Fun with Friends and Family

 If I don't journal every day, I forget the order of things.  In fact, I have to look at a calendar when I am traveling to figure out what is the day of the week.  The regular schedule that I have in Florida is gone.  No more biking on Tuesdays and Thursdays, yoga on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I am telling you this because the report of what I did the rest of my time at Brigham County Park may not be in order.  Of course, you don't know that, but those I visited or called, may remember it differently.

Let me just start by saying I have gotten to visit with my son and his wife much more than I did last year.  They were both so ill last year and COVID was so scary.  So this year's visit has been awesome and it is not over yet!  My next campsite is about an hour to the east of their home, so I will be attending Mel's birthday celebration on Saturday.

I took a picture of my heater so those of you in little spaces can see.  This little guy works all night sometimes and I don't worry about it.

The day after I gardened with Jeremy and Mel, I got a text from Roger Perkins.  He lives in Madison and last year we rode together after I had put out a call on a recumbent trike group on Facebook.

He asked if I could join him and his wife for a ride. 

Peter was featured in a commercial for the Hostel Shoppe lately.  It was hard to chat much as we rode because: 1) The trail went along noisy roads in places; 2) The trail was super busy and not as wide as the Withlacoochee Trail; 3) Roger and his wife wear headphones so they can talk to each other while riding.

We had a nice 20-mile tour and he took me through the Madison area Botanical Gardens which were wonderful.  Every once in a while we would ride past a mass of the white lawn clover that is so common here.  It smelled soooooo good!

There were some hills, and Roger helped boost me up a few because he has electric assist.

On the drive back to camp, I stopped at the new Mt. Horeb veterans memorial. 

I tried to make a fire that evening.  The kindling burned but even with the starter sticks, the logs didn't stay lit. 

I gave up and walked over to the hill side to watch the sun set.  I missed having someone to share this with.

The next day I went back to Jeremy's.  There was a vegetable garden to weed and plant.  I had another great day with family outside.  All three of us spent some time pulling landscape rocks out of a flower garden.  We would sit and scoop them into buckets.  A lovely, repeatitive, calming activity accompanied by wonderful conversation and connection.  Thank you Mel and Jeremy for a lovely day!

I had them check out the back of my head.  I had cut my own hair and didn't know how I had done in back.  It turned out I had left a long tail on one side.  Jeremy pulled out his clippers and helped me out.

I had stopped at Anytime Fitness on my way to Jeremy's house, this day I stopped and showered again on the way home.  I had gotten quite dirty.

Kayak with Kathi

 

Kathi and I are long-time friends.  If you have followed this blog or read either of my books you will see Kathi in them.  Each time we traveled to Wisconsin we would stop to visit Kathi and Karl.  Karl passed with Alzheimer's Disease shortly before George passed.

This year she had a great idea, we would rent kayaks and paddle a bit on the lakes in Madison.

I went to her home first and we chatted.  As we were leaving I had to laugh!  This was hanging on the door.

I have been wearing ribbons or flowers on my helmet for years.  One time our bike group with Kay and Kathi and Elinor were out biking and they all surprised me by all showing up with flowers on their helmets.  

They didn't keep them there, it was just a funny prank that gave me a good laugh.  Now it looks like Kathi has taken the plunge into excentric old lady like me.

Kathi has a huge heart.  She has a large extended family and she is often stepping in to help when needed.

Kathi has been embracing life.  She just returned from a trip to Hawaii with her sister Geri. 

We had a super-duper visit and float.  The lake was crystal clear this time of year.  We had lunch at a place nearby that was very yummy.  Kathi told me that the state mandate for mask wearing was being lifted the next day, June 2nd. 

On Wednesday, my last day at Brigham I went for a short ride on the Military Ridge.  I passed some women stopped on the trail.  They told me a fox was on the trail, down by that lump in the trail.

There was a grey lump on the trail, I thought it was the fox and that it was injured or dead or something.  The lump didn't move.  I slowed down.  Then a red fox peeked out at me from the long grass next to the trail.  It ran toward the lump, picked it up.  The lump, it turned out, was a large, dead rabbit.  The fox started running away from me down the trail and finally turned off into the brush. 

In Mt. Horeb that was a kiosk.  I was glad to see there was some information about I park I had stopped at on my way back from Jeremy's one evening.  Stewart Park became a place of recreation long  before it became a park.  Back in the late 1800's people started creating a dam to make a swimming hole.  The property was owned by a farmer who let them have fun there.

All along the roads and the Military Ridge Trail are wild Phlox.  Very pretty light lavendar and white blossoms in huge clusters decorate the pathways.

In the evening on Wednesday, Jeremy and Mel came out to share a meal and watch the sunset with me.

I was so happy to have someone there to share the lovely view with me!  Thank you Jeremy and Mel!

We played a lot with our cameras.  Jeremy took panaramic shots that showed the depth of the hillsides.  He took these orange shots too.

After they left and I cleaned up the supper dishes, I walked over to view the last of the fading light.

My next stop is filled with visits.  So you may not hear from me for a few days.  

OH!  I almost forgot to tell you the big news!

I have decided to sell my house in Florida.  The market right now is booming big.  A sellers market.  It is booming so much that it will bust again for sure.  So I am getting out while prices are high and maybe get back in when prices are low.

I have been pondering the idea for quite some time.  It helped to talk about it with my long-time friends.  Thank you for supporting my decision Kay and Kathi.

I am first looking for a place to live in Lilac near my Florida friends and the Withlacoochee Trail.  I certainly don't want to give up that!