Spring Vacation

A lot of people travel somewhere for spring break, but they usually go by car or by plane. Last week I took some time off for a spring break too.... but I went by semi. Actually, my choice of vacation for spring break was to be with my husband as he worked, driving a semi to Alabama to deliver a load and then bring another load back.

We hit a little rain. The mist off the road after the rain was amazing.

 We went through quite a few cities. The view sure is different when you're riding in a semi. (And it's hard to take pictures when you're going down the road at 65 mph!)

We stopped at a cool rest area in Mississippi.

The weather was beautiful when we got to Alabama to unload. I walked our dog, Percy, while Craig checked in at the receiving dock.

 

We spent a lot of time just talking as we went down the road - sharing favorite memories, hopes for the future, talking about our kids and grandkids, talking about God and His Word and how good He has been to us. It was a great week!

We got back to the cities in time to spend the weekend with our family. Stay tuned for more on that...........

Artful Photography

For a long time I have wanted to have the ability, the eye,the knowledge for taking interesting photographs. I thought about taking a photography class, but never have had time. So I just keep trying on my own. I know that I need to learn about lighting and shutter speed, and just need to develop an eye for the right angle. (A better camera wouldn't hurt either.) I really wish I could take pictures like my son-in-law does. Check out his pictures at Live The Life.

Here are some pictures I took two weeks ago at the North Shore. Which one do you like best?

Fall Break

Last weekend was Fall Break... I didn't have to work on Friday. I couldn't wait for the three day weekend to begin and I wasn't disappointed. It was a wonderful fall weekend!  Craig and I spent Friday driving around the area going to garage sales, enjoying the beautiful fall scenery and each other's company, and being blessed by several "gifts."

We got the first gift about 10 miles from home when we saw a timber wolf standing just off the road. Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring our camera, but I will cherish the memory... not only of that wolf, but also the second wolf we saw just a mile farther on!

Our first garage sale was in Hill City.  We spent 5 dollars and got several treasures.  We enjoyed visiting with the man who was having the sale. He was having the sale because he was cleaning out his parents' house so that it could be sold. He told us about their life there and what good memories he had of that place. Then he asked us where we were from, and when we told him, he told us about coming through our town several times a year on the way to a Christian camp nearby. Since I grew up going to that camp, we shared our memories of camp too. Meeting that man was a gift.

Later in the morning we stopped at Northland Monument, a company that sells granite and stone products. We had a great time talking to the salesman there about different options for our fireplace mantel. We spent some time looking through the inventory on the lot. Craig will be heading back there sometime soon to make some final selections and bring the rock home.

At the next garage sale Craig found 6 really nice long sleeved shirts for just 50 cents each. He is still excited about that "gift"! I found a couple of books, and we got a free basketball.  Judging from the items for sale here, we decided that the sellers were Christians, just like the first man we met.

After that sale we browsed through a secondhand store (I will be going back there - it was a nice shop) and an antique store in Longville before heading to Hackensack to have a good lunch of wild rice soup, California burgers and fries - a gift of good food.

Our next destination was Pine River, where we found the Lotsa Stuff Store. Craig talked to the owner and got a tour of the shop while I browsed. It turns out that the owner used to have her store in Emily! Craig told her how he still uses some things he bought there years ago. She told him the secret to her health (she's a very, very young looking 80 year old!) which is granulated bee pollen. So later in the afternoon we stopped at a health food store in Pequot Lakes to pick some up. (A gift of good health?)

Before we got to Pequot Lakes, however, we stopped at several shops in Jenkins. Annie's Attic was my favorite. We bought a glass sauce pan made by Visions Cookware that is cranberry colored. I had seen some of these when we were in Georgia last year and fell in love with them, but didn't buy any because I couldn't get them home safely. So now when I see this glass saucepan gift on my stove I will remember both the trip to Georgia and this fall weekend.

On the way home we saw another garage sale sign, so we stopped. It was late in the day and the owners had already started boxing stuff up. Craig found two records and some cute little glass shelves. The owners gave us a great deal on them.

It really was a great day. We had time to talk about life, and God, and our family, and each other. We saw the beauty in nature. We met interesting people. It felt like we were on vacation, but we were only about 20 miles from home. We had received many gifts.  Friday was the first day of a super weekend.

Saturday was spent doing some chores - I cleaned some inside while Craig raked and put away hoses, etc. outside. The weatherman was forecasting snow (Yuck!) so Craig wanted to get everything put away outside. I went to Crosby for groceries, and came home and made an apple pie using this recipe:  http://southernfood.about.com/od/applepies/r/bl51027f.htm

I should have taken a picture of it yesterday, but we couldn't wait to eat it! It was delicious!!!

Sunday it was snowing when we got up - the weatherman was right! We went to church, came home, watched football, and just relaxed. Tonight I made pumpkin tarts to use up the pumpkin I had leftover from making pumpkin pancakes a few days ago. I got the recipe from my new November Taste of Home magazine. We haven't tried them yet, but they sure smell good.

Apple pie and pumpkin tarts - perfect foods for fall. Tomorrow I go back to work, but I will take with me a taste of fall break in my lunch, and the gifts of wonderful memories to keep me going when I don't want to be at work.

Hey there, Georgia Girl!

Last week Craig and I traveled to Georgia with his mom, sister and brother-in-law. We were going for several reasons: to meet family we'd never met before; to visit friends we hadn't seen in 34 years, to soak up a little warm weather, and to rest and relax. I am happy to say that we accomplished all these things! Let me share a few pictures with you:

 Here's the house we rented for the week. There were three bedrooms, 2 and 1/2 baths, beautiful granite counter tops and all log and pine interior walls. The cars in front were our rentals. (We drove the maroon one - a Nissan Altima. It got great gas mileage!)

 We were greeted with all kinds of wonderful fall decorations. Marcy (Craig's mom) has two sisters that live in Georgia - Diane and Carol. Diane had come over the day before we arrived and decorated the whole house for Thanksgiving. Later in the week we went to Carol's house, and she had decorated her whole house for Christmas - in our honor. So we celebrated both holidays with them.

 The Red Minnow is Diane's restaurant. It was the first place we went after we got there. We met our new family members for the first time. You see, Marcy didn't know until just a couple of years ago that she had sisters. Since they found each other, they have become very close. We could see the love they have for each other, and why Marcy loves going to Georgia to visit them.
We enjoyed several meals with our new family at the "Fish House" and we had them come over to our log house a couple of times.

A creek ran past the Red Minnow, and Craig thought this bridge over the creek was really cool.

We visited Hartwell, a town not too far away. The town was having a scarecrow contest. Almost every business had one or more scarecrows out in front, and the scarecrows usually had something to do with the business.

 This hibiscus is growing in Diane's garden. Diane loved to garden and it showed. Her gardens were beautiful. Even though it was October, there were still lots of flowers blooming in Georgia. The leaves on the trees were just beginning to turn colors.

Here I am with Marcy and Lynn under a huge magnolia. The tree was pretty, but messy too. See all the leaves and seed pods on the ground? We saw lots of magnolias there, and large stands of bamboo too.

 The magnolia was located in a veteran's memorial park where this monument was located. Don't these two guys look cool in their dark shades?

This is an old mansion in Anderson, SC. It was built in 1926 and has been restored. There's a gift shop in it now. Craig and I spent a day exploring Anderson - it had some wonderful antique shops, and a historic downtown area.

Here are our friends. Even though we hadn't seen them for 34 years, it didn't matter. I think part of it was because they are Christians. There's a special bond between believers that erases the years. We had a wonderful evening going out for dinner, sitting and talking for hours. We appreciated their hospitality as they invited us to stay overnight. I wish we could have had more time together. I sure hope they come up north to visit us!

As you can see, we had a great time in Georgia. So even though I'm back home where the leaves are off the trees, and I have to get up before the sun to go to work, I will cherish the memories of this fall vacation in the south.