one week : two worlds

Talk about a whirlwind week. Last Friday, Curt called Susan Ada from work and said, "Hey, let's take a vacation in Shenandoah next week while I have a quick break at work." And, 2 days later we were at Whole Foods in Charlottesville loading up on gourmet yumminess to take on our camping trip. We had a vacation planned for the week of July 4, but Curt ended up in SC working 87 hours instead. So, a few days in the woods was just what we needed. Sunday we arrived, set up camp, and cooked a delicious dinner. Monday we slept in and then drove the northern half of the Skyline Drive. We had driven the southern half on our honeymoon last year and had been curious to finish the task. It was much longer than we realized, but beautiful nonetheless. That afternoon we hiked a beautiful trail that followed a creek as it cascaded down the mountain. . .and passed a few waterfalls. Then back to the campsite for the evening. Tuesday we had another lazy morning then took a very short hike to a spot with gorgeous vistas of the Shenandoah Valley. We had a picnic lunch and read out loud for a long time as we were trying to finish a very exciting novel.

Then we found a flat trail in the woods so we could get a run in. . .still trying to get healthy and increase our distance. It was quite difficult, but we choose to blame it on the altitude. This was our last night to camp so we were determined to have a campfire. Turns out, Curt is ridiculously organized when it comes to sorting firewood:

Susan Ada just cooked dinner and enjoyed the show:

Wednesday morning we packed up our campsite and came back to Lynchburg. We stopped in Harrisonburg for lunch and then had some errands and dinner plans so we didn't actually get home until bedtime. We were excited to be back home in our comfy (although, HOT) bed. Thursday morning Curt went to work and Susan Ada geared up for the laundry marathon as we were planning to go to Evergreen that evening to work for the weekend. Susan Ada had just poured her cup of coffee when Curt called to let her know that he would be leaving for Japan on Saturday morning instead. Talk about a change of plans. If you didn't know, Curt has been working on a project aiding the Fukushima Nuclear Plant since early June so this didn't come out of nowhere. . .just left field. . .and certainly sooner than we had expected. The last 2 days have pretty much consisted of Curt running around crazy trying to get everything in order with Susan Ada following behind him looking pitiful and talking about how much she is going to miss him. That said, she is so proud that he has the opportunity to work on such a monumental project.

So, as I write this, my sweetie is on a direct flight from Chicago to Tokyo and there's no telling when I'll see him next. I sure hope it's within a few weeks as I already miss him terribly. God speed, my love.