A night away.

We headed down to the Shenandoah Valley for a Saturday-to-Sunday getaway and had a really nice time.

Mountain Man Mike.

The leaves were beautiful in the area though in the park it seems as though there had been a bunch of wind recently because it looked {& felt} quite wintery.

Yesterday we attempted a hike that turned out to be several miles straight downhill to just get to the trail head.

After five minutes my calves were shaking because of the steepness and the fact that leaves were covering the trail so we had to step careful to not slip on the rocks hidden under the leaf cover. And then we gave up about a mile and a half in.

Ominous skies that never did anything.

Because it was downhill on the way out, we hiked straight uphill to get back to the car. But it was all so pretty and we were with good company the whole time so it was a good thing.

After a night in the lodge's taproom {& some over-indulgent dinner/dessert} we enjoyed our little cabin and woke up to a beautiful view.

This morning's view of clouds and light.

Breakfast and a hike were on the morning agenda and then we drove home; plus we got an extra hour!

The hikes we did today were to several lookout points; the breeze was brisk and it was very beautiful.

It was a really nice weekend and staying in the lodge rather than camping made the whole trip a bit more relaxing/easier than camping, strenuous hiking included!
xoxo, natty ♥