Moo Thru and Hiking

This weekend the boys were staying with my mom. I had wanted to head to Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday, but Nick mentioned going hiking and I was sold. Knowing that Gavin can't really handle a 4 mile hike at his age right now, we haven't been in a while.

On the drive to Shenandoah, we saw a sign advertising "Real Ice-Cream from Real Farmers," so we stopped at the Moo Thru.  I'm so glad we did!  It was delicious. Nick had a cookie-dough milkshake and I had a small scoop a double scoop of cookie-dough and chocolate.

We went on the Rose River Loop trail and it was a beautiful hike along the water almost the entire time. Haylie who is normally the first to show any signs of upset, did a fantastic job. Nick and I were so proud of her!

It started to thunder on our last mile up.  We were happily covered by the trees, and I was grateful we had chosen to hike instead of wandering the meadow. We had a sudden burst of energy on the way back, probably something to do with the lightning flashing bright around us, and the thunder shaking the ground beneath our feet.  I had wanted so badly to visit the meadow before we left, but it was raining too hard.  Nick graciously drove us down so I could capture a few photos and get out and admire the vast beauty of the mountain side. Watching the clouds roll in over the area was worth it in itself to visit Shenandoah that day.

We stopped in Sperryville on the way down for our traditional pizza dinner. I hope we have a chance to head up again to visit in the fall. I can't imagaine how beautiful the view from above the valley is that time of year.