Back To The Lake And Routine

7:40

9:01

9:11

It's just 9:00 and I kayaked for 50 minutes, across to Long Point, then to Sandy Bottom and home. I missed photographing a couple of herons but saw a coot paddling along the shoreline. It was good to be back on the lake, fairly calm, and 44º.

Kayak Morning

Northern Sky

A Coot

Yesterday was a super day for a drive through the mountains of Virginia. West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. We left Jill's early, at 7:30, and stopped as usual at the Shawnee Market for gas and to browse their fruit, vegetables, jams, ciders,  pumpkins, and knick-knacks. 

Pumpkins At Shawnee Market

We saw little traffic and made good time, also stopping at Gio's to pick up a bottle of their famous Barbecue Sauce before arriving home at 2:30, just as the GPS predicted. We had a great road trip, visiting Hayden in Morgantown, Jill and family in Bristow, and my sister Ellen and family in Herndon. Still, we are always happy to get home, to see the lake, the lawn, this time was strewn with leaves and the house as we left it. 

Autumn Photos

We unpacked easily, putting things away as we went, and briefly relaxed in the living room before Evie fired up the lawnmower and I went out to start putting things back in order. My kayaks were up against our willow, a result of the dock guys not knowing where to store it after bringing in the dock on Wednesday. So I put them back in place, one on the dock, the other on the shoreline so I can kayak. And I did some raking then helped Evie with the lawn. By 5:00 the lawn was immaculate, leaf free until this morning when it's already covered with leaves. 

We taped the Chiefs/Bills game so we did not miss any of it. It was a bit of a bore until the last few minutes when the Bills went down the field and scored the winning touchdown. Evie wouldn't allow me to send Tom and Drew, both Chiefs fans, a gloating text. By 6:30, we were enjoying Cincinnati chili. Evie froze it earlier but took it out of the freezer before we left on Wednesday and put it in the refrigerator, It hit the spot to use a cliche and I had two servings. We then watched a couple of episodes of The Bear on Hulu, about an eccentric chef trying to make it in the city. We ended the night with The Great British Baking Show.