My Incredibly Bright Idea

The other morning as I was sitting on my deck, reading the paper, drinking my coffee and enjoying what's left of my mountain view (thanks to neighbors who added a 2nd story to their house and the trees that continue to grow thus blocking all but the top of the mountain, but I'm not bitter about it)when I had this incredibly bright idea. I mentioned to Jon that we should take the mountain bikes up to Three Creeks Lake.

So, I packed a picnic, we loaded up the bikes (and dog) and headed north for the 40 minute drive up to the Three Sisters wilderness. Let me just say that there is no lack of awesomeness up in those mountains. See what I mean?





Summers here are great, once they get going. Heat without humidity – which I totally dig, but I’m not sure why we waited until the heat of the day to go riding. Not like it was a tough ride or anything. The only bummer was the fact I couldn’t find my biking gloves(you know, the ones without half the fingers) which makes for sweaty, dirt-covered hands, because I’m usually riding in Jon’s dust. Add that to the issue of having the gear shifter on the handle bar grip so every time I stood on the pedals my hands slipped and so did the gears. After a few looks from Jon for having ‘words’ with my bike, I got over it, sucked it up and enjoyed the view from the trail.







The mosquitoes are in full frenzy mode right now so I brought the 99% Deet spray with me. This drives the environmentalists crazy, but I’m an eight-course meal for those pests (the mosquitoes, not the environmentalist, although the environmentalists are pests too) and I’ll take my chances with depleting the ozone AND getting cancer. So, halfway up the trail when I stopped by the lovely brook to take some pictures, reality dawned on me when the first danged mosquito landed on my arm. I left the Deet in the car. Go ahead, say it. Geeeenius. At last tally I was only sporting about 12 bites and counting. Not bad.



This is the upper lake that we made it to and as you can see, it awesomely spectacular AND there was no one up there. I love having the lake to myself because I'm really selfish that way. And, I even forged the raging waters. Total risk taker.









When we got back down the trail we pulled out the picnic and as soon as we sat down to eat, Bozley proceeded to go into some kind of convulsive maneuver, rolling and flopping around like a mad monkey in the dirt.











Apparently he thought this would suffice in taking care of the dirt issue. Duh-m dog.



Not so. He got the dreaded bath when we got home.

The End.

The First...

I know, I know...it's been a few weeks since my last post, and I have some really wonderful excuses as to why I've neglected my blog. (Did you think I was going to tell you what they were?)

Anyway, I finally have a few days off and thought I should quit being so lame and post something (anything) on my blog. Since it's snowing like crazy at the moment and the 3-4 inches that have accumulated are keeping me house bound, I thought I'd post a few 'first' pictures. (Hey, it's something.)

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Yesterday was opening day of deer slaying season and Killian secured his first buck tag this year. He has been waiting 'forever' for this hunting trip with his grandparents and a few hours into opening day, he dropped his first buck with one shot. I don't think he's stopped smiling since.

The First Buck


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As I mentioned, it's snowing. Apparently we had summer last week (80 degree temps) and winter this week. I don't know what happened to fall but it appears mother nature doesn't think we need to bother with that season.

Oh, and would someone please call Al Gore and tell him global warming is a bunch of left-wing hooey. Thanks.

The First Snow










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I had to bring out the winter recipes from the vault last night even though I'd still rather be BBQ'ing. I'm just not going to stand out in the rain/sleet/snow to do it. So I made a huge pot of lentils and if you'd like the recipe for this tasty looking dish, you can find it on mine and Helen's food blog.

The First Winter Dinner


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I did manage to get some pictures posted on my photo blog, so feel free to wander over to 'Annie's Daily Picture' (which has not been so 'daily' lately) and catch a glimpse of what I see when I get behind the lense.

The First 'Fall' Hike



And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go shovel some snow...