Key West and Back in a Day and a half!

We had promised ourselves we'd get down to Key West while we were here this time. Sue and Jim Tews furnished with the name of a place to stay that was simple, centrally located and very affordable so we made a reservation and away we went! We'd been warned that since we don't drink Key West wouldn't hold much for us once we'd seen the sights so we only reserved one night.

After a bueatiful, hassle free drive down the Florida Turnpike to Homestead and then US 1 over all 42 bridges through the keys we tossed our bags in our room and headed one block over to Duval street. It was four o'clock and we wanted to be sure to make it to the Sunset Celebration on Mallory Square on the other side of town.

It turned out the trolley is a tour ... not a trolley like San Fransisco... so we hired a pedi-cab to take us the 1 1/2 miles to the square. Jack's gout had subsided but we didn't want to push it by walking both ways. We got there in plenty of time for a quick walk about the square (which was just beginning to fill up with the various vendors and entertainment acts and a few people sitting on the walls waiting for the sunset) and dinner. We decided to try Cuban since neither of us had ever eaten any.

Pepe's was right there so we had a seat. Cuban food is not spicy like we assumed it would be. It was tasty but not spicy. Jack got a pork dish and I thought I ordered something like chille relleno's but I got tart-like cups made of fried plantains filled with different meats and one with seafood. All good - just different from what I expected!

We strolled through a sculpture garden and then back to Mallory Square in time for the sunset...such as it was. The sky had clouded over and we didn't get the spectacular sunset so often shown but what we had was the sunset on the day Jack and I went to Key West so it was great for us!

There was a lot going on in the square - a guy getting out of a straight jacket, a belly dancer, jugglers with fire sticks, a one-man band (which was really good!) and several booths selling jewelry, blown glass, balloons and trinkets.

Ice cream was our main interest and we'd seen several on our way down so we took our leave of the festival at Mallory Square and began our stroll down Duval Street. We didn't really plan on walking all the way back to our motel on South Street but we did! We window shopped, enjoyed listening to the different music from the different bars on each block, checked the ice cream shops for bubble guy ice cream (Jack's favorite) and pretty soon we were only 5 blocks away! We settled on soft ice cream cones about half way and that made the muggy heat more bearible.

Once back at the motel we were sweaty and ready for the pool! It was only 6:30 pm but pretty dark so we got to enjoy a moonlight swim before retiring for the night.

We got up at the first sign of light - about 7:am - jumped in our swimsuits and headed to the Rainbow Pier to go snorkeling. We'd asked a young man at the tiny beach at the East end of Duval Street where we could find the best snorkeling and he told us to go to a pier off Reynolds Street and snorkel around the pilings from the old pier. The locals ALWAYS know the good stuff! The beach was only about 5 blocks from the Spanish Garden Motel on Simonson and South that we were staying at so we made it to the beach for sunrise!

It was bueatiful! The sunrise, the snorkeling, the birds, the water. Jack and I swam the length of the old pier and we saw more fish than ever before. I took some photo's that I've posted to facebook, if you want to see them and the ones from the rest of our trip. I just put a few here.

After our early morning snorkeling Jack and I packed up our bags and hit US 1 going North. We took the East coast route off of Key West to see the other shore (we drove in on the West shore route). We saw the all three of the beaches Key West has to offer that way.

The drive back to the main land was great. We didn't see any of the horrific traffic everyone always refers to but then we were traveling on Wednesday and Thursday... not peak days!

The next stop on our road trip was The Everglades National Park that lies to the West of Miami. We lost the blue skies as we neared Homestead and kept hoping the rain would hold off for us to get to do an airboat ride! Frommer's Florida recommended Gator Park as the best for the money when taking an airboat ride so we headed directly there.

The rain held off until after our airboat ride...almost...a little rain but nothing like what followed later and it was warm as always. The tour included a alligator "wrestling" show too and the opportunity to hold an alligator. We learned a lot about alligators and saw a number out in the everglades and more at the park! The show was really a demonstration of how the Indians used to capture alligators live not a wrestling match! And as you see I did it- I held a 3 yr old alligator! He was actually soft and warm!

The ride up the turnpike to Vero Beach was long and difficult. Blinding rain squalls passed over us off and on the entire time. It was good that we had decided not to stay an extra day in Key West or outside of Miami! I'm hearing all kinds of reports on problems on the highways due to the rain. We pulled in here about 6:30 pm and it has been raining hard since!

All in all our whirlwind trip held a lot of fun and will be the source of good memories!

Just a quick update...once again it is late and I have a writing assignment to get done BUT I wanted to post these pictures and update everyone on our activities before they are old news.

As usual, getting the pictures in order is a pain so I'll leave them as they are and you can read the captions ---

The chronicalogical order of things

December 1 --- Beach combing for shells at Treasure State Park, Vero Beach area

December 2,3 --Arts and crafts days...all my friends got a "specail" christmas card cuz Sharen had time on her hands!

2nd weekend in December - We drove North to Fort Christmas to participate in their Christmas festival - on Friday- and the vendors were just setting up - in the pouring rain. The festival is on Saturday and Sunday... typo in the newspaper...The goal was to have our Christmas cards hand stamped from Fort Christmas and we were still able to get that done and we saw the restored Fort Christmas so the 90 minute drive was not fruitless just very, very wet! Think rainstorms on I-5 in Albany! Traffic stopping intensity at times!

December 9th - drove 50 miles South to Jonathan Dickinson State Park. U.S. 1 is not the fast way to get to Hobe Sound from Vero Beach... incase you ever need to know. We reached the park about 1 pm on the hottest day ever recorded in December in Florida. The Educational Center was great (and air conditioned) and the rangers were very friendly.

Since we didn't have a CD player normally furnished for doing the auto tour they dug around until the found a printed booklet for us! I came out of the center loaded with phamplets and a Florida State Campgrounds book that is a treasure! We drove the route and got out of the vehicle for wildlife (3 turtles and an alligator) and to climb Hobe Mountain but passed on the other hikes - it was just too hot.

BUT I will be going back to go on the Wild and Scenic Loxahatchee River 2 hour guided boat tour to the Trapper Nelson Interpretive Site. The ranger gave me the scoop on the best time to go and gave me the direct line to call and find out when that would be for the day I come down. The Loxahatchee River was the very river designated as wild and scenic. Alas, there is no white water involved but considering the type and number of intimidating wet residents I'm ok with that. A 27 passenger pontoon boat takes you up river through the swamp to the Wildman of the Loxahatchee compound ... WHO could pass on that? I am hoping Diane and Keith will feel enthused about driving down and doing it with Jack and I.

December 11 - Today! We drove East to Lake Okeechobee to visit Jim and Sue Tews at their place. They drove to Vero Beach last Feb when we were here so we went to them this time. Central Florida is very much like Fort Klamath area... lots of ranches and cows but not much else. Sue made us a great pork roast meal in a state of the art piece of kitchen gagetry that didn't heat up the motorhome one bit! They have created a great spot with waterfront property on two sides! Lake Okeechobee is behind them and their patio boarders a "little" lake. We watched Sandhill Cranes, Ibis and a couple other birds I don't know the names of as we sat on the patio and visited. As always the time went to quick and we needed to head back to Vero Beach long before we ran out of conversation! The day was as grey skied as the past 5 days have been but going to dinner with friends made it brighter!

I loaded all the pictures from Fort Christmas and Jonathan State Park on my facebook so go there if you want to check them out! So much for a quick update!

I hope everyone is enjoying the season!

WE HAD FUN on our Eastern Caribbean Cruise!

This was our second time on the Carnival Glory so we got a GOLD sail and sign card! We also went to a special afternoon gathering for repeat cruisers where they served great snacks and all you could drink for the 45 minute social! The fruit juice was good in addition to the diet Coke! We certainly didn't break their budget on what we consumed! There was a cute contest and we got to hear the Captain speak.... a nice little perk altogether.

Time went quickly and even with 3 days at sea we didn't get to do many of the activities available. Our dinner time was 8:15 pm so that was usually the last thing Jack did each day! We had such a great group of people at our table that ours was the last to leave the diningroom each night - never before 10:15 pm! I went to most of the productions afterward after seeing Jack back to our room. The live music, dancing and comedy was very entertaining! Each day in port, whatever port we were at, we shopped! I now have some more trinkets and a few very nice pieces of jewelry!

In Nassau we rented scooters and zipped up and down West Bay Street which follows the coast line--- driving on the left side of the road was the only real challenge! I had a blast... Jack swore I was trying to get us killed but I don't think he was serious. The drivers did tend to just pass us like we weren't really there. I was going the speed limit because my front tire wobbled if I went over 40 mph. The woman said she'd give me a nice lady's scooter... Jack left me in the dust a couple of times... his didn't have a wobble. We went to the Ardastra Gardens Zoo because we were lost and saw the sign. In the parking lot we took out the map the scooter rental gave us and got our barrings again. The guard there gave us some directions to Fort Charlotte and then stood by exclaiming "Oh dear" "Oh dear" as I repeatedly tryed to get my scooter to start again. The fourth try was sucessful and I happily waved good bye and headed away from his pesimistic cloud. Jack followed. After Fort Charlotte we just enjoyed putt-putting around and taking in the beautiful beaches, lush vegetation and many, many vacation homes. We got to watch a couple of minutes of cricket also!

Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas was very full as there were three cruise ships in port! Our shore excursion there was 2 hrs shopping followed by 2 hrs at Megan's Bay beach after returning us to the ship to drop off our purchases. The "taxi" ride up and over the ridge that seperates the island into the Caribbean side and Atlantic side was like a wild mouse ride at a carnival! The roads were very narrow with hairpin turns both up and down! I was glad I was still wearing my sea bands! The water at Megan's beach was wonderful and the sand as white and soft as it is always described. We had two of the best sirloin burgers I've ever had at the beach reasturant and then enjoyed the water!

Our third port was Philipsburg on St. Maarten. I'd found a restored plantation on the internet for us to explore while we were on St. Maarten. The beach excursions to Orient Beach all warned that nudity was common and Jack and I agreed we hadn't been faithful enough to diet or gym to be participating in public viewings and there weren't any other excursions offered by the ship that peaked our interest. Unfortunately, due to water damage created by recent heavy rains the Mr. Vernon Plantation was closed. But before we learned that we boarded a van "taxi" that was bound for Orient Beach. I showed the driver where we wanted to go and she said she'd take us there after dropping off the other 9 passengers. So we did go to Orient Beach and were there long enough for me to be able to verify that people were indeed totally nude. Our little jaunt around the island... which we saw two thirds of during our ride... cost us $40. Our driver was a very outspoken woman and she shared her views on marriage, promiscuity, children, education, dating and divorce during our ride which was very enlightening. Some things are the same all over the world! Leaving our lady driver behind Jack and I opted to take the water taxi to Philipsburg to do some more shopping!

Town was simple to navigate... there is the Boardwalk, Front Street, Back Street and Old Street that connects them all! We got our coffee cups and a few christmas gifts and were ready to return to the ship and relax!

We set sail at six and enjoyed two days at sea during which I mainly slept and read. Jack enjoyed rambling about the ship and snacking as the mood struck him. I had a rotten head cold so I stayed pretty much in one place...bed in our cabin. The heat and humidity agrievated my sinus condition so I stayed indoors. I enjoyed my rest though! Our last night at dinner we exchanged information with our table partners and agreed to met at Oscars for bluegrass music in Sebastian this coming Sunday at 2 pm. Four of our companions are from other small towns within an hour of Sebastian! The third couple are from Canada and had to return to jobs so they had to pass! Casey and Shanta have invited Jack and I to Winterhaven for a canoe trip down the Walk-in-the-Water Creek to see authentic Florida (undeveloped and ungroomed) and we will be taking them up on their offer!

It was a great seven days during which time we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary and Thanksgiving! We are really blessed!

Time is passing quickly! We've already been home from our Eastern Caribbean Cruise for 3 days! As usual I came home sick! It was only a head cold this time thank goodness. Now Jack is hacking away and feeling miserable. We've made a little headway on decorating for Christmas since our return but that's about all.

The islands were are lush and full of tourists! There were three cruise ships in port everywhere we went so tourists are not rare in Nassau, St. Thomas or Sint Maarten!

I loaded the pictures and worked on them for a bit this evening. I'll finish tomorrow and post some pictures!

Here's wishing all those in my life a great holiday season!

Another beautiful sight! The floors are done!

Beauty Abounds here! From the flowers blooming in the yard in November to the striking sunsets over Indian River color is everywhere!

I spent a little time trimming the vigerously growing bushes around the yard today and brought a bit of the color in for us to enjoy indoors.



































Jack and watched the sunset over the Indian River earlier this week and I snapped this picture. We are enjoying Florida!

Full day... a little coffe and donuts at the clubhouse... alittle yard work... a wonderful stromboni for lunch at Nino's on SR 60 and 43rd Ave.... a walk on Avalon Beach collecting seashells and playing in the surf to ankle depth... then on the way home serenity was lost when the car locked up in third gear. Because Jack knows how to drive a clutch and do it well we managed to get the car to the garage that Keith uses despite the loss of "linkage". Being non-mechanical by nature I have no idea what could have caused the problem or what it is going to take to fix it but we happily left it in Bob's hands and let him give us a ride home!

Serenity has returned and Jack and I are happily enjoying the evening. Bob will call us tomorrow and we'll get the car fixed, until then we still have use of Keith's pick-up. All is well. And anyone that know's Jack know's what kind of a MIRICLE that is! God does wonderous things!

I am now waiting for a response from Reality Trade about my refund from them. I was assured if I didn't receive a valid offer on my Paradise Cove time-share in 6 months I'd get a full refund. I haven't recieved any offers and six months is up. We'll see how honest this outfit is. I wrote the letter requesting my refund and mailed it today.....

Things are happening at Homedale! Mike and Tim have only been there for a couple of hours and the old carpet is gone! I think they want to get back over the passes before any more snow falls!

Jack and I are in Vero Beach, Florida enjoying the warm, although not sunny, weather. We've unpacked and settled in to "village life" pretty quickly. We've been to watch the crashing Atlantic Ocean twice and stayed on the boardwalk! As you can see the ocean has taken possession of the beach! This picture was taken at 1:30 PM today!

We attended the retiring of the flags ceremony at the community building yesterday. Rain poured down at the precise moment the new flags were raised so we sang the Star Spangled Banner from under the eaves instead of under the flags. I can't remember the last time I sang the national anthem. It was surprisingly emotional. The ceremony was continued indoors where the details of retiring a flag was explained as the worn flags were correctly cut up and prepared for burning at a later date. I knew nothing of proper flag ediquette! Jack did from his days serving at the American Legion but it was all new information for me. Amazing how many "blank" spots I have at my age...not of things I've forgotten but of things I've never known!

Today Jack and I met with Peggy at 8:30 am in the pool for aquasizing! While I think it might be just a tad chilly I was surprised to see a local man dressed with a stocking cap, heavy coat, thick socks and hiking boots on walk past the community building as we toweled dry from our session in the pool. It's all relative. Friends from Klamath Falls said it snowed a little last night and this morning...it is really cold there!

Mike is headed down to Klamath Falls tomorrow, with his roommate Tim, to install bamboo tongue and groove floors in our livingroom and hall! I am thrilled! I am looking forward to pictures of the project! Mike has promised he'll take and post some!

I booked our Caribbean Cruise Thursday night! Such great deals are available when you are right here! We're going for the 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise to St Thomas and St. Maarten islands. We will be in Nausau, Bahamas for our wedding anniversary and at sea for Thanksgiving. I'm sure our Thanksgiving Dinner will be excellent! I have to pinch myself every so often... I have so many neat things going on in my life right now it seems like a dream!

With that said I better get some sleep. We are expected at the pool at 8:30!

Trailer's tarped, addresses collected.... we're getting ready!!!! Wind is blowing and the leaves are falling down. This time next week we'll be in Vero Beach... 83 degrees and sunny!

Awwwh, Jack is doing the happy dance today. He is unemployed! We went to the Daily Bagel this morning and chatted with friends that had given him up as dead. He has been to Fred Meyer's to check out the long missed aisles on his way to the green meat section. The Tuesday Noon Meeting was thrilled to see him again! His three month long, 6 day a week, 10 hour a day job is done and he gets to do the things he habitually did for the 5 years before this stint, briefly.

We're preparing in earnest to leave for the Atlantic shore. Jack has cleaned out the gutters, blown the debris away from the house, and has all the snow equipment poised and ready for use when needed. I am gathering all the pertinent information that we may need while away and making arrangements for our new flooring to be put in while we are gone.

Unemployed, but still quite busy!

BIRTHDAY'S IN RENO, NEVADA!

Jack and Signe- two people I love very much-have birthdays one day apart. Each year we do some thing to celebrate the passage of another year. This year the four of us went to Reno together for a long weekend. We had a great time - with Signe being the big winner. She drew a lot of attention getting her winnings back to the room and we had quite a time fitting all four of us and her haul in the car!

Leo had some kind of majic going on with the video poker machines and would make bank off of a $5 'deposit'! Jack enjoyed the crap tables and they enjoyed him being there! But they were not too brutal. I had more good fortune playing slot machines than I have ever experienced! We all returned to the slots that could one could win a Mini Cooper on at the Silver Legacy time and time again. No Mini Cooper for any of us though! Signe joined me in one round of a Black Jack Tournement and then sat out. Leo joined in and won a round and then we both lost but in the mean time Signe won a drawing for tickets to that evenings Comedy Show!

Four days and three nights went by very quickly.

We ate lots of great food and went to the National Automobile Museum as well. That was much more interesting than I thought it would be! I am not a car buff in any sense of the word but the museum is set up in a very interesting way. Period streets lined with appropriate cars, driving clothing of the times, hats! and wonderful hatpins too! Although we originally planned on spending a day at Carson City but we just ran out of energy one day!

Sunday came with the challenge of getting Signe and her winnings loaded in to the car.

We made it home with everyone happy to unload! Nemo was a great pillow but really squelched conversation! None of us could see each other! The California border guard thanked us for her laugh for the day! At the rest stop more comments were received by amused onlookers as we bailed out for a potty break. Oh, did I mention we stayed at Circus Circus? Signe won the largest stuffed animal they had at the bottle ring toss!

Home again, Jack and I are now preparing for our long vacation in Vero Beach. Today was Jack's last day at work. We weren't sure it would be until this afternoon but all the work passed inspection and the job was offically complete! Yeah! Jack is doing the happy dance!

The snorkling gear is now packed and ready to be sent to Vero and I'm writing my list....

We're off to Portland on Sunday and fly to Florida next Monday morning. Michelle and the dogs will be keeping this house warm while we occupy Diane and Keith's!

Nothing new here in Klamath Falls. I am recovering my voice but haven't ventured from the house yet. Tomorrow I am. All thoughts and prayers are focussed on Makkiah and his recovery.

Here is the link to the picture album I posted on facebook of my day on the road with Brett and Maya.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33653&id=1450940976&l=94fffcc749

Currently I have laryngitis and can not talk. I am beginning to really see a pattern...
Got to break it if I'm going to go on all these wonderful trips I have planned! I am going to check in with a Naturalpath. Maybe they have something that can truly improve my immune system.
Currently I am on a 7 day regiment of prednesone and an antibiotic - which create their own set of problems!

Hope everyone else is hale and hearty! Don't forget to pray for Makkiah - his surgury is tomorrow!

We love you, young man! You are such a trooper!

Introducing Jaycup!


We think Shiloh and Jaycup make a pretty couple...they are about the same size!

Here's Jaycup the bed bug! He puts himself to bed at a reasonable hour each night and isn't always ready to get up and get going when the rest of us are. He let us make the bed around him and stayed put until he was ready to go.

He's pretty lay back a great deal of the time!

We think we'll keep him!

I have pictures of Jaycup to share with everyone but Jack keeps taking the camera to work with him and I forget to download them in the evening... they will get posted...eventually. He is working out well. Maya put it the best when she said he looks smarter than he is. He is desperate for Shiloh's attention and will bark at her, jump on her, take toys from her to get it. Typical boy! Shiloh, used to Mike's more mature affection (benignly ignoring her unless she seemed to be having a problem), is getting a bit grumpy with this younger man. Actually they are supposedly the same age - but maybe girl dogs mature quicker than boy dogs too. Several people have suggested to Jaycup that if he were to learn how to throw the ball he could have the undivided attention from her that he desires. I on the other hand am acting as the pack leader and jumping on him when I see him being a bully to her. It's a process...


Licorice on the other hand is having absolutally nothing to do with the new comer. She is either in our bedroom or in the study. He is far to intense with his interest in her for her comfort. I have seen her sitting in the hallway a couple of times in the past day or two so maybe she is warming up to the idea of sharing the house with Jaycup. We will see.




BRETT and MAYA were here for the best part of 4 days this week! I finally got to meet the bride-to-be! I could not be happier with her. She is genuine, fun loving, outdoorsy, easy going, intelligent, opinionated, physically bueatiful and self-confident! I may have hugged her to much and plied her with too many questions but she was gracious about it all. I also hugged Brett alot but he is kind of used to it. He is also not very talkative and she is! Yeah!


We discussed wedding plans, Thailand, good books, men, dogs, future plans for them, cooking mexican and thai food, the state of the United States from other countries points of view, the dangers of standing on rim edges, rock climbing, riding motor scooters on Thailand's country roads but not in Bangkok, jewelry, clothes, shopping......

We spent a day going to Crater Lake, The Big Obsidian Flow, and Paulina Peak at the Newberry Monument. It was a sunny, relatively warm day and the pictures turned out pretty great. I posted a bunch of them on Facebook.














This is the only picture of Maya and I that we thought to take. We were just busy doing stuff I guess. They have one picture taken just before they left on Thursday of the three of us that is on their camera. I hope to get a copy of it when they get back to Thailand.

Jack is ready to be done working for this year. Each day he is telling himself that he is working now so he can have fun in Florida! Fun in Florida! Fun in Florida!

I have my clothes picked out for our Florida stay and am just waiting for the end date of his job to start packing them and the snorkeling gear we will be sending ahead of us. The baggage charges make Fed Ex or any of the others rates reasonable!

Enough for now... have to get out in the sunshine for a bit!

Alot has happened in one short week!

Monday was my 53rd birthday and someone hit my little red car in the grocery store parking lot! Not a great birthday present but the car is still drivable. It just has a bit to a black eye! The estimate on it's repair came very close to our deductible - of course! It was a hit and run so it will be us that foots the cost.

Wednesday I stopped by the vet's with Mr. Mike, my 15 year old chocolate lab, to have him checked out...I thought his bad breath was indicative of an abcessed tooth. It was much more serious than that. The bad breath was a result of his kidneys and liver shutting down. He also had water building up in his lungs which would be pnemonia shortly. I had to make the difficult decision to have him given the shot to put him to sleep. It was very peaceful. He simply went "to sleep" with his big head in my lap. He wasn't freaked out or nervous. It was very sad for me to loose my companion of the past 10 years but I didn't want him to go through a long slow deterioration, I loved him to much to watch that.

Thursday I was surprised with a call from the Census Department! I took the test last spring and missed several calls soon after so thought that was a dead deal. Evidently not! I will be in Portland for the week after Labor Day for training and then work for about 8 weeks for them doing the same kind of work Jack did. That will be really nice for filling out the travel budget!

Friday we were all tired in our household. Shiloh is at a total loss without another dog in the house. She wandered all night last night. It's surprising how much noise those little tags make on her dog collar!

My 9 am appointment at the Health Department for my travel vaccinations went really well. I didn't hardly even feel the needles. Two in each arm. Thyphoid, tetnus, Hepititus A & B and a polio booster. I'll get the Japanese Encephilitis shots when I get to Bangkok.

I felt to well Michelle and I went out to the Humane Society and found Shiloh a companion! His name is Jaycup and he is a yellow lab/golden retriever mix. He is the same age and size as Shiloh with almost as sweet a disposition!

Today the impact of the shots hit. I can't hardly move my shoulders, my head aches, etc... but I'm willing to go through it! Jaycup is fitting right in the family and all is well in general. Hope it is the same with everyone out there!

Camp Hosting is done for awhile now. I had all my illusions of what it would be like shattered and if I go to do it again I will do so with more realistic expectations AND I will ask a few more questions!

Chatting with a few others that have done hosting I guess Michelle and I got in with a pretty demanding outfit and not all places are as unsettling. There was definately no 'peace' with the crew there. Sucked the joy right out of being in the woods on a high mountain lake, they did. Oh well. It's done.

I'm really enjoying carpeted floors, a full sized shower, my flower garden, seeing friends and high speed cable connections!

Although I don't have to get up at 6:30 am to walk Shiloh before I go clean 7 latrines I still have to get up at 6:30 am (or 5:30 am) to walk Shiloh because she thinks it's time and wakes me up! I think being in town has knocked her internal clock off - we never got up at 5:30 am at Willow Lake!



















Jack is up that early though and preparing to go to work! He's inspecting for BPA for a couple of months. So I'm being the home support person now! It's pretty cool the way God is working this all out for us. We'll have the funds to play this winter!!!

I'm loving the flower gardens this year!They have taken off like it is supposed to...without attention from me! I love the cottage garden look!

Ha! I just read my own blog and see that I posted repeats of my favorite pictures! I am definately going tooooo fast. But that is drawing to a conclusion. Sunday is the last day of Camp Hosting at Willow Lake for me. And I am ready to be home until we leave for Florida in the Fall.

This is so nice to come home to since our camp site has become a powder dry dust bowl and getting into the lake is a challenge due to the writing schedule I have developed in addition to my hosting duties. It has ended up being how it is when you are working two part time jobs - grueling. But I have a great winter to look forward to and continue to try to find something great in each day.

Early morning walks along the lake shore with Shiloh are a great start to each day. Watching the Bald Eagles soar and fish the lake is awesome. Osprey are always over head too. Riding around in a noisy gas golf cart nicknamed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is entertaining and always is an easy segway into chatting with campers (as I wait for it to decide it is ready to go again!)

Sis posted some great pictures of her awesome garden and that reminded me we took some snapshots of Jack and I in the corn patch last time I was home so here's our latest picture!

The garden isn't producing much this year...the really late spring that ran into the end of June it what I am putting it to. My pumpkins aren't even in flower yet and I haven't seen a zuchinni either! The corn has but on ears though!

With not being home I didn't replant lettuce so once the early crop was gone I decided to let the garden rest! And me too. With only 48 hours out of the woods I just find it hard to get out in the garden!

Well, it's time to pack up, go grocery shopping and head back to the resort for my last four shifts.

The camp hosting at Willow Lake adventure is drawing to a close. I suppose I may miss it later.

But my new role is housewife! Jack started working for Bonneville Power Administration as an inspector this past Monday. He'll be working 4 10's and 2 8's so I'm needed at home as the support staff! And glad to do it!

Cheers!