Florida Bites

We ended up not having time to drive over to the beach while I was in Florida. Nor did we go to Disney World. As we were riding the airport shuttle today, on our way out, a recorded announcement said, "Chances are, you didn't see and do everything there is to do while you were here..." My co-worker and I had to laugh. Yeah, we didn't see or do very much at all except work. However, we stayed at a very nice resort, and the convention was at yet another nice resort, so there were a few photo ops.

I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and "had" to wait at the airport a couple hours before going to the condo. As you can see, waiting at the airport was a real hardship for me. I staked out one of the benches by this gorgeous fountain and read through several of the Psalms while I was waiting. It was a unique place to have devotions. I needed some alone time that time, so that served the need nicely.

Late that evening, after we had loaded and unloaded some of the convention supplies and taken care of grocery shopping for the weekend, one of my co-workers, Sherry, and I explored the resort a little bit. We were tickled to discover that the smoking area was called the Cigar Deck. So pretentious! No one was smoking cigars (or anything else), and it was actually a very nice deck overlooking the lake.

Another thing that cracked us up was the Sensory Garden, which was a nicely landscaped, short garden path. Sherry struck a yoga pose long enough for me to take a picture. I'm not sure she got the full sensory effect in that length of time, but we aren't real sure what that was supposed to be anyway.

The convention was busy. We worked long hours and talked to lots of people. 

It was held at the Gaylord Palms resort, which has alligators in the atrium. They weren't in the wild, and they weren't very big, but still, it was cool to see them. There were turtles in with them.

On Saturday evening my cousin, Kerry, who lives there, came over to see me. We went out for a quick dinner. It was fun to see her again. It had been several years. We were too busy talking and catching up to think about taking pictures.

And that was the extent of my adventure in Florida this past weekend. I've been to Florida twice now, and have yet to see the Atlantic Ocean. 

Someday we'll go back for a vacation. At least, it's on my bucket list.

Talkin' to the Squirrels

 All of us... especially Cookie... have enjoyed our shady backyard this summer. Cookie likes to chase rabbits and talk to squirrels, both of whom are frequent visitors.

The three snakes who have shown up at different times, however, are not welcome. I guess I ought to put up a sign:

NO SNAKES ALLOWED

They'd probably pay about as much attention to that as the door-to-door salesman pay to this one:

(Photo courtesy of Laura.)

But I digress. 

Our backyard is fenced all around and lined with trees and shrubbery, so though we have close neighbors we also enjoy a sense of privacy. It's lovely.

 As the leaves fall, it won't be quite so private, but I have to say, fall is just gorgeous in Colorado. Not just the aspens in the mountains, but also the city streets and brilliant blue skies.

The kids raked the leaves into a big pile. Doesn't it make you want to just go jump in it?

Maybe we'll build a fire in our little patio fireplace this evening and toast marshmallows.

Birds in the Airport

Several trips ago I discovered that the mezzanine in Concourse C is a nice, quiet place to sit at the Denver airport while I wait till time for my flight. Today I discovered it is inhabited by birdies! Three little sparrows were hoping around looking for crumbs nearby. Then they flew away. I wonder how they got in.

Springtime Babies

{goslings at Falls Park}

Emily said,
"I think ducklings are lovely."

"Yes," said Little Bear,
"and owlets are nice, too.
Owl says they are."

Emily laughed.
"Oh," she said,
"I love all little animals."

"Me, too," said Little Bear.
--Little Bear's Friends by Else Holmelund Minarik

Travel Stats for Sunday

Here's a map of our route for the first part of this week. And because these are the kinds of stats Lyle likes to have a record of...

Departed Post Falls, Idaho: 9:00 p.m. PDT

Hours driven: 18

Hours slept: 4

Miles driven: 1,200

Average speed (not counting sleep time): 66.7 mph

Fuel (not gas) mileage: 34.8 mpg

States: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota

Time zones: 3

Wildlife spotted: deer, antelope, brown bunnies

Weather: rain, snow flurries, sunshine

Audio book: The Racketeer by John Grisham

Car Talk podcast: 1 episode

Arrived Sioux Falls, South Dakota: 9:00 p.m. CDT.

Monday's destination: Rolla, Missouri.

Good-night, John Boy!

Buffalo Round-up Day Trip

 On Tuesday the weather was perfect for a day trip. We had made plans to drive over to the National Bison Range Wildlife Refuge to see the annual buffalo round-up. It is always the first Monday and Tuesday of October. Our homeschool co-op meets on Mondays, so Tuesday was our only option. Now that we have an 8-passenger SUV, we were able to invite some friends to go along.

Our rig is affectionately known as "Duh Bible-Study Fwuck" so dubbed by the passenger in the middle. Our friends come to our Bible Study on Wednesday nights, and so the Little Guy has decided that our name must be Bible-Study, since whenever they say they are going to Bible Study they end up at our house! He's all into "fwucks" and "fwains" so he recognizes our Excursion. He definitely added extra-fun moments to our day. It's been awhile since we've had a 2-year-old around.

The Clark Fork River was particularly beautiful reflecting the bright sunshine and blue sky. It was a gorgeous drive.

We saw several antelope on a hillside in the Bison Range before we got to where they were rounding up the buffalo. They are hard to see in the picture, since they blend in with the grass... and I don't have much of a zoom lens on my camera.

The buffalo round-up itself was not quite as dramatic as it has been in years past, since they've started using Jeeps instead of horses to drive the bison in. It was still fun to watch.

There were a few horses around, though. We saw two or three riders, but they weren't out in the range with the wildlife. Just riding around the barn and parking area. I'm not sure why. For crowd control? Atmosphere? Whatever.

On our way home we saw a herd of Bighorn Sheep. They appear to be fenced in, but I don't think they are really. I think they've just come down off the mountain. But I could be wrong. I don't really know.

Other wildlife we saw (but didn't photograph) included a mule deer, a golden eagle, a bald eagle, and a wild turkey. No bears or moose. Too bad.

We came home through the mountains over Thompson Pass. It had been a fun day.

I think our next adventure will be an apple-picking expedition. Stay tuned.

Camping Adventures

Last weekend we went camping for the second time this summer. We intended to go to Priest Lake. Actually, we did go there, but all the campgrounds were full, so we drove across the state into Montana and ended up at Yaak River again. (Granted, the state is only 90 miles across the panhandle, but it seemed like a long way when we thought were There, and had to go Someplace Else.)

I spent much of the weekend doing this:

With this close at hand:

And actually got up the energy to do this a few times:

 It was a relaxing weekend.

I was buzzing around the campsite Sunday morning taking pictures while Lyle was cooking breakfast. After I snapped a couple pictures of the fire he asked, "Are you gonna blog about the way I cook eggs?"

"Why, I hadn't thought of that! But what a good idea. Sure! Hold out your 'grabbers' so I can get a good shot of them."

He thinks I'm nuts, of course, but my blogging amuses him, so he obliged:

 See? Here's how he cooks breakfast. First, the bacon in the skillet (with the toast in a grill basket on the side), using tongs from his grill utensil set.

 Then, he removes the bacon and drains most of the drippings out of the skillet before he scrambles the eggs, using his "grabbers" to stir with!! (That's what he calls the tongs: grabbers.)

For some reason, that strikes me funny. I don't know why.

Just for the fun of it I kept tallies while we were camping. One of my blogging buddies, Keetha @ The Eclectic Company, did that on her recent vacation, and I thought it was so fun, I decided to start the tradition in our family.

So, the tallies for last weekend include:

• Campgrounds that we had to pass up because they were full -- 7
• Deer we saw along the road -- 2 live, 1 dead
• Snakes the kids saw -- 1 live, 1 dead
• Snakes I saw -- 0 (Thank goodness!)
• Squirrels in our campsite -- 2
• Meals cooked over the fire -- 3
• Hands of Skip-Bo played -- 2
• Laps around the loop on my bike -- 6 (but not all at once)
• Books read -- 3
• Crochet projects completed -- 1 tote bag, 2 washcloths

Nod-the-Toad

The first evening Becky and I were here in Arkansas we went for a little walk down the driveway. The irises are blooming and I decided to cut some to take in to Mother. As I stepped across a pile of dried leaves near the basement door something jumped out. It startled me momentarily until I saw that it was a cute little toad.

I quickly caught him and handed him to Becky, who was just delighted. She found a little dish for him to sit in and enjoyed visiting with him for an hour or two. She called him "Mr. Toad" and asked him to kindly sit for a photography session before she let him go.

I told her his name was Nod. She was sure that wasn't right. Apparently he had told her his name was Mr. Toad. "Well, that may be," I said, "but his first name is Nod."

"Why is it Nod?" she wanted to know.

So I told her how years ago, back when this house belonged to her great-grandparents, the washer and dryer were in the basement which is accessed from the outside. In the basement lived two happy toads who were friends of Grandmother. She would visit with them  when she went down to do the laundry and she called them "Winkem" and "Blinkem."

Would you believe this very toad is Winkem and Blinkem's great-grand-toad? It's true! And his name is Nod, of course.

Unless he's actually the original Winkem or Blinkem... I just googled the life-span of toads and it turns out they can live up to 40 years. So I guess it's possible. We'll never know, since he only introduced himself as Mr. Toad. I wasn't well-enough acquainted with Winkem and Blinkem to recognize them myself.

What do you think, Rachel?

Signs of Spring

 After the wettest March on record we decided to go for a drive up the Coeur d'Alene River yesterday to see how high it had gotten. It was drizzling a little when we left, but we took along a picnic lunch anyway, because that's just what we do when we go for Sunday drives.

As we got into the back country the raindrops turned to sloppy snowflakes. It was not accumulating, though. The snow along the sides of the road was still left over from winter. It's springtime now, dontcha know?

 We stopped at this pullout along to river to eat our lunch in the car. See the green grass just barely emerging along the riverbank? That proves it. Spring is here! We just have to look really close for the signs.

I expect that's what this doe and her family were doing-- looking for signs of spring. (There were five of them, and while they agreed to pose for pictures, they wouldn't all stand together for a group shot.)

***

In other news, April is shaping up to be a busy month. The new Sonlight catalog "goes live" today which is sure to bring with it a flurry of questions as homeschoolers begin to plan for their next school year.

Later this month I'll be representing Sonlight at the Christian Heritage conference in Redmond, Washington.

Before that, my youngest daughter and I will be making another trip to Arkansas. My mother had an accident last week and broke her ankle. My sisters and I are taking turns going to help out, since Mother has to be off her feet for at least another 6 weeks. I expect that's harder on her than the pain of the break and the surgery.

Life is an adventure.

Isn't it?

Changing Seasons

 Summer got off to a late start in our part of the country. It was cool all through July, and was well into August before we had any hot weather to speak of. Obligingly, though, summer is lingering later than usual. We're continuing to have hot weather well into September.

In spite of the daytime temperatures, fall is definitely in the air. Our first clue was the Canadian soccer tournament that took place in the soccer field across the street about 3 weeks ago. I had no idea that the Canadian Geese enjoyed soccer, but they spent several days with us on their way south. We never did see them actually kicking a soccer ball, but I ask you: What else would they be doing over there all that time? Becky enjoyed snapping several pictures, so the photo credit goes to her for this post.

Dark comes earlier these days. Harvest scents are in the air. My mums are budding. Our school year routine is "falling" into place. It's obvious that fall will officially arrive next week.

I'm reminded of something my Granddaddy said in an old letter I came across recently:

Days come and go, years pass so hurriedly: but God is the same and we are happy in Him.
--Gordon Easley, September 16, 1964

Labor Day Camping Trip

We camped at beautiful Priest Lake for the Labor Day weekend. We didn't actually end up staying at the campsite much this time. Lyle had planned out a full itinerary of Geocaches in the area, so we did a lot of exploring. It's such a gorgeous area, so that was a perfect plan-- and the weather cooperated nicely.

Here's the gang getting ready to set out on our first expedition...

...to this nearby scenic viewpoint. It was a moderate hike from the campground. Looks like we were all trying to capture the view through our various lenses. Maybe I should have got the photos from their phones, too. (Rebecca didn't have a camera, so she was on the lookout for cougars. Though there was a warning sign posted about them, we didn't see any. Thank goodness.)

The next geocache we attempted was a drive-up one. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. As we turned off the main road I asked how far it was "as the crow flies." The answer: "Just over 3 miles." I predicted it would take us 3 hours to find it, because even though we had two GPSs (three, if you count the phone) plus a detailed back-road atlas, we weren't real sure just what road to follow to find the coordinates. Naturally we made several wrong turns and had to do a lot of back-tracking. I was off on my prediction by one hour-- it only took us two hours to find it. It was on the top of a mountain with breath-taking views in all directions.

After we drove back down off that mountain we pursued another one that involved another quarter-mile hike to a different view of the lake. Apparently fall comes early to Priest Lake. We noticed changing foliage throughout the area.

On Monday morning we did a couple more quick and easy caches near the campground. This one was right on the lake shore. The water is so clear and pristine.

The girls caught a little frog and had to pose him on Laura's cap before they let him go.

Besides hiking, driving, and enjoying the weather and scenery, we also had a wonderful time as a family just hanging out together and conversing around the campfire in the evenings.

Sweet memories to treasure!

Ramblin' Thoughts

This past weekend we went camping Up the River.

 It was an uneventful weekend, as far as excitement goes. The weather was lovely. Sunny. Not too hot. Though the flies were nasty through the middle of the afternoon, for some reason.

It's always so good to get away from our normal day-to-day responsibilities and just enjoy some down-time deep in the forest. We drove over the mountain and stopped for a couple of short hikes. I particularly enjoyed the wildflowers. (Watch for those pictures soon.)

We spotted a few squirrel, a couple of deer, and a hawk soaring in the sky. We also came upon a strange bird sitting in the road perfectly still. None of us knew what kind of bird it was. We could see its eyes moving as it looked around, but it wouldn't get out of the way. So we crept closer (in the truck). Finally, it waddled off into the brush and then flew away. Anybody have any idea what kind of bird it was, and why it acted that way?

I miss living in the country, so I'm glad we are able to go camping frequently.

Fall Beauty

We went camping this past weekend in central Washington, near Grand Coulee Dam. Steamboat Rock campground is open year round and we thought it might be a little warmer over there for perhaps the last camp-out of the season. It was. But it was also gray and drizzly...
...however, as I've mentioned before, we don't mind the rain. The scenery was still beautiful, in a muted sort of way.

Late in the afternoon we enjoyed watching the herd of mule deer who casually grazed in our campsite. We counted up to 20 in the area at once, including a buck or two. They weren't exactly tame... but they sure weren't too put off by the presence of humans.
Just at sunset, the clouds broke up and the sun cast a breath-taking rainbow against the eastern sky... It lasted for quite awhile.
The next morning dawned sunny and clear.
The fall colors were brilliant.
We thoroughly enjoyed the gifts of our Creator this fall weekend!