Catching up

Where to begin!!!!!  I guess I'll just start where I left off.....which was Friday morning.  

Friday Jason and I decided on driving a few hours south and exploring Douthat State Park.   It looked gorgeous.  I looked for hotels and we decided to stay in Staunton, VA and just drive the extra hour to the state park to hike.  (the park is kinda in the middle of nowhere...but well worth it!).   We actually made plans to be off of work on Monday also.  Plans were made and we were both excited.

Friday afternoon and evening I was hungry as a bear that just woke up after a long winter of hibernation!  And sadly enough I indulged.  :(

That night I slept HORRIBLY.  My chest was hurting...I wasn't sure if it was indigestion because I ate so poorly or some kind of chest congestion. I woke up tired as all get out.  I had little or no voice and the sinus pressure in my head was incredible.  No worries...sinus problems.  I trucked through the few hours of work and then we headed out for our weekend!  By the time we got the few hours south to Staunton, I was running a pretty nice fever.  (No, I do not know what it was....I know I couldn't get warm and Jason later told me that I was radiating heat  ha ha ha)   I still didn't feel too bad...a bit congested...just tired and feverish. We checked into the hotel and I dozed on and off all through the evening.  (This guy really is a keeper because he took this all in stride....calmly amused himself while I slept and talked and kept me company when I was awake....and tucked me in when I drifted off again)  Finally at about 8PM I fell asleep for good and slept until 8 in the morning.  I woke up and other than a tightness in my chest and some phlegmy coughing I felt fine.  I judged where I was physically and decided that I could hike.  Off we went.

I smeared a thick layer of vaseline on my blistery heels.  I covered that with a square of gauze bandage and then affixed that to my body with duct tape.  I wore a thin pair of socks over that....and when we got to the trailhead, I added a nice thick pair of socks over that before donning my hiking boots.

We hiked about 6-7 miles.  Half of it uphill and the other half downhill.   When the tail got more strenuous and challenging we decided to turn around.  It was a good call.  I was feeling my heels and my body was getting tired.

 We went down to the lack and looked across at the mountain thad we had just been on. Very cool.

And then we moseyed our way back to the hotel to rest up for another day!

We got back to the car and I was immediately made to strip off my boots and my extra socks and Jason visually inspected my feet.  They were hurting....but I did no more damage.  I will DEFINITELY be buying new boots in the next week or two though!

On Monday we awoke and we were both feeling sluggish.  So we spent some time in Staunton.  I have always loved the old building that used to be an insane asylum.    So we went over that we and hiked a local trail there...and then yes....moseyed up around the building to grab some pictures.

This is the DeJarnette Insane Asylum built in the 1930's

Sadly this building will probably be torn down....the owners I believe are hoping it falls down.  I was told it's all cinder block construction and basically 'jail cells' so it would be way too costly to save.

We left the DeJarnette Center and we were heading to the historic downtown area when we passed the old Western State Lunatic Asylum. Yup, we had to stop here and visit that one also. These two asylums worked in tandem for the first part of their lives.

Look at these wrought iron rails!!!!

Luckily, they are slowly turning these old buildings into condominiums.  It looked as if they had two of they buildings completed with people living in them....and one more being worked on.  HOpefully someday they will have totally remodeled and saved all of these gorgeous buildings!

At this time we started homeward.  We thought it would be fun to take route 11 north instead of the interstate.  Wow...that most than doubles the drive time.  But it was pretty...it was definitely more fun.  We even got to stop at a covered bridge where I was able to pick up  a cool geocache there also!  

By the time I got home I was exhausted and collapsed on the couch.  I had made sure I got home in time so that I could accept an invitation to go to dinner with my brothers family.   I couldn't make that.  By the time I hit my bed (which was EARLY)  I was feeling quite ill!   

Yes, the chickens came home to roost....I should have taken it easy this weekend after being sick on Saturday.  I didn't and now I'm paying the price of being sick again!   And what's worse?????   I feel horrible because I have infected Jason.    He has texted me that he is running a fever and is coughing up a lung now also.

So this morning I grabbed a slice of toast and then thought about weighing myself.  I normally do NOT eat before weighing in...but I did today. And I am showing a FABULOUS loss for this week. Lets see if I can hold it until the official weigh in tomorrow morning!