Tueday's Topic: Virginia Creeper

Neither Mr. Sister nor I had to work yesterday so we decided it would be a perfect day to take the kids on a  mountain bike adventure down the Virginia Creeper Trail. This is a trail through the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, near the Tennessee and NC borders. It criss crosses with the Appalachian trail as well. The wonderful thing about this adventure is that you begin from a high elevation and gravity assists your descent along the trail. Despite this, it is still a pretty rigorous work out avoiding hazards, other cyclists, hikers and horses.

The following are a few photos I'd like to share from our excursion. I must apologize in advance for the "blurry" nature as, unbeknown to me, there was a fingerprint on the lens.

Bethany and Munch...Are you ready?

How about you, Mr. Sister?

The 5th is definitely ready to roll.

Wait a sec...where, exactly, are we?

It appears we are here.

One of the many stops along the trout stream

meandering beside the trail.

Enjoying the beauty of what surrounds me, 

while resting up for the next leg of our journey.

A view of the trail.

Here is the Appalachian Trail crossing our path.

Unfortunately, Bethany's bike malfunctioned 

causing minor abrasions and a strained/sprained ankle

(the brakes got caught in her spokes causing her to flip).

Munchie Boy took a much harder fall when 

his wheel hit an obstruction along his path.

We stopped to cleanse his wounds in the clear mountain stream.

Thanks to the kindness of strangers with band-aids

his spirits were lifted. 

At the end of the adventure, despite our bumps and bruises,

we are all pretty excited. Why?

Ice cream, that's why!

And here is the wonderful thing about this trip...despite the mishaps along the way, Munch and Bethany remained positive and gave this adventure a resounding thumbs up!