Last week was a week I had been looking forward to after being at Randolph College for 2 months. It was fall break! The friday I went home I couldn't wait to be done my friday classes and get on the road to Maryland. I didn't even care that a five hour drive was ahead of me. After getting an A on my oral exam I rushed to my car to get on the road. It was pouring down rain 4 out of the 5 hours my friends Alexis, Angela, and I were driving. I was so excited when I got home! My family gave me a million hugs and were so excited to tell me about the trip they planned for us all to take Saturday. We were going to New York city!

I had been to New York City a bunch of times for school or with my mom but never with my whole family! My brother had never been in his life and it had been 30 years since my dad last went. My mom and I were so excited to show them around the city! My favorite part was when we went to Central Park and saw all the places where movies have been filmed. My mom had never seen all of Central Park and always wanted to. I wanted to see the Zoo but they didn't have bears so I was very disappointed because bears are my favorite animal. Another one of my favorite parts was when we went to see The World Trade Tower Memorial. We went specifically to see one of my dads fraternity brothers name on the memorial. He had gone to Roanoke College like my dad and was some what close to my dad. After finally finding his name two ladies asked if we were here to see him. They said that had come to see him too because they also went to Roanoke College and was a Phi Mu at Roanoke College. My mom was so shocked because she was a Phi Mu at Roanoke too. It was almost like fate that we all met up at the memorial. What a small world this is. After waking up at 5 in the morning to take a 3 hour bus ride, walking around NYC for almost 9, and waiting two hours for dinner we were all just ready to go home.

This past weekend was one of my favorite weekends at Randolph college. It was parents weekend. Since my parents went to Randolph College back in 89' and 90' they knew all the best places to take me out. One of my favorite places they took me to was the Roanoke star. We went at night so the valley looked really pretty all lit up with all the twinkling lights. My parents of course took lots of pictures of my brother and I by the Roanoke Star.

Then, the next day we went on a hike on the Appalachian Trail. My dad knew the whole way because him and his college friends use to hike the mountain all the time. My mom who is scared of heights forgot she was scared of heights halfway up the mountain and started to cry. I convinced her to continue on the trail and try to not look down the mountain. My dad had to walk her the rest of the way and hold her up because she said she was getting dizzy.

When we got to the top of the mountain it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The mountains were so blue. I now know why they are called the "Blue Ridge Mountains". The leaves on the trees were just starting to change colors so they were red, orange, and yellow. I felt bad for my mom because she couldn't look over the cliff but I took lots of pictures for her.