Soul Re-Charged!

You know that feeling when you've just finished an unforgettable book, or heard a beautiful piece of music, or seen a breath-taking landscape.....or been on an amazing trip....and your soul feels lighter?  It is almost like you can breathe fully again.  Well, I just had that happen.  

We've been trying to take a short vacation for months.  And for as much as our summer is supposed to be the "slow season"...it just wasn't.  And then, when in August I looked into renting a cabin at Douthat State Park (like we did a year ago in June) for sometime this fall, I found that everything had been reserved for quite a while.  :(  An attempt to get to the Eastern Shore fell through and I threw up my hands and resigned myself to the fact that though I desperately needed a change of scenery, it just wasn't going to happen this year.  And then Dave, by luck or timing or the Grace of God, found that two 1 bedroom cabins had opened up at Douthat due to cancellations!  Woo-hoo!!!!

So, on the day of my birthday last week, we loaded the family into the car and headed west to Bath County...near the West Virginia border.  We had seriously considered camping but a new tent needs to be purchased to fit all of us and we would have had to take two cars as there just isn't enough room in the Camry for all of us and camping equipment, ....and quite honestly, I wasn't terribly thrilled at the idea of camping with a 13 month old who is still crawling.  Squeezing into a one bedroom cabin....a cabin with heat and a fireplace and a kitchen and a bathroom...was more enticing.  

View of the lake from the front porch of our cabin

Our cabin was adorable.  There are 34 cabins, all built in the 1930's by the CCC.  They are RUSTIC.  Barely a step up from camping. In fact, you might actually sleep better camping than in the cabin given the mattresses that slope to the middle when you lay on them.  :)  But no matter.  The reservation people said that our cabin was a one bedroom with two twin beds and had a storage room attached where there was another twin bed.  I don't know what their definition of a "storage room" is but that room was basically another bedroom....or at least....we made it so.  We stuffed both boys in there (Jakob in the pack n' play and Jeffery in the bed....their first time sharing a room) and we took the actual bedroom and that was that!

Hello Cabin!

The first day was spent eating yummy food in the small town of Clifton Forge (about 10 minutes away), the boys being too wound up to take their naps, enjoying a nice fire in the fireplace that evening, and playing with some of the toys I had brought along for the boys.

The monkey hat returns!

And...eating yummy cake.  I thought a birthday cake would have to wait until our return but lo! Dave brought some back to the cabin after a shopping trip to the Kroger just outside the park.  He even bought candles!  :)  He's a keeper!

Hello mid-30's.  

The next day was a very special day.  Dave and Jeffery headed down to the lake after breakfast, rented a canoe, and went out into the lake for an hour and a half.  I was half expecting Jeffery to be overwhelmed and intimidated but the only time he fussed was when Dave wouldn't let him help paddle.  :)  They went from one end of the lake to the other.  Dave said they just had a blast and I couldn't be more proud of little Jeffery!  Heck!  I haven't even been in a canoe and here he is at the age of 3 with one trip under his belt.  :)

The fall colors were at their peak this weekend

Captain Daddy and Skipper Jeffery

He was so proud of himself!

Meanwhile, Jakob and I sat on the shore and played with a friendly doggie, waved at daddy and big brother, and enjoyed the fall colors in their prime.

Gorgeous fall colors

Look at those beautiful blue eyes!

So unbelievably pretty!

After the big boys were done on the lake, we took a little hike around the lake to a nearby playground. Jeffery instantly befriended a little boy about the same age and the two of them ran around for the next hour.  Afternoon naps that day were epic!  :)

In the evening, we had dinner at the park's restaurant and sat on the deck overlooking the lake....

My sweet sweet boy

 ...and then retired back to the cabin for another fire and lots of playing.

Daddy and his boys

Our trip was a short one.  Two nights, 3 days.  But it actually turned out to be the perfect amount of time for the family.  We checked out the following morning and headed to Falling Springs...in between Covington, VA and Hot Springs, VA.  This is one of the taller waterfalls in the state and was surveyed by Thomas Jefferson.  We saw it a year ago in the summer but had heard that it was not to be missed in the fall.  We're so glad we went.

Deep reflections between these two

My bear!

The Pedersen Family

Bliss!

The drive to the falls, the falls themselves, and the surrounding countryside was just breathtakingly beautiful.  The reds, the golds, the oranges of the trees were, as Dave so aptly put it, like fireworks.  It was just magical.

Falling Springs, VA

After enjoying the Falls, we headed back to Clifton Forge where we visited the C&O Train Museum.  The Chesapeake & Ohio Branch is one of the oldest train lines in the US stretching from Ohio to Newport News, VA.  The museum in Clifton Forge is fantastic....and absolute heaven for a 3 year old obsessed with trains.  I, thinking ahead, made sure to have him dress the part.  :)

In front of a "Steamie" locomotive

He is dwarfed by the huge wheels

The town was having their annual "Fall Festival" that weekend and as a result, the train museum was giving rides on their garden train.  The whole family climbed aboard the C&O train and had a marvelous time.

All aboard!

Choo Choo!

Jeffery the Train Engineer reporting for duty

Train brothers

Jeffery got to drive a handcart

Checking the track ahead

The Pedersen boys LOVE trains!

Jakob, wearing my ASU sweatshirt from when I was his age

All too soon, it was time to come home.  A good thing too as all those leaves have wreaked havoc on our allergies and we've been struggling with noses and coughs and lethargy since we came home.  But it was an absolutely blissful time and just what I needed.  I feel like my soul has been re-charged.  I have more bounce in my step.  :)  And the boys got out into the woods and had some wonderful adventures.  Success!

We hardly have enough time to come down from that "high" before my parents come to visit for 10 days.  (We haven't seen them in 6 months....the longest they've ever gone without seeing the boys...we are all beyond excited for their arrival.) But with this second amazing trip to Douthat, we are talking about making this special place a yearly tradition.  Fine by me, say I!!!!!  

What a difference 16 months makes!