Pineapple Princess and the Coconut spent a fabulous weekend camping in Skyline Drive at Shenandoah National Park, even though it rained most every day. We arrived late on Thursday and attempted to set up our tent in the pitch dark forest at Big Meadows campground after two of our three flashlights died. As I'm working away, I hear M scream. I flash my lantern towards the grown and see a fat racoon scurrying away with our loaf of bread!  I gave chase but the critter ran up a tree and starred at me as to say "nah nah nah nah boo boo".  No amount of rocks thrown at his direction would get the racoon to release the bread. That taught us to lock our food at all times in the bear lockers.

We returned home Saturday and went about our regular weekend routine nowadays: packing. After dinners, we decided to move a few pieces of furniture into the attic.  One of these pieces, a large cherry wood hope chest, was maybe too heavy. As I was pushing up, M got her hand caught between the ladder and the chest. She let out a blood-curdling scream and within a minute, a golf-ball size knot had formed on her right hand. It took abut 10 seconds to realize this was no minor issue. So off we go to Inova Alexandria Hospital. After four hours and three xrays, the doctors determined her hand was not broken, just a very bad contusion. Now Pineapple Princess is lying in bed with her arm propped up, on ice, and loopy on Vicodin. The sweeling has come down but she still is in a lot of pain. Stay tuned.