Yaaaaaaaa

That's the sound effect of the sunbeam that is bursting through the clouds of oppression to strike me with its warm, glowy light of redemption.  Or maybe just things are falling into place and I am not one to just let that happen without throwing some appreciation out into the Universe.

First, let's admire some graffiti that Katy did for me while Out West:

I realize I was AT her house while she was gone, but knowing someone was thinking of me makes me feel warm and glowy because, I am a dork that way.  :)

Someone else was thinking of me that SAME day and it was likely not with graffiti love thoughts.  Sammy fixed that busted corner on Poppy and she's good as...she was.  hahaha, I can't say 'new' because that was 17 years ago and she's showing some wear.  But she's good to go and in fact is back here all popped up and getting ready to get loaded for Disney.  There's an ant problem at the moment, Sammy got rid of most of them, but there are stragglers I am NOT taking them to the Happiest Place on Earth.   Still, for being parked closed up for over a year with just a flappy tarp, a few sugar ants and some spider webs are almost the very least awful thing that could have happened.

I ordered a new tent anyway, so the boys could sleep in it, our family tent is over a decade old and has more than one hole 'sealed' with Gorilla Tape and the zipper is pretty random about working.  It was time to retire it.  This one is the same size, but with more weather protection features for rain, the forecast for the trip looks horrific.  Words like 'torrential' 'heavy' 'downpour' and 'steady' in reference to rain along with the usually 50/50 afternoon t-storm chance you get in Florida any time it's over 80.  Scattered with 75% and more chances of rain like the aforementioned. I am starting to worry I blew money on water park passes when we likely won't be swimming anywhere other than the parking lots.  :(   Still, nonrefundable means I can either sulk or hope for the best.  Or give my ticket to someone else named Esther and stay home and miss everything.

Nearly everything we ordered for the trip is in, final deliveries will be in by Friday, I have started packing-and unpacking.  I always bring too much.  Kurt ordered some batteries I needed with his Prime account to be sure they will arrive in time.

It's happening!

Chan went with us to walk Richard Martin on Friday and we used our Belle Chevre groupon before that expired.  It's pronounced Bell Shev.  I got into it with someone about that.

The healthy glow of me able to walk more than 3 miles!

I love one lane roads, we found this one out geocaching.

Our new tent!  It's HUGE!

Jake was in a bad mood for some reason. 

Ben, taking a selfie while helping  me take a LOAD of stuff to recycle and for goodwill.

Our first meeting for the filming:  

Oh my gosh, Inde is so adorable!

She and Chandler are such big buddies, it's funny to look for one or the other-the way moms count heads periodically-and they are always together.

I think they talked movie plans for about 10 minutes, but we ended up hanging out from just after 1 until nearly 8.  I love long blocks like that to be with friends and not have to rush.

Ben's braid!

He and Emma are going to host the Child vs Wild series, maybe they can be hair twins, too!

In other good news, I had the van all checked out and it's good to go, I got new tires last month and the power steering was giving me fits and that's been fixed-ever thankful for Beth and her patience with my budget.  Just need an oil change later this week and we are all set!  Loving this cooler weather, I have on my robe!!

Abandoned Places:2

Following the ranger...

This place was SO satisfying, I hope Matt got some better overall location shots because I was sucked into details and textures.

These are the cabins above the lakes, we were there all of 20 minutes before the police came along.  I would not recommend just going and poking around, the area is privately owned and the locals appear to keep a close eye on things!  It was pouring rain, I did not think anyone even noticed us up there!

I had 2 cameras, one I was willing to get wet and one I was not.  So the non-raining shots are from a different camera after the rain passed, but they are numbered first, so they show up first.  It's all the same place, I am not going to worry over order. 

Chandler's shot of this is so much better, I almost did not even bother posting this one!
But then again, chances of it ever being posted are pretty low, so my confidence is steady.  

Ieeeeeee!

Through a screen, through the rain.

Park had to head off for a hike he was leading, so we split up for a couple hours at the camp.  We stayed on taking pictures and looking around, then went for lunch.

Abandoned Places:1

We finally made it up to hang out with Park on Saturday and after discussing for a couple minutes where we wanted to go, I mentioned Chandler has been wanting to explore an abandoned place for some time now.  He was on it, calling and getting permission to trespass (squee!) on a couple of different sites!  The first was an old sand plant and the other was a derelict summer camp.

It POURED rain off and on all day, then cleared off, then rained again. At one point Park said, "Getting wet is just part of getting outside!"  While I normally do all I can to avoid rain and I looked like a drowned cat and my poor choice of cotton everything left me damp the whole time, I could not have cared less.  It was awesome!  A Top 20 day for the year for sure.  

First, we headed to the old sand plant to take some location shots.  It was straight out of Power Rangers!  It was also hot as blue blazes and we wandered around a bit getting sun struck.  Ben even got a sunburn on his neck.  My sunscreen melted off just in time for the rain to kick in,  hahaha

Feeling less jealous of Katy's desert adventures!  

Chan, upon getting an invite to do more exploring of abandoned areas.  The 'ooo' of approval.

Staghorn sumac, makes a great drink!

deer

I was taking a shot of this thistle and a butterfly came and went like a blink.  I liked the blur of it.

Look, a picture of Park!

(middle left side, on the rocks)

This would be a great swimming hole, super deep!

Fruiting horse nettle

Matt and Chan are on the far side of the water.

Turkey, Park thinks.  I think something bigger that flew off, see how the tracks end?

I loved the illusion of the tracks ending at that puddle, like it drove off the face of the earth.

Tussock Moth Caterpillar

As with any furry caterpillar, NO TOUCHY.

We left the sand plant in the rain, hung out under a tree for a while, it was a tulip poplar-the Tennessee state tree, Park was quick to point out, hahahaha.  Matt id'd it right away!

We walked back to the vehicles and hopped in, it was still raining, but not too hard.

Next stop, the old cabins