Mountain Hike

Mike and went on a two hour mountain hike yesterday. Last week end we watched Everest, but I don't think that inspired us. Nope, that movie was about people risking their lives and the lives of others for no good reason.  Our hike didn't seem too risky, although there are bears and mountain lions up there.  Still, we were on a well traveled path so the risk was very, very low.

Anyway, It was a beautiful Fall day. Almost perfect, in fact.

Right away we had company.

I like this walk through rock. It's pretty cool inside!

I admired these little ferns that seem really, really determined to live. 

I told you is was pretty cool inside there!

I like rock. Doesn't everyone?  Really, there is a lot of beauty in most rocks.

I like sunshine, too.  I really like sunshine on rocks.

There were many places where we could look down to see how high we'd already hiked.  It made me feel pretty much like a jock.  Well, if most jocks huff and puff and hear their pulse pounding in their brains.

But the beauty up there was worth the effort!

Another beautiful vista.

I thought of my sister a lot as we hiked.  My sister can't walk and I sometimes feel guilty when I get to have these sorts of adventures. Then, I feel guilty when I don't use my legs as much as I could/should, knowing how much she would love to go on just one hike.  Just one.

Then, I feel guilty about feeling guilty.

So, I take lots of photos.  Tina, I hope you can kind of get the feel of a Fall day on the mountain.

Isn't that tree just stunning?

And I like water.  Sunshine. Rocks. Water.  Perfection.

More gold.

Gratitude. 

Planes, Boats and Dolphins

 While in Charleston, we got to spend a good deal of time on the water. I liked that a lot.

This is not us.

We rode a water taxi across the harbor to tour the Yorktown, a retired aircraft carrier. That thing is HUGE! It is like a whole town floating around. There are aircraft on top of it and a big, BIG hanger inside it. It was quite interesting to tour...but very hot!

 There were actually two ships there to tour but I've forgotten the name of the other.

 Isn't it strange so see how they made planes foldable so as to fit more in the hanger?

 It was so large inside!

And, there was a wounded submarine there as well.

They want to raise money to refurbish it but it hasn't happened yet.

Another day we also rode a boat for a 90 minute tour of the harbor. We toodled past Fort Sumter, a site of a lot of history. In fact, Fort Sumter was the site of the first shots fired starting the Civil War.

My favorite part of that boat ride was that we saw dolphins in the wild. That was pretty exciting for this prairie girl! They were very hard to photograph. It turns out they didn't naturally bob around in an upright style waiting for me to focus and shoot my camera. I finally just started clicking when we saw several in the same area. It was kind of like my alligator photo; I had to blow it up to see what I had. 

OK, I just barely got the photo, but it was enough to make me happy.

Walda, My Apologies!

Yesterday morning I left our house about 5:30 a.m. It was dark. It was cold! The roads were snow-packed and icy. In fact, the Interstate heading into town was closed because it was too treacherous.  My sweet husband let me take his vehicle truck (he likes us to call it a truck although it is a petite small SUV) because it has 4-wheel drive and my car does not. I was very grateful. There were some really high piles of snow and I was afraid I would get high-centered. Isn't he a great guy?

Anyhoo... when I came home last evening the sky was bright and everything was wet. I enjoyed watching cars spraying high walls of water on each other. It looked so cool! There was water everywhere! It was a different world than I'd seen at 5:30 a.m.  Since we are in a drought, I felt gratitude for all the moisture!  That is when I realized I owed Walda an apology. I treated her as an unwelcome guest when she was just bringing us water, fresh water! Sorry, Walda! My apologies for not giving you more respect when you were here.

River View

Ooops... I forgot to write a proper post and I've got to leave for work EARLY.  I didn't want to leave you hanging, though.  I took photos this week-end of the North Platte River.  

Being near water soothes my soul.   

I took this photo Saturday morning with my cell phone when I was walking Bode.  One of my favorite things is to go to the river.  It is only about a 15 minute walk for me to get there.  I'm not sure why but just seeing a body of water makes me feel refreshed and new.  Does anyone else feel that way when they see water? 

Thank-you for stopping by. Feel free to use my photos but please link them back to my blog. I am honored if you wish to share content of any of my posts on Facebook, Twitter, etc. as long as it is linked back to my blog.

What's Up With the Walmart Bathroom?

I don't really want to go into all my qualifications right now,

but trust me when I tell you that I am an expert on bathrooms.

I have done my research on many public bathrooms.

This photo was snapped in one of our local Walmart bathrooms.

I hope that wasn't wrong.

I had not planned to take a photo;

it was a spontaneous decision.

I had just exited one of the stalls.

Mike is probably reading this and worrying what I might say next.

He says I am sometimes too "earthy".

Anyway, no one else was in the bathroom.

I went up to one of the faucet areas and waved my hands...

nothing.

I wriggled my fingers around in front of that little automatic window 

that is supposed to notice me and provide cleansing water.

Still nothing.

Eventually, after doing a lot of sign language type movements,

I got water.

This happens all the time!

It's frustrating and

it's annoying to have to work so hard

 to get that little spray of water!

 

So, I washed my hands, using a thorough scrub technique.

I sudsed up really well.

I even took time to rinse under my finger nails.

That's not really the point of this story

but I thought you'd like to know.

When I was satisfied with my wash and rinse I

turned and headed to the paper towel dispenser.

Guess what happened?

As I passed by in front of all

of these little wash areas, on my

way to the paper towels,

the water came on in each!

It was as though they were

laughing at me!

After quickly drying my hands I

simply couldn't resist pulling my camera out

of my purse and snapping this photo.

Just as I turned and rounded the corner

I literally ran into another lady.

Thankfully I don't believe she saw me taking

a photo of the Walmart bathroom!

The Day I was Attacked and Other Adventures

This is a plate.

It is kind of heavy but it is really just a salad plate so it is not even very big.

But do NOT be fooled!

This innocent plate can be used as a dangerous weapon!

One day this past week I had a bowl with leftovers in it and just grabbed a plate such as this one and plopped it on top as a lid.  Is anyone else that lazy?  Well, I've done it many times.  Maybe I am not lazy, maybe I am just trying to not waste plastic wrap.  Whatever.

Anyway, I reached into the fridge and moved the bowl/plate combo aside as I reached for the orange juice.  Well, I unintentionally knocked the plate off and I'm not quite sure what happened next but I suspect it probably hit the next shelf down, broke, and continued it's descent, hitting me in the shin.  I felt the smack and saw the plate break all over the floor.  Rats!  I had company and was preparing to cook breakfast and now I had to clean up the floor. 

I walked across the kitchen before I noticed a disturbing squishing in my shoe... if you are squeamish, you might want to stop reading at this point (that means you, Mom!) and definitely don't look at the next picture.  Actually, it isn't that bad. 

The squishing was because my shoe had filled with blood.  I looked around and saw blood all over the floor.  I grabbed a paper towel and applied it quickly to a wound on my shin.  I only caught a glimpse of the wound but saw enough to know I needed to keep compression on it.  It really didn't hurt all that bad so I tried holding that while hobbling around picking up broken pieces of the plate with my other hand.

That wasn't working out so well for me.

 

I called to Mike to come help me clean up the mess (poor Mike).  Bode arrived first and wanted to assist so with my free hand I grabbed his collar to keep him from getting hurt.  I suppose I looked kind of funny.  I'd really made quite a mess! 

One of our guests appeared. 

I have quite the dramatic flair and like to keep our company entertained so when he requested to see my wound, I complied.

It was quite apparent I needed stitches.

Our guests were here from New Mexico and we hadn't seen them in a couple of years.  When we lived in New Mexico we saw them several times a week, including playing pinochle nearly every Sunday night for 9 years.  We had some catching up to do and we really had only that one day to have fun so I did NOT want to go to the E.R.  and waste half the day!

So, I reasoned that I didn't care much whether I had a scar on my shin, I tried to pull my wound together with band-aids (no steri-strips at hand) but for 2 hours I kept dribbling blood down my leg. Yuck!  I was pleased, though, to realize I was wearing a washable pair of Keen shoes.

 I got the bright idea of calling my doctor's clinic just in case they wanted to get in on the action.  They did!  The physician's assistant I saw took me right in.  She was kind of excited because she doesn't get to do stitches much anymore.   She said most people just go to the ER with such injuries. 

I was happy that she was happy.

She complimented me on the nice straight cut before she cleaned and numbed it up.  I was grateful that I'd shaved my legs before they got all that attention. 

She expertly created some really nice stitches for me while I admired her skill. 

The nurse gave me a tetanus shot and I was on my way in 30 minutes! 

After that, I caught up with Mike and our friends and we had a delightful day.  We saw Maria, Cordelia and Eric along the way, making it all the more fun.  I got to drag more people out to see water in various locations (one of my favorite things).  Here are pictures from some of our adventures...

Cordelia looking at water...just like Grandma!  She really is fascinated with water...

I didn't get permission to show our friends on the blog so I am just showing enough so you know we really do have friends.

Grandpa Mike and Cordelia by the water.

We had Bode (dog) with us when we took our friends to see the museum where our son-in-law, Eric, curates.  Mike & I took turns walking Bode.  Since Bode ate a flag on the 4th of July, I thought he'd like to also see more flags. 

What a patriotic dog!

Thankfully they were safely out of reach of his chompers.

Making our friends look at water...

Making them walk over the water while looking at it...

Despite the dramatic start to that day, it was wonderful to have our friends visit us. 

We also enjoyed a nice dinner at a local restaurant that has a distinctive Wyoming flair.

We laughed and reminisced and we topped the night off with hours of pinochle!

I was happy that the day ended with less mess than it began!



I Can't Help Myself

I really, really love water.  It calls to me! Yesterday I returned to the dam with the overflow waterfall, along with my friend, Diane.  We explored the canyon below as well.  Wyoming has a lot of beauty!  The day was sparkling and we both felt refreshed and grateful.  The pelicans were especially fun!  Maybe the pictures will give you a little break from routine as well.

Please check back tomorrow for one more river photo. 

 I'm saving the best for the last!

Water...such a gift from God!

Water.... we all need it! 

Have you ever been really, really thirsty?  You know, like having to avoid water for awhile before surgery or on a hike that went longer than you thought and you didn't bring water?  When you are really thirsty, water becomes something you can't stop thinking about!

And what's more beautiful than water?  It is photogenic, whether it be one drop or an ocean!

I took this picture at the resort this past week.  It is just a little manmade waterfall, silly really, but isn't it pretty?  I sat and watched it long enough that I then started wondering if anyone around thought I was a little weird.

I love water.

And when you need cleaned, you need water more than soap.  Just a simple shower can wash away sweat, bacteria and lots of other stuff I don't want to think about because this is supposed to be a "pretty" post.

We are being warned that the river near our house is going to be dangerously high soon.  There are many parts of our country that have seen devastating flooding this year.  Water can also be very, very powerful!

All this and more helps me understand why God chose water as the earthly element for baptism.  It represents cleansing, power, and is essential for life.  I thank God for water!