Day 11 & 12

Our Sunday was quite laid back... so laid back, we gave the photographer the day off. We enjoyed sleeping in and eating breakfast/brunch close to noon! (thanks Shara for the awesome home fixed meals) There was a chance to watch a show none of us knew existed called "Bridezilla". Wow, after watching that, we all see the upcoming wedding going very smoothy in comparison—Shara doesn't have it in her to be a bridezilla! 

Monday we posed for the must-have picture in front of Kris and Shara's place. (we loved their home) Corey was able to try out his new tripod and use the timer setting for this lovely picture. (he is learning more of those new-fangled camera buttons every day!)

Shara and Donna were able to chat a lot this visit, which was a nice chance to begin creating an alliance against the Templeton guys (just kidding guys... that wasn't happening... or so you hope). Awww, they look too innocent to ever do anything to gang up on the boys.   : ) 

On the road again... Corey and Donna were off to Virginia. First stop, Virginia Tech. It was a fly-by tour of the school, accomplished in less than 10 minutes! Yes, they do have an impressive stadium from what we can see, but a great football program is not enough to lure the Templetons out here. (too small of a town—but not as bad as Clemson) Next stop, Charlottesville! 

Before we hit Charlottesville, we were looking forward to seeing the Natural Bridge, a landmark that President George Washington initialed back when he found the site. We have a picture of it below, and the picture you see (found online) is ALL we saw of it as well. It was not enticing enough to pay around $30 to see something that man should not be charging admission for!

Here is what we did see at this location, that WAS free. They did not charge us to view man's worst mini-golf creation. How nice of them! (We dubbed it the worst mini-golf, look at the picture and you can judge for yourself!

We talked to a couple about the ridiculous fee they were charging to see the Natural Bridge and they offered a site that might brighten our spirits. It was called "Foamhenge". It was a true-to-size replica of Stonehenge made out of FOAM! Wow, how did they know we were so easily amused?! Foamhenge, they promised, was free (and on the way to our next stop). Well, it was all we had hoped for... big foam rocks. It almost brought tears to our eyes as we were able to go up and touch the stones (the closest we were able to get when we actually saw the real Stonehenge was a fence a hundred yards away... we were also too cheap at that time to pay to walk around stones). Corey, below, is taking it all in. Oddly enough, there was no long line of tourists trying to see this amazing Foam-tastic sight. 

The sight spoke of the two theories for how these huge rocks made it to their original location in England. First was that inch by inch on logs they were moved by strong men (such as Corey, see below). They were then straightened by strong women (such as Donna).

The second theory was that Merlin was behind the rocks being placed with a twirl of his wand. Somewhat scary and intense, we decided that it be best to let him have his space.

The drive throughout Virginia has been beautiful (yes, we do say this a lot about the drive to each place... it continues to be breathtaking!) Below are two pictures we took along the way before we hit our final stop for the night, Charlottesville. This was the first part of our trip to have rained (we were beginning to think we would have to wait until we reached Washington for that). The dark sky in contrast to the vivid rainbow was one that was worth rolling down the window and getting a quick shot.