Caution: another fun-filled weekend ahead

Shaun's friends are coming this weekend. Actually, Tammy, his friend from Georgia, is coming Thursday afternoon for "The Fray" Concert Thursday night. Then, his friend Andrea, from NC, is coming Friday afternoon. Then we are all headed to King's Dominion on Saturday for fun. If you remember, we were supposed to go to KD for Shaun's birthday back in April, but couldn't go due to bad weather. We decided to go in June on this weekend since they were already coming up anyhow.
So, we are super excited to have houseguests again. Last houseguests were Mara and Shaun's sister, Deanna back in April during Easter weekend.
I think the concert and KD is about it, partially because that's enough fun to be had in one weekend, and because they live so far away and have to drive back. Then, I get a couple more days off before I get to work nights for a couple weeks. Starting on July 4th. Yup...I get to miss July 4th. I normally don't mind, but I am over here in the East where I have never seen any 4th celebrations, and I am with Shaun. I would like to celebrate holidays with him. Oh well. We are gonna have a good day before I have to go to work. My night shifts are all bundled together, so I will get them over with in about a weeks worth of time.
Other than that, nothing new to note. Shaun was supposed to have a 2 week training thing in July, but he isn't going now. So that is good news. I don't think we have any plans, but gives us more time to plan something fun to do. We might head up to see Shaun's Dad again in July. His Dad turns 60 on July 16th, so there is a big party planned. He was really bummed when he thought he wouldn't make it due to the training thing, but now gets to go...and I just happen to have the weekend off. :) Yay for us!

Sugarloaf Mtn

Headed down south to Sugarloaf Mountain on sunday for a day hike. We planned on following the hike mapped out in the book we bought "50 hikes in Maryland". It was fun, strenuous but fun. First 1/4 mile was practically all up hill. There were lots of other people around as well, until we got about 1/2 mile into the hike. After that, we saw very few people.
There were several lookout points that overlooked the beautiful landscape we call Maryland. Unfortunately, neither of us thought to bring our camera. We headed to breakfast at Cracker Barrell before our hike, so we were only thinking about how hungry we were. We know...bad us.
We ended up cutting it short about a mile or two. We planned on a 7.5 mile hike, but ran out of water at about mile 4. Oops, it was hotter than we expected, and we drank more than we thought we had. Oh well. So we cut it short, and figured we did about 6 miles. It took us about 3 hours to do it all, but it was up/downhill lots. We saw a deer run away and heard lots of little scurrying along our hike, but nothing other than that. Overall, we were pooped and ready to be done. However, it was great way to spend a Sunday afternoon together!

American Falls

American and Canadian Falls



Having fun in the gift shop.

All ready to walk the cave of the winds, and get soaked!!

Maid of the Mist Boat. It takes you right into Horseshoe Falls (Canadian), pretty neat, but more wet!!

Overlook onto the Falls

Shaun and I before Maid of the Mist Boat ride

American Falls, view from the boat!

Zzzzz

Man, was I sleepy this week. I went to bed at 8:30 pm last night. Strange. I am all rested now, and am hoping to go for a hike tonight. We haven't done too many hikes/walk in the last few days, nor over the weekend.
This weekend I have 5 days off, sweet!!! I don't know what our plans are, but I am sure we will do something fun. May go to a friend's house Saturday evening for a pool party, then maybe find a good hike to do all day on Sunday. We bought a book "50 Hikes in Maryland", and can't wait to start hiking some of the trails.
Next weekend, a few of Shaun's friends are coming up from NC, and GA, and we will head to King's Dominion (Virginia). Yeah, fun times!!

Niagara Falls/Father's Day

Had an amazing time at Niagara Falls this weekend in NY. We headed up after Shaun passed his certification test on Friday. Its about a 6-7 hr drive depending on traffic/construction. I think it took us about 6 1/2. Not bad. Had a nice evening talking with his Dad and sister. They are great!! I really adore his family. Then Saturday took the one-hour drive to Naigara Falls. We were gonna do both the American side and the Candian side, but ended up just staying on the American side. We had lots of fun, and I have a ton of pics to follow. I work the next three days, so they should be posted by the end of the week.
We did the Cave of the winds, where you hike down to the bottom of the falls, and get soaked. Of course they provide you with sandals and ponchos. It was fun. Next up, walked around lots, enjoying the scenery, then headed over to Maid of the Mist. Its a boat that takes you into the falls. It was hard to keep my eyes open it was so wet, but I still got an amazing view from the bottom of the falls. Of course they provide another poncho for you there too.
We decided not to go to the Canadian side, we had seen enough, and planned to meet his sister and father for dinner in Buffalo at the Cheesecake Factory....yumm!!! Had some time to look around the mall, just browsing.
Sunday went to church in the morning, then to brunch after church. That was nice. Shaun and I have been wanting to find a church, but we have just been so busy on weekends. When things settle down, we will hunt for a church here to go to. After brunch, we went and saw the baseball field that his sister, Deanna works at. I guess they have done lots of major changes, so she wanted him to come check it out.
It was a short weekend, but fun none-the-less. I wish we could spend more time up there. Oh and Happy Father's Day to all those Dad's out there. Hope you had a great day!

Meet the Parents

Next up...a trip to NY to meet Shaun's dad. It is Father's Day this weekend, and since we went home for Mother's Day, we are going to head up north for Father's Day. He is going to take me to Niagara Falls too. I am really excited about that. Other than that, I think it will be a laid back weekend, hanging out doing this, that, and the other thing. I am really excited. We leave Fri morning after Shaun's test.

Deep Creek Lake Pics

Kathleen tending to the fire!


Lots of Deer. This is the best pic I could get. I am just not fast enough.


Roasting Marshmallows! Yum!!


Kathleen hiking!


Hiking at Swallow Falls State Park


Shaun.


Cooking hot dogs. Do you see the hot dog?


There he is...oops. There it is!


Yumm!!!


Aren't we cute? Yeah, we know we are!


Our campsite at Deep Creek Lake State Park

Getting excited

So I have been talking about heading to Deep Creek Lake this weekend, and everyone says how great it is, and how much fun there is to have. I cannot wait. I am at work right now, but we leave as soon as I get off. Woohoo!! I can't wait.
I am not sure if we will have time to get all the fun in this weekend...guess that means that I have to go back. Darn.
Last night we went out and got me a sleeping bag. We borrowed a tent ( a BIG tent), and have a grill and all the other camp stuff. I am so excited, I just can't share how excited I am.
We took last night off from walking/hiking to make sure we had all our stuff together and ready. So, that is a couple nights (including tonight, since it is a 2 hour drive away) we won't be exercising. But, its ok cuz we are gonna be spending all day Sat AND Sun hiking! How fun! I know you are all jealous!

Appalachian Trail

Last night we took a nice hike to the Appalachian Trail. We are trying really hard to walk/hike at least one hour each night. Last night was fun. It was a bit of a climb...of course to the experienced hiker it wasn't much of anything, but I haven't been hiking in a while, and I am so out of shape! It was still fun none-the-less.

On the way back, we even ran some. That was nice. I haven't ran in quite a while. I need to keep that up, because of the Half Marathon I signed up for in Sept. Of course I ahve some time to get ready for it, but it will be here before I know it.

Tonight I am not sure where we are headed, but there are lots of parks and places around here that we can walk. We can even walk around the streets if we want to. Of course, we like it better in the "great outdoors", so we try to find a nice park, trail to walk on. I will research, and find something fun for tonight!

Fireflys

Shaun and I headed to the C&O Canal tonight for a little stroll after work. It was nice. We walked for about an hour, just headed down one way, turned around, then came back. We figure about 3 miles tonight. It was nice. I even got to see my first firefly. I had never seen one. I have heard they are all over out here, but have never REALLY seen one. There was only one...at least only one that was lighted. It was pretty neat.
WE have decided ( and will try to keep at it) to go out for a walk every night. Now, it can be a fun stroll in the park, a little hike, or just a jaunt around the neighborhood...never-the-less, we want to get moving. I am hoping, that will get me motivated to get moving more and start running again. I feel my pants getting tighter and tighter, and I haven't started running like I wanted to. Grr. I did however, sign up for a Half Marathon in Erie, PA at the beginning of September. So, I have about 3 months to train.