More hiking pictures

Well, I wasn’t the only one taking pictures of our day climbing hills. Deb got some great ones. Nascar Mama and I are reviewing our first finds of the day.  Deb is above these ruins playing Mountain Woman. I’m fooling with some new blogging software, and since I do so much traveling, this one inserts maps of wherever you are. I found it amazing that it even got close to Berrenda Ranch.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a picture of the tulips that I planted last fall taken with my new Olympus camera.

Waiting for Spring

     We keep getting bits and pieces of Spring, which I guess is normal for that unpredictable time of the year. I have the most beautiful tulips in my back garden which I have neglected to take a picture of. Who said, "Never end a sentence in a preposition?" A lot of people don't know what a preposition is. I did get a close up of my red plum. I did go to the lake to watch people have fun in their sailboat and campers. Taking pictures of the lake is my obsession. Or is it taking pictures?
     On Monday, Deb and I went arrowhead/shard hunting with Robin. This time Robin aka Ms. Nascar drove her ATV. Poor Deb sat on a pillow in the back compartment, but seemed to enjoy herself immensely. The first place that we went, after we roared through the cows and their new calves, was one of several ruins. I ran into a cholla cactus that asked me to take his picture, and naturally I obliged. We scoured the ground like we'd never seen dirt before and came up with a few rewards. We continued on to all the sites of ruins that Robin knew and ate lunch at the site of an old homestead. There was a dam that the settlers had built to hold water, and now the ranch uses it to water the cattle.

     From there we went to the petroglyphs which were hard to see, but the lichen made me think that a bunch of old hippies had been there before to paint the rocks. There was one place that was a chimney where the Indians obviously sent up smoke signals. We then visited a pit house that had been excavated, but those who found whatever that they didn't want left them on a flat rock: to include a quarter! At another ruins, Deb insisted on climbing to the highest point to get a good picture. I got a picture of Deb instead. Robin and I were discussing how we were going to carry Deb out of there in case she fell and broke her head. Way too much fun! Had to get back to the boys and feed them dinner.

In the Groove

     I arrived home from my big adventure on Thursday March 4 at about 5 in the afternoon. Wow! It's already been a week. I left Snyder, TX that morning about 6:45. West of Snyder in the cotton fields were flocks and flocks of great blue herons. The fields were grey with them. Unfortunately, there was no where to pull off for a picture. The same thing happened with my view of Sierra Blanca coming through Carrizozo. I had a spectacular view in my side mirror.
     Friday evening, after Cindi presented me with a bottle of Bitch wine (see picture), and I gave her a "Drinks Wine with Others" t-shirt and wine glass jewelry, we decided to go to Los Arcos for a drink. Naturally, half the town was there. Then we went on to the Inn where the "Unknowns" were playing loudly. Home was better.
     Saturday, I took a tour of the town to see what had been happening while I was gone. The main street through town is getting a major renovation and promises to be great when done.
     Unloading the motorhome and cleaning the dog fur out of it is proving to be a major job. The weather has been typical Spring: fast clouds and wind.
     The dogs' reaction to being home was a big yawn and to chase each other around. I did get a cute shot of Tux being his normal self.
     They started the sewer project on Huron on Monday and hit my water line on Tuesday. There is a big gaping whole in the road in front of the house and I had to park at Eddie's across the street in order to use my car.

     Wednesday I had a hair cut in the morning and lunch with Liza at the Club. Evelyn Skiles surprised me with her stylish head gear to cover her regrowth of hair. It was so good to see her out and about.
     Today was Rotary. It was so nice to see all  my Rotary friends and catch up on club news. I guess it's back to doing the Rotary blog while I'm in town, but that's OK, because I enjoy doing it. Susan LaFont called from the Chamber, so I guess I'm back to working the office on Wednesday mornings. That too will be fun.

Last Day in Central Florida

     Thursday was my last day to go touring with Carman. We headed toward the gulf and ended up at Crystal River. We probably should have checked this place out long ago. Carman said he had before I got there, but had forgotten about it. We climbed the burial mounds at Crystal River Archaeological State Park and tried to enjoy some snatches of sunshine. Then it was lunch time and Griselda (GPS) led us to Peck's Seafood Restaurant and Blue Crab Farm. We had a really great broiled grouper lunch and toured the tanks to say "hi" to the blue crabs.

     Friday, I made it as far as Panacea and stayed at the Holiday Campground on Ochlockonee Bay at the Gulf of Mexico. Their sunsets are spectacular and I tried to get a couple pictures. The next morning I headed for Apalachicola and toured their historic district. I had seen it on my way down to Bushnell and promised myself I would stop on the way back. I toured the shops and got myself a banner that says, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere". I had a tremendous bowl of gumbo at the Seafood Market & Raw Bar. I took the pictures with my Olympus, because I could fit it in my pocket. I didn't want to look like a total nerd with a camera strapped around my neck.After that, I did some serious driving and made to nice RV park about 20 miles east of Pensacola. Last night, I stayed in a park called Cajun Haven outside of Lake Charles, LA which was as close to being in a mud hole as I ever want to come. We are due to get 1 to 2 inches of rain today so I left early and stopped at Cypress Bend RV Park, so that I would feel safe while it poured. And it did up until an hour ago. The boys were glad to be able to take a potty break. Just as I was getting off of I-10 to go to the rv park, two vehicles in front of me both slid off the exit lane. One, a panel truck landed on its roof and the other a pickup ended up in the ditch backwards. I called 911 to report it after I pulled into the gas station parking lot. It was raining lightly, but the road must have been slicker than I thought. Tomorrow promises to be sunny and cool, but as I get closer to New Mexico, it's going to be in the high 60's. Come on Spring!

Silver Springs

Eating and drinking my way through Florida continues. Sunday before last, we went back up to Lake Panasofkee and actually saw the lake and I took some pictures, but none were exactly a Kodak moment. Habor Lights Lounge and Restaurant had an excellent buffet, good atmosphere and pretty scenery. Last Saturday, we went to Silver Springs. The weather was great. We took three boat cruises and saw a lot of alligators and turtles. We saw big  purple emu eggs that were abandoned due to the cold weather. I got a picture of a palm with a crazy curvy trunk.  One picture is of a bird that looks like he has a crazy hat on his head, but I don't know its name. The little squirrel was sitting in his dish eating the bird's food. Yesterday we went to Leesburg and found a Walmart that had the rag rugs I wanted and also a bread machine. I had excellent fish and chips at the Ramshackle Bar. It's warm, but trying to rain. The bread machine is doing its trial run.

Snow?!

     Well, unless you're hiding under your bed, you know that yesterday there was snow in the air or on the ground in 49 of the 50 states. My in-law's in Pensacola or nearby had snow. Here in the Bushnell area, we had torential rain and chilly temperatures. Carman and I braved it to find a really cute place to have lunch in Lake Panasoffkee which is only about 6 miles north of here. Sandy's Kracker Shack was the name of the restaurant, but the name of the resort is Werda-Hecamiat. That reminded me of our teacher's group at T or C Middle School. We were named the Heckawee's: if you're in T or C, where in the heck are we? We had an excellent fish dinner for $8, and it will take me two more days to eat what I brought home. We plan to go back and take pictures when we get some Kodak weather. The average temperature for this time of the year is 71, and I can't wait for that to happen. It better hurry up! The boys, Marshall and Tux, have been so good during this confinement. They seem to know that they are doing our business during opportune moments, and need to hurry up. See us sleep butt to butt on our couch! I've got to find the race on TV today, otherwise, I may have to bother Carman.

Catching Up

     I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted. I'm back at Blueberry Hill and alternately enjoying the park and touring with Carman. Our weather is fixing to turn lousy again, but at least I'm not in a snowstorm. Last Tuesday, I took a bus tour to Tampa and Ybor City with a group from the park. When we started out, it was raining cats and dogs for most of the way. As we neared Tampa, it quit raining, and by lunch time the sun was shining. We rode the Gasparilla parade route from the previous weekend. It's a pirate celebration and an excuse to party. We saw a lot of houses, old and new, and since the guide was a native, he told a lot of interesting stories. Ybor City was a place where immigrants came to work in the cigar factories. They were mostly Italian, German and Hispanic. Each ethnic group had it own social club and medical facility. They paid twenty-five cents a month for medical care. We had a great lunch at Carmine's Italian restaurant, and our last stop was the Cuban bakery where everyone bought a three-foot loaf of Cuban bread for $2 plus a lot of goodies. From there we went to the University of Tampa administration building which had been the Tampa Hotel. Teddy Roosevelt stayed there before going off to the Spanish American War. The domes are ballrooms and the stained glass pictures are in the center of the dome. The architecture and preservation of the building is incredible.