Great Weekend!

We had such a great weekend with our Sunday School class. There were 13 of us that went. Brother Ken and Tammy, Brother Joel and Pam, Brother Ted and Rebecca, Brother Jay and Paige, Brother Jeff and Stephanie, Bruce and myself and Brother Jim.
His wife, Angie, wasn't able to make it and we missed her bunches. We missed all the couples in our class that weren't able to go. But it was a good time of fun and fellowship and Bruce and I were able to spend time with couples that we don't normally get to spend time with and that made it even more fun. We feel like we all know each other a little better, I think.

I did not get any pictures of the rafting. Mainly because we didn't want to take the camera in the water...duh! However, my SS teacher's wife is pregnant and drove along the river stopping to take pictures of us as we floated by her. So maybe when she gets those developed I can talk her into letting me scan them and then I'll share them with you. OK?

I did get pictures of our bike ride down the mountain. So I'll just start out with our Friday morn.

We kissed the children goodbye, left instructions on locking up the house when they left later, and headed to the church. The men rode with Brother Ken in the church van and the wives rode with Sis Tammy in her van.



Because Brother Ken drank, what I believe to be, a whole pot of coffee, we were making frequent pit stops, if you know what I mean. We made more stops because of the men, and WE had a pregnant lady with us!!!! Well, anyway, when Brother Ken went into the bathroom at a gas station, we decided it would be fun to hide from him. Isn't that nice of us?? So here he is when he finally found us up on a hill behind the gas station.



We finally made our destination to the Ole Barn Bike Shuttle.



We each picked out a bicycle and did the necessary adjustments that we needed. Here is Bruce posing just for Courtney. He knew she'd like the hat. LOL



Some of us rode our bikes around the parking lot or just waited for the owners to load them on the trailer.



When they loaded the bikes, we all boarded the shuttle and headed about 20 miles up the mountain.



When you get to the top of the mountain, they give you your bike and you start the path back down. The scenery on the way down was so beautiful. Bruce and I stopped to walk up another path and took this picture.



We jumped back on the path........



.......and eventually came to this old train depot. The man inside said it used to be the train depot, post office, general store, and pharmacy, all at one time. We stepped inside and looked at all the old photos displayed on the walls.







We started down the trail again........



......passing babbling books.........



.......riding over bridges........



........and stopping to peer over bridges.



We all met at a creekside to just enjoy the moment. This is me. I don't like it, but it's the only picture of me that was taken. So here is proof that I was there. LOL



The men folk decided to skip rocks across the water, but I believe that Brother Jim and Brother Jeff got somewhat carried away. Although their rock did not skip, it did make quite a splash.





We had stopped at another place to "play." This is Bruce with Brother Jay and Brother Jeff.



We had to cut through a pasture to get back on the path.



We stopped at a cafe for lunch about half the way down. I didn't take any more pictures until we got back to Preacher and Mrs. Ava's house in Valley Cruicis. This was the only one I took of Pam, Paige, and Stephanie at the house. They were playing Phase 10. I thought I took more, but I didn't. Oh well. Maybe next time.



Some of us girls took showers while the guys cut down some trees for Preacher. Then we headed out for supper at the Sagebrush. Back to the house, and up at 5:00 to be gone by 6:00 for rafting.

Bruce and I were in a raft with Paige and Jay Carr and Jeff and Stephanie Martin. They are HILARIOUS. We did pretty good....at getting stuck on rocks. But I am happy to say that we did finish our course. At one point we hit a rock that snuck up on us and out went Jeff....then Stephanie. It was all so sudden that Paige and I couldn't help them.....for laughing so hard. As a matter of fact, I laughed so hard that it didn't matter that I was wet, if you know what I mean. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a very long time. They did make it back into the raft, only for us to lose Bruce not ten minutes later.

He just sort of plopped right out of the raft and as I tried to hold my ore out to him, I dropped it and watched both my ore and my husband as we drifted away from them. Bruce laid on his back as instructed by the man before we left, but the water was too shallow where he was and so he only floated in the same spot. We were trying to paddle to the bank as we laughed our heads off at Bruce just laying there...going no where. He finally got up and walked down the bank to us. Oh how hilarious. And yes, I did get my ore back. Brother Ken and Jim grabbed it for us.

Anyway, we had a great time. I would love to take our children back there and hopefully we will. I highly recommend both of those activities for your family.

The bike trail was called The Virginia Creeper Trail. It is in Damascus, Virgina. And we went down the Nantahala River.

Harrison stayed with Mom and Dad. Thank you! He always has a good time with his Grandparents. Tipsy was supposed to stay with them, but ended up being taken to my brother's house. So THANK YOU, John, for taking care of our baby. Justin and Hannah stayed with Brother Mike and Susan McCurry because Hannah was in the top ten of her Patch class and went to Carowinds as their reward. So it worked out to let them stay with them. Justin went to help tend to the boys. They had a wonderful time and THANK YOU, Brother Mike and Susan, for opening your home to them. They had a ball with y'all.