10 Years

I'm happy to say that we had a perfect anniversary trip in August.  We chose our trip location based on what Groupon had to offer that was within driving distance.  I figured that if you live by the beach, you should vacation in the mountains, right?  Plus our budget is super limited and the price was right. :)  We went to beautiful Luray, Virginia!

The Mimslyn Inn - where we stayed

Wait, did I mention that we went without kids?!  It was our first time EVER getting away together without the hijos.  It was wonderful.  As the chef said during our anniversary dinner, "It's cheaper than alimony."  My parents were so awesome to come to our house and watch the kids for 3 days.

Day 1:  We left the kids with my parents and drove almost 4 hours together which was awesome.  We got to talk so much!  I had planned a surprise for Dan at 5pm (he hated being surprised, but I stayed strong and didn't tell him).  I had found this place where you could rent ATVs and drive in the mountains on different trails with a guide.  I had never done this before, but I had a blast!  I felt bad for Dan that he had to go so slow at the beginning because of me, but we definitely sped up after that and we both had a lot of fun.

 

The Guide and I.  Please notice how he has no helmet.  In his defense, we weren't doing anything that would have seemed difficult for him, but I still wish he would've worn one.  Before we started our, I noticed that he had his right forearm covered in some sort of medical wrap and asked about it.  He then took the wrap off and showed us the giant scar underneath.  During the winter, he was in a ATV accident so bad that his arm was hanging on only by some skin and had to be REATTACHED.  He also broke a leg bone or two and lost several teeth.  If I had experienced that kind of trauma, I think I would walk around with a helmet on all day everyday.

 

This is at the end and we are seriously muddy with wet feet.  I wanted to get at least one picture without the giant black helmets.  Don't we look tough? :)  We didn't get a lot of pictures because we were too busy having fun, but there were hills and mud holes and trails covered with large rocks.  It was great.

For dinner that night, we outside in front of an Italian pizza place across from our hotel where the garlic knots were amazing!  We ate all 12 of them in addition to pizza slices.

Day 2:  I stunk at sleeping in which was disappointing.  I was so looking forward to waking up LATE, but instead I woke up before 7 and spent the next two hours or so trying to fall back asleep.  After a yummy breakfast buffet at the fancy smancy restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel, we went to Luray Caverns.

 

 So handsome. I love him!

It was impossible to get a good picture of this with my camera, but to the naked eye, there was a perfect reflection of the ceiling on the pool below.  The caves were great, but it was interesting to see how much they are altered to accomodate tourism since they are privately owned rather than government protected.  There are so many natural beauties and wonders that we blessed to be able to enjoy on this awesome little planet.

There was a car museum next door to the caverns and we really enjoyed that - especially Dan. It was like "Jay's Garage brought to life.  I liked that we could take our time and read all the plaques since there weren't 3 kids with us.  Above is an amazing Rolls Royce and someone who would love to have it.

The museum had an older feel to it.  It obviously hadn't changed much over the last couple of decades, but it was definitely a good collection of things with wheels.

That afternoon we went swimming and were able to take a guilt free nap.  Heaven.  We've decided that we want a pool in our "someday" house.

I'm clearly not very good at getting my
arm out of the way when I take a self portrait.

For our anniversary dinner, we ate at an Inn down the street.  The photo near the top of the post - purple room -is at the inn.  Being the Gilmore Girls fan that I am, I thought it was super cool that were eating a nice dinner at a small inn.  The food was awesome (like Sookie's) and we were the only people who chose to eat inside (there were several families and couples eating at tables in the front lawn), so that made it seem extra special.  I should have taken pictures of the plates since all the food during the trip seemed to have made quite an impression on me. :)  The chef came out to say hi to everyone during dinner and was super friendly and chatty. I guess it's a small town thing to personally talk with all the guests?  He was nice and the food was really good.  I think we lucked out to stay in such a small town, but still have a tourist attraction (the caverns) and such good food. 

 Day 3:  I slept in until 10:30!!!  Fantastic.  We ate our breakfast on the front porch of the hotel and had a nice view.  After checkout, we walked up and down Main Street and window shopped at all the stores.  Most of them were antique stores, but there were other shops too.  It was a lot of fun.  The only thing I bought, I bartered the owner down to 55% of the asking price.  But, I wasn't trying to be stingy.  It was seriously what I was willing to pay.

 

We unfortunately didn't get to go to the movies because the movies and times were really limited, but when you see a pink movie theater, you have a take a picture, right?

Lunch before we left was great.  We had sandwiches in this cute cafe that used to be a hardware store (Like Luke's on Gilmore Girls!).  Dan fell in love with the cabinet in the background.  The picture only captured about half of it. It was HUGE and beautifully made with a million little drawers and shelves.  It was original to the hardware store and looked like something out of the 1930's.  So cool. 

We took this picture on the way home for Kevin.  We had to make a U turn to get a good pic of Mater on the side of the highway.  We were happy to see the kids and be home, but I wouldn't mind a trip like that again soon. :)

I feel incredibly blessed to be married and sealed to a good, hardworking man that I both love and like!