October!

Wow, where has the year gone? I can't believe that October is here already, and my Julia will be 14 in just a few days! We had an incredible summer traveling and visiting with friends. Now, we're all getting excited about going to N. Carolina in a couple of weeks. Many moons ago, after we were first married, Joey took me to the mountains in October. I had never been outside of Florida during the fall and I was in awe of the beauty that God painted in those mountains. Over the years, the month of October has found us in those same mountains many, many times. We had a few years, when the girls were very young, or when we didn't have enough money to buy gas, that we weren't able to make the trip. And, we've taken trips to other places in October that were wonderful, but we always have that "itch" to head to the mountains when September starts winding down. One of our favorite activities while there is hiking the trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We've hiked some of them so many times, that they seem like old friends. We like to stop at a roadside stand and get some mountain apples; visit the Ashe County Cheese Factory in West Jefferson and get some of their wonderful cheese; find some fresh apple cider and maybe some country ham. A perfect day would include a hike and a picnic with those apples and cheese and a chilly mountain breeze blowing. I think I'll go start packing!!