Last Wednesday I drove to my mom’s house to visit for several days. I had a beautiful sunny drive through the Shenandoah and Roanoke valleys, and today I’m making the return journey back home.
Mom’s Internet was down while I was there, so I could only get online when I drove into town and used my iPhone as a hotspot. I don’t have AT&T coverage at her house, so I was really living unplugged. Unfortunately, I had planned to catch up on a lot of things that I couldn’t. Even worse, I didn’t have any good books with me so I ended up watching a Yard Crasher marathon during my spare time.
The country roads were calling for me to come run on them and of course I obliged. The roads are narrow sometimes causing me to jump in the ditch when a vehicle drives by, but I only saw three cars total while out on my runs.
On one of my runs, I heard a fox barking up in the woods near my mom’s house. Coyotes have moved into the area in the last ten years and I really would love to hear them howling, but never have. All I know is that I don’t want to run into either a fox or a coyote when I go on one of my very early still-dark-when-I-leave-the-house runs!
I returned from one of my runs to find a bucket of wild raspberries next to Mom’s back door. Her neighbor had picked them in one of the fields on their farm and dropped them off.
We put the wild raspberries to good use in Greek yogurt parfaits for dessert!
On Saturday morning I met Meagan for a trail run at Hungry Mother State Park. I’ll share pictures and a little recap of our run together tomorrow, but I just can’t wait until then to show you what Agnes, Cecilia, Reba, Beatrice, Lady, and Dolores sent to Mom and me by Meagan! We had scrambled eggs yesterday for breakfast and the eggs were so good! Thank you again, Meagan and girls!
I’m about four hours into my six hour drive and stopped at Panera Bread for lunch and for a break from the tractor trailer traffic. I don’t want to complain since I’m making such good time, but traffic has been heavy and fast… like 80 MPH; and I’m frazzled.
I’ll be home soon and looking forward to seeing Bill and the boys, and prepping for a fun Independence Day weekend!
- Questions:
- Do you ever have to run along busy roads?
- Have you ever picked wild raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc?
- Have you ever had fresh-from-the-chicken eggs? ~ When I was little, both sets of grandparents had chickens on their farms.
Yay for the girls for giving you a gift, via Meagan! I LOVE fresh eggs. I also LOVE back country dirt roads. I also enjoy spotting coyotes on my trail runs in Boulder. Each time I see one (it has only happened twice), I think it looks just like a tan version of Shrek. They have never come anywhere close to me, so I don’t feel threatened. In any case, I think it is safe to say I am meant to be a country girl! Just currently living in a city.
Amy recently posted…Random Weekend Happenings
The girls’ eggs were delicious! I’ve never seen a coyote on my parents’ farm, but I’ve seen one in my back yard here in suburbia! Go figure! And yes, I would have guessed you were a country girl at heart.
That is such a beautiful area. Love picking wild berries (mulberries are currently in season here).. We only eat pastured chicken eggs from a small farmer. Delicious! And raw milk for making kefir.
We have so many mulberry trees lining our community trails. During June I always stop and eat a few mulberries during my run!
Where I grew up in NH we had raspberry and blackberry bushes in our back yard. We used to go outside and pick them whenever we wanted….such a treat!
Sue @ This Mama Runs for Cupcakes recently posted…My fav compression sleeves and a contest!!
My dog used to pluck raspberries off the bushes in the hay fields by curling his lips back and biting each berry off without getting any briars stuck to his tongue! It was amazing to watch him eat them. Sometimes he would beat me to the ripe ones!
The country looks amazing. Hope you don’t run into any fox/coyotes but usually they scurry off with a lot of noise. How do I sign up for fresh fruit to be delivered to my back door lol. Great blogger meetup, can’t wait for pics.
I run on busy roads and busy trails. Busy roads are people pulling into the crosswalk so I have to go around their car, super rude. On trails it’s the mountain bikers, I have to jump out of the way all the time.
The running Schlub recently posted…Mid Year Review
Whenever I see a fox when I’m running near my house it always runs away so I’m not too scared. I’m just not experienced with coyotes.
All of the roads around me are quite busy so I definitely appreciate runs in the country – or better yet, trails!
I love running on trails, too!
I’m glad y’all enjoyed the eggs! 🙂 Your yogurt parfaits look delicious, too. I don’t know what is up with the traffic on 81 lately, but it was still bad even today. Very heavy and fast moving, which creates a problem with the trucks on the up- and downhills.
Meagan recently posted…Weekly Workout Roundup – June 23 – 29
The eggs were delicious! Thanks again!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time! And wild raspberries? Delicious!
Have a great 4th of July weekend!
Abby recently posted…Taking a break
Thanks, Abby!