Wild Horses.

Over the mountains
and through the woods,
to Pittsburgh, PA we go!

Mitch's goal: See the Steelers for his first time at Heinz field.

My goal:

Document his big trip and play with pumpkins.

Also, to see the Blue Ridge Mountains in full Fall foliage force.
Say that 10X fast

The Blue Ridge Mountains always look painted on the sky.
They are stunning.
And that road you see there went straight up...I want to sit on a skateboard and slide down it so bad.


We got up early Saturday morning, grabbed our caffeine, gassed up and hit the road North!
First order of business: Grayson Highlands State Park

If there's anything you need to see at least once in your life, it's this park.

Despite being overcast and having higher wind than my wedding, it was still as picturesque as they come.

You pay $5.00 to get in to the park and drive up to the trail heads. It's actually right on the Appalachian trail so we saw a host of people making the long trek towards Georgia. Or Maine.

I could raise my hand and touch the clouds.
At one point the winds picked up to 800mph and I literally had to curl up in a ball and wait for the winds to die down before I climbed off that rock... I had to try so hard not to blow off .
Hilarious and frightening all at the same time.
Oh the things we do for a cool shot...

But then!
We ran into the main reason most people visit this park....

Wild ponies!!
Yes they are wild.
Yes they were frightened of humans.

I got close to them by moving slower than a snail and crouching low to the ground. After they realized I was not a threat they let me walk anywhere around them - still, very slow.


Side note: This one little boy got way too close way too fast and the pony kicked him with his back legs. Mitch and I laughed so hard. We're going to make great parents one day.

What a dream.


We spent the rest of our evening driving to Charleston, WV where we would stay for the night.

I don't know why, but I had this burning curiosity for West Virginia. It seems so... off the grid.
When we got close to Charleston, we were waiting to see bright city lights and tall buildings.. never happened. Lol it's a very small city but very quaint.
And I will say, West Virginia has some of the nicest people I've ever come in contact with.
Our waiter at Cracker Barrel thanked us for being polite to him.
WV I <3 You.

We also realized that West Virginia has some of the most beautiful landscape/fall foliage we've ever seen.
And that's coming from two kids raised in New England!

West Virginia, we'll be back in the Summer time.
You're beautiful.


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Sunday we arrived at our final destination.
The Steel City:
Pittsburgh, PA!

I gotta hand it to PA, this city is really beautiful. It's a lot more modernized than I would have expected.

First order of business:

Heinz Field.

This is my, I-don't-even-watch-football-what-am-I-doing-here face.

Despite not being a sports fan it really was a cool experience.
And seeing how excited Mitch, a lifelong Steelers fan, was to see his team's stadium....

Priceless.


I loved documenting his journey to this game. I really love being behind the camera and capturing candid moments. That passion is growing every day. Speaking of which...


I got to go behind the scenes of a reality show filming in Pittsburgh!!

And I thought I lugged around a lot of camera equipment.

Look at the amazing shots he is getting with the geese and the tour boat!
If only you could see how HD his shots were too.
OMG.
I was in heaven.

This moment really sparked an interest in this photography/film stuff for me. I was so inspired after talking & learning from this kind man who allowed me to intrude on his filming.
We'll see what the future holds...



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Monday.
Game day.
First half of the day we did this:

Pittsburgh Zoo!!


This place was one of the best zoos I've ever been to.
So clean and quiet.
They even had an aquarium complete with Polar Bears and Sharks!

What I loved most is that each exhibit featured ways to preserve the natural habitat of each animal.

Also, a dad with his two young daughters asked them:
'Girls, what do you think lions eat?'
Girls response: Grilled Cheese!

Kids are so cool.

The later half of the day Mitch and I split up.
He took a big tour bus to the game and I stayed at the hotel, ate chipotle and watched him on TV.

He returned in the wee hours of night with lots of new Steelers gear and no voice.
Safe to say he had a great time
;-)

I didn't go because I just couldn't bring myself to fork over that much money for a front row ticket.
Although I did feel a little remorse when Mitch sent me videos and THIS was blaring in the background.
I would have been on that field doing the nae-nae like it's no ones business.


Oh well, maybe next time :)

Pittsburgh, we have unfinished business.
We will definitely be back!


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We woke up bright and early the next morning and made our way through wild and wonderful but cloudy & cold West Virginia to head home.

We drove through the Blue Ridge Mountains into sunny & 75 weather and it was then that I realized how much I truly love South Carolina.

Home.






In other news, I shattered my iphone, finally invested in a tripod, and:

I am jamming so hard to Blank Space right meow.



Who wants to meet up for a dance party!?