happy 4th

It is a happy 4th today. Jeff took the day off and the day has been awesome. We hung out at home this morning and then packed up and headed to the Blue Ridge Parkway to do some hiking. Despite it being July, the temperature is the low 80's which makes it wonderful to be outside. We ate our lunch by a lake and then hiked to Apple Orchard Falls. They were very pretty and it was so nice to be outside and in the woods. The hike to the falls was easy because it was all downhill, but the way back was tough. On the way down we came across a doe that was a little too close, I got a little freaked because she was not scared of us and we were only 10 feet away. Jeff also spotted some nice rock overhangs and cracks for climbing. Lance did great in the backpack, Lance hates to be confined so I expected him to not like it, but I think he likes being at eye level with me and close to Jeff. On the way back home we stopped at every overlook to enjoy the view and the cool weather. Today has been so nice because Jeff hasn't had to work and we haven't had a schedule and we have just done whatever we have wanted, basically a Saturday to everyone else but us. It makes me wonder, is the shop really worth all of the missed opportunities? Will all of his hard work ever pay off? At what point is is not worth it anymore? Working six days a week is hard and there are lots of things that I wish we could do, but can't, like going out of town on Saturday, hiking, biking, nothing, housework. Then again, if he had Saturdays off would we really do anything together?