Camping, crafting, CASA and STAR WARS

I love it when the nights are good and brisk!  Last week, we spent one night camping in the state park.  It was cold enough that we were comfortable sleeping in sweatpants, inside our double sleeping bag, with another sleeping bag and blanket on top.  I slept like a baby!  The worst part was having to get up in the middle of the night and bundle up to hike to the rest room.  We had to go as a couple, since I couldn’t get out of the sleeping bag without Dennis getting up!  The cold weather had the deer really moving.  Tuesday morning, we got up just before dawn and drove around the park for optimal viewing.  Then after breakfast, we walked about 3-4 miles, so we could take pictures of what we saw.  It was a quick trip, but we really enjoyed it!  First time I’ve been camping in I don’t remember how many years!

Been pretty busy with CASA the past couple of weeks, but I’m about done till the first of the year (except for observing visits 1 hour/week).  I’ve finally gotten all of the kids’ angel tree gifts delivered.  All I have left is the one who lives down in the Hill Country.  I still need to get another gift card for him and mail everything…hopefully Monday.  The kiddos have really made a haul again this year!  My babies not only got a lot of toys, but a WHOLE lot of clothes, too.  So thankful for the generosity of strangers!

We’ve gotten a little work done on the shop the past couple of weeks.  We put up most of the interior walls.  We need to buy more materials before we can finish.  Dennis has also been trying to finish up the outside painting.  He’s also been working on getting the second bookshelves painted.  I’ve started a new project for the guest room.  I’ve been saving up material to make a crazy quilt pillow to go on the bed.  I got it all pieced and am currently working on the decorative stitching.  The piecing went a lot easier than I expected…once I finally figured out what I was doing.  It is definitely different from any other quilting I’ve ever worked on!  I also have a large doily that I’m planning to use to make a second pillow.  I have a small curtain that I crocheted for our bathroom in Nacogdoches that I want to turn into a wall hanging, also.  Haven’t quite figured out how I want to do it though.  I’m really enjoying fixing up my “vintage room”. 

Well, we are having to change the way we eat around here.  Dennis went for his yearly checkup Monday.  His blood sugar has gradually been rising for the past several years.  This year it was high enough for the doctor to decide to do that test that checks the average blood sugar over the past 3 months.  Well, it came back in the diabetic range.  I guess his genes (and love of carbs!) has finally caught up with him.  I’ve been getting rid of all of the starchy snacks that he loves to munch on (crackers, pretzels, chips) and buying a lot more whole grains and fruits and veggies.  No more DP or sweet tea, either!  We both ought to lose some weight!  We’ve done this in the past, for a few months, until we had lost 30 pounds or so, but then we’d always go back to “normal”.  Well, this is going to have to be the new normal now!

Sheila came over after work last night, and she, Ricky and I went to watch the new Star Wars movie.  I have looked forward to the movie, but I think I was looking forward to watching Ricky watch it even more!  That boy LOVES Star Wars!  It didn’t disappoint.  It had the same “feel” as the originals…which I have enjoyed since Episode 4 came out in 1977.  I hope the next two (I’m assuming this will be another trilogy) are as good.

This weekend the girls (Heather and Cara) are spending the weekend with Sheila.  They’ve been getting together for Christmas for YEARS now.  It took awhile for it to dawn on me that I wouldn’t get to see them this time.  In the past, they’ve come over for supper one night and usually ate Sunday dinner with us.  Now with Sheila living in FW and attending HC on Sundays, I wouldn’t get a chance to visit with them.  So we are heading over to HC on Sunday, so we can see them and get to spend a little time with them.  Love those girls!

Next Tuesday is the “make-up” Josh Groban concert that Sheila and I have tickets for.  He was supposed to have been here last month but had to reschedule due to illness.  Sheila bought me the tickets for my birthday this year.  I have always loved Josh Groban’s voice!  I’m really looking forward to hearing him “live”! 

Well, it is a quiet Friday night around here.  Rick is out (as usual).  We’ve been in FW all day (and it has been a pretty busy week), so all I feel like doing is rearing back with my feet up and relaxing.  I may work up enough energy to do a little stitching on my pillowtop.  (I do still have clothes in the washer and dryer, so I’m not completely through for the day!)  I hope all of you have a good weekend and a very merry Christmas!

Mud and cows, more progress on the house, and a wedding

Dennis went hunting again last Monday and brought home a nice doe...that's three, so far this season.  After dressing and quartering it, he took the guts back out to where he hunted to throw out for the coyotes.  Got a call from him a little later asking me to come get him...the truck was STUCK.  I had court the next morning, but as soon as I got home, he went to Garrett's to see if they had a come-along (which they did, for a great price).  Then we headed back to the truck to see if we could get it unstuck.  Unfortunately the cows had been terribly intrigued by it...stomping the ground all around it into an even worse quagmire (plus scratching the paint and slobbering all over it).  We hooked up the come-along to one tree and pulled it as far as we could with that one, and then moved on to another tree further away.  Dennis would ratchet the come-along, while I got on the other side and pushed.  We managed to move it about 30-40 feet, but it was still too bogged down to drive.  We finally called for reinforcements.  James and Marlin came out in a work truck and managed to pull us free...getting Marlin's truck stuck in the process!  The guys worked trying to free it for awhile and then Dennis and James decided to go back to the shop to get a tractor, while Marlin and I stood out in the cold, waiting.  I finally walked back up to the car to try to warm up (my jacket was in Dennis' truck, which was going after the tractor, of course!).  I had a throw that I wrapped up in, which helped.  Marlin stayed with his truck and finally managed to drive it out!  All in all, Dennis and I spent about 8 hours out there.  (Talk about being sore the next day!)

I had court on Thursday morning, which took up most of the morning.  For some reason, my case always seems to be the last one on the docket!  Afterwards, I went to the CASA office to pick up gifts that had been collected and delivered by the Hudson Oaks Fire Dept.  Throughout the week, I also worked on decorations for Cody's groom cake, which I made on Friday.

There is a story behind this, but you'll have to get it from Cody.  This is just what he ordered!

Then we got up EARLY Saturday morning and headed to Clarksville for the wedding!  It was great to see everyone and share in Cody and Kaley's happiness.  It was an added bonus to get to spend a little extra time with Jesse.

After the reception, we stopped to eat supper at La Huerta in Van Buren...LOVE that restaurant!  Then we made it to McAlester before stopping for the night.  We were wiped out when we arrived!  After a good night's sleep we drove to Sherman to worship with the church there and then went with the whole group to Sarah's house for lunch.  Enjoyed our time with everyone!  We finally made it home around 5:30 tonight and haven't done much since!

We got a little bit accomplished on the house last week, but not much.  Dennis finished out one of my bookcases.  I really like the way it turned out!  I also got my new curtains hung in the guest room, added a bedside table and lamp, and hid our wireless routers using old books.  Things are slowly coming together!  Dennis hopes to work on finishing out the interior of his shop this week.  Then he'll be able to better organize everything out there.

It will be great when we get the second one finished!

I guess that is about all for now.  Have a great week!

Anniversary Celebration and Thanksgiving!

The past two weeks have flown by!  We drove down to Copperas Cove on the 18^th for our short anniversary trip.  The next morning, we got around fairly early and headed out to Colorado Bend State Park.  When we had visited before, it was too hot, and we didn’t have enough time set aside to hike to Gorham Falls.  So we decided this would be a great time to go back and do so.  I had read up on it and knew it was supposed to be somewhat challenging, so I hoped I’d be up for it.  The hike started out easy and I was feeling a little cocky.  The first mile went well, and then we started the .2 mile trek downhill to the falls.  Things started getting a little dicey!  The last little bit was VERY steep.  Thankfully, they had a metal cable that ran alongside the trail that could be used to provide support.  I held on fast to that and had to have Dennis hold my hand a time or two to make sure I didn’t take a tumble!  But the view at the falls was worth it!!! I’ve never seen anything quite like it.  I was talking to a young woman who was also there who commented that it looked like something you’d see as a screensaver…only you were there!  We took a lot of pictures, but they just can’t capture the full effect.  It reminded me of something from a fairytale.

We spent about 30 minutes at the falls and then started the ascent back to the trailhead.  It wasn’t as scary going up, but it was MUCH more strenuous!  I was having to pull myself up using the cables.  Most of the return 1.2 miles was uphill, and I was feeling pretty winded!  We had to stop a few times for me to catch my breath.  But I made it!  I was sure glad to see the car and be able to change shoes and rest!

We didn’t see as many deer in the park as we did the first time we went, but I did see a big, handsome gobbler by the road.  On the whole trip, we saw dozens of deer.  After leaving the park, we drove on to San Saba, picked up 20 pounds of pecans, and then headed home.  It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary!

Of course, this past week was spent preparing for Thanksgiving.  Dennis finished up the trim in the den and we moved furniture…all of the office stuff going into the new den and then bedroom furniture into the old office turned guest room.  I didn’t have time to do any decorating in the guest room…just moved antlers out and hung up a couple of pictures and my shadow box.  We still need to remove a couple of shelves, paint the room, hang the new curtains, and replace the flooring.  I also plan to make some throw pillows and reorganize the closet.  The closet will probably have to wait until we finish remodeling the inside of the house, so I have a place to move things to!  It is my hope that when we completely finish, that I will actually have an organized place for everything!

Dennis also decided to go ahead and replace my dishwasher to make things easier for Thanksgiving.  We went to Weatherford after services last Sunday evening and picked it up, and he installed it the next afternoon.  I love it!  It is SO quiet and does a very good job cleaning.  It is configured very differently from any I’ve had before, so it has taken some getting used to…learning how best to load it.  I was afraid it wouldn’t hold as much as needed on Thanksgiving, but I was able to put most of the dishes from both breakfast and dinner.  Of course, we still had to wash up some of the larger items by hand, but that is to be expected.  I was so very thankful that Dennis insisted on getting it for me when he did!  It sure saved a lot of time and effort (and back pain), not having to wash all of those dishes by hand!

Stephen and Mandy came Wednesday evening.  They had all been sick, and everyone was pretty tired, so we went to bed pretty early that first night.  I got up Thursday morning and started cooking.  Jesse woke up soon after I did, so he joined me.  Poor Mandy had been sick all night, so she spent most of the day in bed and missed Thanksgiving dinner.  When Daddy and Bobbie arrived, he told us that he had also been sick all night.  He still was able to eat, but you could tell he still wasn’t feeling very well.  He napped on and off the whole time (which really isn’t all that unusual).  As always, we had way too much food!

We all had so much fun playing with Jesse!  He is talking a lot more than the last time we’d seen him.  He now says “Ganny” on a regular basis, which I thoroughly eat up!  He calls Dennis “Dad” and Ricky “Boom-boom”.  He said “Aunt” one time for Sheila.  He knows who everyone is, but hasn’t learned to say all of the names, yet.  He loved our new den!  He has inherited the deer lovin’ gene, so he enjoyed all of the antlers that are hanging in the den.  Every time he walked by the gun safe, he had to grab hold and try to open it.  The large wood laminate floor was perfect for playing with his toy car.  And he still enjoys opening and closing the door between the den and living room!

After a light supper of leftovers and putting Jesse down for the night, we decided to watch a movie.  It was too rainy to go anywhere, so we just picked from my DVD collection.  “Amazing Grace” was decided on, which is one of my favorites.  I love those “David and Goliath” type stories!  Plus the title song being played on bagpipes, at the end of the movie, is absolutely beautiful…sends chills down my spine! 

We visited some more Friday morning, and then Stephen’s family had to leave.  There was a break in the storms, and they wanted to try to stay ahead of the heavy rain.  It was sad to see them go, but we are supposed to see them again this next weekend at Cody’s wedding.

Sheila stayed over again Friday night.  We didn’t do much because of all the rain, but we did get in our annual viewing of “It’s A Wonderful Life” on Friday.  Thanksgiving isn’t complete until we watch it!  I love the traditions of the holidays that grow over the years. 

Things are getting back to normal again now.  The last of the leftover turkey is in the freezer (after having turkey quesadillas one night and turkey soup the next – more Thanksgiving traditions!).  I sent most of the leftover sweets with Sheila to take to work with her.  The leaves from the table have been removed and stored away, as has the high chair.  Sheets and towels are washed and put up, toys picked up and sundry items returned to their normal place.  (Jesse was fascinated with my cookbooks and recipe cards, as well as with any book within his reach!)  You can hardly tell anything out of the ordinary has happened.  Thanksgiving just goes by way too fast!

CASA trip, Anniversary plans, and a surprising change in our lives

Fall has finally arrived around here!  Temperatures have dropped (somewhat) and it is raining often.  The trees have really started turning over the past week.  It looks like we might have a prettier fall than I had thought.  I guess all of the rain we've gotten in the past month is paying off!

We are still working on trim in the den.  It is a slow process...having to paint each piece and let it dry before applying it.  All of the baseboards and crown molding are finished.  Dennis also got one (of two) windows trimmed over the weekend.  So one more window and three doors still need to be trimmed out, plus a bit more caulking and painting on the ceiling.

We made it out to the state park one day last week.  Dennis wanted to see if the bald eagles had arrived yet for the winter.  We hiked along the lake, close to the rock climbing area, which is a rugged trail.  My legs were sure sore the next day from all of the climbing.  Didn't see any eagles yet.

Well, Dennis and I finally joined the 21st century and got smart phones last week!  Dennis told me he wanted to get me one for our anniversary (which is this Thursday).  I spent 2 hours on Wednesday looking at phones and plan options from our provider, AT&T.  I finally found the deal that I wanted and got my order in.  First thing Friday morning, I received an email from them canceling my order, with no explanation as to why.  That was the last straw!  I told Dennis we were quitting AT&T, so we spent the morning comparing other providers.  We finally decided on Metro PCS, which is a prepaid plan.  We both got Samsung Galaxy phones (same model, so we only have to learn to use one kind!).  The price of the phones was good, and we are paying $25 less a month for this new service than we were before for just voice and text service!  We have spent the last few days learning how to use our new phones, which has really been easier than we expected.  I think we both are going to enjoy them!

Friday afternoon, I met up with Sheila at her apartment after work, and we headed south for a CASA visit.  It was really nice having several hours of uninterrupted time in the car to catch up with each other!  We made it to our room in San Marcos a little after 10.  Then I got Sheila to help me learn a bit more about how to manage my new phone.  We had our visit the next morning, ate lunch and then headed home.

We enjoyed a wonderful Lord's Day yesterday!  Layne spoke in the morning on being content and trusting God's will.  As always, he did a great job!  Then Ricky spoke yesterday afternoon on godly sorrow and repentance.  I was so proud of the job he did.  He has grown so much over the past year!  Brings tears to this momma's eyes to hear him give such a wonderful lesson.

Wednesday afternoon, Dennis and I are planning a quick trip back down to the Hill Country for our anniversary.  We have a room reserved in Copperas Cove that night.  We will try to find a nice restaurant there for our anniversary dinner.  The next morning, I want to go back to Colorado Bend State Park and hike down to Gorman Falls, weather permitting.  Afterwards, we'll head over to San Saba Pecan Company to buy some of this year's crop.  We have always been very pleased with the pecans we get there...and the friendly service!

This is the time of year when things get pretty busy.  Thanksgiving is just next week!  I'm looking forward to getting started on my cooking.  I'm hoping we have the den finished out and our new guest room operational before the kids all get here.  Whether we do or not, it will be great to have the whole family all together!

Getting back to normal

Well things are starting to get back to normal around here.  Monday, I had to report for jury selection.  I ended up not being selected, but it took all day to get to that point!  Thankfully, the ED of CASA was also in the panel of possible jurists, so we hung out together.  It sure helped the time go by faster, during breaks, to have someone to visit.  I always enjoy the time that I spend with Barb.  She has SO much experience in so many different areas, and she always has interesting stories to tell. 

Tuesday and Thursday, I spent most of the day working on CASA stuff.  Wednesday, we worked on shelves and trim:  Dennis cutting and fitting and me, painting.  It is slow work!  We are doing the painting before placing, so a lot of time is spent waiting on paint to dry.

Thursday and Friday, we butchered the two deer that Dennis killed last week.  We got everything done except for the hams from the buck (hope to finish that tonight or tomorrow night).  It is so nice not having to do all of our butchering in the evenings, after working all day!  We’ve taken it easy, and haven’t pushed, since the meat is being stored in ideal conditions (and I was down in my back for 2-3 days!).  Had our first batch of steaks for supper Thursday night.  Um, um good!  Love having our first deer of the season!

Dennis is spending all day today hunting (unless he is successful early).  He is after a big buck that he’s been watching for the past 3 years.  We are hoping that he gets the opportunity to take it!  The next deer he kills will be his 100^th deer.  It would be very exciting for it to be the biggest one yet!

We are hoping to get all of the baseboards and window and door trim done in the den next week.  We’ll still have all of the ceiling trim to do, but that can wait.  Thought I’d give you a sneak peek at how it is looking.  Please excuse the camping gear on the bed!  Even though it is currently serving as a guest room, this will be Dennis' "man-cave" eventually.  It will be nice to not have it cluttering up my living room!

Next weekend, Sheila and I are planning a mini road trip.  We are planning to go see one of our babies that is placed in the Hill Country.  Looking forward to some alone time with my girl! 

Guess that is about all for now.  Take care, all!

Down Time

In my last post I mentioned that we planned to take the day off to rest up.  Well...Dennis and I both ended up sick with colds and spent all week recuperating.  (Dennis ended up having to go to the doctor to get medicine for a secondary infection.)  He finally got to feeling better over the weekend, so he was able to go ahead and head to East Texas for a hunt that he had been planning with James S.  He left first thing Monday morning.  I heard from him this morning, and he is supposed to be home sometime this afternoon...with a big doe and an 8-point in tow.  Fresh meat for the freezer!  I am down to only one package of ground meat and one roast left, so I'm happy to be getting some more.  We will get to try out our new setup for aging.  We moved my old frig out to the shop to use to age our venison.  We had been using the small (camper size) one we had in the garage.  It will be nice to have more room!

I was looking forward to having a few days alone, with Dennis off hunting.  Even though I love having him home, now that he's retired, I was kind of used to having some time to myself.  BUT...Ricky got sick and had to take the week off of work.  Oh well!

I've been trying to get all of my CASA visits in this week, since we were gone for the first 2 weeks of October and then busy getting ready for our meeting.  I did one Monday, one yesterday, and have one this afternoon.  I got my "phone visit" (for the one that is too far to do a face visit) done last week.  So I am about caught up for October...just in time.  Sheila and I have a trip planned in a couple of weeks to go see the baby that is placed down in the Hill Country.  I haven't seen him since June and am really looking forward to the visit.  There will be a LOT of changes since either of us have seen him!

Sheila and I were supposed to go see Josh Groban in concert last Sunday night.  (It was her birthday gift to me.)  She got a call from TicketMasters last week saying that the concert had been postponed until Dec. 22, since he was sick.  It really worked out better for me, since I really didn't feel well at all on Sunday!

I have been called for jury selection on Monday.  I'm hoping that I won't be selected, but even if I do, most cases around here don't last more than a couple of days.  The last time I served was several years ago...before CASA...so it was a pretty interesting lesson in how our courts work.  I spend a LOT of time in court now, so it won't be such a unique experience. 

I'm taking my Aunt Coez out tonight for her birthday supper.  (I made her a gift certificate for supper at her choice of restaurants.)  I'm looking forward to our visit!  She is my mom's oldest sister.  I lived with her for awhile after Dennis and I got engaged.  Life has been hard on her these last few years, losing her husband and oldest son...as well as her declining health, but she just keeps on going.  She raised 4 boys and has taken care of a number of grandsons over the years.  Now she keeps herself busy with her sewing and quilting.  I've always enjoyed spending time with her, even though I don't get around to visiting as much as I should.

Maybe NEXT week, Dennis and I will be able to get back to work on our home remodeling.  I hope to have pictures to share with you soon!

Wonderfully Exhausted!

Well, I rested all day yesterday, went to bed early, and then woke up with reflux an hour later.  Since I had to sit up awhile, waiting on my reflux to settle down, and I’d had a little nap, I thought I’d fill you in on what’s been going on since we got home from vacation.

We got home last Monday about noon.  I spent the rest of the day trying to play catch up.  Tuesday through Friday, I shopped and cooked for the weekend, cleaned house, celebrated Dennis’ birthday, took care of some CASA obligations, helped Dennis lay the wood laminate flooring in the den, and then get it fixed up for a guest room.  Then it was time for our meeting to start!

I had really been looking forward to this meeting since it was planned a few months ago.  The guys had asked for requests from the whole congregation for ideas for a theme.  For those who know me very well, you can guess what I suggested…and what ended up being the theme for the meeting:  “The Body”.  I was not disappointed!  The guys all did a great job on this very important subject!  Koh laid the groundwork with a very comprehensive look at “The One Body” and what it is.  Joe then talked about what the purpose of the body is.  Grant took a little different turn with his subject of Nurturing and Maintaining the Body and how that relates to the balance between love and truth.  Then John capped it all off with an excellent lesson on “Connections”…how the body should work together.  Aside from the good spiritual food we received, we also enjoyed a beautiful day at the park on Saturday, plus snacks and some relaxing time to visit at Layne and Heather’s that evening.  Then Sunday, we had a feast of a potluck!  I had been a little nervous about feeding the crowd under our current circumstances.  We lost the contributions of two of our older women who carried a lion’s share when it came to organizing, cooking and serving at our potlucks (one passed away and the other is incapacitated from a stroke).  Plus Mike had just had a heart attack, so he and Denice weren’t able to participate all weekend.  Roy and Dora have been focused on caring for Roy’s mother (who had the stroke) for months and couldn’t fully participate.  Plus we have several of our women who are chronically ill, plus another who was sick and couldn’t come all weekend.  That didn’t leave many to carry the ball!  But I was amazed at how well they did.  Our visitors were absolutely amazing, also!  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such helpful workers!  As soon as someone started a cleanup, everyone jumped in and had it done in no time! 

The singing, as usual at our meetings, was awesome…or as one person described it:  crazy!  We had some new faces this year, as well as some of our “old” regulars.  Everyone was thrilled to see Jared show up with his whole family!  We kept John and Heather with us and ended up with some new, special friends.  I absolutely LOVE keeping new families every year!  The only problem is that I want to keep them all from then on! 

 

It was a very emotional weekend.  I know it may come as a surprise to most of you, but I am a very emotional person.  *wink. wink*   These meetings really work on me and tears are common.  Certain songs cause me to choke up and not be able to sing.  Plus watching others who are going through so much right now breaks my heart.  It was beautiful to see the outpouring of love and support from everyone for Jared and his family!  We had a living demonstration of how the Body is supposed to work.

The meeting drew to a close Sunday afternoon, and we sadly said our farewells.  Dennis and I got to extend the fellowship a little longer, since Gray and Vicki stayed with us Sunday night.  I’m afraid that I was pretty much a zombie by then…not the best hostess!  But they were very gracious and understanding.  They headed home Monday morning, and Dennis and I did as little as possible for the rest of the day.  Hopefully we will have a little more energy today and start getting back to our “normal” routine.

 

Time to head home!

Days 11-15:  We left Lake Placid and headed to Vermont.  I love Vermont!  It has beautiful hills, farmland, and LOTS of maple trees!  We had a room reserved at a B&B on a farm south of Burlington.  On the way out to find it, we came across a covered bridge.  When we stopped to photograph it, a friendly native stopped and told us where to find a better one!  (Turns out she used to live in Texas, and even knew where Mineral Wells was!)

I loved our B&B!  It was the home of a couple who had an extra bedroom and bath downstairs in their home (their bed/bath were upstairs).  They made us feel right at home.  Chris, the husband, took us on a tour of the farm and told us all about the area.  He was quite the talker!  He sent us to a wonderful seafood place in Burlington for supper, that was on the wharf on Lake Champlain.  After we returned and settled into our room, he and Libby invited us to sit with them in their living room and visit.  We spent the next 2 hours chatting like old friends.  The bed was probably the most comfortable of the whole trip (with the softest sheets I've EVER slept on!), and the bath was decked out with REAL towels...thick and luxurious.  When we asked when breakfast was served, Chris told us he would cook it whenever we wanted.  He served us thick sliced bacon (cooked perfectly) from a pig that they raised, eggs (the way we wanted them) gathered from their own hens the day before, toast and homemade jelly from their own cherry trees, plus real maple syrup.  What a treat!  After getting on the road we stopped at a Syrup Farm.  We watched a video on how maple syrup is harvested and cooked.  Free samples were available for tasting!  We decided to buy a jug to take home, as well as a few souvenirs and some maple candy for snacking.

From Vermont, we drove to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  That is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been!  The leaves were really getting pretty by now.  The friendly lady at the visitor center on the Vermont/New Hampshire line suggested we drive the Kancamagus Highway, which we did.  It was a full day of driving through the mountains and seeing the gorgeous scenery. 

The next morning we entered Maine and drove through Grafton Notch State Park, which was beautiful.  Then we headed east to Bangor.  We were ready to try some Maine lobster for supper, so the chef of our hotel directed us to a nice restaurant on the wharf.  We were a bit taken aback by the prices, so Dennis settled on a lobster appetizer and I got a lobster roll.  Since we both ate pretty light, we opted for dessert, too!  It was good, but I think we'd both been happier with a good old shrimp dinner!  Live and learn!  The next morning, we headed to the coast.  We decided to go to Bar Harbor and drive through the Acadia National Park.  It was beautiful!  I loved finally getting to see the Atlantic!  We then drove to Belfast, where we had a room at a quaint little inn.  Our room faced the bay and had nice rocking chairs on the veranda, where we could sit and relax and enjoy the view.  Later we drove down to the docks and walked for over an hour.  There was a wonderful walking bridge that was a perfect vantage point for taking pictures.  We stayed and watched the sun set, grabbed a quick supper and retired to our cozy room.

Today was the day that we had to start heading back home.  I would have loved to explore the coast some more and visit a lighthouse or two, but we ran out of time.  We did stop in Freeport to do a little shopping at L.L. Bean!  Dennis has always wanted a pair of their hunting boots and wanted to try some on to see what size he needed.  They didn't have exactly what he wanted in stock, but he now knows what to order when we get home.

Today was a grueling day of driving!  We covered just over 500 miles and drove through some of the most congested freeways in the northeast.  We were on the road for a total of 12 hours.  I have to say, though, that it was still gorgeous!  The leaves are now at their peak.  The interstates, up here, are layed out where you don't really see the cities.  The roads are lined with trees the whole way.  (Traffic is still horrible though.  And we thought Dallas drivers were bad!)  It was with great relief that we reached our room here in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  Tomorrow should be MUCH better...and shorter!  Then another grueling 12 hours on Saturday, ending up in Searcy, AR.  We are looking forward to meeting with Don and Glenda Buck and their family on Sunday morning!  Then, Lord willing, we'll be back in Texas that night (for a quick visit with the kids in Paris)...and home on Monday.

This has probably been the most exhausting vacation we've ever taken, but it has been a wonderful adventure.  I am so thankful to have been allowed to view so many new places and see such beauty!  Plus I've learned that Yankees can be very friendly and helpful!

Our Great Northeast Adventure (part 2)

Day 10:  Ok…let me see if I can catch you up on the last five days.  When I last left off, we were about to leave Tennessee and get on the Blue Ridge Parkway…which we did.  It was an absolutely gorgeous drive.  It travels along the ridge of the mountains (hence the name), so it was curvy, hilly, and foggy.  It was still drizzling rain along, so we were only managing about 20 mph on average.  After about 50 miles, we realized that we had to change our route, or we would never get to Roanoke, VA!  We hated to leave the Parkway, because it was so beautiful.  There were waterfalls all alongside the road!  We hope to return someday to make the Parkway our destination, rather than a corridor leading somewhere else. 

 

After spending the night in Roanoke, we decided to try one more time to drive a little further on the Parkway.  Alas, it was closed to traffic.  I guess it was just too treacherous with all of the rains.  So we made good time on the highway.  Since we had time to spare, we stopped in Staunton, VA (first settled in 1732, and the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson).  They had a really nice Frontier Culture Museum!  It took up MANY acres and depicted where the early settlers had come from (with buildings taken from the actual countries), as well as showing how they incorporated their different cultures to create their new homes in America.  We spent a couple of hours exploring everything from a west African village to American homesteads from the 1700 and 1800’s.

We passed through a small section of West Virginia and Maryland and then entered Pennsylvania.  I LOVE Pennsylvania!  It is such a beautiful state…beautiful green hills, forests and pristine farmland (with the obligatory red barns!).  The colors in the higher elevations were really starting to get good, and every once in a while, we’d run across a particular tree that just glowed.  We spent the night in Harrisburg and then headed into New York state the next day.

We arrived in Niagara Falls around 4:30 on Thursday (10/1) night.  We quickly settled into our hotel and took off walking toward the falls.  The town is awful…very glitzy and very crowded, with horrible parking (as is the case in most tourist attraction towns).  We walked into the Niagara Falls State Park and found 2 or 3 good sites to view the falls.  There just aren’t words adequate to describe the falls.  Every single angle you view them from is breathtaking.  We were about to starve, so we walked back to our room, looked up a place to go get some “real New York pizza” and drove into the (non-touristy) part of town.   After finishing our delicious supper, we walked down to a different vantage point to view the falls at night.  They were mesmerizing!

I had been battling a sore throat and earache all week and woke up feeling pretty lousy Friday morning.  We decided the best thing for us to do was find a place for me to see a doctor.  Our friendly “information lady” at the hotel sent us to the ER of the local hospital.  (All of the service people we have dealt with on this trip have been very friendly and helpful!)  We spent several hours waiting to find out that I have an URI (sounds better than saying a cold) and an ear infection.  So she gave me an antibiotic and a prescription to get filled, and I went back to our room to lay around all day.  Dennis did a little more exploring on his own.  I finally decided to go out on the observation deck, behind the visitor center, which is the best (land) view from the US side.  It actually goes out over the river for a better vantage point.  (Neither one of us wanted to spend the money or fight the crowds or get wet by going on a boat ride up to the falls.)  We went back to the bottom of the observation deck that night.  They usually have fireworks on Friday nights, but they had to cancel because of the wind (gusts up to about 40 mph). 

That brings us up to today.  We left Niagara Falls this morning and headed east.  We had about 3 hours of interstate driving before we turned north into the Adirondack Mountains.  (We did see a couple of deer and several woodchucks along the freeway, though.)  We both fell in love with these mountains!  The drive today has been amazing!  The trees still aren’t at their peak, but the percentage of color is over 50% in a lot of places.  We kept hoping to catch sight of a moose, but no luck!  We had reservations at a B&B in Lake Placid, which we reached about 4:30.  This town is NOT what we expected!  If you like pure tourist traps, come to Lake Placid.  Otherwise, I’d caution against it.  We plan to leave early in the morning, find a quiet place in the country to worship, and then head on over to Vermont.

Our Great Northeast Adventure (part 1)

Today is Day 6 of our Great Northeast Adventure.  I wanted to share a little of what we’ve done while it is fresh in my mind.  Days 2-3 were both spent on The Natchez Trace.  We had traveled the Trace from Natchez to Jackson many years ago, when the kids were at home, and really enjoyed it.  We decided then that someday we hoped to return and follow it all the way up to Nashville.  This was the perfect opportunity to do that.  The Trace isn’t for everyone, but it was ideal for us!  There are no commercial vehicles allowed, no billboards, no towns, no stop signs…just over 400 miles of natural beauty and peacefulness.  The speed limit is 40 MPH around large cities and 50 MPH everywhere else, so the pace is slow and restful.  The first day on the Trace, we traveled 170 miles…in 7 hours.  We stopped frequently at the different sites along the way.  We did a little hiking, stopped to take pictures of the changing scenery and color along the way, climbed hills to view waterfalls, and stopped at beautiful settings for leisurely picnic lunches.  We ended up Day 3 in Cookeville, TN.  Our plans were to assemble the next morning at the Frogtown church, so we decided to drive up to make sure we could find it.  Good thing we did!  All we had were GPS coordinates (and didn’t realize at the time that our car’s GPS could take coordinates).  We used Dennis’ hand held (woods) GPS to lead us up in the right direction and figured we would find it.  That doesn’t work in the hills and hollers of Tennessee.  We were driving some pretty remote pig trails before we finally found someone outside to stop and ask directions from.  We were within 1/10 of a mile from the church…you just couldn’t get to it from there!  The man was good at telling us how to get back to the road that would take us there, and we finally made it.  Turns out that it is really easy to get to, on good roads, if you know where you are going!

Day 4 was the Lord’s Day, so we assembled at Frogtown that morning.  We enjoyed meeting everyone there…especially Debie and Wayne Taylor.  I’ve heard of them for years, but this was the first time we had actually met.  Visiting with Debie was like talking to an old friend!  I also really enjoyed the lesson of the morning, on contentment. 

After the assembly and a short visit, we got back on the road and drove to Townsend, TN, a small town just a few short miles from The Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  It was still early enough, after we got checked into our room, to start exploring.  We decided to drive the Cades Cove Loop, an 11 mile loop.  It ended up taking us about 2 hours to drive it…not because of all of the sightings, but because of the traffic!  It was bumper to bumper most of the way.  We hoped that Monday morning would bring a little relief in that department!  It didn’t disappoint.  We got up before daylight and headed back to the same area.  There weren’t the heavy crowds this time and we could enjoy the view.  Right off, we started seeing deer.  A couple of nice bucks posed for us and were very close up and personal.  About 2/3 around the loop we saw a momma bear and her 2 cubs out in a pasture.  The cubs were just coming down from a tree.  They were about 400 yards off, so our viewing was helped using a telephoto lens and binoculars.  It was quite a show, though.  Then another momma bear and her cub came out of the woods and were headed for the same tree.  There looked like they might have a confrontation for a little bit, but the second pair backed down.  What a treat!  We then took a cut-through and circled back to the visitor center (at about the half-way point of the loop).  While there, we heard talk of another group of 6 bears.  We drove out to where they were and had quite a show.  One bear was right beside the road.  We drove past and were within 10 yards of him (or her)!  We parked a little ways down the lane, got out of the car with our cameras, and started shooting (along with about 20-30 other people).  The bear was oblivious to all of the spectators…it was busy trying to fill its belly with the required 7 pounds of hickory nuts that it needs each day to get ready for winter.  Up in the tree above him were 3 other bears, busy gathering nuts and chomping away.  In another tree across the lane were a couple of cubs.  What a treat!

We finally decided to move on and see another part of the park.  We stopped for lunch at the Chimneys picnic area.  Such a pretty place!  The hardwoods in that area were HUMONGOUS!!!  After lunch we drove up to Clingman’s Dome, which is the highest point in the park.  The drive was breathtaking!  The colors in the high elevations were really starting to shine.  There is an observation tower that normally allows a 360 degree view of the area, but it was fogged under, so we didn’t bother to climb to it.  Nothing but white fog was visible as you tried to look down the mountain.  So we headed back down to the lower elevations. 

Our park literature told us about a remote area in the North Carolina part of the park, where elk had been reintroduced.  So we decided to head that way.  We left the park (you couldn't get there through the park), drove through Gatlinburg (what a tourist trap!) and hit I40 towards N. Carolina.  After one missed turn, we found the park entrance.  The road leading to the Cataloochee Valley, where the elk herd stays, is 7 miles long…and took us about 30 minutes to drive.  Talk about switchbacks!  It was narrow and graveled and the maximum speed you could drive was 15 MPG, except for on the curves, when you had to slow down.  But it was worth the drive.  Not only did we get to see elk, we saw two big bulls that put on quite a show for us.  They were in separate areas, so we didn’t get to see a fight, but we did watch them bugling!  That is a sight to see…and hear!  We did see a couple of smaller bulls doing a little friendly sparring.  After watching for an hour or so, we decided we’d better get back out that road before dark.  On the way, a bear jumped down onto the road in front of us for a short “race”, then headed off into the woods!

When we hit the main road, we set the GPS to take us to the closest restaurant on the way back to Tennessee…or so we thought.  We ended up way back out in the sticks, in the dark, with an almost empty gas tank…and no town in sight!  We managed to find a man outside working on his truck and asked for directions to the nearest gas station.  Turned out that we were only about 5-6 miles from a Pilot station on a main road and were able to make it without getting stranded.  What a relief!  We filled our tank and our bellies and then drove back to our room in Townsend.

We aren’t even 1/3 of the way through this adventure and it has already been well worth the trip!  Everything from here on out will be well northeast of anywhere either of us has seen before.  I can’t wait!

Family Fun, Odds and End Jobs, and Last Minute Travel Prep

Well, we got our temporary guest room in acceptable condition by the time Stephen and Mandy and Jesse arrived Saturday.  It worked out quite well for their family.  It afforded them a quiet, private room to themselves, with an a/c that they could control.  Jesse loved it!  (Imagine a large, mostly empty room with concrete floors.)  It was great for running around and rolling his car around.  But the absolute best thing was the door!  There is no telling HOW many times that little guy opened and closed the door leading from the living room to the den!  Kids sure get a lot of pleasure from very simple things!


Tacos!



Doing a little reading

After lunch on Saturday, we took Jesse to the city park.  He had a blast!  He loved climbing on the playground equipment, but didn't quite know what to do once he got up there.  One section had a steering wheel, which he played with a lot.  When other kids would come over and start playing with it, he would patiently stand aside and wait until they left, then play with it some more.  He was leery of the tunnels and slides (although he went down the small one a couple of times with me holding his hand), but loved the swing.  We adults finally had enough of the heat, so we headed back to the house, stopping for a cold treat on the way.  (And I discovered that Jesse LOVES lemonberry slushes!)

After supper and washing dishes, we all piled into Stephen and Mandy's little SUV and went for a drive through the state park looking for deer.  We were able to see quite a few, and a couple were close enough that Jesse could see them.  He really enjoyed that!  Then we parked and walked down to the lake.  If Stephen hadn't been holding his hand, I do believe Jesse would have jumped right in!

Looking for deer

Jessica came over Sunday, after church, so all of my kiddos were here at the same time.  It was so nice having everyone together!  Right after lunch, Ricky and Dennis had to leave (Ricky - going out of town for work; and Dennis - going to a business meeting).  After getting the kitchen cleaned up and visiting a while longer, Stephen's family had to move on.  (They were heading to Abilene for a work conference.)  We thoroughly enjoyed the weekend!  Jesse is so much fun!  He is old enough now that he remembers all of us from visit to visit.  I love seeing him relate to his Uncle Ricky (boom-boom!) and Aunt Sheila.  Being a granny is the best!

We are hoping that things go smoothly for Shepherd to come home soon.  All of the preliminary stuff is done, and they are waiting until the rainy season ends (in Ethiopia), so a court date can be scheduled.  Stephen and Mandy will fly over there for the adoption, but it will be another several weeks before they can go bring him home.  We are hoping and praying that will occur before the end of the year!  We are all looking forward to meeting our new little guy!

Dennis and I are trying to finish up a few odds and ends around the house before we leave Thursday morning.  We've decided not to worry about having to get the den and guest room finished.  The den worked so well for a temporary guest room that we can use it again, if needed.  We are getting the ceiling painted today, as well as several little jobs that we've been putting off.  We may try to do some of the flooring before we go...depends on how things go.  I've been busy making my lists of things to take with us on vacation and getting things together.  Plus I have a couple of CASA commitments this week.  So there is plenty to keep us busy over the next 3 days!

I will try to start posting travel pictures when we get to Tennessee.  I'm hoping we start seeing some color by then.  This has the potential of being the best fall vacation ever!