Adventure in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with Recipes

I’ve had quite the whirlwind few weeks lovelies. I’m not sure where to begin so I’ll start with…

…this blurry picture.

It was taken when I was trying on 1.6 million outfits at the Beretta gallery store in Dallas. If you’ve been reading this website ‘o mine for a while, you’ll recall that I don’t like shopping or trying on clothes much. I get all exasperated. I like people to just hand me things and say, “Here! wear this!”

So when Beretta offered to dress me for my HBO Adventure Getaway special in Virginia and said “Here! wear this!” I said “yes, please and thank you.”

Which brings me to…

My HBO Adventure Getaway special in Virginia.

This photo was taken in the fog in the Blue Ridge mountains. Where I was lost. I couldn’t see more than a few feet past my car and there were some white-knuckle-style turns. I’m actually glad I didn’t know what the terrain looked like cause that would have psyched me out. When I realized I was truly lost, I was inside the gates of Primland already, which is where I was staying. My phone was super dead, so I stopped my car for a bit and tried to figure out how to go all MacGyver on this situation.

And then I remembered! I had a little juice left in my computer, and the cord for my iPhone, so I plugged it in and charged it enough to call the lodge and have them come fetch me.

When I got to my room, my very fancy room with 4 different areas and two bathrooms… I submerged myself into the very large bathtub and watched The Sound of Music live with Carrie Underwood. And all was right in the world once more.

When I was up with the daylight, I saw just how purty the surroundings are in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And Primland is a very beautiful place. Look at their Christmas tree! It was adorned with pheasant feathers. And birds. And ornaments covered in feathers. It was basically my dream Christmas tree.

I got our rad gift bags together for all the ladies… amazing stuff from Beretta, Duluth Trading Co, Fowles Winery, Deer Gear, SureShot Jewelry, Slantshack Jerky and more…

Then we ate some tasty lunch. The food was crazy crazy good at Primland. Crazy good.

Exhibit A.

Then we hopped onto our ATVs and rode up the Blue Ridge mountains for 25 miles. It was amaaaazing. Here were some of us at the tippy top.

Every time we went through a big puddle I throw my legs up to stay dry. I love a Polaris.

Me + My boyfriend Polaris = True Luv 4-Eva

Here was the view in the foggy mountain sunset. It was spectacular. And actually blue!

This was one of our dinner menus. I’m not super sure which cause it was a blur of delicious food.

There was this amazing chocolate concoction that came with a chocolate flecked sauce that was poured over it right before your eyes.

And these crazy rolls of all kinds… one was made with chardonnay wine. You heard me.

And duck, and oyster stew, and venison and on and on and on…

And there was something called “Bourbon Jus” which made by heart go pitter-patter. And this amazing horseradish sauce.

And this candied squash situation… and these collard greens that were the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

And this elk prime rib. And crawfish stuffed trout! And roasted vegetables and spinach.

And a mango mousse because who doesn’t need a palate cleanser? And these delectable sugar cookies for good measure.

Then there were these chocolate pot de cremes and a sweet potato pie. And the waiter had to be all decadent about it and squirt whipped cream onto our plates to go with our desserts.

And then… fresh mint tea. My new favorite thanks to one of my lady guests.

And in case you didn’t get enough dessert… s’mores.

One of my favorite thing about these weekends are the female friendships I’ve made and that I get to keep seeing the ladies year after year. I told her how much I loved her in the mag I signed. I really do.

There’s nothing like fearless women who know how to rock cool boots and wear leather fringe.

One of them even gave me this bear claw necklace from a bear she had hunted herself! So amazing.

Primland has one of the premier star observatories in the country. This fella was our “star master.” That’s how he introduced himself. It was awesome. And even though it was raining… the second we heard it let up we batted our eyelashes begged him to open the dome. And he did. And then it started raining again and it took a long time to close the dome and he got wet and we were throwing blankets everywhere trying to not let the equipment get too wet but we were also laughing so hard that it hurt. Cause we had too many desserts. And wine. And we were just happy.

My friends from HBO joined us. We got feisty sometimes. And they put a go-pro camera on my gun and on my golf cart. Shooting with a go-pro on your gun sure makes it hard to see a target.

I miraculously hit a clay with the camera on my gun but it was w-e-i-r-d.

Then we went hunting for real. These dogs were so lovely and were amazing in the field.

I got close to my limit that day. I stuck a feather in my hat and kept going for more.

Pheasant feathers are miraculous. I have a vision of making a technicolor dream coat out of all pheasant feathers one day.

A girl can dream…

I almost couldn’t get out when it was over because there was an ice storm… I found the one ticket left and booked it one-way and abandoned my flight. Not that I wanted to leave but… there were a lot of other adventures in store this week that I had to get back to. More on that soon… I miss these ladies already and can’t wait to see more of them soon. And of course, I always hope to see more of you on future trips… see the calendar HERE.

XO