Hiking, Biking and Acrobatic Stunts!

We set out on a Cub Scout camping trip to Damascus, Virginia early last Saturday morning. Lots of excitement and "when will we get there"s filled the car for the WHOLE trip. We missed a turn on the other side of Johnson City, Tennessee and ended up going through Bristol. Which was fine with me since it meant we also missed an extremely curvy road and the Shady Valley Cranberry Festival AND parade!

We met up with the other families at the Damascus General Store, where there was a plethora of soft drinks and candies to choose from. I picked up a few of my all time favorites, ZOTS. We had lunch and a visit with store owner/Habersham County native, Jeremiah Heaton, then left for the campground.

After setting up camp, we headed out to Grayson Highlands for a hike where we encountered wild ponies (and I use the term "wild" loosely). Hailey and Fancy Nancy (I LOVE that her boys call her that) were horrified by the ponies, while Jackson and the other kiddos couldn't get enough of them.

Maybe if you stand real still and don't make eye contact, they wont see you.

On Sunday morning we hopped on our bikes for a fun filled 18 mile ride on the Creeper Trail. The fall colors were close to peak and the ride was beautiful. I don't think we were even 15 minutes into our adventure before we were talking about when we could plan another trip. You could definitely call it a perfect bike ride. Well, perfect except for my bicycling accident. Yep, wouldn't you know I'd be the one. Everyone has asked what happened, but I really have no clue. I wasn't going fast (except for the hitting the ground part). I had only one hand on the handle bars (OK, I'll admit it, not smart). I put my foot down (isn't that one of the first things they tell kids not to do when they're learning to ride a bike?). The next thing I knew I was on the ground.... sliding. OUCH. Jay and the kiddos were ahead of me and didn't even know it had happened. Which I'm very thankful for. The kids would have been scared and Jay would have made me cry (at least more than I did). Carrie, Brad, Spencer and Nancy were there and they administered first aid.... lots and lots of first aid! All I really remember was Brad asking me if I wanted him to get Jay and me telling him "no and don't tell him I cried" (which he did, MEN!). I knew my hands were in bad shape, because I could see them, but they kept making a fuss over the back of my right leg, the one that caught the sprocket of the bike. I refused to look at it, so I wasn't bothered by it at all. After getting bandaged up and hopping back on the bike all was good. We stopped for lunch in Taylors Valley then headed on into Damascus to end our trip. After resting up a little bit back at the campground the boys headed out for a hike on the Appalachian Trail to Buzzard Rock where they saw a beautiful sunset. I was very content to sit by the campfire with Fancy Nancy and Lisa and just enjoy the pictures that Jay took.

The ride home was a little long, probably accentuated by the fact that we had two carsick kiddos and the air conditioner went out on the car and I was miserable due to my hands and legs being so banged up. When I got home and talked to Sabrina she said "going on vacation with you is like going on vacation with the Griswolds". I don't know what would make her say something like that!

More pictures of the fun here!