Yesterday while Anderson and Ellis were out of school, we decided to pack up the family for the night and head to the mountains.  We got a sweet deal for the evening at Ridgecrest ($34 minister’s rate) and made a great overnight trip.  It really is amazing how much you can do with a simple budget and a small amount of time.  Here’s some of what we did:

• Stayed at Ridgecrest in a wonderful new hotel room
• Ate all of our meals
• Played basketball
• Shopped at the Mall
• Visited the Prayer Garden
• Saw animals at the Western North Carolina Nature Center
• Drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway
• Picked apples at the Sky Top Apple Orchard

We did all of this for about $125 (including gas).  Not too bad for a weekend getaway.  Who says vacations have to be expensive?  The boys loved all the animals, the apples, and of course – some great time with mom and dad.  Ashley and I loved it too – what could be better than time together.   Here are some of the pictures from our mountain weekend.