I'm moving to Virginia!

OK not right now, but maybe one day!

Currently, I am on a five trip of the Eastern U.S. The first couple days were great in Pennsylvania (especially since Emilie stopped by). I'll have more stories on that later, but right now I want to discuss Virginia. I had never been to Virginia until this trip and I instantly fell in love. So far I have just been in the northeast portion of the state, at the bottom of the Appalachian mountains. It is so green here, an abundance of grass and lots of trees for shade too!

This area of Virginia (Upperville is the particular town) is also know for its great Angus breeders and supreme horse bloodlines. Gordon Keys and his son Chandler (the current head lobbyist for JBS - another interesting story) told me that this is also the biggest area in the nation for steeplechase and fox hunting. As we toured through Gordon's fields you could see where parts of a fence were replaced with a log or special gate to be used in a race.

This is one of the jumps. This one divided a field and the road. Most of the them were between two and three feet tall.

Along with Angus cattle, Gordon and his family also raise race horses. It was a great combination of getting to spend the day around new calves and baby foals. One of Gordon's mares had twins this year, which is very rare and not very suitable. The one baby died after a few days, but the large one lived. He was so little and wobbly! Oops, I didn't get a picture.

There were so many flies, and this calf wasn't very impressed with them!

Another unique aspect of this area is you can be in Washington in 40 minutes. You would never know though by the peacefulness of the country side. I think this gives farmers a great chance to interact with consumers. Many farmers sells produce and beef right off the farm, as there is a huge demand for farm-raised, natural and organic food in this area. Also, Virginia has worked really hard to place farms in protective easements, and keep the land from turning into housing development on top of housing development. There is a lot of history in this area and the people want to preserve it. Gordon's house and barn were both built in the early 1800s.

This is the house. The lawn was beautiful. There are houses like this all over that people are still living in today.

And this was the barn. I love all the black shutter, doors and fences!

This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. And the location of my future home!

More on the East soon!

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