Do you ever find yourself wondering, 'why didn't I do that?' My family has been on the go all summer. We've been driving from place to place, and the majority of our travels have been work related. Last weekend, we had the chance to just go to the mountains to spend time with family- no work involved. It was great to spend time with loved ones we don't get to see very often. Trips of any kind do not come and go without stresses, and by the time Sunday rolled around, it was time to head back home and step back into reality. We didn't have anything that we had to be back for that day, so we decided to make the most of the beautiful weather (60 degrees in the Blue Ridge Mountains), and drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We happened upon an overlook that we'd never noticed before at Graveyard Fields. There were tons of cars parked, and we wanted to see what the big deal was. Turns out, there was a trail and a hike to a waterfall. We shrugged our shoulders and said, 'let's go find the waterfall.' We had sneakers in the trunk of the car, so everyone put their on, and to the waterfall, we hiked.

It was an easy hike... 0.2 miles, and the waterfall was beautiful. The kids got to dip their toes in the chilly mountain streams, and we made a beautiful family memory. We could have kept driving- but we would have missed out on this precious family time and the wonderful memory we now have. We can't wait to go back and explore even more, as there are trails we didn't have time to explore that day.

We plan to 'stop the car' and take a look around more often, instead of worrying about our busy schedules so much. We won't get these years with our young children back.

When was the last time you stopped the car or took an unplanned adventure?