Our Great Outdoors Experience in Pictures

We are home from our camping trip and what a trip it was! This was the first time we had been camping in forever (over 30 years for me!) although I do vaguely recall us camping once in the early '90s for a night somewhere in Florida. I don't remember much about it except that I didn't enjoy it - at all! This time, however, it was a blast. Here we are setting up camp: I was the official photographer (ha!) so I just set up the little things...I arranged the kitchen tent after Maddy and Randey put it up. And here I am, enjoying the fruits of my (and their) labor:

The campsite, which was Cold Springs Campground inside of Chickasaw National Recreational Area in Sulphur, Oklahoma, was very nice and very well laid out. Every site had a fire pit and grill and a picnic table and a lantern hook plus enough room to put up our two sleeping tents and our food tent with plenty of room to spare.

There's a lot of stuff I'm willing to give up these days in my new quest for Outdoor Adventure (like make-up and a straightening iron), but I'm still fairly attached to the concept of good food. Knowing this about myself, I bought two cookbooks to help learn the art of outdoor cooking. Heaven knows, cooking in a regular kitchen is challenge enough for me so I thought I'd better get some help if I was really going to "rough it".
Both of these books are pretty good, although I think the Foil Cookery book is better. The directions were simple and the ingredients fairly basic. This is what our first dinner at camp looked like:

Baked potatoes, vegetables kabobs and corn-flake chicken. Yum-O! Kaleb, in particular, loved the corn-flake chicken. We made something called Louisiana Chicken (from the Foil Cookery book) the second night that was a huge hit with everyone (except Maddy - she thought it was too spicy). We didn't take pictures that night, though. Too busy eating. lol Here we are, enjoying our first dinner at camp:

See what I mean about giving up the make-up and straightening iron? I know of lot of you kind of shy away from doing that because, well - let's face it - most of us look a lot rougher without the face paint and the hair tools, but I've managed to get my head around that pretty easily. See, last month, when Randey and I took our little vacation, I wore full make-up and fixed my hair on the first day we spent outdoors. The second day...I throttled back on the make-up a bit and just sort of half-way straightened my hair. By the third day, the make-up was done with and the hair developed a life all its own and I was happy to let it. If you just tell yourself that all those strangers you see and who are seeing you don't know you and, therefore, who cares what they think of you, then you're all right with going au naturel' (don't forget that sunblock, though!!). And the people that are with you, your family and friends, they're supposed to love you no matter what you look like so it's okay to be natural in front of them, too. You just have to keep telling yourself all that over and over and before long, it becomes easy-peasy to believe it! lol

And speaking of easy-peasy...can you believe they make coffee pots like these now?

It's like a regular coffee pot but it's made for brewing on a Coleman stove. Don't I wish we had had one of these (plus the Coleman, of course) after Hurricane Ivan when we lived in Florida! Would have made our nine days without power just a little more bearable!

Here's the kids, toasting marshmallows. These guys are not Professional Marshmallow Toasters...and it showed. Oh the marshmallows that were sacrificed for learning purposes! But they had fun and I loved hearing them all laugh together.

Jacob got to do his first thing of Jiffy Pop Popcorn ever. I wasn't even sure they still made that stuff - everyone seems to use microwave popcorn these days. But they do still make it and I bought some for the trip. They were fascinated by it. I think Jake actually just made it to see what the package would do when all the corn started popping and he was pretty proud of himself for the success he had with it. lol

On day two, our first full day at camp, we decided to try a little hiking. Okay, so I decided to try a little hiking and the rest of them decided "why not?" and joined me. This is Jake, Daniel (Kaleb's friend) and Kaleb. Daniel actually started hiking with a cup of coffee (Jake's holding it for him in this picture). Who hikes with coffee?? (Nevermind. I just heart the chorus of "I would" from all you guys out in blogland!) lol

Here's Kaleb, Jake, Maddy and Randey...this is about when they decided that they really didn't enjoy hiking so much (Maddy being the exception...she loves any kind of action like that).

And this little guy settled on a handrail next to me when I was sitting around, waiting for the kids to check out Pavilion Springs, about halfway thru our hike.

Here's Randey upon our return from the hike - making Maddy laugh and the boys writhe in agonizing embarrassment - gosh, whatever would happen if someone saw their father looking so goofy? lol
And here's our first disaster...one of the tents collapsed. We thought it was operator error (Kaleb and Daniel erected this one).

So off we go to buy another one. This time, Derri (my nephew) and Jake put it up with Maddy's assistance.

When this tent collapsed the next night, we realized it was just a crummy tent design. I knew that for $48 we weren't getting the Taj Mahal of tents, but I think it should have at least lasted more than one night. Randey's returning both of those tents today. If we buy another one, it'll be the brand of tent we used for our other sleeping quarters on this trip - a tent his mother and stepfather had given us. It held up perfectly.

Here's a picture of the scenery at Chickasaw Park. This was right across the road from our campsite.

As was this:

This is Maddy, swimming on our last evening there. She just had to go swimming one more time.

Our little mermaid getting out of the water:

And here's Randey and the boys, breaking camp. Getting all the non-essentials packed away the night before we left because rain was forecast for the next morning. We wanted to be down to the bare minimum, just in case. Good thing, too, because rain it did!

For all of you out there who just don't want to camp because you'll be without the civilized amenities we've all become accustomed to, I urge you to reconsider. Let yourself go and just enjoy the great outdoors! I never knew nature could be so much flippin' fun!! I've learned things about myself that I never would have guessed. Things like...I love hiking, I love eating food cooked 100% outdoors, I love being out in the fresh air - even the hot fresh air - and I love not having to worry about what my outfit looks like or if my hair is straight or if my make-up is holding up. But - just so I won't sound too Utopian about the whole experience - I will also tell you that I learned just exactly how much I love and enjoy a nightly bathing experience, how much I dislike the cacophony of chittering a swarm of locusts make and I heartily dislike having to get up and go to the bathroom 3 times in one night because I drank a pot of coffee after sunset. Especially when said bathroom is about 150 feet away from our tent. Other than that, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and can't wait to do it again.

I think our next outdoor adventure will be just a day trip. Jacob's girlfriend's parents have said she can go with us on one of our adventures as long as it's not overnight. I think we're going to check out Lake Murray in Oklahoma for a day next month. There's fishing for Randey, hiking for me and water fun for the kids. We'll plan a picnic lunch and then stop at a restaurant on the way home for dinner. I'm looking forward to it.

But for now, I'm off to fix my make-up and my hair because Maddy has developed a burning need to visit our local library. She says she's wanting to read about Amelia Earhart. I don't know where this desire came from, but far be it for me to discourage it. Just wish the library was located outdoors somewhere so that I could slap on my sunscreen and a bathing suit and just go. Civilization...boy, the work it causes me! (*smile*)

We Are Family!

This past weekend, I traveled to Birmingham, Alabama for what I'm calling the "First Annual Cousins Get-Together". Actually, it was more like a Mini-Get-Together than a full-blown one. And calling it an "annual" event might be jumping the gun a bit, but I'm sure hoping we manage to turn it into such a thing. Anywho, Randey, the boys and I drove to Florida Friday (we had to bring our granddaughter back to her mom) and then my sister Sherri and her daughter Megen and I drove from Florida to Birmingham early Saturday morning and met our cousins, Kristie and Sunshine, for some cousin "bonding" time. lol We started out with some shopping which naturally gave us all an appetite for lunch. Here we are at P.F. Changs: From left to right: Sunshine, Sherri, me, Megen and Kristie. I had never eaten there before and was excited to get to try it. I gotta tell you, their Mongolian Beef and Pork Fried Rice were fabulous (so much for that Weight Watchers will power I've been so proud of lately!).

Here's a picture of Sunshine, all laid up in a chair at Pottery Barn.

And here's a picture of Megen, Kristie and Sherri telling Sunshine to get her butt up out of the $1600.00 Pottery Barn chair. lol
Once we fed our faces, we headed to the hotel for check in. Then we went to Sunshine's house and visited for a bit and then headed back out for more shopping. Kristie and Sunshine's brother, Trey, wanted to join us for dinner. And even though this was a chick weekend, we let him. (ha!) Here he is with Kristie.
Who could resist that face? And here we all are together:
That's Sunshine, Megen, Trey, Kristie, Sherri and me. We ate at a place call Firebirds and it was delicious! I had a pepper crusted steak that was so tender, it was all I could do not to inhale the whole thing. (Yeah. Weight Watchers did indeed take a beating this weekend.)

Here's a picture of the place we stayed at, the Ross Bridge Golf and Spa Resort (we didn't do any golfing or spa-ing, though):
Check out the pool area. Sweet, eh?

Check out the waterfall going into the pool. Luckily, I didn't bring a swimsuit and even luckier, it was sort of overcast Sunday morning or I might have been tempted to swim (and nobody really wants to see that, trust me. I swim like a rock).
Sunshine went home Sunday morning to tend to her youngest son while Sherri, Megen, Kristie and I partook in the breakfast buffet at the resort. Had we known how much the breakfast buffet cost, we might have partook in an Egg McMuffin instead. Yowza! Check out the bill:
Yessir. Sixty nine dollars and 76 cents. For four people. And not one glass of champagne in sight!

Here's Megen, Kristie and Sherri looking down onto the pool after breakfast. (They were still in sticker shock over the cost of breakfast, hence the leaning on the banister. lol)

Another guest at the hotel offered to take our picture together. We kind of scratched our heads over this "sculpture" when we first saw it. Then we figured out that it represented the University of Alabama Roll Tide (from l to r: me, Sherri, Megen and Kristie).
There was also an Auburn War Eagle "sculpture" hanging from the ceiling. I forced Kristie to stand in front of it so I could take her picture:
Speaking of Kristie, I have to tell you guys something awful that Kristie accused me of (I'm still shattered by it). She and I were bedmates Saturday night and, first of all, she told some wild and crazy tale about me snoring. Oh please. Like such a delicate flower like myself could possibly snore, right? Then she said some garbage about the noises I make when I sleep. Some nonsense about me moaning ever so slightly as I snoozed...well, let's just say she accused me of dreaming impure thoughts, okay? Now I ask you...what kind of cousin says things like that? Anybody who knows me would naturally assume I sleep like an angel, a quiet and sweet tender angel. Kristie was obviously tipping back a few brewskis when the rest of us weren't looking because I mean really! Me, snore? Never. And me make strange and obnoxious noises in addition to snoring?? P-u-l-e-a-s-e. But, thanks to her spreading these vile tales about me (and by spreading, I mean she told me, Sherri and Megen!), I'll probably have to bunk alone on the next Cousin Adventure. I don't know that I'll ever get over her scandalous accusations. (heavy, heavy, painfully sad, sigh).
Oh okay. So maybe I do snore. A little. Maybe. So what? But I'm not owning up to the other stuff. Uh-huh. No way. And now that I've cleared that up, let's move on, shall we?
Sunshine and her youngest met us back up at the hotel later on and we headed back towards Kristie's home to do a little more shopping before the weekend ended. Randey and the boys drove up from Florida and picked me up around noon and we four headed straight home to Texas. Approximately 10 hours later, we pulled up in our driveway.

It was a wonderful weekend with the cousins and I really hope we can make this a regular thing. Special note to Michael and Wallace: We've now proven that this generation can get together and have fun without any conflicts whatsoever! (As long as you don't count Kristie's bizarre-o talk about my sleeping habits, that is! ha!) That means you guys need to start getting serious about whether or not you want to join in on the next one. We're thinking of meeting in Vicksburg, Mississippi next time. No dates yet (although Trey has expressed a preference for Spring or Fall). Don't worry - we'll "talk" plenty before any plans are set in concrete!

Now that all the excitement of this last trip is over, though, I have to say I'm pretty much maxed out on my traveling this summer. Between the trip up north to Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota, the trip to Oklahoma, the first trip to Florida, the second trip to Florida with an add on to Birmingham, Alabama - we've traveled more than 7,500 miles (all by car!) since school let out in May. It's all been great fun and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I'm ready to chill out here at the house for awhile now. I need my rest, you know. After all, Christmas is right around the corner! LOL

Day Two of our Weekend in South Dakota (Mount Rushmore!)

Our second and last day in South Dakota...we woke up to a beautiful morning - look at the view we had from our hotel window: Being on the 9th floor may not have been conducive to having great wireless Internet service (as the desk clerk so "helpfully" explained to us????) but it was sure great for checking out the view. I snapped this next picture because I loved the architectural details on those buildings.
But enough of the hotel...we got up pretty early, got ourselves ready and hit the road to Mount Rushmore. This is the bridge you go under as you approach the entrance to Rushmore. The arch is made of wood! It looks pretty awesome in person.
We had to take Jake's picture in front of this store. lol
This next picture was taken right inside the actual entrance into the park. I'm not sure why it is that Jacob feels to need to pose like a mob guy in all his pictures these days. He throws that head back every time he sees a camera pointed his way. Kids today.

Our first glimpse of the presidents. Those columns that flank either side of the path have the names of the states and the dates they became states carved into the sides. They also hold the names of all U.S. territories. Also of note, this is right about where Randey and I had our one and only notable knock-down dragout of the trip (yeah, no one is more surprised than us that we only had one!).
That's me on the left, then Jake, then Kaleb. See my hand on my hip? That should have been Randey's first indication that he'd said something stupid, which I assure you he had. I don't know if it's a symptom of that rotten peri-menopause or what, but every once in a while, someone will say something that goes right thru me. Like a knife. Thru hot butter. This was one of those times.
After about 5 minutes of snarking at each other, I finally "requested" that he step over to the side with me so that we might "discuss" the issue in private. The "discussion" was....tense and verbose, to put it mildly. Once we'd cleared the air (i.e., I ranted, raved and gestured with my hands and arms while Randey stood there with that "deer in the headlights" look he's so perfected for moments such as that), we managed to put our issues to rest and move on to enjoy the day. 'Course, I can't really speak for how well that Boy Scout troop was able to recover from having witnessed our communication efforts. Who knew there were bleachers full of the little guys just on the other side of that foliage?? I take comfort in the fact that I don't think there was any cursing loud enough to bruise their little ears. Hopefully. Anywho...this is yet another view of the presidents. It's breathtaking in person. If you haven't been there, GO! This mountain goat (I assume that's what this is. lol!) was just grazing along the pathway. He never even acknowledged the hordes of people standing there snapping pictures of him. Guess he's used to the admiration, eh?
Here's Jake, Randey and Kaleb posing for me along the path. By the way, check out Jake's shorts. Colorful, aren't they? I don't know who likes them more, me or Jake.
A closer shot of the monument. I know, I know...it's like I'm showing the same picture over and over, but you have to understand, to see this awesome piece of craftsmanship and history in person is just way too cool to describe. I keep hoping the pictures will "tell the tale" for me.

Here's a view we had as we walked along the pathway. We turned around, away from the presidents (pretty hard to do, actually -they were just so riveting.) and saw this. Pretty country.
Another shot of Jake, Randey and Kaleb. Bless their hearts - they were probably sick and tired of having their pictures taken by then.
But too bad, 'cause here's another one.
And what's a day without me trying for an "arty flora" shot?
Another pic of Kaleb and Jake.

How about this view of the monument? You can see where the work ended to the right of Lincoln's head.
See? Randey and I had made up by the time we got to this point. lol
Lincoln's peeking thru the treetops.
And so is Teddy Roosevelt.
Kaleb took these next three. The kid does better with my camera than I do, huh?

(I love, love, love this one!!!)
Here's a shirt from the Mount Rushmore gift shop that totally appealed to the feminist in me. ha!
And here's my dearly beloved, doing his utmost to embarrass the boys. He followed them around wearing this goofy hat, just trying to get them to acknowledge him.
Randey just had to have a picture of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Soda, which was actually root beer. (Reagan's his favorite president.)

Here's Randey, posing as the next face to be added to the mountain.
Oops! Plans have changed. Looks like Jake's likeness will be carved out next to George's.
Hold the presses! Now it's Kaleb who'll be hanging out with greatness. Who knew? (And no, there is no picture of me doing this. I wouldn't have highlighted my double chin like that for all the tea in China, thankyouverymuch).
Kaleb took the picture of these trees for me. I love these trees. I would have a yard full of them, if it was up to me. And I'd rent a snow machine every Christmas just so I could look at them laden down with the beautiful white stuff. Ahhhhh........
See this sign below?:

That's placed right at the edge of town, just as you head up to the mountain. And while I certainly believe that everyone should, indeed, prepare to "meet thy God", I felt that this could be taken as almost a dire warning...I mean, geez, you're headed up the side of a mountain! Is there some sort of obstacle course you have to pass on the way and does failure to pass said obstacle course result in an immediate meeting with the Almighty?? As it turns out, the sign is just general advice regarding life and not an indication of any sort of specific danger up ahead. Whew. This next picture is of the town of Keystone, which is the tiny little town between Rapid City and the entrance to Mount Rushmore.
Keystone is a pure tourist town. Gift shops galore, overpriced food and merchandise, hokey souvenirs...I loved it! We walked up and down the street, into the stores. It was such fun.
Here's what Kaleb and Jacob found in one of the stores. A Granny. lol!
And God Bless him, here's what Randey found to replace the bear head gear he'd found at the park. The look on Kaleb's face is just plain funny (click to enlarge). He's grown so accustomed to his dad doing stuff like this...
Randey actually bought that hat, but thankfully, doesn't wear the front of the brim turned up like that. lol I thought he was hilarious, even if he boys didn't. He looks like he's ready to start mining for gold, huh? (Like I told you yesterday...that man was convinced he was going to make his fortune panning for the yellow stuff.)

Out of everything we did on our vacation, all the places we went, all the sights we saw, I have to say that Rapid City was probably our favorite. There was so much to do there - I had no idea. I figured we'd do the "gold mine" thing one day, go check out Mount Rushmore the next and be on our way. But there was sooooo much more to the place. There was Mount Rushmore, of course, there were tons of antique stores, there was the Christmas store, miniature golf, a wildlife park, restaurants, other monuments and tours...the list goes on and on. I wish we could have stayed longer, I truly do. We are very seriously considering going back again one of these days.

Next (and finally, I'm sure some of you are thinking) is the last leg of our vacation, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Yeah. That's right. The Mall of America! A shopper's dream. Strangely enough, I think Kaleb and Jacob enjoyed it even more than I did, though. Probably had something to do with the amusement park located in the center of the mall. More on that later....