I'm No Tree Hugger but I Do Love Some Leaves

This weekend, we took a road trip into the mountains of Georgia to vacation with my sister, her husband and my parents.

The four hour drive from Nashville was so incredible, it just flew by. The leaves were just exploding in all different shades of red, orange, yellow and everything in between. I am sure my husband is used to me after 11 years, but I kept hearing myself saying things like, "Oh look at the leaves on that one." or "Can you believe how red those leaves are?" or "That tree is like four different colors at the same time!". I am sure he thinks I'm crazy sometimes, but he just humored me and nodded along while we drove.

My brother-in-law met us at the bottom of the mountain on his four wheeler and led us up the gravel roads to the cabin. (I still don't think I could find my way up there if my life depended on it.) The unpaved roads are so steep at some points, it felt like my poor little Corolla was going to flip over.

We spent hours admiring the leaves. The leaves were so vibrant and the sky was so blue--I just couldn't get enough. You could count the layers of hills as far as the eye could see. In one direction, you could count nine different layers of mountains.

We played with my sister's dogs.

We played games.

We hiked the trails in the woods (and actually saw some wild turkey on Wild Turkey Trail).

We ate squashed cupcakes.

My Dad rediscovered his love of Little Debbie Nutty Bars.

We admired more leaves.

We watched the sun set in the evening and there were no bright lights to distract from the stars in the sky. I had forgotten how many stars you can see when you are away from town.

Now, let me be clear, as much as I like the outdoors, I really have no desire to actually sleep in a tent or camp. This is where I have to hand it to my sister. Her "cabin" (it's more of a mountain home, really) has wireless internet, satellite TV, multiple televisions, DVD players and all the creature comforts anyone could ever need. There was even cell phone service up there!

Even though I spent most of my weekend looking at nothing but trees and leaves, I couldn't get enough. I sat out on the deck for a while with my book and the view was so beautiful it actually distracted me and I had to put down the book and stare for a while longer.

It's amazing--after almost 37 years on this earth, the autumn leaves just never get old to me. I hope they never do.