Fall Foliage Trip

Last Friday, in lieu of our regularly scheduled program (which was a trip to my parents' to celebrate my brother's birthday), we stayed home.


Well, we really didn't stay home. But we stayed away.


Four sets of pink eye (Salem, Gideon, Jonathan, and Eden) kept us from just about every social function last week. That meant we were spending a lot of time at home comparing shades of pink ("Would you call that salmon? Or peach? Gideon's are crimson!"). Pink eye is such a dumb thing...besides demonic eyes and sniffly noses, there's little to slow the stricken down. So they are running around the house, sneezing contagion upon whomever is within range, and whining incessantly. (In good health, there's just the running and whining.)


And I had had enough. No way was I going to spend Ethan's day off doing the usual (laundrymealslaundrymealslaundrymealslaundrymeals), but we couldn't go anywhere populated for fear of spreading this virus. (Well, honestly, I could have cared less about spreading it amongst strangers but Gideon's eyes were so demon-possessed looking there would have been no way to hide our irresponsibility.)


Ethan to the rescue! "Want to go for a drive?" he asked. And, as always, because I am always looking for a reason not to be doing laundrymealslaundrymealslaundrymealslaundrymeals, I said a hearty,


"Hallelujah!
A-men! 
POTTY, SHOES, AND GET IN THE VAN!!!"


It almost rhymes.


And we took a little fall foliage drive.


I guess it's a family tradition now. This is the second year we've driven to Crabtree Falls in its autumnal splendor, and I hope we continue every year.


This is how you know you're on a good road:

1. GPS routing is not advised.
2. The post office meeting is at the Baptist church.
3. The road is too bumpy to take a decent picture.

Also, the last store you pass (about 20 minutes after the one before it) is a restaurant/general store/bait stop/potty stop/place to buy gum-chocolate-wine-sharp cheese-twizzlers-local cookbooks-quilts-cast iron pans/place to gut your fish.


Y'all, it's that good. It looks like a lodge, and the restrooms are CLEAN. I want to live there.

But back to the Falls. We opted to walk to them and enjoy the beautiful crisp air.

This is how you know you're on a good trail:

There is a "MANDA DIANE WILL YOU MARRY ME?" sign on the path.

See? Everyone wanted to read the sign.

Sidenote: Ethan wants this tree for a beam - 

But back to the leaves. Everyone, hold them in front of your face! Those of you with pink eye, make sure you hold it in front of your eyes!

And then we saw some of the Falls.

But this was the view I kept watching:

You all are so gorgeous! Can I take you home with me?


Wait. I have to take you home with me?

I know, I know. But Papa will make it all better. He always does.

But goodness, I love this gang. I love that man and all our offspring.


And I sure did love getting out of the house.