Old Rag

Todd and I decided to go hike Old Rag Mountain last week. We had heard from a lot of people out here about this hike so we decided to see for ourselves. The weather was beautiful and the hike was awesome.

Towards the top, there's a rock scramble and in some parts I was on my hands and feet trying to get around rocks!  There are huge boulders, rock crevasses, a staircase carved into the rock, and many places where you have to decide to go over, under or around the rocks! When we read about the hike, it said it was strenuous but we thought, how strenuous can a mountain that is only 3291 feet high be.  It didn't help that some of the rock was wet so it was pretty slippery but it made for a fun adventure.  We loved it! The rock scramble made the hike much more exciting! 

We recommend this hike!! There are two ways up so if you have kids, I would probably avoid the rock scramble but the hike was awesome and the view is beautiful!

Weekend Trips

Girl's Trip:
Last weekend I went on our Ward's Relief Society's Temple Trip.  It was so much fun and our Relief Society is awesome and did such a good job organizing the whole thing!!  On Friday evening we headed up to DC and checked into our hotel.  We had a little devotion and then played games, talked, and ate lots of treats!

The next morning we had breakfast delivered to our rooms, big thanks to the ladies who planned the trip, and then we were off to the temple.  The Washington DC Temple is so beautiful!!  (and thanks to Sara for taking pictures!)
When I got home Saturday afternoon, Todd ask me how it was and I told him how much fun it was and then said, I was so tired because we went to bed really late and woke up early.  He then told me, "This is why we don't have sleepovers, you come home tired and don't get anything done!" Of course he was joking but I thought he had turned into my mom!  That's what I heard after every sleepover growing up!! 
Boy's Trip:When Todd knew I was going on this overnight trip, he also wanted to do something.  He went on another backpacking bromance, this time with Brian.  They went to Shenandoah National Park and hiked the Cedar Run White Oak Canyon Loop.  They were planning on setting up camp half way but they got rained on a lot and decided to just keeping going and head home that night.
Beautiful! Tons of waterfalls and streams!



We both had great trips! We feel so lucky and blessed to be in such an awesome ward and have great friends out here! 

Monument 10K and Final Four

Todd and I ran the Monument 10K this year.  This race is huge with 40,000 runners and tons of spectators.  We had a lot of fun and it turned out to be a prefect day.  We lucked out with blue skies and sunny weather and being able to park just a few blocks from the starting line, thanks to having a church building near by and President Anderson unlocking the parking lot for us.  The race made us both realize how we need to get back into shape.  

I tried to convince Todd he should be running with these guys because the top finishers won cash prizes.  However, due to not training since he ran for Weber State, he chose to run with me instead.  Maybe next year...

(Picture/Video taken from the sportsbacker's website)

This is a little preview of what the race is like!  Lots of runners, people in costumes, crazy VCU fans, bands on every corner, and tons of people cheering you on! 

And of course.... 

to our family and friends back home, this is where Todd goes to school! 

WAY TO GO VCU!! 

Final Four! 

 It was sad to see them lose but it was sure exciting to be here in Richmond and watch them play. (pictures taken from the internet...)

Costa Rica- Tamarindo

For the last part of our trip, we headed to Tamarindo for some beach time and a surf camp.  It was quite an experience staying at a surf camp with other spring breakers who were there to surf all day and party all night.  It definitely added to the surfing experience!!  As we were getting ready to go to bed each night, they were getting ready to go out and party!! I don't know how people can get by with only 2-3 hours of sleep especially after we were in the sun all day surfing.

Blue Trailz Surf Camp

When we arrived at the surf camp, this was up on the wall.  I was a little nervous but apparently it was from the week before because of the earthquake in Japan.  The waves were still plenty big for me though! 

   

This is our surf instructor, Giovanni.  He was awesome! He not only taught us how to surf but saved me from getting pounded by huge waves! (Yes, I know how white we look next to him!)

Todd and Giovanni waiting for the prefect wave...

Giovanni giving me some last minute tips before going out.

Surfing was so much fun.  It was both of ours first time ever doing it and we loved it.  Todd was a natural and didn't need much instruction so Giovanni was with me most the time.  We can't wait for it to warm up here in Virginia so we can head to the beach and do it again.

Todd also tried paddle boarding which was a lot harder than surfing. 

Tamarindo Beach was so pretty.  It was so nice to relax and not worry about work or school! 

Our surf camp included an adventure activity so we decided to go horseback riding.  Being the dry season, it wasn't as green by the beach but we still had a good time.

We loved Costa Rica!  Pura Vida!! 

Costa Rica- La Fortuna

For Spring Break this year, we went to Costa Rica.  We had a great time and enjoyed exploring this beautiful country.  We flew into San Jose and headed to La Fortuna.  We went in the dry season but La Fortuna was still so pretty and green.  The Arenal Volcano was awesome to see and the rain forest is beautiful.

Arenal Volcano

View from our room

We enjoyed hiking around the volcano and seeing this waterfall and all the beautiful flowers.

Lake Arenal  

As we were driving around the lake, we saw these guys all over the road...

They were so funny to watch.  I got out of the car to take some pictures and they all started running towards me.

In La Fortuna they have canopy tours all over so of course we had to do one!

It was so fun and beautiful.

They had a Tarzan Swing.  They hook you up to the rope and then they open the gate and you pretty much fall off the platform.  It was crazy!!  

Later that afternoon we started our drive to the beach.  We found an awesome German Bakery to eat at and then stopped at some Hot Springs and pretty much had the place to ourselves! We soon found out that it was more of a local place and its only busy on the weekend.  We didn't mind though.

The Hot Springs

They even had a pool with Mickey Mouse!  We thought of the Olson's and Vanhille's who were at Disneyworld! La Fortuna was a great place to begin our vacation.