Poppy and I do very little traveling so hope you will understand my excitement over a little drive through the mountains, with my $99.00 camera.
We enjoyed our trip to Missouri, tiring as it was, driving straight through...fourteen hours on the road, then having only two days, Friday and Saturday, to spend with Windy, Brian, and the grandsons. We left Missouri at 4:30 Sunday morning to drive home. Why, to me, riding fourteen straight hours was more tiring than walking nine miles at the Fair.
We were still in North Carolina, near Mount Airy, when we reached the first mountains. I was so excited to see Pilot Mountain, but friends, I had no idea the beauty we were about to drive into
as we entered the West Virginia Turnpike. I mean 88 miles of nothing but up and down and around and through, and I do mean through! the beautiful mountains...
two tunnels that cut right through the mountains! You know, I'm not crazy about tunnels or long bridges over lots of water. I must have said to Poppy a hundred times, "could you slow down just a little...especially heading into a tunnel going 70 miles an hour, for goodness' sake"!!!
These are not great pictures because every one of them were taken through the car window. Why, there is no stopping on the turnpike and besides that, we were on a mission...get to Missouri!!
About half way there the clouds got dark and stormy looking. So the second half of the trip was on a mix of rain and mist
and fog in places.
unusual black clouds moved low and fast, in front of the white clouds.
It was the edge of dark when we saw the arch, and knew we were getting close.
We were up early Friday morning and off to see Jacob and his school's marching band compete in the Bands of America Super Regional Championship in Saint Louis.
It was great, just great, and out of 65 competing bands, Jacob's came in 12th. It was exciting. We all were mighty proud.
Handsome Jacob and his grandpa...Poppy.
Saturday morning we were out and about early again, this time to watch Luke play football...
Is this not just about the cutest football player ever! This was an important game for Luke. If their team won, they moved on, if not this was his last game of the season...and they won, big time!
Okay, you know how I love little mice...well, never would I have imagined cuddling two grown rats...yes that me holding Becky and Ellie...
These are Luke's pet rats. They live in the cutest little cage in Luke's bedroom.
Becky and Ellie sleep together in their cute little swinging tent, which looks a touch chewed...but then, these are rats. Sorry, but I thought they were adorable and enjoyed playing with them.
I will end this post by showing you Windy's spider plant. It was beautiful!
She had planned to give me a cutting...one of the little spiders to start, but in all the excitement, we forgot. I just love the sunlight coming through these windows. There is no way any plant could grow this pretty in our dimly lit log cabin.
Okay, if you are still here, thank you. Crazy, I know. We visit St. Louis Missouri and I come home and post about holding two rats. Guess it takes very little to make me happy.
Love,
Henny
We enjoyed our trip to Missouri, tiring as it was, driving straight through...fourteen hours on the road, then having only two days, Friday and Saturday, to spend with Windy, Brian, and the grandsons. We left Missouri at 4:30 Sunday morning to drive home. Why, to me, riding fourteen straight hours was more tiring than walking nine miles at the Fair.
We were still in North Carolina, near Mount Airy, when we reached the first mountains. I was so excited to see Pilot Mountain, but friends, I had no idea the beauty we were about to drive into
two tunnels that cut right through the mountains! You know, I'm not crazy about tunnels or long bridges over lots of water. I must have said to Poppy a hundred times, "could you slow down just a little...especially heading into a tunnel going 70 miles an hour, for goodness' sake"!!!
These are not great pictures because every one of them were taken through the car window. Why, there is no stopping on the turnpike and besides that, we were on a mission...get to Missouri!!
About half way there the clouds got dark and stormy looking. So the second half of the trip was on a mix of rain and mist
unusual black clouds moved low and fast, in front of the white clouds.
It was the edge of dark when we saw the arch, and knew we were getting close.
We were up early Friday morning and off to see Jacob and his school's marching band compete in the Bands of America Super Regional Championship in Saint Louis.
It was great, just great, and out of 65 competing bands, Jacob's came in 12th. It was exciting. We all were mighty proud.
Saturday morning we were out and about early again, this time to watch Luke play football...
Is this not just about the cutest football player ever! This was an important game for Luke. If their team won, they moved on, if not this was his last game of the season...and they won, big time!
Okay, you know how I love little mice...well, never would I have imagined cuddling two grown rats...yes that me holding Becky and Ellie...
These are Luke's pet rats. They live in the cutest little cage in Luke's bedroom.
Becky and Ellie sleep together in their cute little swinging tent, which looks a touch chewed...but then, these are rats. Sorry, but I thought they were adorable and enjoyed playing with them.
I will end this post by showing you Windy's spider plant. It was beautiful!
She had planned to give me a cutting...one of the little spiders to start, but in all the excitement, we forgot. I just love the sunlight coming through these windows. There is no way any plant could grow this pretty in our dimly lit log cabin.
Okay, if you are still here, thank you. Crazy, I know. We visit St. Louis Missouri and I come home and post about holding two rats. Guess it takes very little to make me happy.
Love,
Henny
Looks like a beautiful drive, but 14 hours in a car would about kill me. Your poor back.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful drive. I know about pictures on the fly because Hubby flies too.
ReplyDeleteIt is so wonderful to be able to witness these important events in your grands' lives. They will not forget you were there. I am proud of you, loving the rats.
Lovely pictures even if they were taken through the window. Nope, I just can't see me holding the rats, pets or not! LoL I'm so glad you had a safe and enjoyable trip!
ReplyDeleteGrace & Peace,
Pam
What a fun trip for you! The Fall scenery was wonderful! 14 hours in the car would exhaust me too! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great trip, the views on the drive were amazing. Lovely photos of the family and lots of memories to treasure.
ReplyDeleteMy what a wonderful post . . . I truly enjoying tagging along on your trip. The fall color is amazing! Congratulations to both your grandsons! It's always fun to get away, but better yet to come home again. Happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteConnie :)
You are absolute sweetness, Henny! I'm so glad you had fun with your grands, celebrating their victories!
ReplyDeleteThe rats are hilarious! That chewed little pod thing is nifty!
Yay for safe travels!
Good Afternoon, What handsome grandsons Luke and Jacob are. The mice are adorable, too! The spider plant is gorgeous and especially looks pretty with the sun and shadows. I also enjoyed your photos from the drive; such pretty mountains and leaf colors and those ominous clouds. Thankful you had a safe trip and God bless your weekend. xo
ReplyDeleteI've been to Mount Airy and Pilot Mt. Beautiful country in summer too. Your photos are wonderful, even taken out of a car window. I'm glad you had such a nice visit with your family. Handsome grandson!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful photos Henny! The mountains remind me very much of Vermont. The rats are adorable. I would have been snuggling them too. So glad you got to spend time with Jacob and Luke.
ReplyDeleteYour grandsons are very handsome. It was great that you could spend that time with them and their family even if it did mean long drives. We used to do 1500 miles in two 12 hour days and that was with a station wagon full of kids.
ReplyDeleteJust today I bought an Atlas so I could see where exactly Missouri is in relation to NC. Now I can look up where all my blog friends live ( my geography smarts are limited, I'm afraid).
What a gorgeous time to travel through the mountains with all the color and the dramatic skies. That is a long trip in one day, though. I would have been cuddling those cute little guys, too. They are cute but I don't like the white/pink ones so much. It was nice you got to see your grandsons involved in events that were so exciting.
ReplyDeleteGosh what a long journey, there is nowhere in our country that would take that long to reach! The scenery is just beautiful and the band all look so very smart and I think that must be the most magnificent spider plant I've ever seen. I do like the little house the rats sleep in xx
ReplyDeleteI'm still here. I enjoyed your trip. There's nothing like grand kids.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun trip, and the Fall coloured trees are beautiful. Loved that dark coloured sky photo! I would have passed to playing with the rats I think. Makes me shudder to think about it. I did have hamsters and gerbils and guinea pigs as pets as a kid, but never mice or rats. Didn't really like the gerbils, they were a bit too mice/rat like for me!
ReplyDeleteHa! Love your blog Henny ..... the band looks great...so does the football player ...I got a kick out of the rats, our daughter used to have two white pet rats, years ago, and loooooovvvvveeee that spider plant. Wow ....what a beauty! Glad you had such a nice trip, although I sure don't like long drives like that either. Thanks for a great blog.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a treat to visit family. The photo of you driving 'through' the mountain, wow. I've never seen such a thing. I really would love to visit more of the United States.
ReplyDeleteI remember my first camera was 189 and it probably cost me that in batteries by the end of it. It sucked power like no tomorrow. I'm glad they're much cheaper and better now.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing is you got family time and were able to watch both grandsons perform in something important to them.
ReplyDeleteOh how I love those autumn colors...wow
ReplyDeletethat was quite a whirlwind trip. that tunnel may or may not have been my downfall on that trip! I would be yelling slow down too. loudly! Our daughter's had pet rats when they were young and I remember they liked to crawl into our shirt and pop up out the neck or out the shirt sleeve. They were a little smaller though so they didn't seem to be rats in my mind. Glad you had a good trip and got home safely.
ReplyDeleteThat was some trip!! : ) Glad that you had such a great time. Sure is beautiful countryside.
ReplyDeleteWow that is some spider plant, the biggest one I've seen.
The rats - not something I'd like to hold!!!
Beautiful country and beautiful spider plant! How does she take care of it? I like animals but you can have the rats!! Not for me! Nancy
ReplyDeleteI was getting ready to comment on your newest post and then I saw the pic of Pilot Mountain below it! We are quite familiar with this area since we had a cabin in VA just on the other side of Mt. Airy...for 12 years we made many many trips! And the turnpike too! We are from OH and we travel this route when we go home...have been for 23 years and were very familiar with those tunnels! You are right...a stunning drive. We have talked about going to Branson, MO one day...never been to that state! Have a great week!
ReplyDelete