2008JeffJourney

June 9, 2008: From Two Capital Cities to The Loneliest Road

Location: Sacramento, CA to Ely, NV
Weather: Warm, Sunny 80's mostly, though 60's in the Sierra Nevadas
Mileage: 6444
Audio: Finished Jonathan Park, Beverly Cleary's Henry Huggins and The Paper Route

Fun Travel Find: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/our_company/community/Summer_Reading/Summer_Reading_Program.html

Yesterday while shopping at Barnes and Noble a store clerk gave us a sheet for their summer reading program.  What a flurry of reading it has sparked!  They are all trying to find eight books that they can read so that they can pick out a free book from the store's paperback list.

Our first day out in five weeks without C's vision and direction.... He is very missed by us all.  In the a.m. we wandered about trying to set up the new routine and had to recheck things to make sure we weren't forgetting anything.  To our knowledge we did it all.  We even remembered to pull in the slideout and the stairs.  Our hope was to get on the road early anticipating a long ride, and we were on the road by 9:15 a.m.  Not too bad.

One thing about C is that he does catch the vision of our goal location and we aim straight toward it.  I on the other hand am reading the tour books and signs as we go along and am willing in an instant to change direction and throw our well thought out plans to the wind for the hopes of a better adventure.  Well today, I'll have to say, I was well controlled.  Our goal was over 400 miles of driving on Route 50 to reach Ely, NV.  We didn't even stop to get photos of the beautiful scenery as we drove over the mountains!  It was like only what I have seen in the picture books with the tall, majestic pines towering over head and the rushing rock filled stream that the kids said, "You can tell it is cold just by looking at it."  They were looking at the mountains with snow peaks and thinking that snow had melted and was now rushing down that river.  No one wanted to go in it.  As we made our way around the bends and up and down thousands of feet in elevation changes, I kept saying, "It is just so beautiful!"  We did bring up several times the scenes of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in The Long, Long Traileras they drove their "rig" over the Sierra Nevadas carrying Lucy's rock collection.

We drove right by Lake Tahoe (though did stop to pay $4.59 for gas), into Nevada (where we saw gas for $3.99, grrr!), through Nevada's Capital, Carson City and out onto what Life Magazine entitled in '87, The Loneliest Road in America.  It would be fun to take time to explore the road, but instead we drove by signs of the Pony Express, petroglyphs, an old shoe tree, sand dunes (the kids chimed in here - Can we PLEASE stop!), salt flats where people had taken stones and wrote words by the roadside, and abandoned mining towns.  At lunch on a scenic pullout, I read about many of these things in our guide book so we had a taste, but our view was only from our windows.  I was also imagining the Reed family and their discouragement as they came upon the salt flats after journeying through the Rockies. It was here that they had to leave many of their possessions. What a struggle it must have been to continue on in such conditions.

Our next gas stop was in Eureka, NV - a quaint mining town that K was able to photograph in the setting sun.  We finally arrived in Ely KOA at 7:30 p.m., set up camp and prepared our last Dinner A'Fare meal. The kids got some of their energy out at the playground, playing tether ball, scootering and watching the donkeys, but still had a hard time settling down after a long day sitting in the car.

This is our last "connected" stop as we'll be in many state and national parks over the next several weeks, so we'll post when we can.  We are all excited that N is joining us tomorrow! 

June 8, 2008: Worship, Sutter's Fort and Jelly Belly

Mileage:  So close to 6000 miles!

Location: Sacramento West/ Old Town KOA:  Another gravel parking lot style RV park, but the spaces are wide and extremely level. The man who checked us in said they are feeling the effects of the gas prices and have noticed a decline in travelers. On weekends they have a pancake breakfast, that K and I enjoyed this morning (the rest ate breakfast before we remembered about it.)

The First Evangelical Free Church was where we worshipped this morning. It is a small congregation that was very friendly, and enthusiastic in their worship.  The message title of Reconciliation: Bringing Odious and Stinky Together, eludes to the personality of the pastor.  He was teaching on Philemon in a series entitled, Emails from the Edge.  He was going through the small letters of the Bible that he said are often overlooked. He challenged us to follow a Biblical approach to reconciliation.  Now we should have plenty of opportunity for application as conflict resolution practice is abundant in our tiny quarters.

For the afternoon we went to Sutter's Fort State Historic Park in downtown Sacramento.  Our main aim was to see a tiny doll that is the narrator of the book, Patty Reed's Doll - a story of the Reed family's journey west over the Sierra Nevadas.  They were part of the Donner party who set out from the east so full of such hope for a great life in California.  This little doll made it through the journey tucked away in young Patty's apron.  We read the book as part of our preparation for the trip and were amazed at what these families endured.

***Not the greatest picture of J or the doll, but you'll get the idea of how tiny she is.

You may connect the Sutter name with the gold rush in '49, but the name was well known before then.  John Sutter, an immigrant from Switzerland, settled and began working on the fort in the what is now known as Sacramento area in 1839.  In a few years he had completed the fort.  It soon gained the reputation as a reliable trading post and resting spot for those traveling by covered wagon.  One of the comments was that he set up the area like he was a barron.  All the activities that went on at the fort were to create items for trade and sustain those living at the fort.  He had weavers (along with herds of sheep for wool), breadmakers (with fields of wheat), tanners (with herds of cows), carpenters, gun smiths,and blacksmiths.  He also set up a crew to protect the fort and a jail and officials to enforce his civil law.  There were even doctors brought in to treat people that were living in the community of the fort.

History was brought to life by the four costumed interpreters.  We were taught about what life may have been like traveling the 2,000 miles from Missouri by covered wagon. Every gruesome way a soldier/seaman may die was explained by another interpreter as he demonstrated the use of various weapons.  We watched as wheat stalks were crumbled and the chaff was blown away in preparation of gathering the wheat grains for grinding to flour. And we learned about the fur trade getting the opportunity to see up close the many furs that were traded in the 1800's.

Some of the California State Parks are up for elimation from the State Park system.  This is one of them.  Hopefully a private organization will step up and save this gem.

It was on another bit of John Sutter's land that gold was found that sparked the California Gold Rush in 1849.  He tried to keep that find a secret but it wasn't too long before the news got out and he was flooded with people searchign for their fortune.

Sadly, now it was time to say goodbye to C.  This marks the end of his vacation though he'll rejoin us here and there in the coming weeks.  We brought him up to the airport for his flight back to L.A.

We had hoped to tour the Jelly Belly Factory on our way to Sacramento but arrived too late. As we pulled into a shopping center, we were excited to see one of their stores.  We didn't get the factory tour but were able to watch a video on how the jelly beans are made and packaged, and we tasted enough samples to sufficiently raise our blood sugar levels.  We didn't leave without buying some "Belly Flops" - the Jelly Bellies that aren't the right shape to make the grade.

Without C we opted to order pizza out and bring it back to the camper.  Eating outside as the sun set, a camper walked by and said, "I don't think pizza counts as real camping food!" I'm not sure if camping in an RV is "real" camping either, but it sure is a lot more comfortable than sleeping on the ground and waiting on a campfire to cook your food.  So after dinner we all retired to our lighted camper for an evening of painting (the kids got a Wall-E paint book this afternoon), blog updates and Animal Planet.  That doesn't sound like camping either.....

June 7, 2008: Onward to the Capital City

Location: L.A. to Sacramento

Weather: dry and hot (mid 80's)

Audio:  Jonathan Park's adventures continue as well as One More Valley, One More Hill

Well, this time I think we are telling the truth when we say we are leaving L.A. behind.  I can't say I was sad to leave the black dirt from the gravel lot of our RV park behind us as we headed up to Sacramento.  It has been a pretty uneventful day of driving north on interstate 5.  Excitement came in the form of watching the fire trucks arrive to douse a fire along the side of the highway and seeing a tumbleweed actually tumble.  Up to this point we had seen them stuck on fences and sitting docile in fields, but the noise level of our car rose as we saw one caught up in the wind and moving along.

Our stop at the local burger chain In-N-Out Burgers was all but simple as we tried to figure out how to order for our family.  We ended up with burgers (all they serve) with mounds and mounds of fries.  Lunch entertainment was C's quick calulations of gas prices and the effects on our family.  Did you know that it costs us $0.60 per mile of driving? Or that the cost lunch was equivelent to 70 miles of driving? Gas prices and a lull in work for the past 5 weeks have altered C's brain as he has to see past the $$$ signs of the trip.

We pulled into the KOA campground in W. Sacramento at 7 p.m. with little in our cupboards or fridge.  K, A and I went food gathering at a local Walmart while the rest froze at the pool and chose to contentedly watch Man vs. Wild instead of braving the elements themselves.  K & I decided to surprise everyone with their own t.v. dinner.  The simplicity of some treats! They didn't even mind waiting through the cycle of microwaving everyone's meal. I think we were eating at about 9 p.m.

June 5, 2008: Back to Hollywood Boulevard

Location: L.A. - Actually Northridge, a community a little Northwest of the city of Los Angeles.  Walnut R.V. Park.  Driving on the streets around here I would say that no one actually cooks their food at home.  How can so many restaurants be kept in business? 

5 a.m. came early as C prepared to battle the traffic into the city.  He marveled at the fact that he still knew how to tie a tie, but honestly to me he seemed a bit excited to get back into the work world.

For the rest of us, the main attraction was a trip to Hollywood Blvd to the El Capitan Theater to see Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.  The 1920's movie theater has been restored by Disney to its original spendor and now shows the latest Disney movie with extra features.  sadly we were stuck in traffic and missed the opening organist and show, but made it there to enjoy the movie from the balcony displayed on their huge screen.  Many of the movie props and costumes are on display in the theater's entry as well as in a small museum in the basement.  The kids involvement in the Peril to the Shire movie made them more interested in examining the props. They were still surprised to see the swords were not made of real metal since they looked so "real" in the movie.

While on Hollywood Blvd. we had to go across the street and visit Mann's Chinese Theater and all the hand and foot prints outside in the sidewalk.  The kids had fun putting their feet in the shoe prints. L even tried out some knee prints in one of the squares.  We enjoyed looking at Roy Roger's square too that contained his foot prints, a gun print and Trigger's horse shoe prints. In the rush I forgot my camera so we couldn't join in with the crowds in the street who were snapping shots of friends with all the characters that were standing about in the street (Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Elvis, ....).

Weary from the trek into the real world, I had to come back to the camper for a rest.  The small trailer could not contain the active bodies as they bounced around inside, then went outside to track in all the black dust from the gravel.  It was evident that L's idea of a "quick dip" in the pool was needed for this active bunch.  They were even called on to exert some energy doing some laundry as well.

June 4, 2008: Going South Again

Location: Prunedale to L.A.

Audio Book:  Continuing One More Valley, One More Hill.

It was decided that we'd stick close to C for the rest of the week as I recovered.  His job was in L.A. so we contacted the only RV park in the city. It was made clear that the park offered nothing for children, except a swimming pool, but since location is everything we took a spot on a gravel lot wedged in between campers that are bigger than ours.

On the ride south, school continued.  Among other things, we read through the curriculum offered online for the La Brea Tar Pits. If you are studying the fossil record or biology, you may be interested in checking it out.  The illustrations are great and the text is pretty interesting.  I had intended on reading it out loud to the kids before the visit to the tar pits, but afterward it served to help us remember and helped to make sense of much of what we saw.

Our route south was more inland than the curvy coastal route we took north. Instead of ocean views we were treated to valleys of farm fields - grapes, strawberries and even artichokes.  I was surprised to see a number of oil pumps slowly pumping away.

Once settled into our new spot, C and J took the car to vacuum up the build up of four weeks of food crumbs and dirt that our family accumulated.  The rest of us tackled the camper. Visions of a "quick dip" (as L put it) in the park's pool faded with the sunlight and we all went to sleep after an evening of taking care of "stuff."

June 6, 2008: Back to the Sea

(This is out of order but June 4&5 are on a different computer and should be posted soon......)

Location: L.A. (C working, S & kids head to Malibu)

Mileage: 5400

Audio: Jonathan Park and the Return to Iwo Jima Adventure (www.jonathanpark.com): A highly dramatic radio drama created to teach scientific principles from a Christian worldview.

Weather: warm (finally!) and sunny

I awoke this morning to an early phone call from my sister who forgot there was a time difference.  She was well on into her day in KY while I was sleeping in.  One by one the kids dragged into my little square bed wondering what we were going to do with our day.  The plan was that if I felt up to it we were going to Leo Carrillo State Park to explore the tide pools.

We managed to fill our morning with devotions, puttering and haircuts so, much to the amazement of the boys, we didn't get on our way until about 1:30 p.m.  The Google maps on my phone had us going a simple route of 101 to 23 to route 1.  Little did we know that 9 miles of 23 brought us over the Santa Monica Mountains doing hairpin turns and nearing drop offs on a very narrow road.  Most of the cars we passed were small sports cars enjoying the ride and passing us as soon as they were able.

Excited to explore once we got there we headed up the beach carrying skim boards, towels and cameras.  The wind was chilly and the ocean water cold with a pretty good undertow so swimming wasn’t an option. Even still the rocky coast full of caves, arches, sea stars, urchins, anemones, large crabs, hermit crabs and more, had no problem keeping our attention.  The sea is rest for the soul and food for the imagination.

 

Taking out the time to just walk and talk with the kids has been a highlight of this trip.  Like today I discovered the little known fact that 2 of my children had a time in their life where they had a collection of toe and fingernail clippings.  Who would have thought?

 

We were reunited with C for an evening full of food, swimming and more laundry.  The kids also enjoyed watching themselves on the NBC news clip from the Monterey Aquarium.

June 3, 2008: A Day of Rest and Mystery

June 3, 2008:

Location: Prunedale & Santa Cruz
Mileage: 5000 miles
Audio  Book: Odyssey a dramatic retelling by Odds Bodkin, Though the kids like the story, Mr. Bodkin's dramatization was a bit hard to take at times, especially when portraying women.  They were all (especially C) were glad when it was over.

It was 1 a.m. when I was wheeled into the operating room for the D&C.  After seeing that I was o.k. and talking with the MD, C went back to the camper to rest a wee bit; while I rested (as much as you can with a nurse coming in often to tell you the status of your condition) in the hospital.  Come morning, C brought me to our little "home" on a hilltop overlooking a highway and McDonalds for a day of rest.

To aid in the resting, C took the kids for a day of exploring Santa Cruz. 

 

After leaving mom (S) to catch up on some well deserved sleep, we headed to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz. This so called 'mystery spot' is thought to have some other earthly force than gravity. A few minutes after we arrived and dad (C) had purchased the tickets, E began to feel sick to her stomach and spent the several hours we were there in the suburban. Eager to find out what was so mysterious about this spot we followed our guides as they gave us a little history about the spot. You could see the border line of where this mysterious new force started because of all the redwoods on the property. All their branches grew on one side, which is uncommon because they are shallow rooted and need branches on all sides to keep them balanced. After testing out several levels on what appeared to be unlevel ground, we headed up into a small shack that had fallen down the hillside from an earlier earthquake.

Our lead guide demonstrated a pool ball that would supposedly roll UPHILL!..or did it? Everyone was amazed to see the ball slowly roll down a wooden plank and then proceed back the way it had come. Was this possible? We were led inside of the shack that now stood at a 17 degree angle. We all enjoyed laughing at each other as we struggled to pull ourselves around the cabin without falling down. Several great picture opportunities were presented to us (as you can see in the picture of D on the table). To end the tour, we were all given a bumper sticker, which D immediatly placed firmly on the front of the car to the horror of C, and we left to wonder if it truly was a Mystery Spot.

E began to feel better as we pulled away from the Spot. We headed to the pier in Santa Cruz for some lunch and a possible dip in the ocean. The nice view from our seats in the seafood restaurant was great in keeping everyone occupied with something other than our growling stomachs. It was now about 2:30PM.

About an hour later we left with our stomachs bursting. D, L, and J had saved some of their food to feed the seals that sat below the pier awaiting any popcorn that was thrown down from the tourists hands. Sadly, the seals were not hungry for the gnawed hot dog or the cheese bread and let the chunks land on their bodies. To our entertainment, a lone starfish was floating around with two of its arms wrapped around its body, we had never seen a starfish floating before.

Only enough quarters for two hours had been placed in the meter, so we headed back to the parking lot. Sixteen minutes were left and, to J's joy, we watched skaters, bikers, and scooterers at a skate park across the street from the lot.

Tired and still full from our lunch, we piled into the car and headed back to the campground to pick mom (S) up.

-K, cub reporter for the day
***Off balance at the Mystery Spot.
http://www.mysteryspot.com





















The Seals at the Pier

June 2, 2008: Experiencing God’s Works of Creation and Providence

June 2, 2008: Experiencing God’s Works of Creation and Providence

The Shorter Catechism talks about the decrees of God.  These decrees are “his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.”  And how does he execute these decrees?  God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

We came face to face with his works of creation at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  We packed up and headed out early in the a.m. to one – find a place that had a good enough connection for C to conduct a business call (this ended up being on the roadside of Route One high above the ocean) and two – to get into an hour long line to purchase a family membership (the cheapest rate for our clan) into what is known as the best aquarium in the USA.  Thankfully the literature was wrong on the crowds. On a cloudy, chilly day before school lets out in the west, the crowds are minimal.

***A&J Looking at an Abalone Shell

We spent the next 7 hours learning about the creatures of the sea.  We learned that over Memorial Day weekend the kids were smack in a smack (the name for a group of jellies) of Moon Jellies.  We were told that all jelly fish sting, but moon jellies were the least toxic of all jelly fish.  We watched as sea otters playfully tried to get their breakfast of shrimp out of long plastic tubes.  We watched Archerfish take their deadly aim of spitting water at the crickets in the trees above.  We explored touch tanks full of sea stars, corral, kelp, rays, and abalone. We were fascinated by a retired Marine Biologist who shared his enthusiasm of the mysteries of the deep, explaining how little we know about what is really down there and how much more information there is to gather.  The extent, variety and creativity of these creatures are incredibly amazing.

***A enjoys being inside a wave.

I think the reputation of the aquarium comes not from the quantity of creatures (the Atlanta aquarium had more creatures we think), but from their quality of teaching.  There were interesting tidbits of information posted on every display and there were helpful docents everywhere. Also many of the displays had some kind of interesting interactional component to it. D's comment several days later was, "I don't usually feel this way, but I just want to go back to that place and learn more....I want to learn about everything."  What more of a compliment from a 10 y.o. could a learning institution strive for?

As we watched a diver feed the feed the fish in the kelp forest aquarium, NBC news was filming the kids.  While watching the news my aunt recognized the kids and sent us the link to the news program about Seafood Choices Key to Saving Troubled Waters.  Watch below and keep your eyes open and you’ll see J, D and L.

Now once we left the aquarium, we were trying to figure out where to stay.  The itinerary said, Yosemite Lakes, but that was 5 hours away.  C had a change of plans and was not going to join us in Yosemite, but instead needed to drive Tuesday morning to San Jose to fly out to Chicago.  So the revised itinerary said to find a place near Monterey.  This should have been done already but being that we were getting lax, we were consulting the AAA Camp book and making phone calls at 6 p.m. on the way to pick up a rental car for C.   We decided to head north a bit and try and stay in a little town called Prunedale at a small RV Park that wasn't answering their phone.

***Barnacles come alive!

 

Providence… ”God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions.”  This is the only reason I can give you why we were in the place we were.  On the way to the campground I, being 11 weeks pregnant, began cramping.  Soon it was obvious that I was miscarrying and needed to get to an ER to be seen.  We were seen by a caring staff in a small hospital that was prepared for us.  Before the end of the day we had peace about the decisions we were faced with.  Seeing the verse I thought of often while planning the trip, Proverbs 16:9, The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps, come to life in front of us, helped us rest in the hands of this holy, wise and powerful God.

June 1, 2008: Exploring the Big Sur and wishing we had days….

Location: Big Sur Cabins and Campgrounds.  When researching the Big Sur I was uncertain where we should stay.  The state parks have incredible reviews yet no hookups.  We were not disappointed staying here.  It is clean and the sites are beautiful.  We got one of the bigger sites in the place but even still we had to get an extra site.  This is the only campground that did not let us stay on the same site.  They have a strict 5 person limit per site. The boys roughed it and slept in a tent.

This morning our activity started with Worship in our camper. The atmosphere is quite a bit different than in church with Anna chanting and rearranging the living area. Though she tries to steal the show we were able to stay mainly focused on prayer, reading the word and singing this morning.

Once we got ourselves together we headed to Pfeiffer- Big Sur State Park to hike into the Pfeiffer Falls.  When we were heading in a man said in broken English, “Long walk for a little bit of water….  I did not think it was very pretty.”  I guess that set my expectations low because I thought the 60 foot waterfall was more spectacular than I expected.  The journey to and from the falls was more of the adventure as we hiked amidst the Redwoods. Their hollowed out trunks beckoned us to explore and imagine what kind of homes they could be.  M said over and over, “Can we just camp in here tonight?”

***Family shot by the falls

Our next stop was at Pfeiffer Beach.  Our guide book described it as, “…the sea blasts through blowholes and caves, curls roughly around the sea stacks that were once part of its rocky cliffs, and crashes with undiminished energy on the sandy beach.  It’s an exhilarating, windy, bird-spangled place that epitomizes the essentially wild character of the Big Sur.” I wasn’t too sure that we’d last long when we were hit by the bitter wind that whipped sand stinging against our bare skin.  Some of us took shelter in the first cliffs as the others ran across the beach to an outcropping of rocks.  We eventually all made it there and we were glad we did.  An enthusiastic marine life student was eager to share her knowledge of the tide pool creatures. Banana slugs, crabs, sea urchins, and sea stars were among the creatures we found and examined.  L was thrilled to be the first to find not only one but two of the sea stars.  One was munching on a mussel.  The tide was coming in and crashing through one of the caves making a remarkable sight, but limiting our time to explore.  Reluctantly we made the painful dash into the wind across the beach and back to the car.

***L and “her” seastars

Once back to the campground the kids ignored the temperature in the 50’s and argued that they really wanted to go tubing on the creek. They rented the tubes from the campground and floated down the creek and then carried their tubes back up the creek to do it again. For the next two hours they floated downstream and reconstructed the stream to make better floating.

***Tubing in the Creek:

“Can we stay here longer?”  If we lived in the area, this would be a favorite destination of our family.  We have loved what we’ve seen and would enjoy exploring this wild country more!

May 31, 2008: Rich in Money and Beauty: The Big Sur

Location: San Simeon to the Big Sur

Weather:  60’s, sunny but with a chilly wind

The mission this morning was to be packed and to Hearst Castle for our tour at 10:40 a.m.  William Randolph Hearst, a very rich newspaper publisher, built a house on a favorite childhood camping spot.  That doesn’t seem too odd until you see that it is really in the middle of “nowhere” and on top of a 1,600 foot mountain overlooking the sea.  After years and many changes (resulting in a bigger and “better” home) the result was the Hearst Castle – a main house of 115 rooms, three guest houses and two pools.  Our tour took us to the verandah overlooking the Pacific, a guest house (where we were all picking out our rooms), the dining and living rooms of the main house and the two pools.  In each of the areas there was art gathered from afar.  Mr. Hearst believed that bringing this art to his home would allow his visitors to see these wonders and appreciate them as he did.  He had a variety of art ranging from Egyptian sculpture to European tapestries and paintings.  Even his walls donned pieces of Spanish and Italian choir lofts for paneling. This house is simply amazing.

*** A, not impressed with the house, reaches out for her treasure, her sister Ya-Ya.

From a house rich in “things,” we went north to a coastline rich in natural beauty.  Reading from the Scenic Hwy 1 guide that I got a garage sale at home, we took a narrated tour of the narrow stretch of highway that bends and curves on the cliff sides above the Pacific Ocean.  C was challenged to get the balance of making his passengers feel safe and traveling at a speed that the travel trailer and the people behind us could handle. We made a couple stops that were a challenge due to the bitter cold wind that was coming off the ocean.  The brave among us got out a few times to snap some shots and even hike down into a cove where some kayakers had come back from a fishing trip and were grilling their catch over a fire.

***The Pacific Coast

***Exploring the Cove.

About 5 p.m. we pulled into The Big Sur Cabins and Campground that was situated among the giant Redwood trees famous to the area.  “I want to play in that creek,” was one of the first comments.  It was hard to concentrate on getting camp set up with so much to explore.  Since it was Saturday the campground was full of families enjoying the grounds. Within a half hour the kids were exploring or playing with the friendly neighbor kids.  After dinner we walked over to the camp store for “Happy Hour” where ice cream cones were .50 instead of a dollar.  That is our kind of happy hour!  Despite the temperature dropping into the 50’s the kids were wading in the 40 degree creek water.  The water was so clear.  D was ecstatic to see an eel swim by.

We are enjoying being back into nature and experiencing the world more as God created it. Human creation is interesting but cannot top the wonder of The Creator.