Woodsy Retreat

This year the family took an unlikely vacation (unlikely because we're hardly ever all in the same place) to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary.  We spent the weekend at a Virginia resort, Massanutten.  It's deep in the mountains and they have the typical winter activities like skiing, tubing, etc, but there are also things like an indoor water park, ice skating, and horseback riding.  I'm not really a resort person, but -- oh wait, maybe I am!  Because it was pretty fun.

The best part, though, was seeing the first snowfall of the year while we were in the mountains.  There's nothing better than that.  There was also a lot of wildlife; we saw deer constantly, and they were actually very friendly to humans.  All in all, it was a nice time away from the usual routine.  Here are a few snaps of the area and some cool things we saw on a nature walk.

The view from our apartment

The first snowfall

Snow Day

There's nothing better than waking up to see snow falling.  There wasn't quite enough for a snowman yet (or a snowcat), but it was pretty anyway.  And any wet and cold day requires me to bust out my trusty bear hat.

The first snowfall is one of my favorite parts of the year.  Last December, we were visiting Florida and I was moaning about missing out on the first snowfall back home.  Of course, by the end of last winter, we were up to our eyeballs in snow and absolutely hating the stuff.  Hopefully this winter will be kinder, temperature wise, but still give us some lovely snowdays.