We have been looking forward to experiencing fall in the mountains since we moved here. We did not get to see the beautiful change in seasons as we moved the week after all the leaves fell! While the colors are gradually increasing where we live, two or three hours west of us in West Virginia, the colors are near or full peak. This worked out perfectly because we had planned for quite awhile to meet our friends Melissa and Randy this past weekend in the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia to photograph this beautiful area.
We met up Thursday evening in time for a late supper. We finally got to try to local Mexican restaurant. I, of course, looked for the mildest item on the menu and Brent discovered that the descriptions on the menu really did reflect the spiciness of the dish!
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| Eating together at Melissa and Randy's cabin |
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| Bekah sharing her cheese quesadilla |
This spiral staircase was one of the highlights of a visit to Randy and Melissa's cabin. Rachel would climb up and Rebekah would sit at the bottom of watch with an expression that said "Hey, when is it my turn?!" I finally had to keep Rachel on the bottom 3 steps since Rebekah decided that after Rachel climbed it several times in front of her that she would try to climb the steps too! If Rachel stayed on the bottom 3 steps, then Rebekah was content to pull up on the bottom step and watch her. This little sister is already wanting to do exactly what her big sister does! It is certainly providing some teachable moments for me with Rachel about how those younger than us are usually watching us and how important it is to be a example to them that leads them to do the right things.
How I love to watch these two love each other!
Of course, since we were only 45 minutes from Dolly Sods this time (see this week's earlier post for more on Dolly Sods), we decided it was worth another sunrise trip. Really, the autumn color is only good here for just a couple of weeks, so it is photograph while you can! Actually, it only meant getting up at 5:15am this time and again the girls slept on the way. We met Randy and Melissa and their dog Rocky and another flickr contact, Marvin, on the way and went in a caravan up to Bear Rocks. This time when we arrived there were probably 60+ people in this area waiting for sunrise.
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| Rachel, Melissa and Rocky waiting for the sun to rise |
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| Rachel all bundled up |
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| Yes, Dolly Sods was used as some sort of testing grounds & no, we did not go off the beaten path & find any of these! | |
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| Rebekah before sunrise |
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| Rebekah after sunrise. She decided she was ready for her morning nap! |
It was so beautiful in this part of West Virginia this past weekend.
It was some of the prettiest fall color I have seen in several years and an almost perfect
proportion of reds, oranges and yellows!
Rachel decide she and Rebekah needed a "play bath" after we got back to our room before lunch. Then we headed out to Douglas Falls for more photography. By this time, it was the girls nap time and they both fell asleep on the way here (this does not happen very often!).
We also made some new friends this trip. Sarah is a flickr contact and she and her friend Bobby came up to photograph in the area as well After nap time in the van, Sarah and Bobby came back up from taking pictures at Douglas Falls. Sarah was very kind to let the girls spread their toys out in the back of her truck and Rachel thought it was awesome to play in the back of a truck.
Finally, we headed to Pase Point for sunset.
You know you are traveling with a group of photographers when all the adults but 2 in the group are carrying tripods!
Rachel and Mrs. Melissa are great friends and have been since we first met Randy and Melissa. This is the first time Rebekah has gotten to spend very much time with Mrs. Melissa and they became fast friends too. The other new friend Rebekah made was Rocky. As those of you who have or had or have been around 1 year olds very often know, they are NOT neat eaters. Rebekah is known for leaving a wide swath of food around her high chair. Rocky quickly became her closest friend any time we ate together!
Saturday morning Brent headed back to Dolly Sods for sunrise. To see the awesome shot he got that day, take a look at his flickr page. Then we headed back to Douglas Falls for the group to photograph again. Another thing I have learned from my photographer husband: waterfalls photograph best in cloudy/recently rainy weather because there are not contrasting spots in the photo and the rocks around the waterfall are wet. However, this morning it was a cold misty rain so the girls and I waited in the van. Rachel got a nice surprise though...a new friend. Another of Brent's flickr contacts, Jeff, brought his daughter Contessa with him to take pictures. So she and Rachel enjoyed playing together in the "play room" we made in the back of the van.
After lunch, the photographers of the group decided they wanted to photograph Elakala Falls #2 while the conditions were good. Again photos of Elakala from this trip can be seen on Brent's flickr page. But by this time it was misting rain again and about 50 degrees, so we girls decided we were going shopping! We headed into Thomas, WV. We made it through MountainMade, which is an awesome artisan gallery featuring West Virginia artists and a nearby antique store without incident ( i.e. nothing broken) and then we found my girls favorite store: Colabrese General Store. It is truly a general store, hardware, spices, etc and an AWESOME toy section. Melissa and I had as much fun as the girls and the clerk actually encouraged the girls to play with the toys. Jumping frogs, slap bracelets, cannisters that moo, punchballs, a variety of fun glasses-we enjoyed it all! I am not sure how long we actually played but Randy and Brent finished taking pictures and came to meet up with us and the girls were still playing.
We were able to capture one last sunset before heading home. We had a great weekend with our friends Melissa and Randy, making new friends as well, making memories as a family and enjoying God's beautiful creation!
" When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him? "
Psalm 8:3-4
Rachel and Mrs. Melissa are great friends and have been since we first met Randy and Melissa. This is the first time Rebekah has gotten to spend very much time with Mrs. Melissa and they became fast friends too. The other new friend Rebekah made was Rocky. As those of you who have or had or have been around 1 year olds very often know, they are NOT neat eaters. Rebekah is known for leaving a wide swath of food around her high chair. Rocky quickly became her closest friend any time we ate together!
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