In the Valley...

This weekend my husband went home to go combining, that's his true good ole country boy side of him:)  Why should I have stay home and not have any fun, so I planned a fun weekend to go see the fam.  Friday I got to enjoy some time with my dear gma, sister, her boyfriend, and my mom.  My sis whipped a fabulous meal together for all of us and we just caught up with each other.


I've been wanting to go to Galena, IL , which is pretty close to my hometown, for a while now and just haven't been able to.  I thought why not go on Saturday with my sis and that's what we did:)  If any of you have been to Galena then you know that it is a town with lots of unique houses and stores scattered throughout the down town area.  Most of the shops, cafes, and odds n' end stores are situated in a hilly area with many trees surrounding it.  Since it is fall, it's the best time to visit this quaint little Midwestern town because the leaves on the trees are turning all sorts of different colors from red to yellow to brown.   I wasn't the only one thinking this same thing, when we got closer to Galena, we soon found out how packed it was!  The streets in Galena are very narrow and on top of that there is parking on both sides, so it makes for a tight squeeze to get up and down the streets.  On top of that, parking is atrocious.  This town has a lot of history,  SO much character, and that's what brings me back to the town every year.    You can find some unique gifts for just about anyone here and that's just what I did:)  I found something for a couple of my family members and my husband!  I was searching for something for my big puppy, but couldn't find what I was looking for.  My husband is a HUGE fan of the Hawks, so this is what I bought him.

I think he will like this and it will work for the fall season:)  I bought a "Halloween" sign for myself because it was just too cute, I couldn't pass it up!

Then I came across, a little ornament that I knew would work perfectly for a Christmas present for one of my family members!  What do you think?  You don't really see too many of these!

Not only did we find some pretty unique and fun gifts, but we also found a candy store that sells awesome mixture of caramel and cheese popcorn, it's called the Great American Popcorn....yum, yum!!!  Here's a picture of them making our delicious treat:)

As we were checking each and every store, we saw some very interesting posters on the windows/doors of some of the stores and here are a few:

 They were trying to prove a point...LOL!  This made me crack up as we were walking by it!

 

 My sis and I are huge dog lovers and just happen to LOVE miniature dachshunds!  

 This poster kind of scared us.  The mouse isn't too cute, just kinda creepy...

After all of our spending and gawking, I wanted to take some pictures of Galena, so we ventured out and found a park that over looked all of the shops and here are some of the pictures that I took:)

There's my sis!

 

The view from in town by all of the shops!

 First couple pictures that were taken at the park:)  I just loved the gazebo and the door!  It's so antique looking, don't you think?

 I really liked the pic of my sis under this tree, the leaves are so colorful and vivid!

We were just goofing around and taking silly poses, but I really do like the sun peeking through the leaves!  It adds a nice touch to this pic:)

Fall in full bloom!!!!!                             One of the fountains in the park and the sun is kissing                                                                                the   fountain just perfectly!

 

Panoramic View of Galena:)

I was just playing around with the different settings on my camera to get this picture!  Which picture is you favorite?  I have a couple and I don't think I could choose.

All in all Saturday at Galena turned out to be the perfect day for weather, company, shopping, and picture perfect memories!  There is just something special about Galena that you will have to check out for yourself!  Hope all of you had a wonderful weekend because I sure did:)