Vacation, part 1

We're back from our first vacation of the summer! We stayed in a mountain cabin between the towns of Galax and Independence, Virginia. The cabin was very rustic and simple and had great views of and access to the New River.

We explored the area, took a swim in the river, and visited nearby Grayson Highlands State Park twice. We visited the park on Monday, and again on Tuesday when Mom arrived for a short visit. Grayson Highlands is one of the most scenic stretches of mountain scenery on the east coast, and the hike from Massie Gap up the Rhododendron Gap trail to the AT is one of my favorite hikes, hands down. It even trumps some of our hikes we've taken out West. I have some pictures below.

Unfortunately, Sadie became ill around Tuesday afternoon and was so miserable that night that we decided to come home early on Wednesday. She was screaming and crying all evening and slept very little Tuesday night. Nor did we. I had never seen her suffer such pain. When we returned, we drove straight to the pediatrician. It turns out, though she was initially being treated for Lyme Disease (yes, I know!) she had some kind of enterovirus with splitting headaches. We had no idea what was going on and staying just wasn't an option. By Friday night, though, she seemed to be improving, so we took her to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham on Saturday. I'll post pictures in this entry of the mountains and will post another entry of our day out at the museum.

First, here's a front view of our mountain cabin. A co-worker owns the place and she rents it at a ridiculously reasonable rate of $200 a week. Contact me if you want more info.

Here's a back view.
And here's the New River from the back of the property... There's a very steep trail down to the river, but you can also walk down the road a quarter of the mile and access the river that way.
Sadie, sipping on OJ in her jammies...

Here is a view of the beginning of the hike at Grayson Highlands from the trailhead. No, the trail doesn't look particularly steep or difficult at first. And it really isn't horrible, but the first half mile or so is pretty much steep uphill.
Sadie casts a dubious glance at the camera. And no, I don't normally pair a mint green top with a pink, orange and yellow bottom. Someone just decided to get her shirt dirty, and that's what I had in my bag.

One of the many mountain views from the grassy slope...

We were nuts to bring this jogging stroller. We finally hid it in some brush and carried Sadie up the trail. She was a real trooper, actually hiking a good bit with us.
Daddy and Sadie peer at the vista.

Interesting rock formations abound on this hike... There are many rockclimbing opportunities, but I'm a bit of a chicken when I'm carrying a child.
The baby bunny was very cooperative...
Sadie had a wonderful time...
More Dad-daughter vista-bonding....
Sadie is cute when she drinks from a water bottle....
There are wild ponies that live at Massie Gap. Well, wild is sort of an exaggeration. These ponies seem to be anything BUT wild. Two of them tried to sniff Sadie in her stroller.

Sadie loved running through the grass...

Picking flowers with Daddy... Yes, I guess it's fairly clear that I did most of the picture taking on this trip...
More pictures from Tuesday, the following day. Somehow I missed getting a picture of Mom. Sorry, Mom! These were the last few moments before Sadie began to have the horrific headaches.


More pictures to come in the next entry....