It is POURING!

We've had pretty good weather the last five days. Prior to that it had been really hot in the 90's. Although we've had rain in the weeks past but it always was just passing through and , much to Chispita's dismay, there'd be lots of thunder. Well now we've really got a good soaking. So happy for my gardens.

Anyhow, so we've tried to keep up with going outdoors on the weekends. Two weeks ago we went out to see Barney's Wall. It was a short hike that lead to a cliff with really interesting view. We then proceeded hiking to a waterfall. Unfortunately we forgot to pack our camera, so there aren't any pictures. It was really neat though. There were hundreds and hundreds of butterflies everywhere. They fluttered and landed on you left and right. Then there was a section of the hike that was like walking through some kind of camillia forest. It reminded me of Descanso Gardens. There were white flowers everywhere and the petals on the ground reminded me of a wedding where petals are scattered all over.

Then a week later we went inner tubing down the New River. Again no pictures. This time it was because we didn't want to get the camera wet. The whole thing was fun. The first mile we gingerly floated down the river. It was relaxing. The river is wide and on both sides you see lots of trees and occasionally a train passed by. There were other tubers in groups (pro'bly, college kids) that were floating their ice coolers and they were drinking and joking around. There was a couple with two little dogs that had little life vests on. It was the funniest sight to see. I might get one for Chispita!

The river was a little low so sometimes we'd get stuck on some rocks so we'd have to either push off with our feet or get up and move on. We looked like we were walking on water. Other times there'd be these scary looking butt dusters reaching up from underwater that grossed me out every now and again. They were long strands of plant life, kinda like seaweed but more stringy and gross. I guess it's moss or algae?

The best part was getting to the end of the line where there were some rapids. When you come to that point you can either get out or go through them. I unintentionally went through them because I lost control of my tube! I am glad I accidently went through, because I had been unsure about doing it. This way, I went and had no choice. It was fun. Then we just kept getting out of the river and getting back in at the rapids point. Pretty cool.

Last Friday night we went to a local outdoor concert. It was reggae and tropical music. It was a really nice evening to be out on a lawn. This weekend we didn't go outdoor adventuring, instead we went to the farmer's market in Roanoke. Then we went "window shopping" for a gps unit for future geocaching adventures.

Well, tomorrow marks a year since we arrived and I can honestly say that it's been a great year. A year of adventure getting to know the area, meeting new people, having new experiences... It has been very interesting.