100 Days and Counting

We have not received our LOA yet, and are at day 100 in the wait for it. We are thinking it will be here anytime now, and then we can start estimating our travel dates.

The weekend was just beautiful. The leaves are a gorgeous red and yellow and orange here in Virginia. Van, Gracie, and I went to Skyline Drive to look for "our bears". Last year, we were lucky enough to see two brown bears in the wild. It is a memory we will always treasure. This year, we made the trip before the leaves had all fallen, and looking for the bears in the woods was not as easy. We do this in the car; not on foot. No bears were seen this time. the ranger told us that they are very active right now though. We may go back in a few weeks to see if we can see them in the same location we saw them last year. We did happen to take pictures on our favorite rocks along the way, and had a little scare on the trail. At one point, Van and I both heard a pretty loud grunt. Now, I love seeing bears. But I don't want to meet one up close. I grabbed Gracie and took off running back up the little hill to the car.

Gracie found a ladybug that day too. She was so excited because we haven't seen any ladybugs lately. It has just gotten too cold for them I think. This is a GREAT sign for us that our LOA must be on it's way. We also had a ladybug in our car on the way home. Here are some pictures that capture our weekend trip to the mountains.