MONDAY FORTUNE COOKIE, 9/24/12

There is no security in life, only opportunity.

SNARKY RESPONSE: Well, that'll shake up all the control freaks out there.

There is no security in life, only opportunity.

I love fall. It's my favorite season. Sleeping with the windows open, waking to a nip in the air, bright yellow days and cool purple evenings. This season is also filled with opportunities to enjoy yourself. Outdoor Festivals abound and, because the weather is so much more comfortable, everyone's out and about enjoying them all. So, this weekend we chucked the chores and took the opportunity to hit the road for an deliciously German-themed weekend.

First, St. Benedict's Oktoberfest -

The weinerschnitzel and wurst platters were yummy good!

 

Our sampler glasses and ^ The Stein Holding Contest
My friend and fellow author, Tina Glasneck, won the Friday night contest, Ladies Division!

A Sunday drive out Patterson Avenue revealed the Byrd Cellars Winery where we met the delightful owners and sampled their wines. Sadly, I didn't take any photos, but click on their name above to visit their website. Definitely going to be visiting them again soon! We brought back several lovely wines and gifts.

Then we continued on to Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery.

After sampling their fruit wines and meads, we headed west and discovered the Wild Wolf Brewing Company

 

Our two sample flights definitely took off!

  

A drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway is always a visual delight. We just missed seeing a hang-glider launch, but sat and watched a lazy circling drifting flight to the valley floor way below. The trees are still green though a few sad trees seem to be launching themselves from green to brown in rapid order.

 

 The hang glider is the little dot in the middle of the left photo.

And finally dinner at our favorite German restaurant outside Staunton, Edelweiss Restaurant, off I-81.

Home now with wonderful memories. How was your weekend?

MONDAY FORTUNE COOKIE 7/30/12

"You are one of those people who goes places in life."


SNARKY RESPONSE: Yep. The Grocery Store. The Office. The Gas Station.

"You are one of those people who goes places in life."

Road Trip! Let's go. I love getting behind the wheel and heading off for somewhere, anywhere. Heading down highways wide or curving country roads, I don't care, just let me go. It's the end of July and vacation time is in full swing!

Niagara Falls, US Side

Whether it's a formal, planned trip or something spur of the moment, I can't wait to get on the road and head out.

In my tiny world, there are a few little routines that accompany even the most spontaneous adventures. Even something as mundane as filling the tank with gas becomes extraordinary.


Usually, I'm a "pay at the pump" kinda gal, but a road trip requires a foray into the convenience store. Simply going inside is a break with routine  and when I step through those double doors, that convenience store suddenly becomes a fluorescent-lit Aladdin's cave of treasures. Of course, the formally "stated" goal is to get bottled water, but there are all those aisles you have to pass on the way to the coolers. Aisle after aisle filled with tasty, high-calorie, low-nutrition wonders. Chips in shiny bags, candy in colorful wrappers, pastries peeking through cellophane windows, and other foodstuffs you'd never even think to drop into your cart in a grocery store.  Somehow, despite my best intentions, I always end up collecting a handful of crunchy, salty snacks along the way to that cooler stocked with bottle waters.


After the gas tank is filled and a bulging bag of snacks is stashed within easy reach, the other road trip routine is driving through the drive-thru to get a breakfast biscuit. Again, breakfast biscuits are verboten in real life, but there is something about heading onto the highway, breakfast in hand, coffee cooling in the cup holder.


Crank up the radio, we're outta here.


What's your road trip routine? Do you have one?