There’s only one October (…per year)

Our friend Adam suggested we take a day trip on Saturday to the Shenandoah Valley to see the fall leaves and tour historic downtown Winchester. It was about an hour and a half away. We visited two fall festivals (one had a pick your own apple thing and another had a wine tasting); visited a very old graveyard where Adam thinks some of his ancestors are buried; and took a scenic drive down Skyline Drive, which delivers splendid views of the Blue Ridge, the Appalachian Mountains, and of course the Valley. We finished the night at a corn maize in the dark.

 

The day was spent eating and drinking (a diet of: Virginia ham sandwich, apple cider doughnut, pumpkin spice doughnut, BBQ sandwich, wine (tastings!), Starbucks, hot dog, apple cider, hot chocolate), being merry, and seeing many pretty things. It was nice to get out of the city, slow down, breathe fresh, crisp, clean air, and get some perspective. It’s fun being big city “folk” but we have a new appreciation for getting back down to earth and getting quiet. Quiet, except for uncontrollable laughter, which the day was also full of!

 

It was a beautiful day! I’ll let the (many, many) pictures tell the story…

This was our first view of mountains

The orchard where we picked our own apples

 

 

 

 

 

I love how Mike and Adam are looking at each other here… Up to no good…

 

 

These pictures are all in the orchard

 

 

These apples were hanging on branches so heavily, they looked like grape vines. It was really pretty!

 

Apple crates

 

The view from the orchard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the apples we picked – some granny smith (which we used to make cobbler on Sunday), some fugi, crispins, golden delicious, and some other kinds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This street might be named after one of Adam’s ancestors!

 

 

 

There were tons

of beautiful churches

in the

downtown historic Winchester area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This home was built in 1785!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historic downtown and a garnet and gold autumn tree!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the graveyard where some of Adam’s ancestors might be buried. It’s also the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam, looking for family names on headstones…. …. …. …. Mike, sitting on a bench looking handsome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A sobering picture of infant headstones… children died so young back then… And a Captain in Stonewall’s Brigade! Wow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked by the McCain/Palin Victory office, so we stopped by to say hi to the volunteers and the cardboard candidates…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some views from Skyline Drive; the one on the left has a woman in it in red, and she looked so striking against the mountainous backdrop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m pretty sure Adam’s trying to throw Mike off the mountain here… But then he took a picture of us, so I forgive him.

 

 

Photo #1: I wanted to pretend like we’re falling off the edge, but Mike decided to be gangsta…

Photo #2: I’m “falling” and Mike is sad.

Photo #3: Mike almost knocked me off, so I’m giving him a hard time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at the monarch (on the right)!

 

 

Now, on the corn maize (IE “maze” – get it? Yeah, it’s CORNy, I know…)

Hey – I didn’t make all that up! They did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See? CORNundrum? Really? Oh yes, my friends. Oh yes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dark and scary corn maize on the left, and the dark, scary, and creepy Adam on the right, cuddling with my husband…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s Adam, Mike and me, and Kerisa, a girl who goes to church with Adam. Oh, and that’s Adam “eating” some corn. I guess he got hungry!

 

 

Now to explain the next series, you have to know what happened shortly after entering the maze. See, while waiting in line to get our tickets, we were behind a high school cross-country team (mostly girls). The frequency, pitch, and decibel level of their voices was unbelievable. We heard so many “OMG”s and “like”s and “totally”s that we lost a few brain cells. Once we were in the maze, we were wandering through, not following any clue, trying to get lost. We partly wanted to get away from the 40 teenagers, an partly thought it would be more fun to get lost.

 

So, without any warning, we heard rustling in the corn – someone was in the corn and not on the trail. Adam, thinking fast and figuring it had to be some teenagers “cheating” their way through the maze, waited until the exact second that they emerged when he jumped at them yelling, “ARRRRGGGHHHH!” and waving his hands like a crazy man. Their screams broke the glass on all houses within a 5 mile radius. The were good sports, scampering away giggling. We laughed so hard and decided we wanted our new mission to be to see how many people we could scare. The next few pictures are of Mike and Adam hiding in the corn and “practicing” their jumping out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s Adam, as he sticks his landing. On the right is Mike. He’s actually mid-leap but he mostly just looks like a really bad stalker, or gorilla or something. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you find the men in the corn??

 

 

 

Yeah, we weren’t having ANY fun at all…

 

 

 

 

 

<– Stoic Mike.

 

Happy Mike. –>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aaaaand… quote of the day:

Laura, to Mike: I love you.

Mike: Man, people around here sure do love their vinyl siding.

 

Happy Autumn!