St. Peter's/St. Paul's Church visits

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My photography meet-up group was able to visit and photograph two of the oldest and most historic churches in the city today.  St Peter's Catholic Church was founded in 1834, was the first Catholic church established in Richmond and is absolutely beautiful.  When you enter your immediately drawn to the beautiful alter and stained glass windows throughout.St. Paul's Episcopal Church is located across the street on one side from St. Peter's and the Virginia State Capital on the other. Over 150 years old, the church has a strong historical bound to the Civil War with both Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis as members of the parish. This church also has one of the largest Tiffany windows (10) displays and in use in the US. The window photos I took (and are posting) are not HDR edited, these are what they really look like. I am still blown away by the craftsmanship, detail and beauty.Both churches are on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.[envira-gallery id="12789"]

Last Camping Trip of 2017

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Just finished closing up the camper after our last trip of the season. We usually end in October but were invited to join our October group for another great weekend of fun at Jellystone's Luray Campgrounds.We had a fantastic time as we always do with this group.  Great food, laughs, exploring the area, even a wine and beer tasting (I discovered I like Moscato, a big win for this non-wine drinker. 🥂The fire-pits were very popular all weekend as were warm clothing as the temperatures took a drastic turn and it was in the low 30's during the day and the teens at night.
While we had a great time, not sure Luray campgrounds is for us as it is very, very kid oriented and of course we don't have little ones.  I would though go back in a few years if Avery joins us as I am sure she would have a blast.

Bear Creek State Park Camping Trip

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We finally got a weekend of camping in.  We had made the decision not to camp this past Spring/Summer in order to spend our weekends working around the yard and house.  I don't think either of us realized just how much we would miss it though and we looked forward to spending a great weekend together, along with Riley and Sydney, who was on her first camping trip!We chose Bear Creek because it was close (an hour and half away) and we had not been there before. We are still on our quest to camp as many state parks as possible. The map was deceiving and we found the park to be much, much smaller than we expected.  Having just celebrated it's 40th birthday this is one of the oldest SP and it showed. The sites were small and very uneven making it very hard to find a spot to accommodate the camper.  We did find one but unfortunately it was not as private as we wish to have as it was near the very front of the park and lots of car traffic could be seen and heard.The plus side of this park is its trails and gorgeous lake.  If you are a tent camper make sure you reserve lake front.  There is not a bad lake front site.  Unfortunately there are no RV lakefront sites but the lake is just a short walk across the road. Still, not the same as waking up to it out you window.We did have a great time, we hiked each day and just relaxed.  The pups were exhausted from all the walking.  Sydney did great. We have our group camping trip in just a few weeks and they will be coming along so I am glad to see how she would react.  Lucky for us, we have another "outdoorsy" pup on our hands!
Video from our weekend.Thanks for coming along with us. Check back soon for more updates about our "Life on the Bluff".

Fireworks on the Beach

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A new experience for us this trip was to see the July 4th fireworks while laying on the beach.It was amazing how close they were to us and gave us a entirely new perspective on watching them.  We may be spoiled now :)