Quality Time

Our 3 day escape to the Shenandoah Mountains felt like it was over before it even began. We had such a great time. Three days of quality family time. Our cabin was everything we could have asked for and more.

With an hour left of our drive to the mountains we were so thankful we had opted for a cabin, as it downpoured! When we checked in the cabin manager was relieved we had a Yukon, as our cabin was atop a mountain and the only way to get up was a small dirt road. After all that rain any other vehicle could have had a tough time making it up!

Though there were 9 other cabins on the mountain we never saw any proof of anyone else staying up there. We had our own 2 acres. We totally felt like we were alone and that's exactly the way we wanted it. The cabin had everything. A fully stocked kitchen and bathroom, the owners had thought of everything. A few games, books, and magazines were provided, as well as a radio. I was so proud of Jason, as even though our cabin was complete with a tv and VCR/DVD player, he never once turned it on or even acknowledged it was there. This meant so much to me. We instead used the time to talk, listen to the radio, dance and sing on the back deck, swim in the hot tub, and just have quiet time together. The hot tub was a definite bonus to the cabin. The first night we used it alone after Gavin went to bed and the second night we turned the temperature down and let Gavin join us for a dip before dinner. He couldn't get enough of it... He'd splash and start cracking up. I love to hear that deep belly laugh. He shared so many of those giggles with us on this trip. They are contagious and usually end in Jas and I laughing as well.

We had some great meals on this trip all provided by my amazing man. The first night he grilled filet's, squash, asparagus, and we had big & buttery crescent rolls. I was in heaven. For breakfast the next morning we enjoyed scrambled eggs with chopped tomato, peppers, and onion, bacon, yogurt, and oversized mugs of coffee. This was a good start to the day, as we'd be doing miles and miles of hiking a little later. For dinner the second night he grilled lemon pepper chicken and fresh corn on the cob. We ate that with a ceaser salad. There's something about an old charcoal grill that makes food taste so good. I'm so thankful for the time Jas spent to make our meals so great.

Onto hiking... What an experience! This was the first time I'd ever done real hiking and this was Jasons first time doing it for pleasure. Shenandoah National Park was a great place to share this experience. We planned our hikes out based on the locations of 3 waterfalls we wanted to see. Our first outing was on Dark Hollow Falls Trail. I didn't realize how cool it would be once we got to the elevation, so I was relieved we had packed a jacket and socks for Gavin. The first mile or so was pretty easy, all downhill. We stopped at Dark Hollow Falls to take in the views and snap some pictures then continued on another trail called Rose River Loop Trail. It was pretty rocky and I took one little tumble. Lukily it was a tiny tumble, as I had Gavin on my back in the pack and had my new camera around my neck. Everyone is fine! The next waterfall we saw was Rose River Falls. We unpacked here and had lunch then continued on the trail to Fishers Gap Overlook, a viewing location where you can see several mountains. We finished the hike back to our car... Covered in sweat and relieved to have hike #1 (about 5 miles) of the day completed. We drove to the Byrd Visitor Center to get a second lunch (hiking makes a girl hungry!) And to feed Gavin and get him a dry diaper before our second hike of the day. For hike #2 we took the Lewis Falls Trail to Lewis Falls, an 81' waterfall. This hike was a challenge as it was pretty steep and rocky, but at least I didn't fall! By 4pm we had completed somewhere between 7 and 8 miles of hiking and seen 3 waterfalls. We were proud of ourselves and called it a day. Gavin was great in his back pack and dozed off every now and then. He looked around most of time time and just talked. We had packed towels and our suits hoping to swim in the pools created by the waterfall, but it was just too chilly for that unfortunately. Everything else worked out just as planned. We used the self timer to get a picture of the 3 of us at the end of our day then headed back to the cabin for relaxation... Swimming, showers, dinner, a campfire, and rocking on the porch. I'm gonna miss getting to rock Gavin to sleep outside overlooking the mountains. We were all in bed by 10pm!

It's now back to DC, where we'll spend 2-3 more days with the family before heading back to Savannah.