Vacation Adventures - Multitude Mondays

Today we left the mountains.

Can you tell I'm crushed?

The pain was short lived though as we headed for the eastern shore. Cabins were replaced by Cape Cod homes. Mountains by flat marsh lands. Shrubs and creepers by rolling waves. Mountain air by salt water breezes.

The road here was fascinating and so, I'll tell you all the highlights combined with my multitudes for Mondays, for all of these I am so very grateful!

44. The very last marshmallows of our mountain adventure, toasted to a crisp and gooey all through.

45. Foggy mountain sunrises.

46. Warmth and chill combined into a lovely fall feeling.

47. Plaid-flanneled mountaineers.

48. Safety on the road.

49. Fields of ready to pick cotton. The first cotton fields I've ever seen.

50. Peanut fields, again, the first I've seen.

51. The Chesapeake Bay bridge/tunnel.

53. Seagulls.

54. Chincoteague Island (Yes the one Misty was on!!!)

I can't wait for the further adventures tomorrow. Hopefully nothing too scary. We've already met up with a raccoon, and a venomous "but not necessarily lethal" baby snake. I'm ready for shells, wild ponies, and bike rides. :)

For anyone interested in the giveaway. Please remember to let me know and become a reader. If you are already a reader and would like this digital scrap-booking software be sure to let me know by tomorrow. The giveaway winner will be announced tomorrow evening, (as long as my internet holds out.)

Fine print: Please forgive the absence of pictures. The internet is very spotty right now and I can't seem to get quite enough to allow me to upload. :/ Close your eyes and try to imagine it. :)

Vacation Adventure Day 4 and 5 Simple Things.

Things I loved about these last two days.

Cool drizzly air necessitating soft cardigans and warm drinks.

Sunny park benches, perfect for reading books on.

Burgers, grilled by myself, the first ever, and they were edible. :)

Hammered Dulcimer shop, with the most unbelievably beautiful dulcimers - That I was allowed to play. Taking home a set of new hammers to try out on my own dulcimer.

Sense of supreme accomplishment of looking over the hills after a steep hike.

Campfire warming my face and hands, while the cool mountain air blows across my ankles.

Swirled clouds above mountains.

Seeing complete blackness in the depths of a cave, and knowing just a little of what it must have felt like for the blind to be given their sight.

Little hillbilly produce stands along the road, proudly pronouncing the fact that they sell "boiled peanuts" and "taters".

Drippy caverns with their beautiful rocks, and blind trout. (And yes, even a bat or two)

Southern accents.

And I saved the very best for last -

A store entirely dedicated to Scotland, with a brief nod to Ireland and Wales. Bodhran's, kilts, haggis, claymore's , and clan plaids. Bagpipe music in the background, Scottish flag in the foreground, it was perfect. :)

Fine print: Images are my own. The cave picture being one of the last ones taken, after I realized that flash photography is necessary in a cave. :)

Vacation Adventure Day 2 and 3 -

Fog closed in over the highway, blanketing everything but the road from view. It was almost as if we had entered a world of cloudy dreams, a gateway into another land. And then, almost as suddenly as we had entered the blurry tunnel, we emerged.

There they were.

Blue and boldly scalloped against the skyline. The blue ridge mountains.

There are no words to describe them.

After a long trip we were glad to sit on a dock near a lake and splash our feet in the cold water. Many fascinating things were discovered at the "lake of shining water". Probably the most interesting being a snakeskin.

Our cabin was reached after a tremendously scary climb up our own mountain. A climb I cringe ever day to repeat. I'm getting really good at holding my breath as the van attempts to climb it.

The cabin is lovely. Some of the walls are covered in tree bark, there is a headboard made of sticks, and a screened in porch perfect for reading. The kitchen (my very own domain this vacation) is perfect. Folks, I don't think I'm coming home.

After a campfire and way too many marshmallows, we watched the stars come peeping out of the sky. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many.

Today (day 3) started off bright and early. We hit the blue ridge parkway, and sat gasping at the view for the next hour and a half. It's incredible.

Lunch and then we hit the trails. We climbed a mountain. Really, truly we did. See that waterfall in the picture? We started there and climbed all the way around and up, to where I took the picture.

After a strenuous climb and a equally exhausting walk/ slide down we collapsed in the car.

And the strangest adventure of the day began. We found ourselves on a narrow winding road. A very narrow road, with intersecting "drives" labeled names like "Marie's Way," and " Overthemountain" (that spelling is correct). And then the road got drastically narrower. 1 lane, the other blocked off with construction vehicles. And then suddenly we found ourselves stuck. Behind huge equipment, a sheer drop off, and no place to turn around. We sat there for almost a half an hour, before everybody could be backed up and turned around to let us pass.

But what we found at the bottom of the mountain made it worth it all. A small general store.

Packed full of candy, bandannas, lovely (if over priced) clothes, and soda. Real general store style soda in glass bottles.

That is, by the way the best soda in the world. I wanna buy a case before I leave. :)

Tonight ended with giant marshmallows and smores, and cool mountain air.

Until tomorrow!

Amanda

Fine print: Pictures are all my own.

Vacation Adventures Day 1 - Of Coons and Little Girls

The adventures started in the Tractor Supply parking lot. Our family was still groaning and stretching as we ambled across the parking lot. The busy highway behind the store roared, and made me long for the peace of the mountains. I couldn't wait for the peaceful streams, forest trails, and wildlife.

Then I looked over at the parking spot beside me. And saw it.

A Racoon. Just sitting there, watching us. A racoon, in the middle of the day, in a busy parking lot.

Not a good thing.

I had never seen a real life racoon, only stuffed ones. But I had heard the stories. Any coon dumb enough to be out in the middle of a parking lot in broad day light. Any coon that didn't bat an eye when humans passed 6 feet in front of him. Any coon like that was one sick racoon.

We got past the racoon, and when we returned to the car my furry friend was gone. So there is my first wild life adventure for this vacation. And I wasn't even out of the city yet.

Sitting beside of my little six year old sister, is almost always an adventure. Whether she is wearing the neck pillow on top of her head, staring through her pink horn-rimmed play glasses, or beating me repeatedly in tic tac toe, she's quite a trip.

Her favorite thing to do is copy whatever I am doing. While I was working on a writing assignment. She was typing on her play laptop, her forehead wrinkled, her headphones on -silently mouthing the words to the song she was listening to. Copying me in every last detail. A good reminder for me that she is always watching my example.

The rest of our driving was quiet and uneventful. We ate lollipops, searched for out of state license plates, and all talked at once. That's what vacation is all about. :)

Fine print: Neither picture is my own. My racoon didn't have a leafy background, :/ and my sister is cuter than that. :)

Headed for Adventure

Today is finally the day! We are packed and ready to go. A full two week vacation lies ahead, full of who knows what adventure. :) I plan on blogging throughout vacation, but, seeing as we are headed for the mountains, if you all don't hear from me, it's because I've gotten unplugged from the internet. :/

My bags are stuffed with books, my journal, and extra notebooks. I'm ready to just relax and fuel up on reading and writing.

Multitudes for this Monday :

35: Vacation is finally here!!!

36: Beautiful, inspiring pictures

37: Sewing projects that actually look right when finished.

38: Writing instructors

39: Sleepy little girl voices in the morning from the next room.

40: A brother who gets all worked up over the possibility of buying an air soft gun.

41. The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking.

42. Anticipation.

43. A wonderful church and church family.

That's all for now, I'll talk to you all soon.

P.S. If you are a reader and want to sign up for the giveaway, please remember to let me know in a comment. :)

Fine print: Neither photos are my own. I wish those suitcases belonged to me...

Giveaway!!!!

I'm a busy girl, and I've got a huge collection of hobbies. I like to craft, read, create music, cook, take pictures.... There are very few crafting hobbies that I haven't dabbled in. Macramae, paper mache and scrapbooking being the main neglected ones. I've always wanted to scrapbook, but all the paper, glitter, glue, and stickers has always seemed too messy. I don't have time for something long and drawn out and messy.

But all that changed last week. I was offered a chance to try the my memories suite digital scrapbooking software. I jumped at the chance. And I'm glad I did, cause' I love it. :) There is no mess, no extra expense, and I can do it in much less time than if I was doing it with real paper and scissors.

The software was easy to use, and pretty cool. You can add ribbons and bows, and flourishes. Its easy to add pictures straight from your picture file in your computer. And to make it all just a little neater, you can add videos, music, or narration.

- I think this would be pretty cool to use as a a cookbook creator too! That's the first thing I tried and I love the idea!

My memories generously offered me the chance of giving away their product to my lovely readers. So here is how to enter the giveaway.

1. Become a follower of me. :) (Tell me in a comment) (If you are already a follower and would like to enter, leave a comment and let me know!)

2. Blog about my giveaway on your blog. (Make sure you comment here with a link to your post!)

Each of these choices will give you one entry in the giveaway. Do both and you'll get 2 entries. :)

One more thing. My memories has offered a $10 coupon code on the my memories suite software to all my readers. Just use this code. STMMMS20181

So let the fun begin! The winner will be announced September 20!

It's Coming...

Today there were dark and dreary clouds overhead. But somehow, under all that grayness there seemed to be a subtle change. The air was cooler, the breeze crisper. All I wanted to do was curl up with a book and a mug of warm, spicy cider. Fall is coming, and though I mourn the loss of my warm bright days, I am looking forwards to the coziness of Autumn.

Here are my multitudes for this week. : )

24. Hint's of fall in the

air.

25. Plum colored clothing. (I love that the color plum is everywhere this year.)

26. Stanton Lanier's beautiful music. (Check my mixpod on the side, There is some of his music in there. : )

27. Corn Stalks turning brown

28. Red Raspberries.

29. Cloud Banks telling us that Autumn is near.

30. Vacation Plans. (Excuse me a second.... Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I can't wait!)

31. Gray Sweatshirts in the morning with...

32. Chai Tea : )

33. 5 unread books on my shelf. (And they were half off at the thrift store!!!!!)

34. An Assignment nearly done!!!!!

What are you thankful for this week?

Fine Print: Picture not my own. It's made me feel less sad for giving up summer. :)