Fall in Virginia

Its not hard to guess what Andy's favorite time of year is, of course fall because of deer hunting, but I'm guessing that not many people know that it is also my favorite time of year! I love when the weather starts to turn crisp and cool and autumn colors start making their way out. This year has not doubt been the prettiest fall I've ever seen. The trees have turned magnificent colors this year because of all the rain and cool summer. Everywhere you look there are bright reds, yellows, and oranges on the trees. It is really one of the coolest things I have ever seen. We feel so lucky to live in the mountains of Virginia during this time. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous day. We decided to start off the morning on a drive through the mountains behind our house. It was sunny and about 65 degrees, which is just about perfect. Then we hiked up our backyard to see the view from on top of our own personal mountain. You can't say that when you live in Illinois!!

Sout Dakota

So 2 weekends ago, Andy and I went to South Dakota for 4 days. We went to the Robertson family farm near Winner, South Dakota for opening weekend of pheasant season. I decided that Pheasant hunting is probably the only thing to do in the town of Winner, SD. This town is in the middle of nowhere, about 2.5 hrs from Sioux Falls. It is so small, it doesn't even have a Wal-Mart remotely close. Even with not a lot of nightlife, we still found plenty to do, including hitting up the Pheasant Bar 1 night!! It was a pretty interesting trip for me, someone who has never been pheasant hunting. It is a very orchestrated event with very specific tasks for each person during the hunt. I just enjoyed being outdoors in the gorgeous weather. 2 of the days it was perfect weather, sunny and in the 60s. I day it got up to 80, which is just too hot when you are walking through fields all day long!! My favorite part of the trip was seeing how happy and relaxed Andy was. Its been a pretty stressful year for the both of us being in the construction industry during the largest economic downturn since the great depressions, so it was nice just relaxing and not thinking about work at all!! We had a great time catching up with friends and family and of course, shooting some phez. I even shot my first (and only) phez on the trip!!