Small Town VA Part One: Abingdon

The last weekend in July Luke and I celebrated the last weekend of our "summer" with a bang!  Connie, Luke's mom, planned a fabulous weekend to one of the cutest towns I have ever been too!  Luke and I absolutely loved Abingdon and would go there again in a heart beat...what other small town is filled with 5 star restaurants, amazing bed and breakfast places to stay in, a scenic bike trail through VA country, a bomb-a festival/farmer's market, a talented local theater, the list could keep on going and going...?!

Lucky for us, we got to experience all of those great things on our short weekend trip..check out the pics!

First things first:  glass of wine on the porch of our b&b

The first night we headed to dinner and were surprised at how delicious this food was!  Luke said his meal (some Hawaiian fish dish) was the best meal he has ever had.  We ate like Kings...

I had the tuna...mouth is watering just thinking about it!

For some reason there were painted foxes all over town...and since Connie has a fox friend living in her backyard, it was only appropriate for us to take a picture!

Would love to wake up to this every morning...oh wait I do!  My husband makes great coffee...but may be we can work on the presentation :)

Starting breakfast with fresh, local fruit and a homemade scone...yes please!

The best part of the trip was our bike ride on Saturday morning.  The Va Creeper Trail stretches 34 miles from Abingdon, Virginia down thru the town of Damascus, VA  along the Whitetop Laurel River and up to its highest point Whitetop Station near the NC State Line at Whitetop, Virginia.  The trail used to be railroad track, but was turned into a recreational track in 1977.  We did half of the trip and it was an amazing experience.  The trail, for the most part, is a slight down-hill grade, so you could really ride leisurely and spend most of your time looking at the views.  Some parts you see fields with cows, others the river, some with mountainous views, and even a part with multi-million dollar homes on a golf course.  

Stopping for a break

Riding on the bridges was my favorite part.  The rivers were gorgeous.

HAHA...hard to get a pic of the three of us!

Cows along the trail

I love this pic :)

The rest of our trip was full of even more fun...more on that later.  Until then, I need to quit procrastinating on my homework!

Family Beach Week 2012

Well, it has been awhile...since I last posted I started my new job, started my grad school class, started a new small group through our church, and am still finishing working at the Office Of International Programs as a practicum student.  So, I've been busy to say the least.  I am looking forward to things slowing down in 2 weeks when International Week (my last OIP project) is over!!

While I had a little downtime tonight I thought I would post some pics from my family beach trip this past summer.  So here is our beach week through Instagrams:

Happy to be together at OIB!!!

Just love the sky...

We like to rock the chins

Go figure...dad always repping the PACK!

Loving the Corn on the Cob

Ladies on the sand...You can tell I did not get as much sun this summer!

Sibs-I heart D-Reg

Sweet Luke!  I really love this picture.

My Family :)

I think this is the best "cousins" picture we have ever taken.  Luke didn't fall this year...so thats awesome too.

We had some great pics this year.  This is a pic of a pic because I do no t have the digital copy but please note grandma and Dereck to the left.  This whole picture perfectly represents the family.

Every year we plan a day of thrifting at the beach.  Although I am not sure we have ever bought anything at the "Thrifty Diva" we always stop by!  This year I drove Luke's car and when we went to leave the car would not start.  The steering wheel was stuck and we spent 20 minutes taking turns between grandma, mom, and myself.  We even rocked the car back and forth thinking the tires were stuck (it was sight to see!)...eventually we caved in and called dad and grandpa.  They came to help us and even grandpa could not figure it out.

About 30 minutes later, and after reading the car manual, dad tried to use the key to unlock the car and the key was not even unlocking it...then I realized I had been using the keys to my car, and not Luke's. So our thrifting day was still as fun and successful..but we had a minor pitstop along the way!  Makes life more exciting, right?!

Dereck, Luke, and I went to a beach bar one night!  I decided to surprise Dereck and sign us to sing his favorite childhood song "I Believe I can Fly."  It was embarrassing to say the least...

While Dereck and I were shopping at the surf shop...this guy headed over to Eagles for a red neck treat!

Kenna is a mini-me...purple Sigma Kappa sunglasses and a diet coke!

Heading to Beach Music in the park!

Mexican Train...favorite game at the beach!

 Wish I was back at the beach right now...until then..working hard so I can enjoy it even more when I do get there.