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Fall in Virginia

O WOW! I would never think that fall can be so EXCITING. This state is amazing, all the trees or I should rather say leaves (and there is thousands or even more of them in Va) are changing colors. The mountain slopes and other vast areas are the most colorful ever. Hopefully it will stay like this for a while, even though it has been very windy for the past three days and a lot of leaves start to fall down...PEAK SEASON!

Time for ballooning!

It has been a long time...This every day life is kind of boring but kind of interesting and busy at the same time. Hard to explain really, but I have to admit I am still enjoing it (certain times more then the others but I guess it is just life). Some days though like this one last Saturday I am trully happy to be here. SO, last Saturday The Outdoor Social Club went hot air ballooning with us. I couldn`t pick any better day then this one. Sunny, warm, calm winds and extraordinary visibility...the only thing I can possibly regret is the fact that I stayed on the groung instead of going into one of the baskets...HEY but someone had to take all these pictures!

Chasing the balloons

White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run

Yesterday we went hiking again in a Shenandoah National Park. Almost 8 mile loop, one of the MOST AMAZING trails in the Park. You just walk along one stream on your way up and another one on your way down, passing by 8 different waterfalls and several natural pools full of cold, fresh water. Very realaxing and refreshing, especially on a hot summer day! :-)

Four of the eight waterfalls

Mabel

And here she is! We finally got a DOG. Actually Kim got her and I am just helping out :-). She is so cute! She needs a lot of attention though, just like a baby. I cannot really imagine to have one…yet...oufff (a baby, I mean:-0).

The end of the softball season

SO the softball season is over. Our Keswick Team won several games, lost few but it was definitely fun. The entire season I was trying to understand the rules of this game and I think I finally did….a little bit at least :-). Last weekend we had a party at Wayne’s to celebrate the end of the season. Great place, big pool, very entertaining!!

Toby, our porter, the golden boy

Our cheering team: Christie, Lyndsy, Sabrina, Holly, Lynda

The house in the woods. Party scene.

Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia

So, last weekend we went backpacking in West Virginia. By ‘WE’ I mean people from the Outdoor Adventure Social Club. AND THAT was quite of an adventure! We left on Friday evening and by the time we got there it was already dark. We still had to arrange our camping place though. I guess this darkness factor could be the main reason why Lizzie and myself slept on a huge root/rock or I should rather say we were trying to sleep…:-). Next day as we woke up and looked up we saw wonderful gray clouds and few minutes later it started to rain…and it rained on and off for the entire morning and then afternoon. But us being the REAL ADVENTURERS, we decided to GO! After crossing the river we started to climb, quite steep you have to believe me, at one point I was close to faint….not such a strong girl after all (BUT for my defense my stomach didn’t feel very well that day). Once we reached the plateau the sun showed up for a while, I presume to celebrate with us this success. VERY LOVELY! And then the fun started…most of the time in the rain we were BUSH WHACKING!!!! Hey people you have to try that. Very special experience, you are wet and cover with mud from your toes to the top of your head…LOL…By the evening we found our way and a FANTASTIC place to spent a night. And it even stopped raining! We camped on the edge of the cliff and the view behind our tents was breathtaking. It was definitively worth all that walking and sweating. Jon cooked us a delicious dinner; most of the weekend tuna on the menu by the way :-). That night we all slept like babies. On Sunday we started to walk back and it was so much nicer cause it was sunny, finally…After some more bush whacking, going up and down, across, over and under we ended our hike exactly in the place we started it the day earlier! THANK YOU JON! So I have to say that it was really COOL and I truly enjoyed it! It is just a pity that Jon is leaving soon so we probably won’t be able to repeat that :-(. Maybe next year in Madagascar or somwhere in Africa, Jon? It could be even more FUN.

Our first breakfast