We packed up and headed to West Virginia for a Cooper family vacation this weekend. We rented a cabin close to Mt. Nebo and in possibly some of the prettiest mountains we've ever seen.
The main highlight of our trip was this bridge- The New River Gorge Bridge. It's the longest single arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere. And if that's not enough, it's also 876 feet high.
Once a year, a whole bunch of crazy people get together to parachute, bungee, and zip line off the bridge. And tens of thousands more come to watch.
Count these 7 people among the craziest.
We spent hours peering over a way too low railing (in mama's opinion) down hundreds of feet at little specks of people aiming their parachutes at a little circle on the beach and hoping they didn't hit the water (and those scary looking rapids).
Mama overcame her fear of heights and walked the span of the bridge and even manged to look over the side (as long as someone was there holding on to her). See those guys doing backflips off the side?
These two guys wore bunny suits and jumped at the same time.
The guys (PawPaw, me, Papa, and Uncle Adam) all enjoyed the view.
Against their better judgment, I was allowed to perch on the bridge and look over the edge. Papa held me tight and mama stood 10 feet back panicking. At least we weren't the people with our toddlers on our shoulders holding them all the way over the edge.
Despite the fact there were plenty of funnel cakes and ribbon fries available, I ate a few cheerios to give me the strength to cross the long bridge.
The rest of the weekend was no less spectacular. We stopped at the Sommersville Lake Dam. Here's the view on one side of the bridge.
And here's the view down the other side. This picture really does it no justice.
Aunt Katie and Sadie-Sade enjoyed the beautiful colors.
Team Turner looking good.
Meanwhile the other Turner kids spent some time wrestling- a new favorite pastime before bed.
What stinkers.
June continued on her reign as the girl who would eat anything.
Next to our cabin was the entrance of Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park. Although it was probably one of the most unremarkable battlefields we've ever visited (and there's been quite a few), the views of the river from on top of the mountain were pretty awesome.
Mama and Papa dumped us kids and got some hiking in. And when we took Nama and PawPaw back, we got to see some rafters braving the rapids.
By this time, I was pretty tired and did not want to cooperate with any picture-taking.
But I did take some time to contemplate the beauty of nature and wonder if I was strong enough to throw rocks all the way down into the water.
When I got tired, PawPaw carried me.
This was the best lookout in the park. 
Mama was impressed that the Union army actually ran up this mountain to fight the Confederates. Multiple times. 
These stairs must have earned someone a couple Eagle Scout badges.
Back at the campsite, PawPaw and I built a great fire that lasted all night.
And we really got down to nature and I ate this huge bug! Okay, it's really a gummy bug, but it still looks kind of gross.
Always chomp its head first. After I finished off this bad boy, I tried to convince mama for another one, since this was technically only one piece of candy. It didn't work. But vacation did mean lax rules. I got to run inside the cabin, open the fridge, take a drink of my juice, return my cup to the fridge, and run back outside. I did this approximately 1,200 times. Just because I could.
The human vacuum tried something truly West Virginian- grits. GG Grandpa, you'll be glad to know that she loved them.
Sadie-Sade shares a cuddle with Nama. Unfortunately, both she and Uncle Adam came down with something and had to take off a little early. Mama was on the receiving end of Sadie's illness, if you know what I'm saying, but she held on tight, because Aunt Becky never lets a little girl puke alone. We hope you're feeling better Sades!
We sure had a great weekend! Same time next year?
