I Heart the Mountains

I promised my mom that I would write a blog about my fall break for her to read, so here it is. The adventure started on Wednesday afternoon about one o'clock. Tommy, James and I along with our stuff piled into Tommy's truck. Now those of you who are familiar with the splash are smiling because you know how cozy it was for the three of us. Well, we were in the truck for 2+ hours before we arrived at James' house and we were listening to Garth Brooks for most of the drive (can I just say that Tommy and James belting out Garth brooks is the cutest thing I've ever seen). Tommy dropped James and I off, and we proceeded to go watch James' sister Sarah play tennis. It was great match (she won!!). After the tennis match it was off to Tommy's for the night where we enjoyed some very excellent London broil and homemade Alfredo.
The next morning we got up, loaded of the car and headed off toward the Virginia mountains. It was a beautiful drive out there, and once we got out there the views were even more spectacular. The first day of hiking was pretty brutal... but I toughed it out. We climbed to the summit of Mt. Rodgers and then camped in Rhododendron Gap the first night. The wind was pretty wicked that first night, but the sunset was the one of the most beautiful that I've ever seen. Before bed that night we played some poker, and I'm sure you can all guess as to how I did.
The second day was much easier packing than the first, just like Tommy promised. We found a great little campsite right next to a creek. We set up camp and then went off for a day hike to catch a glimpse of some waterfalls. Goodness - they were gorgeous! And true to myself I wiggled my toes in the water. We had lunch at the falls and spent the rest of the night around the campfire. Day three guaranteed some more spectacular views as we hiked down off the mountain. We stopped for a long and delicious lunch in a small clearing, and just enjoyed the mountain. That same night we drove back to Tommy's house for some showers and chicken fajitas, then it was off the James' house to catch some sleep.
Overall it was a really amazing fall break. I came down off the mountain with a renewed love for God's beautiful creation.
I have some pictures in an online album, most of them I copied from Suzanne, but you are welcome to browse through them: www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=15341250/t_=14646348