Vermont 2023 {DC to Davidson}

10 October 2023 - On Tuesday morning, we hopped in the car and headed south to Ryan's house in Davidson. (It's Lea's house, too, obviously, but she was in Germany, so we didn't get to see her this time.) We stopped at a few parks along the way in various spots in Virginia to stretch the ol' legs and let Gregg have some quiet time for meetings. When we got to Ryan's we took a quick walk around the pond across from his house and checked out the brand new bridges and park that are there (fanciest park bathrooms I have ever used!). Then we headed back to his house for a delicious salmon sheet pan dinner. He treated us to an evening bike ride to Ben and Jerry's and we rode home in the dark, chatted, and hopped in bed.

Climbing high with stuffies. This is Miracle Playground
in Weyers Cave, VA. (Thank heaven for google maps
for finding this place and also for re-finding it just now
so I could tell you where we were. ;)

Pretty farm country views all around.

Our next park was not that far down the road, but it
was just far enough to get there between meetings. We
stayed at the Montgomery Hall Park in Staunton for 
a good couple of hours, eating lunch (leftover Peruvian
food is great cold, too!), playing on the playgrounds (Cal
and Sam), walking all over the area getting a lay of the land
(Kim), playing a few holes of disc golf (Kim and Sam), and
sitting in the car for endless meetings (Gregg).
All that to say, I like anything I see about gardens so I snapped a pic.

Cute pinecone.

They had a nature playground, too, and this little mud
kitchen set up was adorable. If only Cal was 5 instead
of 10, she probably would have stayed here longer.

She did like these balancing obstacle things.

Just a fun little corner of the park.

Sam liked them, too.

Giant leaf as big as my foot!

Pretty tree parts.

We arrived! And we got to visit the Blanchard
Magnolia Ryan planted in the front yard.
It's grown quite a lot since the last time we
saw it!

Lovely twinge of color starting on the trees near the
pond.

And this new park is sassy!

Home through the quiet streets of Davidson
after dark: safe or scary?

11 October 2023 - We woke up Wednesday morning and enjoyed a delicious breakfast and visit and tour of the backyard compost heap. And then it was time for Ryan to hop on a meeting and for us to hop in the car. A quick visit, but probably the last time we'll be there since he and Lea are moving to Germany next year! Any visit time with Ryan is a good one, though! We had a great time!