Festival of Lights!

This past weekend, Jeff & I went to New River Trail State Park in Galax, VA to start off our Holiday Season.  We had fun riding our bikes along the river & taking part in their local holiday celebrations.  Foster Falls in a 17th century steel mill that is now owned by the VA park service so every year they decorate the old buildings with lights.  We rode a horse drawn carriage & partook of the free hot chocolate & homemade goodies.  It was a lot of fun! 

 Santa!

 Chestnut Creek Waterfall

Pics!

 The tombstones are from a family named Vinson, which is my Great-Grandmother's maiden name.  Are they relatives?

 Mount Medoc, the tallest point between the ocean & Raleigh, NC.  Measured at 325 feet.

Halloween, Umstead, & Big News

This year for Halloween, we went trick-or-treating with our neighbors.  It was really fun to experience the holiday with a 6 year old ;)  We carved our pumpkins together & were inspired by Agent P (Mimi's favorite tv show).  My job was to steam the pumpkin to make pumpkin bars & entertain Mimi.  Jeff & I learned that at age 6, pumpkin carving isn't really possible yet.  6 year olds with sharp things is a bad combination. 

Shortly after Halloween, Jeff & I took off for another camping trip.  This time to Umstead State Park, about 45-minutes from home.  We left Saturday afternoon & did a short 3 mile loop to a pretty lake.  To get the experience of backpacking, I carried about 20lbs on my back.  Saturday night, Jeff made us bratwurst, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, & smores.  Yum!  Sunday we got up & fixed bacon & biscuits, which sat really heavy in our stomachs during our 8 mile hike that day.  Again, I packed about 15lbs on my back & by the end of our hike I was feeling like I got a good workout.  My hips, knees, & shoulders were hurting.  So all-in-all I think it was a successful trip & we are looking forward to trying it again at Medoc Mountain State Park next week!

Sooo we have some big news to share......JEFF GOT A JOB!!  After months of applying to various jobs & getting 1 rejection letter, Jeff interviewed with the USGS in Flagstaff, AZ for a post-doctoral position studying the Little Colorado River.  And on Friday, he was offered the job!  Yay!  It's still sinking in but we are moving back home!  I know my family is thrilled  :)  It's so weird to think that we will be back in our hometown with the people we love.  And now I feel completely overwhelmed by all the things that have to happen between now & when we move!  We may be listing our house for sale as early as January...eek!  For me, I am hoping to transfer to the Target store in Flagstaff & I am also hoping to get a promotion by then.  Keep praying for us!!

Family Gatherings

 As most of you are already aware, Jeff's Grandfather, Walter Muehlbauer, passed away.  He had been declining rapidly since we saw him during the Holidays last year.  Shortly after we visited, he was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia & was placed into a home.  He lived in his community until September when shortly after we visited him while we were in town for a wedding, he went into the hospital with a virus & wasn't able to recover from that.  Our visit in December was really nice & sweet & that is how I remember Grandpa...eating a larger than life burrito & laughing with us.  Our visit in September was really hard because Grandpa wasn't himself anymore, it was hard to see.  His service was really beautiful.  I don't remember ever going to a Catholic service before, so it was a little awkward for me but it was still really nice. Jeff's Uncles & Dad gave really heart-felt & warming speeches & the pastor was really kind.  Even though there were a lot of tears, it was a good way to say goodbye.  It was also really good to be surrounded by loving family.  We really enjoyed catching up with all of Jeff's Aunts, Uncles, & Cousins.  And of course, being there for Jeff's Grandmother as well was a special treat.

After the service, we had a long flight back home but our stay at home was short lived because we had planned our annual family fall trip for that weekend.  This year, we travelled to Mount Mitchell State Park.  We left Wednesday after work & got to the Blue Ridge Parkway late at night.  We camped & got up the next morning to hike 6-7 miles (the majority of it along the parkway) to our next campsite at the base of the Black Mountains.  The hike down Green Knob was strenuous.  It was literally straight down & it was then that I began to wonder if my hiking boots were too small, as my feet began to be in so much pain I could hardly walk.  As most of you are aware, I am a Lovett & so I am nothing if not tenancious (ahem proud) & there was no way I was letting Jeff carry me, my pack, or anything.  I was going to make it down that godforsaken mountain!  In addition to the foot pain, my pack weighed 30lbs this time! That's the same amount of weight Jeff carries!  So the pack weighed very heavily on me.  It dug into my back big time but again I was not to be detered.  I did not even complain.  I wanted to own this.  I wanted to be able to say I carried as much as Jeff.  This was a major first for me that I wanted.  So we made it to Black Mountain campground with all of these trials & tribulations  :)

Black Mountain campground was beautiful.  On the valley floor, the South Toe River flowed & the deciduous trees were in full color.  So pretty!  After backpacking 6 miles, you expect to camp primitively, so we were pretty surprised when we walked into a car camping campground!  All the locals camping with their RVs & gas heated tents.  Pretty ridiculous but it was nice to be able to buy wood & have a fire to make smores with that night.  The nights & mornings were pretty cold the entire trip but hiking during the day in 40-50 degree weather was nice.

Day 2 was spent hiking the most difficult Mount Mitchell Trail.  4500ft elevation change in 6 miles.  It was pretty difficult but then we had backpacks on.  It's a totally doable day hike.  Actually, I think it was much easier than the previous day's hike down the Green Knob trail.  That trail was brutal!  The Mount Mitchell Trail was probably the most beautiful trail we have been on since moving to NC.  It was gorgeous!  The trail goes through Old Growth Boreal Forest so the trees are really big & pretty :)  When we finally made it to the top of Mt. Mitchell, we ran into about 100 people all "climbing" to the top.  Once you get off the trail, there is a parking lot & a paved walkway the last 500 feet to the summit.  It really cheapens the moment.  Tammy was totally beat & didn't even really care about the 15 other dogs that were also on the trail.  I told someone that she was beat from scaling a mountain & they replied mine too.  Umm no.  Not even close.  But whatever.  We camped at the top, which was a mistake because it was bitter cold & windy.  Jeff got a fire going & that was the only way we were able to stay up & have dinner without immediately going into our sleeping bags.  Poor Tammy, snuggled up between Jeff & I 5 feet from the fire because she was so cold.  Jeff laid out his thermorest for her, with her blanket so she could be comfortable & warm.  We dote on this animal, have you noticed?  The morning on the mountain was even worse.  With no fire & crazy fog conditions, it was all we could do to take down camp & start moving asap!

Day 3 we climbed down the mountain.  It was by far our longest day, something like 15 mountains but it was all gradual switchbacks.  No more steep trails!  Once we got off the mountain & out of the fog, it turned out to be a really nice warm day.  When we got to our car, we decided to check out some day hikes back at Black Mountain Campground, only to find out the campground was completely booked!  There were a couple of Mountains-To-Sea trail backpackers that were camping on the lawn because they were beat & needed somewhere to stay!  We did a short 1 mile loop to Steprock Creek Falls.  Really pretty falls near the campground & then we headed back to the Blue Ridge Parkway to find somewhere to set up camp for the night.  Tammy meanwhile was passed out in her bed in the backseat of the car during all of this.

Short Note- After climbing down Green Knob with 30lbs on my back, the lower part of my body started to fail.  If I stopped, even to take a drink of water from my Camelback, my calves started to spasm.  My feat were hurting so bad because of my boots being too small, that when we got to camp at night I walked around in my socks.

After we set up camp, I finally relayed to Jeff my desire for calcium because these muscle spasms were giving me a ton of pain.  So we headed 5 miles north on the parkway to a place called Little Switzerland.  And it was exactly as it sounds.  Chalet lodges, fudge, hot chocolate...the works.  We got 2 hot chocolates.  And it really did help, even if it was only psychological but who knows or cares.  On the way back to camp, we stopped to watch the sunset over the mountains.  Really pretty.

Before heading home on Sunday, we drove the 40 miles down the parkway to Asheville, stopping along the way to see Crabtree Falls, Craggy Gardens, and the Folk Art Center.  It was a gorgeous drive & a really nice end to our trip.  Tammy was still passed out in the car.  :)         

Lake Tahoe!!

Jeff & I just got back from vacationing with family in Lake Tahoe!  It was a whirlwind & certainly was not relaxing but we enjoyed ourselves just the same.  We flew in Wednesday night & stayed with Jeff's Aunt & Uncle in San Francisco.  We traveled with Kimberly & Matt & since Matt had never been to CA before, Thursday we took him on a tour of the city.  We had lunch in Fisherman's Wharf & ate really good clam chowder & sourdough.  Yum! 

Then, we drove up to Jeff's Grandparents in Paradise, CA.  For those of you that don't know, Jeff's Grandpa was diagnosed earlier this year with vascular dimension.  And we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when he recognized all of us at the first visit.  We had a really good time visiting with his grandparents, his Grandma is a hoot! 

We left Paradise on Saturday for Lake Tahoe.  We drove all the way around the lake so that Matt could get the whole experience.  :)  We got to the hotel just in time to be shuffled off to dinner with the entire family.  We had no idea we were invited to the rehearsal dinner!  It was mexican food & OK.  I was a little disappointed that my only option was a taco salad but so it goes.  Sunday was the wedding & we started the day off right with a hike to the lake.  We could not have asked for better weather!  After the hike, lunch, & getting ready, Jeff & I decided to walk around the village by ourselves.  We would have loved to take a gondola ride but at $35 per person, it just wasn't worth it.  After walking around, I helped Kimberly get Debbie ready & then we were off to the wedding! 

The wedding was held at Valhalla, a viking dining hall, complete with ginormous fireplace & gorgeous views of the lake.  It was beautiful wedding.  Are there bad weddings?  After the wedding there was a nice cocktail hour where we could watch the sunset while drinking really good wine. 

The reception was nice with lots of fun music from the 90s that Kimberly & I fully enjoyed.  By 9pm, though, I was sore & tired!  We left shortly after 9pm to sleep & get ready for our long day of traveling on Monday.  Monday we drove back to San Francisco & got on a plane to NC!  The only downer was that I had to get up at 6am this morning to go to work but I left at 10am so I could go home & take a nap.  We had a lovely time in CA & thanks to all of you that entertained us while we visited!