It Is Fall

Dear September,

You are my favorite month. 

Here's ten reasons why:

#1) Apples!

#2) Oktoberfest Beer!

#3) Kettle corn!

#4) Perfect biking weather

#5) Blue Hole gets super cold and peaceful

#6) Hiking boots and wool socks come back into style

 

#7) Cool foggy mountain mornings

#8) Sunrise is not at an ungodly hour (thank you Daylight Savings)

#9) Prettiest time to be on Skyline Drive

#10) Cold colorful hikes 

So far this month, I've gone camping a whole bunch, been to a new lake, hiked a few new hikes, made some new friends, learned to slackline, biked several new routes, gone to my first vineyard (CrossKeys!), toured 3 amazing Virginia microbreweries, and gotten 2 flat tires in a 50 mile bike race!

Also, John Butler Trio makes an excellent soundtrack for adventuring. Highly recommend.

I made a new friend! His name's Xander, he's a salamander.

Here's a few more pictures that I really liked from this month:

I love nature.

Taste of Misty Moonshine, Teardrop in My Eye

And thus, John Denver sums up the end to my summer.

Cheesy song lyric title works three ways:

1) It's about Western Virginia (that's right, NOT West Virginia, for those of you who didn't get that the Shenandoah River is pretty specific to regular Virginia), and those country roads have once again taken me home to the place I belong, Harrisonburg VA.

2) I DID go to West Virginia, and I brought back moonshine. WhaBAM.

And finally, 3) summer has ended, and there are indeed a few sad teardrops in my eye. I will miss this wild quasi-nomadic summer lifestyle I've been living.

SEGWAY: Check out my view from the new digs!

I am not a city person, but me-oh-my I love me a good sunset. 

Plus, walking distance to my favorite bar. Bonus points!

Backtracking to before summer ended though, I went to the lake with the fam a bit. Here's a dog in a boat!

Also one day the lake disappeared...

Just kidding, it was only pretty fog. And spiderwebs!

Anyway, now I'm back at school and that's pretty cool. This year I've decided my goal for the year is going to be supporting the local community any way I can. So far, I've gone to the farmers market every Saturday to buy all my vegetables and eggs. When I go to the bar, I buy beer from my local brewery, 3 Brothers Brewery!

My two favorites! I highly recommend both!

(Left: 3 Bros Elementary Porter, Right: 3 Bros Tri Brathair Scottish Ale)

This goal is inspired by a movement my cousins started called Farm to Pint, out on the North Fork! They grow hops locally and sell them to nearby breweries, not to mention doing other cool things like making soap! My cousins are pretty cool. Check them out on Facebook if you can!  https://www.facebook.com/FarmToPint

One of their big projects is selling hop plants at their farmer stand for locals to grow their own! They gave me one too.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing.....  HOPTIMUS PRIME

Happy banana :)