A Day in the Mountains

This past week, the kids had Monday and Tuesday off from school, so I took those days off from work too. Luis was able to take Monday off as well. So, I told everyone that we would go on a road trip, but it would be a surprise. My family is always up for a road trip (especially when the word "surprise" is involved). So we were on the road at 9:30am. They had lots of guesses where we were heading..."NY to see Nani?" Nope. "To the beach"? Nope. And the driving continued. My oldest was watching the GPS so I could see his wheels turning, trying to figure out what could be 1 1/2 hours from our house? Finally we pulled into our first destination and this is what we saw:

This is Symmes Chapel, nestled on the side of Caesar's Head Mountain in Cleveland, South Carolina. I first visited here by myself when I was inspecting the nearby YMCA Camp Greenville, who owns the little chapel, Luis and the kids walked through the front door, not knowing what they were about to experience. Everyone inside was silent, captivated by the beauty and handiwork of God. The pictures do not do it justice!

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People often rent this for weddings. The camp uses it for chapel services during the summer. It is easy to feel the presence of the Lord when you are in a place like this. And the scripture on the beam above the cross was right up my "Sound of Music" alley!

Beyond the cross is North Carolina, for a far as the eye can see. We were there at the peak of the autumn leaves, which was equally breathtaking!

Of course, the photographer in me had to snap a few shots while we were there. Lily was being silly!

After awhile, we left this oh so pretty place and headed for our next surprise. We headed to Caesar's Head State Park for an afternoon of hiking and exploring. Luis and the boys did most of the hiking...Lily and I stuck to exploring!

Lily found the biggest leaves we have ever seen! She was planning to mail one to Nani, but the next day it was dried out and all in pieces (sorry Nani!).

Such a beautiful day-can't wait for our next adventure!