A bike ride, a birthday, and surgery!

Last Thursday, we met up with our good friends Gin and Syl for a bike ride.  Syl had researched the Pine Creek Rail Trail and had asked if we wanted to join them. The trail was in the "Grand Canyon" of PA and was supposed to be a beautiful ride

Ariel view of the Grand Canyon of Pa - I took this off of one of the information boards.
You can see the rail trail to the left of Pine Creek (yes that is a creek!) 

So, Dan loaded the bikes up, I packed a lunch and off we went.  We had about an 80 minute drive thru the country (mainly) and even saw a bear cross the road.  We knew that Gin and Syl were ahead of us by about 10 minutes and when we arrived at the Darling Run trail head, my heart sunk a little because they weren't in the parking lot!  Ugh!  Now I was second guessing if I had the right trail head. And, with no cell service, there was no way to get in touch with them. A few minutes later, they pull into the parking lot.  Whew - thank goodness! They had gone to the parking area on the other side of the river. After hugs, we unloaded the bikes and off we went.

Before we knew it, we had gone about 10 miles (time flies when you are with your framily!) and it was time for lunch.  We had a gorgeous setting for lunch.

Tiadaghton Camping Area

Tent camping is allowed in this area and they even have running water...albeit the old fashioned way!

It sure would make for some nice RV sites...no power.....but the view would be oh so worth it. Getting your RV there would be another story.  ;-)

We had such a fun afternoon....laughter was definitely the key.  I think we all talked non-stop catching up.

Syl, Gin, and Dan

Such fun times!  Syl, me, Gin

Having fun with the framily!

We would stop along the way to take in the scenery.  There were several "runs" where water would be trickling down....and then we saw this....

Gorgeous waterfalls at Turkey Path

Dan and I 

There was a boardwalk of steps to the top...about a mile in distance.  Dan started up the steps but came back down.  It was steep, covered in slime and very slippery.

We continued our pedaling...

Dan enjoying the scenery

The trail followed Pine Creek

And, as luck would have it, a bear decided he wanted to cross the bike path.  Dan and Gin were riding in front of Syl and I.  He (or she!) was a decent sized bear.  We stopped in our tracks, Gin rang her bike (bear!) bell, and off he trotted (after one last glance at Gin).  He went up the embankment and we watched him for a few more minutes.  Very cool!

All in all, we did about 20 miles of the trail.  The weather was gorgeous, the scenery beautiful and the company fantastic.  After the bike ride, we went over to the campground where Gin and Syl are staying.

View from Gin and Syl's site

We chatted for awhile and then hit the road.  It was a such great day!  Thanks guys!!

This past weekend, we celebrated Dan's Mother's birthday.  We went out to dinner on Saturday night and then celebrated with cake and ice cream on Sunday.

Beautiful birthday cake made by Jessie...Dan's niece

Hunter and Caden playing iwth Abby.

It was a fun time with family.

Last night, our friend Doug called and said that the vet was coming to perform surgery on one of their cows. He asked if I wanted to see it!  Heck yeah.....so off we went.  We arrived at the farm right after the vet did. The cow's stomach had twisted needed medical intervention.  The surgery was performed right there in the milk house.  It was awesome to see...no pictures as I didn't want to distract the vet from doing her job...and I figured that not too many people would want to see pictures of that on the blog!  I told Doug that next year, I was going to work-camp at the farm. :-)  I think a pair of pink muck boots are in order!  :-)  Thanks again Doug!!

Fun in June!

Sunset at the farm

These past few weeks at the farm have flown by! Dan has had quite a few projects with the truck...

Dan working on the truck

He is also working on rig maintenance...just like a house, there is always something to do!  He's also been helping his Mom with a few maintenance chores, too.

We've really enjoyed catching up with family and friends.....

Dan's nephew, Hunter, playing ball

Dan's grand nephews...Hunter, Caden, Landon, Donovan

Enjoying a picnic at Tim and Ann's house

Doug and Colleen's dog, Abby.  Such a cutie!

Emma and Nate

Four generations....Tim, Pauline, Sarah, Landon, and Caden

My brother's family was on vacation about two hours from us so we took the opportunity to go see them.  It was a surprise for my nephew, Nick and niece, Samantha. I am glad we were able to pull off the surprise! Sammie was sooooo excited she about plowed me down!  :-)  We spent the day kayaking, enjoying a 4 person pedal boat (and managed to change passengers 4 times in the middle of the lake!), swimming, and just plain having fun.

Patrick paddling away

Nick enjoying the water

We may be older, but we still act like kids!!

Nick, Paul , and Patrick.  Paul, Patrick's father-in-law is attempting to push him in the water!  

Enjoying the playground with Sammie, Patrick and Nick (Patrick and Nick not pictured)

Patrick and Jenny

Nick and I

Sammie

We all screamed for ice cream!

The day went by much too quickly but we so enjoyed our time together.

We have seen quite a few bears at the farm!  I think our count is up to 5 or 6 but I was not able to get pictures of all of them

Walking across the front yard....

On the hill behind the rig.....

They must be extra active this year!  We have even seen the game warden set traps.

Our friend Doug was on "calf" watch for us.  His family owns a working dairy farm and he had told me that they had a couple of cows that were due to give birth while we were here.  He wanted to know how late (10pm!) and how early (6am!) he could call to let me know that one was it's way.  Last Sunday night about 7:45, we got the call.  We rushed over and did not have to wait too long.   It was an amazing experience to see.  I had decided in advance I wasn't going to take my camera because I wanted to take it all in and not fuss with a camera.  Hopefully I will get another call before we leave and, this time, I will take my camera. Thanks Doug for understanding (or not!) my craziness!  

Our time is winding down and we have a few more things planned with the family.  It sure has been a busy month!
  

Spring Happenings!

We left Florida in mid-April and spent the next two weeks at Georgia Veteran’s Memorial State Park, McKinney Campground on Allatoona Lake (north of Atlanta; a Corp of Engineer park), and at River Plantation RV Park in Sevierville, TN.

Gin and Dan on ant patrol at Georgia Veteran's Memorial SP

Our site at Georgia Veteran's Memorial SP

Our site and McKinney Campground COE

View of our site from the other side of the lake - big sites!

Cooking dinner over the campfire

Day hiking at Red Top Mountain SP

We didn't realize how much we missed seeing hardwood trees when we were in Florida!  We really enjoyed our time “in the woods” and spent a lot of time hiking and biking.  The biggest highlight was hiking an 8 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail.  We saw many thru-hikers on their way to Maine.  They were so inspiring and so positive.

Abram's Falls

Springtime in the Great Smokey Mountains....beautiful 

Yellow Trillium

Wild iris

Old, old cemetary

Smoky Mountain Hiking Club Cabin c1936

Very cool bridges

Nancy and Bill 

Dan boulder jumping

Butterflies and Bees

Wow!  What elevation!

We're going to hike from Clingman's Dome to Newfound Gap (pink highlighted route)

Stunning views atop Clingman's Dome

It was a chilly morning to start!

I love the rows of the mountains 

Start of the hike!  Here we go!

Syl and Bill "under the tree"

Trail Magic - non-hikers celebrating thru-hikers with food, drink, and chairs!

Two of the thru-hikers we talked to 

6.2 miles hiked; another 1.7 to go....we can do it!

Field of white wildflowers; most of the trail was not this even! 

Hmmmm...how does one navigate this?

Just like....

this!!  Way go to Nancy!

We did it!  Syl, Dan, Nancy, me, and Bill

Dan, Gin, Syl and I visited the Old Smoky Moonshine Distillery to sample their wares…

Gin, Syl, and Dan

Samples served in "communion cups"

 We tried about ten samples of moonshine and left with peach and apple pie.  Yum!  Although we enjoyed our time at the distillery, we quickly realized we didn't enjoy the massive crowds and “touristy” parts of the area.

Downtown Gatlinburg

Gin, Syl and I set out one day to drive the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.   We made several stops along the way to take in the sights up close.

My framily

Love the sound of the creeks 

Old homestead

We arrived at our “home base” in NC just in time to celebrate our friend Kork’s birthday.  She is recovering from shoulder replacement surgery and we have been able to help her recuperate.

We (ah I mean Dan!) also had a maintenance item to take care of….

Our fridge had been acting really cranky and we knew that it was on it’s last leg.  We decided to install a residential fridge and, oh my, the space is wonderful!

We were also able to celebrate Ashleigh and Brandon’s birthdays with a fiesta!

Silly kids!  

And even sillier

Happy Birthday Ashleigh and Brandon

Smiles!

Enjoying birthday sweets!

My sister, Barbara, came up for a few days and she says I wore her out!  We stayed quite busy!  Dan, Barbara, and I biked 13 miles of the Neuse River Trail.  It was a gorgeous day and the first trail that Barbara had been on with her bicycle.  Barbara and I picked 14 pounds of strawberries at a local farm and I taught her how to make homemade strawberry freezer jam.   Kork made us strawberry daiquiris and we enjoyed them while watching Survivor together.

Barb and I on the Neuse River Trail

My best friend (of 27 years!) Linda and I ran away to the beach for a girl’s weekend.  We had an absolutely wonderful time catching up, laughing so hard our bellies hurt, watching our chic flicks (Thelma and Louise!), and relaxing on the beach.  We also popped over to see my Mom and Dad for a little bit one day.  It was so good to see them.  Mom sure is proud of her new flower garden we helped her with….and with good reason.  It is beautiful.

We start heading north to the farm in about a week.  It seems that time is just flying by!