Home Again

Just spent a couple weeks tooling around with Ben and Chandler.  I have been dragging Chan around this summer. mainly to places she has wanted to visit, though we still haven't backpacked any more balds.  I had this list when the kids were little and of course life has cropped up to alter it along the way.  Sometimes in great ways-like going to Disney World 3 times instead of just once-and sometimes crappy ways like 2 summers ago when the pool on Monte Sano was the apex of our adventures because on my ankle injury.  Or, more often, the budget curtails the plans.  That one never really stops, so we have developed ways to skirt it somewhat.  Camping, hiking, swimming, buying annual passes and not eating out often while traveling all help keep the cost within reason.  This means we've seen the highest point or been swimming in nearly every state we have visited, but we've never seen their local amusement parks.  Or the inside of a single 4 star establishment.  hahaha

I had wanted to get the kids to the Rockies.  But that's such a big region and Matt super wants to go, so what we decided, about 2 days before we left, was that we'd drive out to Colorado, then up to Wyoming and over to South Dakota and back,  The cities are what Chan really loves and I was hoping there'd be some falling in love with Boulder or Denver.  I may have gone overboard as I realized at some point I had only been pointing out college campuses and awesome degree programs.  *sigh*  Well, it was MY dream once upon a time.

So, we did.  We went to Kansas City and stayed at an Airbnb the first night, then across Kansas to Denver and another Airbnb.  The third night, we camped at Golden Gate Canyon State Park, which is not golden, a gate or a canyon.  It hailed and everything in my tent was soaked (Marmot Amp 3 that will collapse with the barest of reasons).  I settled the kids in their still-dry tent (REI Half Dome) and went across to the bathhouse and dried my tent and sleeping bag in the dryer.  Then I slept in the van and heard grizzly bears all night and kept popping up to check the kids 15 feet away. I should have set the tent back up, but it was 38 and my sleeping pad was still wet.  It had actually been floating around inside the tent, so at least the bathtub floors are water tight...  The next night, we stayed at another Airbnb because it was raining again.

I really like Airbnb for bridging that gap between camping and motels.  I set my search for $50 a night or less and usually find a room where we need one.  I liked it more this time when Matt was not with us, I like having a local to ask questions and chat with as well as knowing if something really bad happened to the van or one of us, we'd have a local around.  There was some peace of mind knowing that we were expected at someone's home and if we didn't show up, they'd make an effort to find us.  Or at least let Matt know.  Headed to a campground, they don't think twice if you are a no show.

In Colorado, we hiked, went to the science museum in Denver, ate lunch in Boulder twice, went to the Celestial Seasonings plant twice (only toured once though, which I fully recommend and it's free) and, swam in a spring fed pool saw prairie dogs.

Friday, we went up into Wyoming and spent the whole day playing around and enjoying the Snowy Range, camping out and getting up early Saturday to soak in the hot springs.  It snowed (well, it IS the Snowy Range) and we double enjoyed the hot springs at Saratoga, which flow out at 116 and cool to a lovely 104.  The springs were free as was the hot shower in the changing room.  So nice!  They also have a cool pool that's closer to 98 degrees and a swimming pool!

Saturday, we drove through Wyoming all day, seeing roughly 6 other cars all day.  I filled up at a gas station on the Lincoln Highway run by a deaf man and we communicated in big gestures and lots of smiling and nodding.  I don't think he charged us for our drinks.  He didn't offer a receipt.  He yelled, "HAVE FUN" as we left and so did everyone else.  No 'be careful', just 'enjoy!'  It set the mood TO have fun and enjoy ourselves/

That afternoon, we arrived at Custer State Park, which is awesome.  Seriously, you could make an entire week long trip out of this single state park and the surrounding area.  We stayed at Center Lake because SD state parks require a reservation and that was the only campsite that allowed for same-day reservations, though you had to call, pay the $2 fee for using the phone, the $7.70 fee for being out of state (on top of the $20 fee to get in the park) and then it was $20 and change for the campsite, which had no water or power.  They have several campgrounds, but we opted to stay at Center Lake the whole time because it was so quiet.  Sunday, almost everyone had left and there were only 3 campers in the loop.  We also discovered a free hot shower (in CO, they are $1 for 4 minutes) at the bottom of the hill by the swim beach.

Despite the price gouging upfront to camp there, I would go again without hesitation.  If you are headed that way from the east, stop at another state park that has a $4 entry fee and it will be good for 7 days at any state park.  Reservations made ahead of time on the computer don't incur the $2 fee, so that's $18 off right there.  :)

That night, we went to Crazy Horse, which is SO worth the $28 entry fee, and then got groceries. The next morning we did the wildlife loop road and drove down into Wind Cave National Park, then over to Mt. Rushmore and then back to Sylvan Lake to hike and the next day we hiked the highest point in the state, Black Elk Point.  That was a gorgeous hike, it's so high you can see the curvature of the earth.  It's the highest point east of the Rockies and west of the Pyrenees.  You have to cross the ocean to get to a higher point!  It's 7200 feet, which was 3,000 feet lower than where we had camped in the 'foothills' of the Rockies, but impressive enough for this crew.   Especially since we climbed it!

The only animal we did not see at the park were the burros.  They used to do rides to the high point and when they were discontinued decades ago, they let the burros go.  They remain pretty tame and will come right up if they see you out hiking, but we never saw them.  We did see mountain goats, which was a thrill, and of course a thousand or more prairie dogs and bison, which they call buffalo. We saw elk and porcupine as well.

That afternoon, we had showers and went into Custer to eat a big pizza and then back to Crazy Horse for the light show.  The next morning, Tuesday, we were back on the road and we made a loop through the Badlands and stopped at Wall Drugs and the Corn Palace before stopping at Lewis and Clark state park at the bottom edge of the eastern side of the state and staying in a camping cabin for the night.  The camping cabins are NICE and at $40-$50 a night, are a really good way to sleep comfortably without breaking the budget.  We strung up our damp tents and went to sleep early.

Wednesday, we drove back to the first Airbnb we'd stayed at in Kansas City (what can I say, she has toy sized Yorkies), stopping for geocaches and taking our time.  Thursday morning, we got up and drove home.  The original plan was to stay in St Louis and visit the City Museum and come home Friday, but the kids wanted to wait until we could come back with friends.  We routed through Corinth to stop at Blazing Noodlez. but they were closed for the break between lunch and dinner when we got into town and no one wanted to wait.  So a really uneventful drive home!

We got home around 7 and unloaded and started the laundry.  That went on for 2 days, there are still a couple things in the living room I have not put away yet.

We did a few things right this trip.  Neither of the kids has a license, so even when Chan was driving, I had to be awake and paying attention.  She drove a couple hours most 'Interstate' days and I relaxed a little.  We never drove after dark, we knew where we'd staying no later than 4 each afternoon and we only ate out once a day-everything else was from home or from our one grocery stop.  We bought cases of water to supplement our reusable bottles from home and didn't eat anything sugary or carb heavy other than our one pizza night.  We saved the empty bottles and dropped nearly all of them into recycle bins along the way. The no-sugar thing helped keep us from getting jittery and irritable while having to sit still 8 or 10 hours a day.  It also kept us from laying awake half the night hyped up on junk or caffeine.

I thought I slept well on the trip, but I spent Thursday night in a heavy slumber and napped most of Friday afternoon away.  I have slept 12 hour nights all 3 nights we have been home.  Same for the kids, I guess being still makes a difference!

The van did great, the tires sounded off at low pressure after driving up and down the mountains, but after a few hours all but one tire was showing normal.  I shot a little air in it and there were no more issues the whole trip.  Our last night in SD, a cicada got under the hood about 10 minutes after we parked for the night and I heard it on my way to the bathhouse.  I popped the hood thinking it was a busted hose or something was leaking, though there was no puddle.  hahaha.  I looked for several minutes before I realized the noise was coming from the wheel well and when I looked, there it was! They are so scary.  hahaha

There are no mosquitoes in SD, or flies while we were there anyway.  No insects other than grasshoppers made noise or landed on us the whole trip. (well, chiggers in Kansas which I worried were bed bug bites for the next 4 days and washed EVERYTHING we had touched and put everything else in the dryer, aaaaaa  When Chan's bites got infected, we realized what they were. Luckily, sulfur springs kill itching!) Then, just after we stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell (mile 330) we could hear cicadas through the windows with the ac and the radio on!  From there to here, some 16 hours of driving, the landscape looks the same.  Big trees, meandering rivers and creeks, fields, towns, hills, cows.

I think Matt said it best once when he said that out in the grasslands, he feels like he could fall up, like there's more sky than land and it seems possible.  That's how I feel-and at the beach.  SO much sky.  I love it.  I love the mountains for sure, but there's something about the flat.  It's what I like when we mow, when I vacuum, when the bed is made, when I wash off the table.  That expanse of flat, clean space in which anything can happen.  Even falling up.

Outta Here

Chan did not get the job, though it's possible another will pop up soon, we have decided to A) wait until after the sea lab trip before she applies for anything else and B) finally get around to Part 2 of the Summer o'Fun Plan that got hotted out.  Good grief, it's either been 110 or storming or both ALL DANG SUMMER.  I was so worried she'd get hired and we'd miss the chance.

We only had one actual idea for a trip, so we are doing that and dragging Ben along.  I set up AirBnB stops for couple night to ensure showers, laundry and recharging batteries could happen.  And to have a local contact because knowing a number of a real person in the area is a deterrent to serial killers, check engine lights and other people driving badly.  Plus, at $30 a night, it's nearly as cheap as camping but without the whole 'food storage safety' issue.  Bears.  And I read that if we hike near prairie dogs to use DEET.  ack.  I read that in some places, they carry the plague! I can't help it, I still want some for the yard.

We head out Monday, I have bins of snacks and bins of camping gear and a basic idea of clothing options.  I had 2 separate swimmy stomach panic things that hit so hard I had to sit a while.  I have no idea why I get so worked up.  I love to travel, I just don't want to actually leave home.  By the time Matt got home, I was irritable and so he hauled me to the track.  We got nearly 5 miles before I wound down.  Now it's midnight and I am back around to worked up.  And hungry, though I don't dare eat this late.  I've been SO good lately.  Eating carefully, walking at least 3 miles a day 5 times a week.  Boring, but I grow weary of feeling sluggy.  Eat less, move more.  Pretty much the only way to improve in that area.

Met up with friends Monday in Athens, went to Anniston on Tuesday for a field trip, went to Shakalaka Wednesday with a group.  Won't do THAT again, oh man.  It was packed to the rafters. Mowed, walked, vacuumed the whole house, fed the cats.  Wonder has shown up after 4 months of being gone.  She's in surprisingly good shape, I suspect...second home!  She was bright white and clean, trim but muscled and not at all scrawny.  Teeth look great, gums are pink and her tummy had no tender spots.  Eyes were clear, feet in great shape.  I thought she'd been killed by the dogs across the road.  She's disappeared again, I guess Cat Chow isn't her thing.

Anyway, that's the happs, I will post pics later as I have taken many and they are still on the camera. I used to think people who did that were brain damaged.  I still don't let the laundry pile up, though, There is a limit to my madness.

Roaming Around, Lost in the Woods 6/52

Chan and I found this deer skull.  We relocated it so that it will surprise Matt!

I never want to be bitten by a deer!!

The tree at the northeast  property line

that hill is SO STEEP.  One day I will have a camera that can show steep.

The above pic is the creek above the pic of the creek below, it was a long tumbly series of little falls, very pretty and quite loud!

I crossed the property line, having assumed Chan went back home, and went on down to the big creek.

bear!  Okay, it's just a rock, but I did get excited for a moment

I followed the creek a LONG way, thinking it was the other end of our creek and that I was meandering back into the little valley below the pasture.

Then I came out here:

ACK!  I was LOST.

It had been raining for a while at this point and my glasses were fogged.

I had deer skull germs on my hands and could not eat my snack

I had not brought water because Chan and I were planning to walk the 3/4 mile to the far end and mark the trail back to the first campsite.  We did that much, but I just HAD to see where the creek went.

Kuma (my favorite dog in the world) and I followed 4 wheeler trails for about a mile.

They have not been used in a while, trees were across in places.  Other places looked freshly mowed, so I don't know what's going on back there.

THIS is familiar, this is our creek.  I could just tell. So I followed it up a while.

UGH!  Nasty ass people.

This is the property line, I found out later-or at least where the fence crosses.

It's 10 feet from the redeck riviera setup-of course.

I went over it and started uphill.

As I was walking up and up and up, Chan appeared!  I was no longer lost, or else we both were.

I had gotten back on the property at the northwest corner!  That was a surprise.

We followed the old log road up and when I got near the top (see my soaked beet-red head below) I was trying to figure out where we had popped out.  There was one of my trail flags!  WOW.  Right into the new trail, awesome!

She had gone home, then headed back out to find me.  I have no IDEA what took her down to exactly where I was.  I was not scared, but I was still a little turned around on my location, I was soaked through from crossing creeks, I had no water or way to start a fire, not even a hat!  I did have my cell, so Matt knew I was 'somewhere north of the property line'.

I'd like to find out who owns that and see if we can walk on those 4 wheeler trails!  They were awesome!  And the creeks were huge, but it did rain hard yesterday, so they may be just as fickle as our own.

Anyway, I have seldom been so glad to see someone.

From there it was easy strolling along the new trail.  

We routed the trail to parallel the creek, because it's pretty. And I am determined to get a 3 mile loop at least.  hahaha

Back at the pasture, we enjoyed the clouds a while.  It had finally stopped raining!

Birthday Day Two

 Totally unrelated to birthday, but here are the kids and Dae at the park after bowling last week.  We are following through with our plan to meet some new people!
Not that we don't love the old people!

Chan, the moment of turning 15!  And some other kid.

Chan, unsure what to think as everyone who sang to her used a different version of her name or their favorite nickname.  She got a Chan, Chandler, Chanopolis and Channa Poo thrown at her.

Eep!  I hope it comes true!

The day before her birthday, we still had Emily from the night before, but Britney had play practice, so we kept Emily and picked Britney up and then we all went for lunch, to see Wreck-It Ralph, which is surprisingly good, then had frozen yogurt with toppings on the way back to drop Emily off.  

On Friday, I had gone in to get my carefully budgeted 2 new tires on the front of the van.  On Saturday night leaving Emily's, one of the BACK tires went flat.  So Monday, I got surprise 2 new back tires.  Then Tuesday I went to get a budgeted alignment to try to prevent as much damage as possible on the new set and my brake pads were paper thin!  So on Thursday, I went and got surprise new brakes and budgeted oil change.  My careful budget was hacked to bits like so much confetti.  I have spent some time piecing it back together, we WILL be debt free by April 15 even if we have to eat ramen for the next 60 days.  3.5 years of toeing the line to get out of debt isn't going up in flames the last 2 payments!  (insert maniacal laughing here)

Tuesday

The front door opened and did that 'squeak-slam' of a serial killer entering the house around 3:30 this morning and I have been wide awake since.  I do this thing upon entering a dark room where I stick only my arm in and flick on the light.  I don't like dark rooms, I can't run to the bathroom in the dark-the little man in the shower might get me-don't get me started on the hand under the bed just waiting for something to dangle.  So, imagine the thrill of my stomach up in my throat as I sprinted the...10 or so feet to the living room light switch to catch the serial killer coming in.  I was armed with my tatty underwear and wild hair, I guess I thought I would scare him off with my blindingly white legs.

It was just the wind...this time.  I bolted the door, which we usually do at night, I guess Zep had to go potty one more time after I went to bed and the random kid who let her back in did not secure the lock.  Darn kids, I am already 1/4 gray, I hardly need more mental stress.

Jake had practice last night, so Matt and I headed to get groceries and grabbed some Mexican food.  I got beans with a side of beans topped with guacamole and a little bitty cheese enchilada-it was smaller than a deck of cards.  I really need to learn what is best to eat when we are out and about.  I know fries are a non-food, burger buns are too much bleached flour.  Fried stuff is no good...so, what does that leave, here in the South-sans going to a larger city?  There's only so many Fresco bean burritos I can eat from Taco Bell.  We have split a bag of carrot sticks and a protein plus drink from the grocery store more than once.

At practice, he worked with the choreographer.  In lieu of giving the kids all lines, she's worked up some kind of song and dance for nearly every scene.  Jake's is a square dance and as of last night, he gets to call some of the dance.  He headed off to his room as soon as we got in with his new lines and the cd with Flop Eared Mule so he could practice.  He is thrilled about dancing, but a little concerned he might knock heads with Auntie Em.  The very thought makes me giggle-prone.

Matt's already left for work, it's crazy how early he has to get up and get going.  I had breakfast with him, oatmeal with flax seed and fresh blueberries and a cup of almond milk.  I am trying to get whole grains and a serving of fruits and/or veggies with all 3 meals.  Then have fruit and a protein bar for one snack and something with fat, like avocado, cottage cheese, yogurt or spinach and artichoke dip with carrot sticks or zucchini, for another snack.

While we were in the kitchen, there was a thumping and all kinds of noise coming from the ceiling.  I was sure it was a possum.  Then we heard Kat yowling and thought she'd gotten stuck in the attic-which has happened several times when she goes nosing around up there while we are putting seasonal things away.  Then we saw her face peep around the side of the window!  That thing is 10 feet off the ground!  She'd climbed the ladder I left out there after I caulked the new trim last week and all the thudding was it rocking into the house and hitting the roofline while she dangled via one paw and stretched her fool self to the window. 

Speaking of possums, we have words for everything, a family vocabulary that covers an entire notebook of things only we call certain items.  Sort of like fo' shizzle, but not.  Our latest is road kill.  So, a road-kill possum is called a squassum.  There are squats and squogs and squnks-but mostly squassums.  Chan wants to know what a road-kill squid would be called.  Matt said if we hit a squid with the car, we had way more worries than what to call it!

We sponge-rolled Chan's hair Sunday and yesterday, took it down.  It was lovely and curled for a few hours, we still need some practice, though.  Some of the back never took.  I don't know what to think about her having a sudden interest in having curly hair.  My little recluse even mentioned it was too bad she had no where to go, hinting heavily that the general public would be enraged to know they'd missed glimpsing her head.  Just as long as she does not start packing a curling iron in the camping gear.  I can't believe she's nearly 14.