Day Trippin'

Today we decided to take a little trip up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Thought we might sniff out a trail to hike ~ get everyone away from the mini-farm for awhile and breathe.  I drove...to avoid getting carsick.  My husband, bless his heart (that's what people say when they are fixin' to gossip ya know :)  well, he was silently swearing, sweating, and shaking his head in exasperation.  Poor thing questioned my driving skills...."Stay on your side of the road"  (Don't you think it's a waste if no one is even using the other lane???) "Do you know what the speed limit is??"  (Of course I do, and we all know it's merely a suggestion.)  Well, it might not have been that bad...but I have to admit something...a confession if you will ~ The more incredulous he becomes, the more I want to "incredulate" him...I know, calm down, that's not even a word...but seriously, the more exasperated he becomes, the funnier it is...(I'm not talking about when it's something serious and he's for real upset of course)  It's a vicious cycle and I totally enjoy frustrating him....now you know how to pray for my husband....  :D
Okay, anyway.....we found a trail to hike at Julian Price Park.  It was the Boone Fork Trail....which is a 5 mile, moderate/strenuous loop.  Since Isaac's birth we have yet to complete a large loop. Problem is, we don't get started walking till after lunch...today it was 3 pm.  And walking with a two year old definitely provides the time to stop and smell the roses...and pick up rocks, and play with leaves, and trip over roots, and charge toward every hint of water, and stomp in puddles, and....well, you get the picture... :)  So, at 4:15, we notice that we have traveled approximately 1 mile.  Hmmmm....well, I started counting fingers and figured (with Darren's help) that having taken an hour to travel one mile, that would put us coming out of the woods at around 8 pm.....8 pm is dark....with four children...in the woods....hmmmm....not an ideal situation.  Not at all...   Sooooooo, we did what we've done since having babies on a loop, we turned around and went back the way we came.  But the walk was invigorating.  The kids all enjoyed themselves...as did the adults.  It was nice to walk away for a bit and have a change of scenery.  We may play hooky from church and do it again tomorrow.  I don't think God minds if His children take a break every now and then.   
Okay, on the subject of church...I just can't help myself here....seriously ...have you ever noticed the magnitude of available churches??  You drive into these little bitty communities and they have four or five churches....can you even divide up the people and still have someone attending each church??  I'd really enjoy sharing the names of some of those churches with you...I swannanoa they are amusing...I imagine after all the "regular" names have been taken, people have to get creative...like "The Glory Hallelujah Jesus Revelation Full Gospel Baptist Church of the Apostles".  LOL!!  ....I nearly miss the Little House of the Prairie days when there was one church and everybody attended.  Surely that cut out all the squabbling and trying to figure which church was "right".
But anyway, we had a wonderful day and hopefully will get one more day tomorrow to enjoy a change of pace.