Here is the second part to my weekend off from work! I got to go out to my grandpa’s cabin for three days with my dad. It is in a great valley, and by great I mean, no cell phone service and beautiful! We only talked to two souls while out there, a nice fly fisher at the lake and a store clerk. I always look forward to disconnecting from electronic communications for a few days out there. It is the only place where I can really take the time to be worry-free, to checkout from reality, and to spend whole days out in nature.

The cabin is up the mountain in the woods from three lakes. Two of them are accessible and you take your fishing pole or your camper out there. My dad and I went to the larger of the two lakes to try our luck… no luck catching anything, however. We did go on a hike up my grandpa’s creek there and it was nice to see a good amount of water flowing out of the mountain.

The first evening, I kept a fire going in the fire-pit that is out in the yard. I discovered that 2x4s make terrible firewood. They burn, but they do not burn long enough and they do not make great coals. (Boo!)

There is an old wooden swing out back and there is Virginia creeper growing up the swing frame.

Below is Mayapple. It is a low growing ground cover plant and I believe it is native. I think I read once that part of the plant is edible.

I am assuming this is a type of fungus, but it sure is strange! It grows in pudgy shapes that almost look like ceramic or glass figurines.

We have some domestic day lilies and irises growing by the cabin. They were in bloom! I brought some to my mom for her to see and each of the stems had closed blooms… all of which have bloomed since!

 

We had to keep a fire going in the wood stove to cook our food and keep the cabin warm. It was actually really cold outside the first night! We played dominoes to pass the time.

I bought a pair of Ariat cowboy boots just over a year ago at Tractor Supply and I am honestly impressed at how well they withstand the abuse I have put them through! And I have really, really put them to the test! I wear them for any and all dirty jobs… through mud, shallow water, wet grass, you name it. They protect my ankles from snakes and since I can tuck my jeans in, they also protect me from ticks. They were a very good investment! In the photo below, you can see I went through some mud and wet grass.

There is a little convenience store a couple of miles down the road…. if you ever needed to really feel like you were in the boonies, this would be the store to go to!

This bridge was built solely to allow gravel trucks to cross the creek to go down the valley to the cement factory that manufactured the dam that is upstream. The bridge is now largely unused and has an abundance of poison ivy around…. luckily, I know what poison ivy looks like and avoided it like the plague.

My grandfather, with help from family, hand built this cabin thirty years ago. It is still in great shape despite all the years of visitors. It has one solar panel now, a recent addition, that powers some electric lights. But otherwise, there is no electricity or running water. We boil creek water for washing and drinking. The stove below is for heating, the cook stove is across the room in the kitchen area.

Here my dad is using binoculars to look along the creek for fish and other critters.

I believe this is a maidenhair fern. It is not as plentiful as other types, but I do like how unique it is in design.

Squawroot is popping up in the woods now. It is that time of year again!

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

(Psalm 8:3-4)

Thank you for stopping by today! If you liked today’s post, maybe pop over to Memorial Day Weekend: Part I as well? I hope this week to get out for another Shapes and Spaces of Charlottesville photowalk. Next week, I am off to Honduras for a missions trip with a team from my church. We will be mentoring middle and high school aged children. I will be taking color film and my film slr! I am quite excited for this trip and really looking forward to seeing Central America again. And by the end of June, I will be doing a free mini session for a friend of mine who is expecting her first baby in July. It is a busy month between my two jobs and all the adventures!