A WOW moment at Twin Lakes State Park in dreary old March at 5:39 a.m.
I was reading this article "Creating WOW Product Experiences" by Michael Hyatt and it really hit home! In this article he writes:
"I asked each person to share the experience that was the most powerful.
One person shared about the birth of a child.
Another shared about the first time he kissed his wife.
Still another shared about seeing Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe for the first time.
It was amazing.You could see each person’s face light up as they shared. The rest of us vicariously entered into their joy." (Read the resthere)
It made me think about why I am such an "evangelist" for our Virginia State Parks. Each new park I discover gives me a WOW moment. They are all so unique that I find myself pausing and taking in each experience.
Most of my WOW moments actually come in the off season at Virginia State Parks, whilst in the quiet hours, when no one is stirring; I am with a cup of coffee in hand, sitting outside on the deck of our cabin. My WOW moments are often very subtle, but they knock my socks off! My husband thinks I am a nutcase, and I quote "You are on vacation and for once you get to sleep in and you are up at sunrise every morning!"
My trick is to choose the room with the eastern facing windows and then I leave the blinds open. When the sun starts to peek out above the horizon I naturally wake up. To me that is relaxing, instead of the usual alarm clock disturbance at home that forces me get out of bed!
See the image above of the Twin Lakes State Park. Who would have thought in dreary old March I could see something so stunning, and moving, and capture it by surprise! Dreary is defined as "dull, bleak, and lifeless; depressing." and yet, here in the midst of this dreary morning was this magnificent sight "WOW!"
Not all of my WOW moments can be captured "on film" so to speak. There are plenty of Kodak Moments that have come and gone, and still shine brightly in my mind! These are the things I love to recall from my visits to Virginia State Parks. Most involve the ones I love. The sound of laughter, and voices that are familiar to me.
A morning reflection WOW at Hungry Mother State Park – taken at 6:40 a.m.
Same day at Hungry Mother State Park a lengthy WOW hike to the top of Molly's Knob where we were rewarded with this WOW view at 9:00 a.m
I recently read some amazing comments from our park goers on ourFacebook page, who shared stories and memories of their state park favorite memories. Allow me to share a few with you now:
- Michael Mahoney "Sitting on the beach at First Landing and watching the USS Enterprise come into view."
- Tracey Anderson "My girls learning to ride bikes without training wheels at Belle Isle."
- Robert Wright "Growing up in the country and attending a small country church, we always had our Sunday School picnic at Staunton River State Park. We would go to the pool for the afternoon and then to the picnic area for a huge picnic. I will never forget this. It was a part of my life that will always be with me."
- Emily Anne "Taking people on Eagle Kayaking Tours at Caledon State Park!"
- Carol Hunt "Twin lakes spending the day with my granddaughters. Best day ever….."
- Km Maccoon "my Viewing Halley's Comet with my husband and son, who was not yet born, at Sky Meadows State Park."
- Joachim Fredricks "Fairystone. Played softball with girls that beat my butt. 13 yrs old, 24 years ago…"
- Patti Goettler "Going to a movie w/ my parents coming back to find the gate locked and closed!! Walking 3 miles in the dark back to camp… we had a blast, (well, Daddy and I did!) my Mother and brother whined and moaned the whole way…Dally called owls to us and would not trun on the flash light..again..I LOVED it!!"
- Dave Browning "Twin lakes – off season. about 10 yrs ago. kids were little and a bunch of lizards had hatched. the kids were catching them an letting them go all over. and the activities the rangers had for them were just awesome. so were the rangers. and we had a visit from a bear one night. very exciting."
- Jane Widlar Oakes "The woods behind our cabin caught fire during a dry spell at Occaneeche due to a someone's unattended late night bonfire. My cabin mates and I smelled the smoke early in the morning . Dressed in our pj's , we formed a bucket brigade with waste cans, coolers, and pots and pans. By the time the park's Rescue Rangers arrived, the fire was out."
- Laurie King "My family always went to Twin Lakes (Goodwin) when we were growing up. We enjoyed swimming and playing on the playground together. We always enjoyed a picnic lunch and once our parents forgot to pack a flatware set to make sandwiches, so my aunt used a car key! Lots of good memories!"
- Çetin Ba?aran "About 40 years I took a beautiful young lady to Pocahontas State Park where we swam at the beach on the creek (no pool back then). I had known her about a month and I asked her to marry me. Years later that same beautiful girl and I took our children there and later our grandchildren."
