Mountain Weekend Wrap Up

This post covers part two of our mountain weekend for the Fourth and Brandon’s family reunion. Check out part one here. Brandon was up at 6:30 a.m. on the Fourth for an early tee time. While he was gone I slept a little longer, ate breakfast, blogged and went for a run.

I had no idea where to run because our hotel was on a pretty busy highway. I considered heading back up the mountain and running up the trail we hiked yesterday but didn’t know if I could hang with a two mile steep climb! I ended up just getting in the car and driving around the area near our hotel. I found a quite country road and parked at a church. The scenery was beautiful – rolling hills, farmland and mountain views. I actually discovered later that I had been running along the edge of the Pisgah National Forest. I covered a little over 4 miles in 38 minutes.

The run was awesome. Low humidity, beautiful scenery and tons of energy.

I came back to the hotel, showered and headed up the mountain for a day of relaxation and family time.

Photo courtesy of a family member. A shot I wanted to get but never did.

I was starving when I got to the mountain and lunch wasn’t ready. I raided my emergency snack stash and found an Apricot Almond Kind Bar.

I had grand plans of reading on the porch but got distracted by this.

So instead of reading I spent the next hour and a half playing with these two cuties.

Lunch was (finally!) served at 3 p.m. I was famished.

I had half of a tuna sandwich on whole wheat with mustard, lettuce and tomato and celery, mini dill pickles and fresh fruit. I also picked up some bacon wrapped asparagus but ended up just eating the asparagus. Wasn’t feeling the bacon.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing yard games and hanging out. Dinner was another fun spread.

I loaded my plate up with spinach souffle, Asian cole slaw, fresh fruit and grilled chicken.

Dessert was made by Brandon’s cousin Kat (who is also a blog reader!) and was fabulous.

This rum cake went so quickly (it was awesome!) but I learned that if you label something as famous that people can’t resist trying it! 😉

After dinner we watched the sun set.

And then it was time for fireworks!

You can’t have a Fourth of July celebration without fireworks and these were a  great way to end a fun day but I must admit that I was SO thankful that my husband was not part of the crew setting them off. I always get so anxious about it!

This morning we headed back up the mountain for breakfast and to say goodbye to everyone. The crew in charge of breakfast did an excellent job with the spread (at least in my opinion!).

I had plain yogurt with homemade spiced rhubarb jam (homemade – and I got to bring a jar home with me!), granola and fresh fruit. On the side I enjoyed a scone with more rhubarb jam and spreadable honey.

After I ate this plate of deliciousness appeared.

Apparently, the breakfast crew picked fresh berries on the mountain yesterday and used them in the scones. I couldn’t resist having a break of one. They were so good!

Overall, I was pleased with the abundance of healthy options at the reunion. So much fresh fruit available with every meal.

We headed home early this afternoon and picked up Sullie. She is exhausted from a weekend of playing and pretty much hasn’t woken up since we arrived home! I went to a yoga class at Y2 this evening. There were only three of us in the class. It was relaxing and a nice way to center myself and get ready for the busy week ahead.

We were both craving pizza for dinner tonight. I tried to lobby for a veggie pizza but Brandon was having none of it. I just made a giant salad on the side.

Time for bed. Hope your long weekend was fun! Nice that tomorrow is Tuesday and we have a short week.