Tag Archives: Memories

Mondays are for Memories – Geocaching

We haven’t been Geocaching for a while, but it certainly was a fun way to explore a new area! Here’s a little walk down memory lane from one of our first times in Texas!
October 5, 2008 – Four Cemeteries, three local parks, two lookouts, a post office and a mystery house.
And that means we spent Saturday geocaching! Of the roughly 46 geocaches within a 10 mile radius of town, we managed to hunt down about a dozen. I know I have said before that this hobby helps us really explore an area – and I can guarantee you that we never would have found some of these roads (and interesting sights) if we hadn’t been on this treasure hunt.
So , from the top –
Cemetery One –
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This was our first cache in while, and for a bit we were afraid we would have to log a DNF (did not find). However, we took one final look at the tree that we felt sure held the treasure – and there it was!
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(And since it is there in this picture, I’m sure you can feel our pain!)
Two more cemeteries right in a row –
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And one very interesting hiding place –


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From the cemetery bonanza we headed to the town square to locate an historic log post office and a dinosaur footprint (apparently this area has all kinds of dinosaur footprints and fossils!). This was a “virtual” geocache so we had to gather information and then send it in. It was a pretty interesting building, and right next door was the town museum, so we took a break and checked out the local “stuff”.
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After our little town square adventure we followed the GPS to Heritage Park. It was a great little park on the Paluxy River where several historic buildings had been relocated.
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This was a “multi” cache, so we had to follow clues through the park to find the final treasure. And even though we followed all the clues and all the directions, we never did find the final stage. But then again, it was a 35 mm film canister hidden somewhere in this wall –
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Yep, a DNF – but according to the log, the last 5 visitors were also DNF. Misery does love company!
On to another great local park – Big Rocks Park.
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Gary worked on this one since it was way back in the woods while I stayed back and took close ups of the local flora –
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But I digress……
Back on the track to a local Soccer field – and another walk into the woods.
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Here’s a geocaching tip – always check under the rock in the tree!
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From there we found one under a rock on an overlook, checked out a small local rest area and found one under a bench, and found one on an abandoned property. There was this VERY interesting building along the road near one of the caches –
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What do you suppose it was? The front part looks like it might have been a (drive through?) porch of some kind, and there were places for lights over the arches. And the construction was amazing – stone, quartz, petrified wood, mortar and brick.
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There are other building in the town with that interesting brick work combined with stone, but I have never seen anything quite like this. Guess I’ll have to ask around!

We finished the day with one more cemetery (there are actually 30 cemeteries in this county!), another overlook and then a quick trip to Granbury for the weekly Home Depot/Lowes/Wal-Mart run.

All in all – a very good day! Only 1 DNF – and even that took us to a lovely park with lots of interesting buildings and local information. If this has been WAY too much geocaching info – sorry! And if it has whetted your appetite for this crazy hobby – check out www.geocaching.com and see what all the fun is about!
And I quote Gary’s favorite T-shirt (thank-you, Lara) –

I use billion-dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods.
What’s your hobby?
P.S. – the whole set of Glen Rose Geocaching pictures is HERE if you’d like to see those overlooks (remember, we’re in Texas), that other cemetery and a couple of other miscellaneous pictures!

Mondays are for Memories – Cherry Blossoms, Washington, DC

A Wonderful Weekend – April 10, 2006
Sometimes God totally surprises me with his Goodness to me. Both Gary and I still pinch ourselves that we are actually on this adventure. We have been blessed over and over again in the people we’ve met, the places we’ve worked and the sights we’ve seen. And once again, when I thought that we’d be having a really good weekend, God surprised me by turning it into a total delight.
Saturday started out early. We wanted to get an early start for our trip into DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival. (Fortunately the other couple on our project used to live and work in DC, so they drove!). We still had to park very far from the center of activities, but it was well worth the walk. DC was absolutely beautiful! We got to see all of the monuments (many for the first time) and the walk through the cherry trees was spectacular. Here are a couple of the shots from the day – so very pretty.
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Friday evening I had discovered that one of the churches that was having a women’s retreat at Sandy Cove was Calvary Chapel of Central Bucks. I know several families that worship there, so I was hopeful that I would be able to track down some friends. Saturday after our wonderful day in DC, I headed to the dining hall to find some of those buddies. It was a grand reunion with friends – some I expected to see and some I was totally surprised to see (as were they!). I sat in on the evening’s session (more blessings) and then was able to hang around and visit. It was down right amazing. And a total “God Thing” kind of day!

Sunday was a lovely early spring day and a quiet day of rest – a beautiful Sabbath.

And tomorrow we start the project. New things every day! Gotta love it!

Happy Daylight Savings….and there are a couple more pictures of the Cherry Blossom Beauty here.

Mondays are for Memories – April 2011

Because we’re just beginning our 2015 SOWER Texas Roundup (aka reunion) and because yesterday was our son Josiah’s 34th birthday, I thought I share a post from our family vacation just about four years ago (and four babies ago!) when we celebrated Josiah’s 30th birthday in Gatlinburg, TN.

April 3, 2011 A Family Vacation
It was a long time coming. Although we’ve gotten together at holidays over the years, we haven’t really been able to pull off an official “Family Vacation” since Ellie was 2. And that was 6 years ago. Two more babies and a new DIL later, we were all gathered at a big old log cabin in Gatlinburg, TN for a long overdue gathering. Even though the weather was quite uncooperative (it rained 4 out of the six days we were there) and by the end of the week a couple of us were struggling with bad colds, I still think it was a great success and filled us up with memories!
Here a just a couple of the highlights –
On the first sunny day, we trekked over to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park where we enjoyed the drive out to Cades Cove. The girls had never been to a National Park and really thought we were going to a big playground (sorry, kids!), but I think they enjoyed the day!
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One of the highlights of the day was the special “guest appearance” of my niece Christiana –
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What a treat that she could join us (from Chattanooga) for the day! And how fortunate that it was a sunny day!
More Great Smoky Mountain National Park pictures here if you’re interested.

Between showers one day we checked out a local pottery
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and Toby and Ellie tried their hand at some mountain music!
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There is a ton of “touristy” stuff to do in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, and we chose Wonderworks as our big splurge of the week.
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There were lots of activities to do, but I think the most fun was watching Hayley (age 6) climb the rock wall. It was a first for her, and she never hesitated for a moment.
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She also went on the High Ropes Adventure with her Mom, Lara and Josiah.
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That Hayley is certainly one brave 6 year old!
Everyone had a good time –
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Ellie practicing her motorcross skills
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Maddie taking on (and winning mostly) the air hockey challenge!
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The big boys playing “Mind Ball” – to see who could think less the longest. It was a long match (really, about 5 minutes!) but Josiah finally won. Is that a good thing?
And Noah was a champ the whole time – just watching all of the activities!
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(You can see more Wonderworks photos HERE if you’d like to!)
But let’s face it – most of our time was spent at “Mountain Dreams” – our home away from home for the week.
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That’s Denali, our “guard” Great Pyrenees. She’s Lara’s dog, and she was wonderful with the kids and all of our inside time. Like when we celebrated Josiah’s 30th birthday –
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the girls made sure she was part of the excitement!
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Yes, it was great having Denali a part of the family vacation!
Then there was the day of the Jacuzzi and the bubble explosion –

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Yep, Dad was in charge of that bubble extravaganza! (Just one more squirt, Dad, please?)
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And even though it was cold and rainy most days, that didn’t stop us from using the hot tub on the deck!
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You can find some more random shots of our “Fun at the Cabin” time here, and if you’d like to see the whole “Family Vacation” set, you can check it out here.

Ok, so I guess this was a little more than the “highlights”, but I tried to keep it short(ish), honest. The week had it’s ups and downs, but then with 11 people living in one house (with zero soundproofing!), I guess that’s to be expected. But all in all, it was a grand week, full of hugs and kisses, new adventures, and deepening relationships. I sure do love these guys –
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Love. These. Guys.
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Mondays are for Memories – April, 2010

This post, from April 27, 2010, is from our “Rock Tour” of the Grand Circle (Grand Canyon, Arches, Bryce, Zion, etc.). We were just talking about our Arizona/Utah travels with some friends who are hoping to visit the area this summer with their grandson and I was reminded of the beautiful time we had there. It is a little picture heavy, so be prepared to do some scrolling!

We set out with just the truck to explore the Navajo National Monument in NW Arizona. This monument preserves three intact cliff dwellings – although we only hiked out to one. And really, we didn’t actually hike to the dwellings. We hiked to the view of the dwellings. Apparently they only have guided tours to the actual ruins on the weekends, and when we saw where they were, we realized that we probably wouldn’t have taken that hike anyway. (Again, it’s the bad knees going down and the asthma (and general stamina) coming back up. We just know our limits.) But the 1 mile hike to the overlook was very lovely, and the view of the dwellings excellent (even though they looked like doll houses!)
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See that alcove in the rocks? Where all the shade is?
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This little community was built into that alcove they estimate about 800 years ago. Amazing! And what’s more amazing, they estimate that it was only lived in for about a generation. Like 30-40 years. My goodness, what a lot of work for such a short time. And I wonder why they moved on?
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This is a view of the entire valley from the pathway to the viewing point. At least they had a room with a view!

After we returned to fetch Lizzie we set out “for real”, heading north into Utah. But first, we stopped at the magnificient Monument Valley. This isn’t a National Park, but a Navajo Tribal Park – a first for us. It was actually very similar to a National Park – visitor center, scenic road, gift shop, and tours, but it was different in that there are Native Americans that actually live within the park, and at many of the pull-outs there were vendors selling Navajo jewelry and art.
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I’m so glad we did this park – it was spectacular!
Even the drive there was beautiful –
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But once inside the park – my, oh, my…
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Along with the jewelry/art vendors there were also a couple of spots where you could hire a guide to see the monuments on horseback. Or, you could just have your picture taken on a horse.
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More scenery….
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And a final panorama –
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(Sorry if that seemed like a lot of pictures – but if you had seen how many I actually took, you’d be proud of me for whittling them down to these!)

The rest of the day was spent on the road. But what a beautiful road that was!
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(catch the 6% grade sign? Keep your eye on those signs!)
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Oh, yeah, at the bottom of that last 10% hill – was this curve –
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But we made it – down those hills, and back up some others!
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But ah, the beauty along the way!
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That little formation was just outside the town of Mexican Hat. Get it? Mexican Hat!
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And those mountains are actually called the Navajo Blanket Formation. How appropriate!
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The good new here is that we arrived at a lovely campground in Blanding, Utah before we came to those snow capped mountains!

After we got settled in, and had a nice home-cooked dinner (no, really, I cooked!), we were treated to this wonderful end-of-day blessing.
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God is so good to us!

Mondays are for Memories – Tulips!

After a pretty rough winter I think we’re all longing for spring! So in honor of that longing, here is a post from early May, 2009, when we visited the Skagit Tulip Festival in Skagit, Washington. It was spectacular!

By the time I returned from Columbus (and that great week with the kids), the tulips had come out in full force over at the Skagit Tulip Festival. I couldn’t resist all of the beautiful color, and I was very busy clicking away. Although the main attractions are the fields and fields of tulips, we really enjoyed a little “sampler” corner that was full of individual rows of beautiful blooms.


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But those fields full of blooms were pretty impressive too!
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(I loved that little renegade yellow tulip!)
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Tulips to mountains
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But our day wasn’t only about tulips! We also went to the cute little town of LaConner where we visited the LaConner Quilt and Textile Museum (well, actually I visited the museum and Gary took a nap!). The exhibits were impressive – the first floor full of quilts and quilt tops by a traditional quilter that not only quilted by hand, but also pieced by hand. Such tiny stitches!
The second floor was dedicated to work by textile artist Sheila Groman. One of her specialties is the crazy quilt – fantastic detail!
Crazy quilt Sheila Groman
And up on the third floor were amazing works of textile art by Karin Franzen. No pictures allowed up there on the third floor, but the art was stunning. Ms. Franzen lives in Fairbanks, AK – do you think she’ll mind if I stop by while I’m in town?

Speaking of Alaska (we were, weren’t we?) – our scheduled departure date is Monday May 11th. Our caravaning buddies have all arrived here at Warm Beach and this week, along with our Sower work, we’ll be doing all of the last minute chores in preparation for our trek north. Here’s our team – I’m sure you’ll be hearing (and seeing) alot about them in the weeks and months to come!
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(We took them back to the tulips today before it started to rain. Already fields are beginning to be de-capitated of the beautiful blooms!)

Have a blessed Lord’s day – and if you’d like to see more of God’s tulip creations – the entire set is here!