage and immediately told everyone to get out. After contacting the host, he admitted that he somehow didn’t realize our reservation wasn’t until tomorrow. And that she had mistakenly given me the door code to check in while another family was still renting the house. I still don’t know how he didn’t realize this because I clarified it to him twice. But that’s all old water. I needed to figure out where to sleep and how to get there. And our poor friend Newman was being dragged along with us in this mess.
Find a place to sleep
My first call was to the shelter. «Sorry for canceling at the last minute, but is there any chance I can rebook? And do you have room for my two friends too?» That was essentially how the conversation went. «Oh, and can you come pick us up like now? It’s raining and I don’t want to have a confrontation with this family when they get back from wherever they are now.» Fortunately she did just that. Cody and I shared a bunk bed because she only had three beds left after all the hikers decided to reserve a warm, dry bed for the night. And I don’t blame them! We were mentally and physically exhausted after the escapades we did that day. We had Corndog nuggets for dinner and I stayed up watching The Pitt long after everyone else had gone to bed.
The next morning was a bit uncomfortable. The hostel owner had told us that she wasn’t thrilled with the way we pulled her through booking, canceling, and booking again. And of course, we felt bad for getting our two friends’ hopes up only to have them have to pay for a night at a hostel they had no intention of staying at. Fortunately they were super calm and understanding. Plus, we got to spend the morning with some other trail friends, Mega Smile, Roladex, and Speedy, to name a few.
Registering, this time for real
Cleaning our equipment
That afternoon, the host dropped us off at our Airbnb, and luckily the house was empty this time. We had a few hours before the family showed up, so we got to work doing some hiking tasks. Laundry, dishes and this time we took out our mat to give it a good cleaning. I had a leak that started sometime around Trail Days. I ended up finding more than one small leak…six of them, in fact. What a headache! We also decided to clean our backpacks, camping pillows, and down comforter.
Drying everything
Very soon the family appeared. Cody’s sister Casey, her husband Tyler and their four children. The oldest of whom was celebrating his seventh birthday this weekend. The noise level in the house skyrocketed when the four children were freed from the minivan they had been trapped in for the past two hours! It was beautiful chaos! «I love how much life and energy your kids bring,» I told Casey as I held the youngest on my hip. “I’m glad you appreciate it,” she said with the apologetic look that so many moms give. That night, Casey and I sneaked out to shop for the weekend and have dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. We all celebrated that night!
Family time in Luray
All the fun activities were planned for the next day! We woke up to homemade biscuits and gravy, courtesy of my brother-in-law. It was the birthday boy’s request. He also opened his gifts and his father read him a special letter he had written for him. After breakfast, we were first in line at Luray Caverns when they opened. And the good thing is that we arrived early because it was packed on a holiday weekend when we left a few hours later!
We prepared a charcuterie board for lunch, so people could snack all afternoon. And I had the special honor of baking a cake for the birthday boy! The three oldest rolled up their sleeves and washed their hands! They were ready to be great helpers! Each of them sat on their knees to stand tall enough to look over the bowl. They each cracked an egg into the bowl…only one egg was sacrificed in the process. Everyone took turns helping measure the ingredients and beat the mixture. They each helped grease the pan, pour the batter, and set a timer.
I could hear the start of the Manchester United game in the other room. It was the last game of the season and Bruno Fernández had the opportunity to break the all-time Premier League record for most assists in a season. He was currently tied with two other players. It was exciting when he got an assist early in the game! By halftime, the cake was already out of the oven and I was struggling to stay away.
We all hung out at the house enjoying each other’s company all afternoon. The birthday boy assembled the model birds he had received as a birthday gift. Early in the evening, and with a Manchester United victory to end the season, we decided to take all the kids to the city greenway. We had a couple hours of sunshine amidst all the gray skies we had been experiencing. So we took advantage of the nice weather to go for a long walk along Hawksbill Creek. We saw common water snakes sunning themselves on the rocks along the creek, a large marmot, and birds of all kinds, including the black-crowned nightcrawling heron. The kids (and adults) had a great time!
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