Normally the Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party Posts are about the more ordinary parts of life or seeing extraordinary in the ordinary of everyday. This one is the exact opposite. This one is about doing everything out of the ordinary.
A few weeks ago I was invited to a Civil War reenactment. That's not out of the ordinary, is it? It was almost 3 hours away and I would be going by myself. I am a big fan of adventure; however, I am also a big believer in the buddy system. Maybe I should say I'm a fan of the controlled adventure. I honestly never go anywhere alone and I do a fair amount of planning before I leave. I also hate to drive.
To contrast, one of my best friends is a lover of adventure. This instant. If she gets a call saying that there is something fun going on three states away, she has her bags packed and in the car before I can even whip out my pen and paper to make my pro/con and packing lists. She goes on solo, last minute adventures all of the time and I have no clue how she does it. (Backpacking, camping, snorkeling, archaeological digs, she's pretty much ready for anything.)
Midway into my adventure she called from Colorado, which had been her third fun adventure this summer.
"What's up? I haven't heard from you in awhile." she said.
"I'm in the Appalachians. I'm on a crazy adventure. By myself. "
"It's hard to believe. You drove all by yourself? I'm not buying it. Are you camping? Who are you staying with?"
My adventure started as soon as I put my things in the car. Rain, and lots of it. It wasn't bad for the first hour or so but soon became torrential. I could barely see a few feet in front of my car and the sky had a sickly color to it.
But I arrived safely at the home of my friends and for the rest of the trip the weather was beautiful and I got to see a lot of wildlife and beautiful scenery. I love the mountains! There were apple trees everywhere and I made it a point to try and taste as many different ones as I could.
The reenactment was fun and the location was very scenic.
There were so many stars! Way more than we can see in Philadelphia and many more than I captured here. The sky looked almost muddy with stars.
All cats think they are tiny big cats but this particular kitty really has the "toy panther" thing down. There were lots of barns and lots of cats everywhere.
My lovely hosts and I decided to go hiking vertically up the mountain. Probably a bad plan. :)
The tiny silver one in the corner will be mine when she is old enough to leave her mother.
I may or may not have shot some of this. :)
Overall it was a fantastic few weeks and I can't wait to go back.
