Just over a month and a half later, our car was finally done!! One cracked cylinder head and a good amount of money later, we were back on the road! Before we left though, we were lucky to be able to celebrate Max’s 2nd birthday with everyone. Kelsey, Devon’s sister, did such a fantastic job with all of the decorations and the baked goodies! I mean, LOOK at that cake and those cupcakes!
On September 26, we FINALLY hit the road! Our first stop was my mom’s house in Purcellville! Truth be told, when I go home, I have a hard time really enjoying myself. Not because I don’t enjoy being home with my mom, that’s one of the best parts…but I have a hard time feeling *connected* to this place I call, “home”.
This time was different. My mom, Devon, and I had one of the best times together! One of the first things I had been dying to do with Devon was hike Bear’s Den, just off of route 7. A classic hike for “the locals”, one of my favorite things is to hit it at sunset. You can park at the top of the mountain and walk out to the overlook, or you can park at the bottom and hike the 1.7 miles up to the top! 
Another super fun thing we got to do that my friend Victoria recommended was to check out the Leesburg Farmers Market! We brought home some amazing foods to try and ran into some pretty familiar lookin’ things too 😉
One day, we went to Ellicott City to spend the afternoon with some of my family, Larry and Sandy! Unfortunate fact: Ellicott City flooded horribly TWICE in 2 years. Some businesses have since been reopened, others not so lucky. Nonetheless, we had a terrific day out with lunch at The Trolley Stop as our first destination. Sandy and Larry, thank you for a wonderful afternoon 🙂
That weekend, Devon and I went out to Lovettsville, only 15 minutes from Purcellville, to celebrate Oktoberfest! I can always remember hearing about the event when I was younger, but I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into… APPARENTLY, according to OktoberfestBeerFestivals.com, it is one of the top 28 best Oktoberfest celebrations in the WORLD! As someone who had never been before, I was SHOCKED to see so much of Lovettsville taken over by the event! We were lucky enough to find parking in a lot that had Shuttle Service and took the shuttle back to the center of town where everything was happening! The first thing we walked up to was WEINER DOG RACING. What was difficult to understand was how we all, 150+ people, were supposed to see WEINER dogs racing ON THE GROUND…WITH EVERYBODY JUST HUDDLED AROUND THE “TRACK”. NO BLEACHERS NOTHING! I DIDN’T GET TO EVEN SEE A SINGLE ONE OF THE WEINER DOGS! Lovettsvillians…what did I do wrong…besides get there late.
Anyways, there were a million tents, a million people, and great beer to go around. Though the event was free, beer tickets were up for purchase for $5 each!! We actually really enjoyed the way beer was offered. You’d buy your tickets, go through a back and forth amusement park kinda line, and then all of a sudden it’s like, unleash the hounds. There were maybeeeee 20 beers down the street you could pick from! You simply picked it up and kept walking and handed them your ticket on the way out! I definitely think it made the process go a lot smoother, we never had to wait for any part of it!
The last extra incredible way we spent our time was going to a Nationals baseball game. For only $22 a ticket, purchased right there at the gate, we watched the Nats beat the Indians and only got lost coming home once! 🙂
Overall, we had a fantastic time. We were happy to spend time with my mom, decorate for Halloween and explore a little bit of Purcellville ourselves.
Momma, I can’t wait to see you again! ❤
j&d
WE WENT THERE 