Enjoying the weekend and exploring NC

Shawn and I didn't do much this week except work and school, but last Sunday we did decide to do a bit of exploring. I wanted to see what other outdoor activities we had around us, and since the weather had decided to cooperate by providing a beautiful sunny 65 plus degree day, it seemed silly not to explore.

I went online and starting searching for "outdoor activities in Durham." I always come back to the same Durham visitors' center web site, and I have yet to be disappointed. I read through some of the different parks and hiking trails, and we decided to check out Lake Crabtree, which is only a short 15 minute drive from us.

Bella was so excited, she got ready to go really quickly.

Lake Crabtree was actually much bigger than I expected. The park area had various picnicking spots, playground equipment, boat rentals and fishing piers. We walked along the water on the paved path (with Bella underfoot) and then climbed to the top of the observation tower.

We then looked into what other offerings the park had. There were two sand volleyball courts, and the boat rentals sound like a fun option for the spring/summer. They have kayaks, canoes, row boats and sailboats for very reasonable rates. The park also had a number of hiking and mountain biking trails for riders of various levels. Shawn and I do not have mountain bikes yet, but it sounds like something that may be happening in the future.

There was a small sandy beach area too. Bella enjoyed running through it. It was her first experience with sand and she seemed to enjoy it.

After enjoying the area and the beautiful scenery (even though on one side of the lake you can still see tall buildings), we headed back to the house. We ate lunch out back in our Adirondack chairs before I went inside to do some work. Shawn then washed the car (one of his favorite nice weather activities) and in the evening we had our neighbors come over for a nice barbecue. We are pretty happy with the January weather so far--now if only it would get into the 70s and stay there!

Snow day!

Durham got snow, again. It started on Christmas evening and must have continued throughout the night because we woke up to about 4 inches of snow outside. We decided to get dressed in our snow gear and go enjoy it. Here are some pictures from our excursion. Bella loved running through it and eating it, but Shawn and I decided to build a snow family.

Shawn was really good at showing me how to get enough snow together to create a base, middle and top for each snow person. After we created the snow people we added a snow puppy (next to the snowman in the Cougar hat) and a snow cat (next to the snowwoman).  The last picture is of Shawn standing next to his snow self petting his snow dog. Yes, we are strange. :-)

Fall break--Day 4--Adventures in Durham

There wasn't as much time in Day 4 simply because Arianna and Tim headed out at 2:30 p.m. Since they had missed their flight coming here, they felt it was important to get there plenty early (even though we assured them an hour was sufficient). Since we had to take them to the airport around 12:30 and everyone here likes to sleep in, we only had a small window of time in which to explore.

We decided to check out that other university: Duke. (I know, I am supposed to be completely against them, but after viewing their campus, I don't think I can be!).

The campus itself is beautiful and looks almost like it is taken from the pages of a fairytale with quaint buildings that look like they come straight from Snow White to historic, traditional houses with pillars and brick used as academic offices that offer a lot of charm. One major feature of the Duke campus is the Chapel. We knew this going in and were fortunate enough to find it. We didn't go inside, but that is something Shawn and I will do in the future.

We then decided to check out the Sarah P. Duke gardens. I thought I had heard something about them, but I did not remember anyone mentioning that it was completely amazing! We decided to park and take a short walk though, and in our short (30 minute walk) we didn't even cover half of the garden. It is absolutely beautiful and had a number of places to take great pictures. I also couldn't get over what a great wedding venue it would be. Below are a few pictures from the trip.

(Some of these pics may even make it up as art! The scenery was just beautiful!)

After the garden, it was time to head to the airport. Shawn and I dropped Arianna and Tim off with plenty of time to catch their return flight, and we then went to do the mundane tasks that need to get completed (even over fall break). After the shopping and such we did however get a nice treat. We got to go and carve pumpkins with our neighbors and their friends. Our realtor, being the amazing person she is, had given us a carving pumpkin, so Shawn created a Mario pumpkin from that. I created a dragon in mine.

Then it was time to head home, grab some dinner, and head to puppy class. Bella was very excited to be back with her friends and performed quite well even though her training had been delayed a bit by her surgery.

Sunday was certainly a busy day for us, but it was also a great one!