Weekending

Good Morning!


What a fun, wonderful weekend we had.  We left home Saturday morning and headed up to Colin & Mailing's where we met them, Mailing's parents and her sister.  Then we all headed north to Hickory Run State Park.  It was a gorgeous day with not one cloud in the sky.  It is about a one and a half hour drive from Colin & Mailing's.


Our first stop was a parking lot near Hawk Falls.  That was about a half mile hike down to the Falls and then a half mile back.  I did not get a picture of those Falls, but at one point I heard someone singing on a cliff above me - it was Colin who had run up the cliff like a goat and was peering down at us:

He was scampering around all day - like he was 6 years old.  Fun to see.


Next we drove to another parking area by a lake and started our hike.  The Mountain Laurel were in bloom:

The trails overall were not bad.  The most arduous one wasn't nearly as bad as some that Fletch and I have hiked, but the name was enough to put you off:

You can see what a beautiful day it was with a blue, blue sky and no clouds!  I was glad they had put some steps in this section of the trail:

We found a shady alcove to stop for lunch.  Colin & Mailing had packed it all:  sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, dill pickles, apples.  It all tasted so good.  We came upon a dam and falls that had been built by the CCC:

Very refreshing.  We saw some enormous tadpoles in one area, saw folks fishing, heard birds.  Luckily we came upon NO snakes!  We ended up hiking about 8 miles and my feet had blisters in new places after that! 


We wound up back at Colin & Mailing's for dinner:  a delicious Tagine, an arugula salad with a lemony vinaigrette and tri-colored couscous.  Delicious.  They made cantaloupe sorbet for dessert.  It was the perfect Father's Day celebration and I'm so glad we went on Saturday rather than Sunday (which got pretty hot).  My legs are still a little sore from the hike.


I did a little knitting over the weekend, but not much.  The heel is finished on the second sock and the gusset stitches have been picked up, but that's all.  I did finish "Never Caught - The Washington's Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge" which I highly recommend.  A very interesting read (and certainly shows a different side of George Washington than you get in school).  I've started reading This Book which, so far, I'm enjoying a lot.


Fletch is retired, but he still has a few clients who call him periodically.  Friday he worked for one couple and brought home from their garden this gorgeous Asian Lily:

Just look at all those blooms...and more buds!


Today is forecast to be near 100 degrees!  I'll be taking it easy as much as possible.  Hoping you all had wonderful weekends.