Hiking and celebrating a birthday

We had gone with James' car which has Apple car play. Love that feature. We had no problem finding our B&B, the Cave Hill Farm in McGaheysville, VA. It too has quite a history. It was built in 1830. 

I meant to ask but forgot at the end ... the quilt was very pretty but I don't think it was very old. I can't imagine that the quilting would have been spaced so much apart because the batting would have wadded when washed. It was hand quilted though.

Standing in front of the house you can see the road continuing. We didn't need to go there but wondered about that traffic sign. Have never seen one like that. James suggested that it means that the black top stops soon and its going to be a gravel road. Had to find out. Yes, that is what it seems to mean.

This was the view from our room. We were there two nights and each evening the cows came (behind the tree right now). The field seemed to be empty but at a certain time in the evening lots of them were suddenly there. They were even running at one time from one side to the other. We could not find out why. James even went downstairs to look. And then suddenly they were gone again. Funny!

B&B means no dinner. Well, surely somewhere. The first restaurant "Firebirds" was closed on Sunday evening. So we found Hank's. A nice place. Nicely decorated. The staff was very friendly. The food was very good. Ha, and my glass of red house wine was very good too. James had a sirloin and I had salmon. Nice.

Monday was a great day. Breakfast at 9 am. We were 10 guests around the table. Nice conversations. And soon we were on the way into the mountains. Shenandoah National Park. The weather was perfect. The views were awesome. Our lifetime senior passes let us in free which was a saving of $30. We stopped at a Big Meadows ranger station and inquired about trails. They suggested the Rose River Loop (labeled as 4 moderate miles). The elevation difference from highest to lowest is about 900 feet. Oh yeah!

We parked at Fisher's gap and went the rocky part on the left first. That was definitely a blessing because we started from the top and went down, down, down. That part was not a smooth path but loaded with rocks and roots. At the end I was a bit ... huffing and puffing. But the last part uphill was a smooth gravel fire lane.

It took us about 4 hours. And it was great. Beautiful. Most of the trail was along the Rose River which didn't have that much water right now but every so often it cascaded and/or pooled. Some (young) people went into the pools to refresh. Officially there were two waterfalls.

I am very happy. I think I am doing pretty good for being 70. My knee is no issue. I am a bit out of shape right now but still ...

We found a cafeteria next to the ranger place and shared a sandwich. I took the next photo for Maren. We have such wonderful memories of the week we spent together there with German and English guests in a rented cabin after Sarah's wedding.

And then we slowly drove down from the mountain ridge again, stopping every so often at one of the overlooks into the Shenandoah Valley.

Later ... dinner. Hank's again. Why not? Firebird was open but didn't look so inviting. James had ribs this time. I ordered the sirloin because his had looked so good the night before. 

But it got funny. The waitress came and confessed that the chef had put the wrong steak on the fire ... the more expensive one which they wouldn't charge me but of course more fat. No problem, our hike took care of that I am sure. It was delicious. But before we left the friendly waitress came with a "doggy bag" saying that the chef had felt so bad to have messed up, he prepared the sirloin anyway for me to take home. Well, we did take it but gave it to the innkeepers. Hope one of them enjoyed it.

Tuesday

How the weather had changed. We left the B&B in the rain. 

My dear James drove us to Harrisonburg. Not quite on the way home but close enough that I finally got to see the Virginia Quilt Museum. All the other times we tried it always happened to be closed.

But just before we were there on the corner was a little free library. This photo is for Helen. It was raining and having the window open was a bit of a challenge. Also, I had missed it the first time and sweet James drove around the block ... because I asked him too.

And there is the Virginia Quilt Museum. It took a few years to finally make it there. Once I came very close to being able to visit it but it happened to be one of the few weeks when it was closed because of changing the display. It's closed Sundays and Mondays so we really had to arrange our schedule this time too.

This quilt was laying (I guess as a "hello") on the front porch. When we bought our tickets we were told that photographing inside is allowed but please no sharing on social media. I guess this means no blogging for me. Sorry, friends. 

Yes, I took plenty of photos. There are several different galleries. The main one right now is all about "Elvis". Since this is on their website, I think I am allowed to use it here. It was interesting but James was not very impressed. I was looking at things more from the "technique" angle. Piecing, appliqué, quilting, I took photos mainly to remind me of possibilities. Always learning.

And then we were on our way home. It was Tuesday and next day was Wade's birthday. Tomorrow Sarah was starting the "working nights" stretch and they had an event which had to do with Caleb starting Kindergarten soon. She asked whether we could do the celebration a day early. Sure.

We were early enough to witness the birthday-cookie-decorating. Everybody took turns sprinkling the sprinkles. What an excited bunch of boys. Me, me, me, my turn, ha-ha.

Caleb had asked whether he could do the lighting with his candle, the one he had made at science camp with real honeycomb. A little wax on the cookie wouldn't hurt anybody, right?

Happy Birthday, Wade! You are so loved by your three boys.

Reflecting on these days ... starting Friday til today ... what a chain of events. The lesson: enjoy each and every day, count your blessings and thank the Lord.