Idaho Homeschool Convention

This weekend I will be hosting the Sonlight booth at the Christian Homeschoolers of Idaho State convention. It starts on Friday at 8:00 a.m. and you can register at the door. As a special "thank you" to conference attendees, Sonlight is allowing me to offer a $15 coupon to each family who stops by my booth! You will also have a chance to win my drawing for a tote bag full of books! If you homeschool in Idaho, I hope to see you there!

Hiking in the Springtime

I never get tired of the lush greenness of the woods in our area. We spent some time hiking and geocaching while we were camping. The sun finally did come out and it turned out to be a beautiful day. The sunlight filtering through the trees on the new spring growth was just breathtaking.

There are quite a few caches hidden around Priest Lake. We discovered one in this burned-out tree on a hillside along the hiking trail.

The woods were full of little streams, created by spring run-off, meandering toward the creek...

...which in turn, feeds the lake.

Caches we found this weekend:

• Bigs Flat Tire Blues
• Bottle Bay
• Donad_D's Memorial
• Shoe Tree Stash
• Tango Creek

Geocaching is a great way to get off the "beaten path" and discover some of the best-kept secret places in our area. It was a fun weekend.

Housekeeping in the Woods

When I was growing up, my brothers and sisters and I would play in the woods by the hour. We would set up elaborate "houses" and visit each other. This past weekend I found myself doing the same thing with my own family. We had been planning for awhile to go camping at Priest Lake for Memorial Day weekend. Friday was rainy and cool, and Saturday was more of the same. So we set up camp with the idea of staying as dry as possible, while still enjoying the out-of-doors. Let me give you a tour of my "house"...

Here's the kitchen...

It's actually a propane stove on the outside of the trailer, but under the awning. The trailer actually does have a complete, but very crowded, indoor kitchen. When we're "dry camping" (which means no hook-ups) we prefer to cook outside. I usually make coffee on the stove, and heat up canned chili to go with the hot dogs we cook over the fire. Things like that. We do most of the cooking over the fire, just 'cause it's more fun. And it tastes good that way!

Here's the dining room (under construction)...

We actually didn't end up sitting at the table to eat, preferring to hold our plates in our laps and stay by the fire. So here's the living room...

...where we spent most of our time, under the awning, close to the fire. It was cozy for reading and talking.

And here's the bedroom...

I know, some people don't consider it to be true camping when you sleep in a trailer. I have to say, though, as chilly and damp as it was we were happy to have a warm bed at night. Does it count that we didn't run the heater and it got down in the 40s at night? I think that should count!

There and Back Again

And so I guess you're probably waiting to hear how my trip home was, aren't you? After my oh-so-colorful experience of taking the Greyhound bus to Seattle (and then on to Tacoma) on Thursday, I can't say I was especially looking forward to repeating the experience on Sunday. I was to catch the bus at 8:00 a.m. in Tacoma and then change buses in Seattle. The main thing I was dreading was the hour-and-a-half layover in downtown Seattle.

We arrived at the bus station in Tacoma about an hour early. Not having much experience traveling by bus, I was just following the directions on the website: Get there an hour early. The only problem was, the bus station was closed, there was no bus in sight, and there were no benches on the sidewalk outside the bus station. The sign on the door said the bus station didn't open until 1:00 p.m. on Sundays. I knew buses still made pick-ups even when the bus station wasn't open, but Susan said she was not going to leave me standing on the sidewalk in that part of Tacoma for an hour--which I greatly appreciated!

We drove around for a little while and when we came back, a bus was there. The only thing was, it was a Trailways bus, not Greyhound. It said Seattle/Spokane, which was where I wanted to go, but my ticket was for Greyhound. I asked the driver about it. "Yes," he said, "this is the only 8 o'clock bus. You will change to Greyhound in Seattle." So I tagged and loaded my bag, and boarded the bus.

I immediately noticed that the Trailways bus was more comfortable and cleaner than the Greyhound buses had been. Since there weren't many passengers yet and we still had to wait until 8:00 to leave, I made a casual comment to the driver, "Since you're going to Spokane, I wish I could just stay on this bus all the way. It's nicer than Greyhound."

He said, "Give me the other half of your ticket. I'll take you to Spokane!"

I said, "Really?!" thinking he was joking.

He wasn't. "Really," he said. "We honor Greyhound tickets and they honor ours. The only thing is, this bus goes over Stevens Pass rather than Snoqualmie on I-90, and has 13 stops instead of 3. We don't have a layover in Seattle, and you'll get into Spokane an hour later-- but it's a more scenic drive."

I had been on both routes so I knew what he was talking about. I decided I would rather just stay on the bus and keep riding than have to sit in the bus station in Seattle waiting for the shorter route.

It was a relaxing trip. The driver and passengers were pleasant. The seats were comfortable. The bus didn't smell. Some of those 13 stops were simply stop-and-go at designated roadside bus stops, so that wasn't too bad at all.

And now I know. Next time I need to travel by bus, I will check with Trailways first.

Writer's Conference

All my life I've had an inclination to write. Before I could even read I would sit at the kitchen table asking my mother to spell the words for me so I could write letters to my grandmother. When I finally learned to read and spell I expanded my correspondence to include several pen pals during the course of my growing-up years. My mother was (and is still) convinced that I would write a book when I "grew up." I have been open to the idea all this time, but I haven't had a story to tell yet, so other things have taken priority. For 18 years I published a monthly family newsletter, and then for the past 8 or so years I have been blogging. That's been the extent of my writing up until now.

Just about a year ago, I felt the Lord nudging me to start thinking again about a novel. I still didn't have a specific story in mind, but I began to research background information (which involves going through hundreds of letters that my Grandmother and Mother have saved) as well as the writing process. I do still have 3 years of homeschooling left, and that needs to be my priority for now, but I am enjoying the research in my "spare" time.

I was thrilled to be invited to attend the Northwest Christian Writers Association conference this past weekend. I realize I have so much to learn. It was a wonderful experience.

On Friday Susan and I sat in on several group editorial sessions with her editor, Steve Barclift, from Kregel Publications. It was fascinating to listen to various writers pitch their ideas for books.

Friday evening we enjoyed listening to a men's chorus representing the New Horizons Mission which ministers to street kids in downtown Seattle. They have an old-time revival style, singing songs I grew up with, so I couldn't help but sing along (softly). The key note speaker for the conference was Bob Cornuke, a "biblical investigator and international explorer," as well as author of several books. He is also a wonderful speaker. On Friday evening he spoke about searching for Noah's Ark, and on Saturday evening about searching for Mount Sinai. We were blown away by the discoveries he and his team have made.

On Saturday we had the opportunity to choose workshops to attend, two in the morning, two in the afternoon. I especially learned a lot in workshops presented by Ocieanna Fleiss, Bob Cornuke, and Jim Rubart.

The conference concluded with a lovely banquet on Saturday evening. Mealtimes were always fun, getting to know the other writers around the table. The first question was always, "What do you write?" Over the weekend I progressed from saying, "Nothing. I'm just a wannabe." to "I'm in the pre-writing stage. For now I just blog." (That sounds better, don't you think?) We also exchanged business cards so we could stay in touch after the conference was over. Susan said it reminded her of name cards in Little House on the Prairie!

I had a wonderful time, learned so much, and came away inspired!