Happy Monday!! This time I think it’s actually a happy Monday, because I have gotten past my cold and feeling better. Oh yeah it’s Columbus day too, but I have work. Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends though!!
Brian finally came home Friday evening after being away for a month. It was nice to be reunited and have the house to ourselves for a bit this weekend. Since Saturday was forecasted to be the best day weather wise for the weekend, we took advantage of that and headed out to the PA Grand Canyon. I forget the name of the exact park we were in.
The drive was about 2 hours and by the time we left, it was a good idea to stop for lunch first. Brian knew of a restaurant in Mansfield, PA called Cast and Crew with some good food. I opted for a burger and sweet potato fries. We then split the pumpkin cheesecake for dessert because it sounded awesome. It also looked awesome, but it was heavy on the cream cheese for my liking. I picked around and ate pumpkin pieces and the delicious crust, while Brian enjoyed the cream cheese portion. Oh and we did not finish it. It was super large.
Now that our bellies would be full for hours, we headed to the park to do a couple 1 mile hikes. We both realized how out of hiking shape we are. During our travels through New Zealand, that’s about all we did was little hikes. I missed being out in nature. It turned out to be a beautiful day. The fall colors are at their peak I think and the weather warmed up to nearly 80 degrees so I was able to dress lightly. I dug out my hiking boots and I was glad I did. I still think those are the best investment I made recently. Proper footwear is essential.
On the second trail, we came across the million dollar view that made our trip worth it. Walking down to the edge of the cliff and looking out at the canyon was amazing. Watching as the birds soared below us and looking at the bicyclists down on the path on the East side [we were on the west]. We hung out there for a bit. Brian even was offered a free beer from a guy hanging out there before we got there. He enjoyed that.
After that view we took the loop around back to the car. By this point it was just past 3pm and we decided to start driving back. Throughout the park, we noticed that the water fountains had been turned off, so we stopped at a Dunkin Donuts on the way back to help our thirst and got unsweetened iced teas. We then decided to make a quick stop at Wegmans for some ready to eat sushi and enjoyed that at home on the patio for dinner.
The weather was amazingly beautiful and there was a light breeze that seemed to keep the bugs away which was what I needed. Hiking was the much needed escape I needed this weekend. There are honestly so many places within a 2 hour drive we could go see. We just need more weekends together, but they are rare occurrences with Brian’s job.
I was pretty tired towards the end of the night, but I made it through another episode of This is Us. I just started watching season 1. It’s nice to have a new show to watch for a bit. I think about an episode a day is what I will do until I am caught up.
Sunday was a less exciting day, but it was exciting in the fact that I was finally back to weight lifting after a two week hiatus. The weights certainly felt heavy and I’m sure I lost some muscle over the last couple weeks, but setbacks happen and I know I will be able to get back to where I was and hopefully continue to improve from there. I think my body really needed the time to recover and now I just need to lay out a new workout plan.
What’s your favorite part about Fall?
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I’m glad you had a fun weekend. The scenery was beautiful. Love, Mom