Since this is my last free weekend until mid-November, I thought I'd pack in as much fun as possible. It started out on Friday with a 15 mile bike ride with a friend. We rode around my area, passing cows and even a buffalo.
There's a zebra living with its horse buddies at a nearby farm, but they were too far away for a photo.
Then Krista and I rounded up the table and chairs that we had just finished the day before and hauled them over to Ginger & Spice. Staged it with a big black glittery crow and some other black and white stuff and off we went.
Got home, grabbed some wine, made some quick quesadillas, loaded my boat and gear into my truck and raced to the river for our monthly moonlight paddle up the Potomac. Here's Dick loading his boats onto the river.
It was a beautiful day turning into a beautiful evening. I always love paddling under this bridge, especially towards the sunset. The Monocacy bridge is also the bridge we bike over on the C&O Canal.
Nine of us paddled up river to an island where we brought out the wine and food. After about an hour and half, we loaded up and floated back. This is actually my favorite part. It is so magical being on the river in the dark, except for the moonlight. I can't believe I don't do it more often. Your senses are geared more to sounds and you hear such wonderful things, like owls and wood thrushes.
Saturday was a totally different day. I worked at our space at the Blue Hearth for a couple hours in the morning, then went to a James Madison U football game with Seal & Mike in Harrisonbur. They have a suite at the top of the bleachers with a full bar and all you can eat southern type food. I ate and drank and drank and ate some more. Got home at midnight with a full belly but luckily no headache.
Sunday dawned crisp, clear and cool, a perfect day for a bike ride. Houston and I rode part of the 'covered bridge ride', starting north of Walkersville and paralleling the Catoctin mountain range. We saw beautiful barns, glimmering creeks, and plenty of corn fields. This is a very rural agricultural area and it was all fine and dandy except that it's manure spreading season. peeee...ewwwww.
Did find one of the covered bridges.
To top off the entire weekend, we were invited to a 'dirt to dinner' meal on our friend's farm. They haul chairs, tables, flowers, candles up through narrow pathways cut into the corn to the top of this hill.
Surrounded by tall corn, drying in the wind, they've created a large round area of grass for flying kites and playing croquet.
Competitive croquet, for sure. They've even made their own mallets out of their old ice hockey sticks and exotic wood.
There was even a spectator section.
We got down to eating as the sun was setting over Sugarloaf Mountain. Today is the fall equinox, where day and night are the same length and it's the first day of autumn. What better way to celebrate than being outdoors all day and sharing a meal in a field with family and friends?
