We interrupt this regularly scheduled Why You Want Me Wednesday because we just couldn’t resist telling you more about our weekend!

After our exciting and slightly disastrous trip to the cherry blossoms, we hopped right on the road to head to Shenandoah National Park! You might remember that we hiked out there for the first time a few weeks ago and absolutely fell in love. Mark and I wanted to do something for our three year anniversary, and knew this was the perfect dog friendly getaway. We found an adorable little cabin online that was a great size for the three of us, included a hot tub (um, yes please), sat right on the bank of a river and was only about 15 minutes outside of the park – jackpot!

Johnnie proved to be an absolutely amazing travel partner. She of course fell asleep the instant we got on the road, especially after how hard she worked staying half-sane at the cherry blossoms. Check in wasn’t until 3 pm, so we went straight to hiking and site seeing when we arrived at the park late morning.

Yes, Johnnie wore her pack again (but I didn’t think ahead enough to order a new one per your suggestions from out last hiking post – doh). It really is such a huge help to have her carry some of our supplies, including her own water bowl and our snacks.

Since we didn’t mind taking a more leisurely hike, we goofed off a lot as we went. We love the outdoors and hiking but this wasn’t the trip to cover many miles. We spent about two hours enjoying the weather, exploring the trail and taking in the scenery.

When we finally called it a day with the hike, we loaded ourselves up in the car and made the brief drive to the cabin. We didn’t quite know what to expect, but were absolutely thrilled with what we found! This would be the point where I show you pictures of the cabin and the grounds, but I don’t have any of those so I’ll just show you the view off our deck. Johnnie was in sun spot HEAVEN after all that exhausting hiking we did (yes, those rocking chairs are our make-shift baby gate).

We spent a lot of time relaxing that afternoon since, after all, that was what the trip was for. These are pictures of our deck taken with a fish eye lens. They give you a good sense of why we loved the place so much!

It was just a few steps out the back door to the water, which brings me to tomorrow’s post. Guess what water adventure little J Cash was brave enough to go on! Here’s a hint:

Tune in tomorrow to see how it went!

To adopt Johnnie Cash, the perfect little traveler, hiking partner and adventure buddy, email peacelovefoster@gmail.com.