Autumnal!

The last weekend of October was definitely colorful. It didn't have the best baseball but that's okay, it's not over until it's over and there are still two (at least one - hopefully two) games left to play. However, the Autumn colors seemed to come out in full force this weekend and I took so many pictures! 

Friday night dinner was at Longhorn Steakhouse and then it was home to watch the first of the three games at Nationals Park in the World Series. It wasn't a great game and I've discovered that maybe I feel the baseball anxiety just a little bit too much... ha-ha. Regardless - I watched until the game ended around midnight - yikes!

Saturday morning after having coffee, I decided that since it was overcast and cool I'd take the dog and we'd do a few miles. Of course, once I was a full mile from my house - it started to rain! Now, it wasn't ever more than a slight rainfall but it was continuous for the walk back to the house. My dog - who normally hates getting wet and refuses to go out to walk in the rain - well he was unfazed. 

I had lunch and made cookies before doing some chores and then getting ready to go over to my friend Katie's house for the evening. She lives up on the side of the mountain and so the Fall colors were even more pronounced on the drive up to her house... so much so that I was tempted more than once to stop and snap pictures of it all. I waited - and then snapped pictures when we went on a walk with her son.

We had dinner together and watched a couple movies and then I headed back down the mountain to catch some of the baseball game - although a part of me wishes that I hadn't. It was another bummer of a game and I'll be honest - after the Astros hit a Grand Slam - I tapped out. *sigh* 

Sunday morning when I woke up it was absolutely pouring rain and I wasn't sure what the rest of the day would look like. However, by the time I'd had coffee and gotten ready for church - it seemed like the sun was trying to come out. 

Well - come out it did! When we left church shortly before noon, the sky could not have been a more perfect shade of blue with fluffy clouds floating along through the blue. We decided that since this was likely the last day this year that would really be a good "outdoors" day - what with the time change next week and cooler temperatures on the horizon - we'd make an afternoon of things and enjoy the time outside. 

We grabbed some picnic lunch supplies and stopped by the house to pick up the pup before heading to the Virginia State Arboretum for lunch. The Arboretum has the most fantastic grove of Ginkgo Biloba trees that turn a perfect shade of golden yellow every year - it's just a matter of making it to the grove at just the right time. I went last weekend and they weren't quite there but given the rain and the noticeable change in color around our neighborhood - I bet that they would be stunning. 

And they were. I didn't even share all the pictures I took of the trees here...because I just couldn't stop taking snaps of them from every angle possible. 

Leave it to my Dad to find the most random and unique place to take a picture... we drove up the mountainside, around bends and switchbacks and suddenly we came out at a wedding venue suspended on the edge of the mountain with stunning views of the colorful valley below. 

After taking in the views for a bit, we continued down the mountain to Fox Meadow Winery to relax on their deck and again - take in the fabulous views! Fox Meadow has to be my favorite place to have a glass of wine, the views are so stunning and the wine is delicious - it just can't be beat. My dog thought he wanted a sip of my wine but I convinced him otherwise....

I could not convince the sugar bees floating around that they didn't want my wine - one of them ended up going in head first into my glass of Riesling and drowning for it's troubles. Thankfully I only had a small sip left and so not too much wine was wasted on a bug! *sigh*

After a quick stop in at the National Park where we realized that most of the good color seemed to be more evident on back country roads than in the Parks, we grabbed some dinner and headed home. After a bubble bath, I tried to relax and watch game five of the World Series but that was easier said than done. 

I finally tapped out on that game after the second home run the Astros hit made me want to cry and my Mom had to try and talk me down. I wish I was being funny... but I'm not. So that's the final weekend of October... in all it's baseball horror and Autumnal glory.