Sunday, October 2, 2011

Vacation :)

We're back!!  Yep, we got home around 10:00 last night.  I love vacation, but I'm so glad to be home.  I always get a little homesick, I've always been that way, I just love being home.  I know, I'm a weirdo...  Anyways, I've had time to think about many, many projects that I want to do around the house, and I'm ready to get started.  But first, I wanted to share some pictures of our vacation.  Enjoy!

Okay, so on the drive, I was completely obsessed with these windmills.  I've seen 'em from far away on a hillside, but up close, these puppies are huge!!!  I also find them incredibly soothing... I don't know, something about the constant repetition I guess.  Chris actually made fun of me because I literally took 50 pics of them, I'll spare you and just post this one.



Our first stop on this three part vaca was Massanutten resort.  This place is actually a ski resort, but they're open year-round.  We were there for 2 days... it rained pretty much the whole time.  So we did a lot of nothing.  Seriously, there's nothing worse than being stuck in a hotel room.  But finally, towards the evening of our second day, it cleared enough for us to escape our room. We went to the on-site driving range, where a couple of golf balls may or may not have went soaring into the road (ahem... Chris).  I did learn a valuable lesson from this.  If we ever decide to go golfing (real golfing, not just mini-golf) we need to go on a day when absolutely NO ONE is there. 





One cool thing about Massanutten was the wildlife.  I was out of the car standing just a few feet away from this guy.


During all that rain, we did manage to sneak out to a little vacation tradition... FIVE GUYS!!  Best burgers ever!!


2 days is just about all we can stand of a regular hotel room, so we headed out into the woods for a little camping and kayaking on the Shenandoah River.


We had a nice campsite on the river. (I did have a fear at night that there was an ax murderer out there though.) Yeah, I get a little crazy sometimes.  You could say that I have an active imagination...
The first night, we set up camp and then headed out to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the WVU game.  It was a huge game, so there was no way we were missing it.  We ended up being in Buffalo Wild Wings for 5 hours... 


The next day, we were picked up at our campsite by this guy and we headed out to start our 18 mile kayaking trip.  They took us upstream to start out, so the first day we floated back to our campsite (10 miles) and the second day we floated from our campsite down to the kayaking company (8 miles).  This was by far the best part of vacation.

And... we kayaked our first offical Class 2 rapids (below).  I know this guy doesn't look like much, but when your coming up on it, it looks like the river just stops in front of you.  It was a 2 1/2 foot drop, it got the ol' heart a'pumpin. 





I LOVE this picture of Chris.  Everything is perfect, his pose, the sky, the mountains...oh yeah, and standin' up in the kayak is pretty cool too. :)


After two days and 18 miles, we were ready for a little relaxing.  Luckily, we had a suite waiting for us in Williamsburg.

When we got there, Chris had to get his sports fix.  This picture cracks me up.  He's watching ESPN, reading MSN (Mountaineer Sports Net) and listening to Mountaineer Sports Line.  That's my guy... haha...


Williamsburg is a really nice, relaxing place.  When you go into Colonial Williamsburg, you feel like you've stepped back in time.  They even have costume rentals so you can fit in, I was tempted... very tempted.... but I held back.








A couple days later, we explored Jamestown and Yorktown.  If you're a history buff, these places are must-see.

This is an old church in the first English settlement, Jamestown.


Here is a cannon that was used in the Battle of Yorktown during the Revolutionary War.


This is an "earth work" that George Washington and his men dug to sneak up on the British at Yorktown.



And here is the house where the British surrendered.


On the way home, we stopped by a Bass Pro Shop.  Look at him, he's downright giddy.


I have to admit, this place made for some pretty great photo ops.



 

After that we stopped at Ikea... YAY!!!!!   We don't have one close, so anytime I get to go, it's a big deal.  So after the whole vacation, here are some goodies that I brought home.

Cute little throw from Ikea to add some more color to the living room.


I found these bottles with seals at Ikea for only $3.99!  I'm gonna use these when I tackle our master bath.

These little guys were only $.79... I heart Ikea :)


I found this at a thrift store in Williamsburg, you can never have enough chunky picture frames and it was marked down to $1.


I thought this old fashioned clock from Ikea was adorable.


Set of three little baskets, Ikea $4.99, picked up 2 sets of these, these are going in the master bath too.


Now these two are the pride and joy of the entire trip.


I found this lampshade in the "As-Is" section of Ikea.  It was marked down from $25 to $3.99!!  I can't find anything wrong with it, so it must have just been the stitching or something.  I've got big plans for this little guy.


And now for my favorite..... 


This Coca-Cola crate is my favorite find.  We found this at a church yard sale near Massanutten.  The sticker on it said $10, but my wonderful hubby talked them down to $4!!  I found the same kind on Ebay for $50!  But, no Ebay for this guy, he's staying here. :)


Wow, that was a lot of pictures.  Did you notice the new fall header at the top of the page?  My house is getting ready to get the fall treatment too, I just have to get the motivation to go dig the stuff out of the basement....  

Oh, and by the way, it is absolutely FREEZING here!!  It was in the 80s in Williamsburg, and yesterday is was only 47 in Motown... I'm not prepared for this...

-Brooke


No comments:

Post a Comment

My blog has moved!

You should be automatically redirected in 6 seconds. If not, visit
www.lifeonagravelroad.com
and update your bookmarks.