Hiking First Landing State Park

"I am unbore-able in the great outdoors." --P.J O'Rourke

When you think of Virginia Beach no one has ever said "Oh my goodness that's such a fantastic place to hike!" If someone had said that to me a few weeks ago I would've thought they had a few screws loose. A week ago my boyfriend, puppy (Atlas) and I discovered the glorious, beautiful, and slightly confusing First Landing State Park.

First Landing is located near the Oceanfront area, but away from the insanity of the tourist attractions near the boardwalk. How I have never been there before still blows my mind, but I am beyond happy we discovered it recently. My dog Atlas is 50% border collie, 25% lab, and 25% miniature pinscher. Needless to say he is one insanely cute, smart, hyper, goofy boy. He is also born for walkies. We walk in a lot in neighborhoods near us, at Mt Trashmore and on the beach when it's not too hot, but none of those places are scenic.

Will and I were cruising around the internet one day and came across the website for First Landing State Park. We realized we had never been there before so we decided to take Atlas hiking on our day off. It was one of the best things we've done as a family. There are about a dozen trails you can take depending on what you want to see and the length you want to go. Many of them meet up so if you get tired of one you can switch another!

We took Long Creek Trail, which we thought was a 4 mile loop. Turns out we read the super tiny map they gave us wrong so it was not a loop, but could be if we transferred to another trail...which we had already passed 2 miles ago by the time we realized what had happened. Moving on.

The trails aren't marked too well as far as knowing which trail you're taking, but it's pretty easy to find your way around, plus there's bound to be a fellow hiker you can ask along the way. Back to Long Creek Trail. We started out walking up a small road to the entrance and began our hike in a very wooded area. Atlas had never really seen much forest so he was a sniffing fiend. He just trotted along like he was the happiest puppy ever, which it's pretty safe to say that he was.

I have a feeling this trail is going to be our absolute favorite. Some trails only see the beach or forest. This trail took us through swamp, wetlands, beaches, forest, and even a small meadow. We got to see tons of wildlife while we were out there and met a lot of nice hikers who let their dogs meet ours. By the end of it all even Atlas was tired, which is a feat in itself.

When we finally found the trail head again we were exhausted. We had explored new places, Atlas had the best walk ever, we were starving, and Atlas didn't even want to walk anymore. Will decided to give our poor dog a break since we gave him the longest walk he's ever had and carried him partway down the hill. Atlas definitely has us trained well ;-)

First Landing is also super cheap! As a Virginia resident it's only $5. I think for out of owners it's $10 and there's also campgrounds! It's a super neat place that I can't wait to explore more!

"Marry an outdoors woman. Then if you throw her out into the yard on a cold night, she can still survive."--W.C Fields

The Joys of Having Pets

"Wilderness is not defined by the absence of certain activities, but rather by the presence of certain unique and invaluable characteristics."--Nick Rahall


My once 8lb little ball of fluff has now become a 53lb giant ball of fluff and energy. He is probably the best dog imaginable, which I know anyone with a dog who is reading this will instantly disagree because they have the best dog, but let's agree to disagree :)    Atlas is my best friend, partner in crime, fluffy child, and can be annoying while at the same time being as cute as possible, which is an accomplishment in itself.

Atlas usually needs to burn off a lot of energy and LOVES walkies. He was practically born for walkies. We go for walks in a nearby neighborhood about 5 days a week depending on weather. For him, the colder the weather the better...for me? Not so much, but I do it anyway. I bundle myself up so I end up looking like that poor, unfortunate child from "A Christmas Story" who couldn't put his hands by his side because of the billions of layers he was forced to wear in the snow.

Today we went for a walk right as it started to flurry. There was a winter storm warning, so I wanted to get the walk out of the way before we couldn't drive safely anymore. Atlas was trotting along being ridiculously cute and well-behaved while enjoying the weather immensely. I was bundled up and enjoying the snow that we had FINALLY gotten. For about a week now, there has been a flattened, desiccated, (obviously) dead squirrel carcass sitting in the middle of the sidewalk where we pass by. Atlas knows the command "leave it" and whenever I see it I always make sure to tell him that and he usually, keyword there, USUALLY leaves it alone.

Today? Not so.

Today, I saw "Atlas. Leave it." What does he do? He pretends he can't hear me, walks up to it, and grabs it by what I can only imagine was a leg...Everything after this happened so fast that I'll just give you a play by play.

Me: Atlas NO.

Atlas: Screw you mom. This is delicious. Can't you smell this beautiful aroma?

Me: DROP IT

Atlas: What mom? I couldn't hear you? Yum yum yum

Me: Atlas no. Drop it right now.. don't you dare...

Atlas just gives me this look that can only be described as "hmm... I wonder what would happen if I shook this with all the energy I have right now. Mom would really like that"

Me: EWWW NO. Please for the love of everything just drop it.

Atlas: Okay I'll drop it... AS I SHAKE IT VIOLENTLY. HAHAHAHA

At this point he finally listens and I get exactly what I asked for in the form of a disgusting, partially rotted, road killed squirrel carcass flying at my face at full speed while it was simultaneously exploding fur ALL OVER THE PLACE.

If I hadn't been paying attention and ducked at the last second like a super awesome ninja with moves straight out of The Matrix I would have gotten a face full of dead squirrel. Thanks Atlas...


It's days like these that make me wonder how I got through life without things like this happening on a daily basis. With Atlas, things like this happen ALL THE TIME. Oddly enough, I couldn't imagine my life without it.

On a MUCH cuter note...Later that day we decided to cut our cats' nails. We could tell wherever they both were in the house by the clicking noises their nails made on the floors so we decided it was time to break out the clippers. We have one cat, Boo Boo,  (no we didn't name him that god awful name) who HATES having his nails cut with a fiery passion that could only come from the 7th circle of hell. We have to wrap him in a blanket or as we like to call it  "A Purrito" so we don't get disemboweled, bitten, scratched, etc. All went pretty well after much screaming on his part. This entire time Atlas was by his side with his nose right up against Boo Boo like he was comforting him. Once we released him from the purrito Atlas chased him down and laid down next to him.

That's not even the cutest part. Our other cat, Natasha, is much better about getting her pedicure so we don't have to wrap her up. She grumbles, but she's all talk. Boo Boo is a newer addition to the fur family, so Atlas is much more attached to Natasha. Will was cutting her nails, and I was holding her in my arms while we sat on the bed. Atlas jumped on the bed next to us and would cry at us every time she meowed. Once we let her go she jumped down and tried to fix the hair that had gotten all crazy. Atlas went in to the other room and started bringing her his toys to cheer her up. He would follow her around and make sure he was in between her and us for a little while to make sure he protected her.

My dog can be the most annoying thing on the face of the planet one minute and then do something so sweet the next. Needless to say, this guy has stolen my heart. I have, by far, the best dog in the universe.



"As one who has often felt this need, and who has found refreshment in wild places, I attest to the recreational value of the wilderness."--George Aiken