Mother nature....

Even as a little girl I've loved being outside. While I must admit, I enjoy nice weather better than cold. If the temperature is around 30° or above I'm good. I have blogged before about "going down south" camping. My husband and I have gone down several times recently. We have enjoyed some beautiful snowfall, warm fall conditions and most recently an unusally brilliant spring day.

My husband works way to many hours at an entirely too physically demanding job. So when we got to the campground he decided to take a nap. I took the opportunity to go for a long hike/walk. There are horse trails everywhere with well worn trails. During the 45 minutes I was gone I enjoyed a lot of sun, saw many birds and critters and walked up on a Doe who never knew I was there. She had been drinking from a pond and when I saw her I froze. She flicked her tail, looked around and slowly walked off. It was exhilerating to witness her so calm going about her day.

Our weekend ended early the next day due to rain. But prior to that as we were leaving the campground to go to our hunting/hiking grounds our only exit was blocked by a fallen tree. We walked about 2 miles until we found an elderly gentleman brush hogging who had a chainsaw and gave us a ride back. He was a delightful man with smooth skin, bright blue eyes and told us he had lived in the area his whole life. When he asked where we were from he told us he used to play 6-on-6 football against our local team back in 1952 and '53. He also asked if we had been morel mushroom gathering, to which I replied "no", but he told me where we could go if we wanted to.  How I would have loved to talk with him longer.  After hubby cut up the tree to clear our path, we loaded the wood in his truck (as a thank you for his kindness -- he refused the money we offered) the rain began and we decided to head back home. So short lived break, but refreshing and we have a couple new stories. Looking forward to many many more fun times in the great outdoors.

Down time...

Hubby and I took the weekend off! It was supposed to be a family camping trip but turned out to be just the two of us. What a wonderful time! Nothing special...just peaceful time together.

We loaded the motorhome with food and clothes and headed south to Cadiz, Ohio. This little town was founded in 1803. It's basically a mining town. Lots of lush hunting ground, beautiful horse trails and very little phone service. While it was a little hard to be out of touch with the kids...they all had plans themselves...and emergency numbers they could turn to.

After we made camp Friday evening we headed out to do some sight seeing and get a bite to eat. There was this little eatery called Country Kettle that my husband and his hunting buddies eat at during archery. The food was fabulous! A real burger was $2.25!!! They had home brewed sweet tea and the most delicious and moist corn bread I've ever eaten. We scoped out his hunting grounds since they change year to year depending on where they are mining. Saw a few deer but it was still pretty warm and sunny out. Headed to the shooting range for some pistol practice, too.

When we returned to camp I laid a blanket down and enjoyed some reading while hubby got the fire going. It was so peaceful! We stay at a camping area designed for horseman and family camping. The areas are far apart with restroom buildings, water hydrants and marked trails for walking or horse back riding. With the exception of voices and horse hooves in the distance we were alone. Ahhh how nice!

Saturday we started the day with bacon, donuts and coffee over the open fire! Then we just relaxed. Hubby caught up on some sleep and I enjoyed reading my book...which I finished by Sunday morning. Later in the afternoon we headed out to get some pictures of the "museum". It's an area where they park old machinery and that's where it stays. Old drag lines, bulldozers, mining Eucs...all kinds of stuff. It's amazing to see up close how massive these things are. To think how powerful the engines needed to be to move not only the machines but the dirt and limestone ..WOW! And the men that operated them...strong and gruff probably with a cigarette hanging from their lips. The entire town oozes with history!

One of the blades has been hand painted to memorialize some of their beloved machinery. Very impressive!

We always have steaks and corn on the cob over the fire! First we marinate the steaks in red wine and seasonings...the wine helps tenderize the beefy goodness! And of course, you have to use a cast iron skillet! I think this was my husband's favorite part of the whole vacation. He set the table...even picked some black eyed susans for a centerpiece. We have been married almost 20 years and I love him more now than I ever have!

We had several "visitors" during our trip. Some not so welcome...flies, bees and misquitoes. Others were very welcome! There was this gorgeous black and blue butterfly who showed up Saturday morning and stayed to see us off on Sunday. The flash of the camera showed his beautiful blue hues...to the naked eye they look black. Stunning! Then of course there were the herds of deer who came out at night...you could hear their hooves on the blacktop outside the camper. And last but not least...the raccoons!!! When we finished eating we decided to clean up in the morning. No  need...the coons did it for us...hahaha. They ate every beef bone, the last ear of corn, the italian dressing and a pound of butter. I'm sure they wish we had left some tums out too! I got a couple of pictures of their greasy paw prints but their a little fuzzy.

  We are back home now...hubby is napping...one more day off from work tomorrow! So much better than a busy expensive weekend anywhere else. Looking forward to the next trip!

Renewing the soul...

This past weekend we loaded up the motorhome and headed south. Unfortunately Morgan was not able to come along...something I'm trying to get used to. She's 17, a senior in high school and has her own activities she wants to attend.


We, of course, took our puppy (Sidney) with us...our house would not have survived her being alone that long. As we were headed out of town I could feel the weight of the daily rat race lift from my shoulders. We were blessed with beautiful weather. As many of you know...I am a girl from another time...an older time. While I enjoy the internet, cars and electric...I also enjoy cooking in a cast iron skillets over an open fire, walking in the woods drinking in God's magnificent artwork and listening to sound of crickets and bull frogs float in on the cool crisp evening air.


We camped at a campground designed for horse trail riding. There were a couple of pounds for fishing, numerous marked trails for walking (or riding) and serenity all around. For me sitting by the campfire and hearing the clippity clop of the horse's shoes hitting the roadway...well that's just a little piece of heaven.

Jon wanted to "explore". So he loaded his new fanny pack with all of the essentials...an apple, a pepsi, his knife and his whistle. He grabbed his fishing pole, strapped Beary in and off "they" went. Frank and I followed about 15 minutes later...when we got to the pond...no Jon. We decided to head along the blue trail (that's the one that runs between the 2 ponds) to catch up with our boy. When the blue trail came to a gravel road we agreed Jon wouldn't have crossed the road so we turned back...figuring he was probably sitting at camp wondering where we were. As we approaced a fork in the road (aka the white trail splits from the blue trail) we decided to take the white trail...it was in the direction I had thought I heard Jon's whistle earlier. Well let me tell you...the white trail is LONG. An hour later when we arrived back at camp we saw evidence that Jon had been back...his fishing pole and Beary were left behind. So we decided to sit tight and wait for him to show back up. Let me tell ya...every minute felt like 10. Finally my cell phone said I had a voice message...not enough signal for it to actually ring. Jon had left a message he ended up at the shooting range (he had crossed the road) and was headed back. I being the worrier lept up and started running toward the shooting range. This is not a straight shot people...this is back up the blue trail...yes I said UP. A twisting, turning gravel trail. Thought I was going to have a heart attack half way up...heart pounding in my ears, sweat rolling (gotta get back to the gym!) But I kept going. I got to the gravel road and thought I heard voices. I called Jon's name...nothing. Decided to walk toward the voices and (to my delight) around the corner comes a pair of horses with my son on the back of one of them. These wonderful people were camped at the same campground and heard Jon blowing his whistle. They followed the sound and rescued my dear son..who confessed he was starting to accept the fact he would have to spend the night in the woods...by the way it was around 5pm.
After all the excitement and exercise we had worked up an appetite. So we threw a steak in the skillet, some corn on the grate and rounded off our meal with some home canned beats and some mennonite rolls. That was the best meal I had had in years. And of course for dessert....toasted marshmallows! Frank did the shopping for our trip and decided to treat us with not only regular marshmallows, but strawberry ones too. They were delicious.


The next day we scouted out around their hunting grounds (a bit farther south) before returning for lunch. We knew it was time to start packing up, but Jon wanted to fish one more time. He caught this beautiful large mouth bass (Dad hooked this one the day before but failed to bring it to shore). So much to our dismay...we had to head home. It was so peaceful and beautiful down there. I can't wait to go back!!!