A Trip North...

 This past weekend we travelled north to the area where we lived for twelve years.  I'm still not sure how we accomplished it, but on Friday we ate a hot breakfast, loaded the van and were on the road by 8 a.m.  We wanted to make the most of the day. 

Our first stop was Eugenia Falls.  Gerald is sure that we'd been there before.  I don't remember...but I was expecting a little more of a water fall than this.  But what it lacked in width it made up for in height.

 The scenery from the cliff was beautiful and there were some hiking trails which gave us the opportunity to stretch our legs after the 3 hour drive.

We ate our lunch and decorated Nadia. :)

 Then we hit the road again to head for Metcalfe Rock where there are some crevice caves.  The backroads afford so many awesome views...we could've just parked and sat there for a while just soaking it all in.  We didn't, though, because we had a number of things we wanted to do yet.

 Metcalfe Rock is amazing.  When you walk up to it, you see a huge rock wall that towers above the forest. 

While walking around to the other side to access the caves we came across this downed tree and thought it might be a good place to pose for a few pictures.

This was our second visit to the caves.  We had been there four years ago, not long before we moved away from the area.  That time we were without flashlights so we did not venture into any of the dark places.  This time we came prepared.  What fun it was to explore and discover passageways and chambers.

We couldn't help but be reminded of how often David, in the book of Psalms, calls God his rock and fortress.  Being here impressed this image upon us, and we could well imagine how David and his men found refuge when hiding from Saul.

During our travels we listened to Heidi.  The kids (ha ha) were inspired to climb the rocks like Peter and the goats. :)

Our next stop was at the park/beach that we used to visit regularly.  We have lots of good memories from there...

Then on to the farmer's market.  Some good friends of ours sell their organic produce there, and it was neat to see their booth.  This is apple country, so we also picked up a couple of bushels which we are making into applesauce today. 

Some of the girls agreed to having an apple painted on their cheeks...

The market is at the harbour, and we took a few minutes to stroll around for old times' sake.

Then it was on to visit friends.  We did LOTS of visiting...we made five visits over the weekend, and not one of them was quite long enough.  I took very few pictures though.  We were just enjoying visiting and the kids were so busy with their friends that pictures didn't happen. 

On Monday we celebrated Thanksgiving with Gerald's side of the family.  His cousin hosted the gathering at her farm, and since it was on our way home, it worked out well for us.

It was a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving weekend.  It was just what we needed - a relaxed time away, a day of sight-seeing, catching up with old friends and enjoying many delicious home-cooked-but-not-by-me meals. :)