Some much needed Elevation

It’s no surprise to anyone how much I love the great outdoors.  I’m at my best when it is just me and nature. Christian and I are completely in sync whenever we tackle an outdoor challenge. It’s the best date night we can plan for ourselves.  It’s so much better than dinner and a movie.  I love trees. I love breathing outside. I love the air and the openness that comes along with hiking along a trail and up a mountain. It’s relaxing. I feel reenergized.  And there is nothing better than a night of sleeping under the stars after you’ve climbed a mountain.

This weekend we are doing all of the above. Tonight after work, we are packing up the truck and heading to Shenandoah National Park.  While I’m a BIG fan of back country hiking/camping, the demands of pregnancy (for food and a comfortable place to sleep!) make me not too eager to live out of my backpack for 2 days.  We are trying something new this time. We’ve reserved a camp site at Big Meadows Campground within the park.  I can keep a cooler of plenty of healthy foods in the truck, and we can still enjoy sleeping in our tent.  I can’t stomach the idea of eating dehydrated foods for 2 days straight right now. I want fresh fruit and salads, and I don’t want to carry 40 lbs around on my back.  I want to sleep with my pillow. We can also bring our scrabble board – my all time favorite game!  Roughing it can wait until after Maute Moo makes his/her grand debut into the world.

The plan for the weekend is to fall asleep with the sun and wake up with the sun.  We are hiking/climbing/scrambling up Old Rag tomorrow morning bright and early. It’s an 8.8 mile (round-trip) hike and rock scramble with 2500 feet of elevation gain to the summit and back.  Did I mention how excited I am?  We haven’t done any scrambling since we were in Utah for our honeymoon over a year ago. There are also several other hikes close to the campground that take you to waterfalls.  Seeing all the waterfalls in Virginia is on my must-do list so I will get to check a few off this weekend!

I can’t wait to breath in the sunshine and fresh air this weekend. Taking notice of the beautiful world we live in (and take for granted oh too often) and living along side of it is what I want my life to be about. Get outside this weekend and appreciate our planet.  Get away from the strip malls, fast food joints, and bars.  Find a local trail near your house. Enjoy your backyard. Notice all the hawks that are always perched on the light posts along the highway (They aren’t always buzzards!). If you live in Virginia Beach like I do, go to the beach and really appreciate it for its beauty. Our planet is a pretty amazing place!

I imagine I will be MIA from my blog until Sunday, but I promise a lot of pictures when I get back! Here is a little sneak peek that our good friends, Carrie and Jimmy, took when they hiked Old Rag last fall.  Google it! Look it up! Put it on your list of things to do in Virginia! It’s claim to fame is that it’s the best hike/scrabble east of the Mississippi.