Post-grad

After 5 years, I am finally a college graduate! It feels so nice to have all the stress of tests, papers, huge projects, and homework assignments behind me. However, I start grad school in a month, so this freedom will be short-lived. So I plan to make the most of my time off and cram a whole summer's worth of fun into 4 weeks.

One of my goals for the next few weeks is to see as many of my friends as possible. I have a feeling I won't have a lot of time off in the next three years to visit my friends, especially those who live farther away. This past weekend was great in that I got to spend time with several friends that I haven't seen in awhile. My "soulmate" Tristan came to visit me after I was done with my finals and she's staying with me for a week. I got to go to a game night with some of my Liberty friends. And I got to see my "big sister" (and old roommate) Robin.

Post-grad adventure #1: Hiking and Camping
On Thursday, my sister Leslie, Robin, Tristan and I went hiking in Shenandoah National Park. We had planned to do an all-day hike and then Leslie, Tristan, and I were going to camp out in the park. We arrived at the lodge inside the park and were all set to go when I realized I had locked my keys in my car. We called AAA, but it was going to be 2-3 hours before they could get there, so we decided to try to break into my own car. I found a metal sign in the garden and we bought a skewer. After trying for about 45 minutes, we were able to pry the door open a crack, stick the long metal piece inside and pop the lock! It was NOT easy, but I guess they make it hard to break into a car for a reason.

Finally, an hour after our planned departure time, we started off on our hike. It felt so great to be outside! The weather was foggy, misty, and a little on the cold side, but it was perfect for hiking. We hiked a mile and a half down to a waterfall. The water was freezing, but we went in anyway. We even climbed up on some rocks and got some cute waterfall pictures.

Camping that night was an adventure. We bought firewood, but couldn't get the fire to start, so we had to buy fire starter too. That finally got the fire going, but the burgers weren't cooking fast enough on the grill, so we wrapped them in tinfoil and threw them right on the fire. They turned out to be so yummy, probably because we were so hungry!

We set up the tent and rolled out our sleeping bags. Then we played Catch Phrase and talked until it got dark. I went to bed early and woke up really early. The night seems so much longer when you're camping out! We had a lot of fun, but it was a lot of work for one night. We all decided it will be awhile before we go camping again.