Hello, Monday

The day after coming back from vacation is always a rough one for me.  I have a sense of "coming back to reality"and trying to play catch up, while really all I want to do is go bask in the sun. There are good things about coming back from vacation though.  It's always good to realize you're home, to be kissed hello by a husband who maybe, (maybe) missed you, and to sleep in your own bed again.  But even then, I usually spend the first week back, thinking about my vacation and smiling at all the great moments.

This vacation my family and I spent at Pipestem State Park in West Virginia.  We stayed in a cute little cabin at The Resort at Pipestem, and were fantastically isolated in the woods.  It's always hard, for me, to find a balance between activities and just being lazy on vacation, but this time I think we got it right.  We usually got about one activity in a day, whether it was cards, playing life, archery, hiking, boating, swimming, or horseback riding.  There was even a little mini golf...I won't tell you my score, because I would just hate to brag that much.  And between it all I was able to get some couple portraits in of my Brother Jack and His wife Pockets, but more of that later.

If you've never been to Pipestem State Park, I highly recommend it.  The park is clean, there are a variety of places to stay from the lodge to tent camping, and the staff were all really nice.  So without further ado, here is a lovely mix of our activities.  Sorry there aren't more of the swimming, archery, etc type activities...I had my hands a little full.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Don't worry folks, be happy.  Runawayalice is not going to have any updates for a whole week! *gasp*  But before you go into a hyperventilating panic, it's just because I'm going on a little vacation con mi familia.  My family likes to go remote places where there is no internet connection or phone reception.  That's how we really get away.  So, you're on your own for a week.  But don't worry, I'll be back with plenty of pictures to post, and lots of stories I'm sure.  Enjoy your week, and happy August!

Evening Escape

After a long day of editing and writing, Speed Racer and I just absolutely had to get out of the house last night.  We didn't want to spend money, and we wanted to just talk and relax, so we headed to the mountains.  It wasn't as relaxing as planned (there was a lot of traffic) but we did manage to get some photos!

We headed up to Cade's Cove, which as you know from previous posts, is one of my favorite places to go.  As Speed Racer pointed out last night, it's also always kinda hard going there, because it's so similar to where we use to live.  It does make us a little home sick at times, but it's also nice to get some fresh air.

The rest of his turkey friends were too fast for me, sneaky sneaky turkeys.

It's like being on safari!  I'm not lying, half the time I'm in Cade's Cove I expect a T-Rex to come attack our vehicle like in Jurassic Park.

You can't see it, because I didn't have a long enough lens, but there were two beautiful bucks in this field.

We had a little company.

It was a gorgeous night.

I was kind of in love with this tree.

There are lots of pictures of it.

Lots.

I'm sorry.

I....

Love...

It.

It's official.  It's going on my wall.

Beach Bummed

I miss the beach.  This is a fact that I cannot ignore.  For over a year now I have been living in a landlocked state, for the first time in my life.  I grew up near or on the water, and I miss the smell of salt in the air, the heat that is so close it's like a hug, and the soft powdery feel of sand beneath my toes. Unfortunately with the way the summer is looking, I don't think Speed Racer and I will be able to make a beach trip this year.  We have always gone to the beach at least once in the summer, it's a ritual, it's a need, it's a raw animal desire...see? I start to get a little dramatic when I don't get some beach time.

The day the above picture was taken of me, was a day that my parents will never forget.  At that time we only lived about 30 min away from the beach, and on the weekends in the summer, it was a fairly common ritual to hit the sand.  This day in particular the beach was packed.  When I was that age, I never really went farther than the water front without my parents, and after some lounging in the tidal pools I decided it was sand castle makin' time.  One of my favorite parts of sand castle makin' time was collecting beach items to decorate my sand castle with.  My Mom started getting the buckets together and asked me to collect a few shells to put on the castle.

I started collecting and I guess got a little farther away than planned.  But what really did me in was that I lost our blanket in the sea of blankets and passed it on my way back.  I have no idea how long I walked.  But it was long enough that eventually I started to get scared, very scared.  Finally in frustration I just sat where I was and started to cry.  Luckily I was right in front of a lifeguard station.  The lifeguard came down and asked me if I was lost.  Being told so many times to not talk to strangers, it took me  a while to warm up to him.  But he showed me all his official uniform items, and his radio, and said that he was a good stranger and that he was going to help me.  He took me up on the lifeguard stand, gave me some crackers and some water, and radioed down the beach for my parents.

I can't explain the relief I felt when I saw my parents (or now that I'm older, the relief I'm sure they felt when they saw me!).  They took me back to our blanket, where my two brothers explained they thought I had drowned...and may have been a tad happy about it (no annoying little sister, yay!).  All kidding aside, they hugged me and explained how worried they were and how hard they had searched the beach.  It was a great reunion, and that's where that picture was taken.

With such a traumatic experience you would think I would be afraid of the beach or the water, but no.  If anything it strengthened my love for the beach.  For me it is a place to be alone, a place to get lost in the roar of the waves, and a place where the ever changing scenery is all I need.  It is a love that Speed Racer and I have always shared.

Here are some of my favorite beaches and watering holes.  Some of the pictures are not mine but hopefully the people who took them won't mind sharing.  They are all family and friends.  Hopefully this will give you a taste of the beach, even if like me, you can't get there this year.

Food Poisoning: Not for the light of heart

It was 7:00 AM.  Why was I awake?  I looked around the guest bedroom at my brother's house for some sort of explanation.  I love sleep, I don't usually wake up on my own unless there is a reason.  But everything appeared as normal as can be.  I started to roll over and go back to sleep when it came again, a pain in my gut so violent it could have been a contraction.  I instantly went into the fetal position and tried not to cry out.  Eventually I eased out of bed and went downstairs to where my brother Warnie was reading, he looked up quizzically as I entered.

"I think I might be sick," I whined.

"Oh no.  Well let's get you something easy on your stomach to eat.  Maybe eating a little something will help," he said.

He is such a good brother.  After bringing me a plain bagel, peppermint tea and some pepto he sat and ate with me while we watched some Daily Show.   The stomach cramps finally started to ease and we started talking again.  Today was the day I was suppose to be leaving to head back to Knoxville.

"Thanks for the food, I really do feel better," I said smiling.  Food always makes me feel better.

"No problem, I'm glad you're feeling better."

I smiled and walked towards the kitchen to put my plate up.  Suddenly, I put my plate down and dashed to the hall bathroom.  I puked my guts out.

When I came back Warnie looked concerned, "I thought you said you felt better!"

"I did feel better!" I said, equally frustrated.

A look of horror crossed his face, and I could see something dawning there that he was not excited about.  "Maybe your pregnant..." he said.

"I'm not pregnant." I said, matter-o-factly.  There was no way.

"We could get you a pregnancy test if you wanted..." You could tell he was saying this to ease my mind, he didn't really want to.  No big brother wants to get their little sister a pregnancy test, no matter how old they are, or if they're married.  Really I think it's probably still pretty weird for older brothers when their little sisters get pregnant period.  But he loves me, so he was willing to do that for me.

"That's ok, seriously, I think I'm just sick."

As the morning progressed, there was lots more puking.  I couldn't keep water down.  I got a fever.  I got a splitting headache.  And all hopes of moving, eating, or working subsided.  I gave in to my caretakers and just laid on the couch and watched "The Blind Side," which I loved.  I have an incredible soft spot for feel good football movies, they make me cry.

Between listening to wonderful quotes from Sandra Bullock's character like, "If you so much as set foot downtown, you will be sorry. I'm in a prayer group with the D.A., I'm a member of the NRA and I'm always packing," and racing to the bathroom to pray to the porcelain gods, I decided it was undeniable.  I had food poisoning.

If I have ever known you and known you had food poisoning, and took it lightly...I am sorry.  Next time, I will come hold your hand and hold your hair.  It's that bad.  Luckily mine only lasted for 24 hours.  Once I had purged my system I was a lot better.  Wednesday night my 102 fever finally broke and the next morning I braved the 8 hour drive home.  Luckily, I split it up over 2 days and stopped at my parents house half way there, still exhausted and weak.

I'm just now getting back to normal.  The thought of some foods still make me queasy, and I'm still tired.   But that is why, dear readers, I did not post all last week.  I hope you'll forgive me, but I had the plague.

Independence Day

I spent a great 4th of July weekend with my family first at our cabin and then enjoying some in town festivities.  I ran into some friends as well and just thoroughly enjoyed myself.  It's always hard going home because there are so many people to see!  Sadly I was absent Speed Racer, but he was busy with his own tale (more on that later).  I am however, still out and about on my travels so this is going to be another quick post.  But here are a few pictures of the 4th festivities to give you an idea of all the fun we had.

4th of July Remembered

That's right folks, the 4th of July is here, and even though it came faster than anticipated we can still get in the spirit of the day.  I'm sure many of you have fantastic plans for the 4th: swimming, grilling, parades, and maybe even some fireworks.  Here are some pictures from a 4th of July celebration I took a few years ago, to help get you in the celebrating mood!

Have a fun and safe weekend everybody!

Clingstone, House on the Rock

I first ran across these photos in an email forward and instantly fell in love.  I think everyone imagines or dreams of having a house like this.  And the great part is the owner is willing to share in exchange for some tough love.  That's right, you can come stay at this beautiful home if you are willing to help spruce her up with some good ol' elbow grease.  Hop the jump to find out more!

Here at Runawayalice Photography, we're very conscious about copyright.  That being said, this is going to be my first picture-less post.  Tragic you say? Yes, indeed.  But wait!  There are still pictures, they're just not mine and you just have to click one more thing to check out this beautiful home.  The original article (from what I can tell) and a beautiful photo gallery with photos by Erik Jacobs of The New York Times can be found HERE.

As you can tell from the breath taking photos, the view will take your breath away.  You actually feel like you are staying on a boat in the water, and the artist did well to bring the landscape into the house itself.

Clingstone is a 103 year old mansion that resides in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. Clingstone was built by J.S. Lovering Wharton with the help of artist William Trost Richards.  The building is a 3 story mansion with 23 rooms, a huge central hall, and dozens of large picture windows.  The building was completed in 1905 with the final bill totaling $36,982.99.

The current owner Mr. Henry Wood, is a distant cousin of J.S Lovering Wharton.  Mr. Wood bought the house in 1961 with his ex-wife Joan for a mere $3,600.  At that time it had been empty for nearly two decades and needed a lot of work.  That's where Mr. Wood had a bright plan.  He created the Clingstone Work Weekend.  Usually held around Memorial Day, the work weekend brings around 70 friends and families to the mansion to handle the repairs.  And what do they receive in exchange for their hard work?  A chance to stay in this beautiful home.  But Mr. Wood doesn't limit that invitation to just family and friends.  Mr. Wood says that all skilled workers are welcome.  So if you're willing to put in a little hard work, you could enjoy a summer stay at this beautiful gem.

The Boys Are Back in Town

So that title isn't completely accurate, the boys were back in town and have now left again, is a little better.  While I was catching up on girl talk and celebrating Father's Day, Speed Racer was out having a "Boys Only" weekend.  There was canoeing, there were guns, there was mockery, and there was laughter...sounded like an overall good time.  Wish I could have stuck around a little bit longer before they kicked me out, I love being one of the guys, but alas, they needed to talk man talk.  But here are some pictures I snapped before I left. Obviously you know Speed Racer...

Mr. B...

The Preacher...

Gumby...

And hiding back there is Mr. Hokie.

After a crazy weekend, we high tailed it back to Knoxville.  But before Mr. B left the next morning we got a chance to show him Norris.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend!  It was great to see so many old friends, both Speed Racer and I miss them a lot.

Friday Escape

Today I'm going back to the land that I love.   The land where I fell in love with Speed Racer, and where magical things can happen.  To dramatic of a start?  It's true though, that's how I feel about this place.  Speed Racer and I are going back for a fun filled weekend of canoeing, hiking, camping, girl talk (for me), meeting up with old friends, and celebrating my Father's Birthday and Father's Day!  It's going to be a packed weekend, but much needed.  We're literally about to get on the road, so have a fabulous weekend fair readers, and get out and enjoy the sun.