Explorations and The Hard Place

We bought our house at the lake for this very purpose....to be closer to Lidia and Sawyer. We live for days like these. From the time they arrive on Fridays after school until they have to go home Sunday evening, they are in adventure and exploration mode. And Cliff is their captain.

Now, to be able to explore you have to have certain gear. Christmas gifts for Lidia and Sawyer (also known as L&S) this Christmas included hiking boots, warm clothing, gloves, toboggans and camping dishes and utensils. Their new camp in the woods at the lake is partially on a huge rock. Their camp's name is The Hard Place. Between a rock and a hard place....get it. Ha! They have a fire pit and a grill to sit on top so they can cook. The usual camp meals are hot dogs and things like that unless Cliff has a stash of squirrel or venison in the freezer.  Last weekend, camp fare was squirrel. My job was to boil the squirrel until tender and then they would cook it over the fire to give it that smoky campfire taste. But first, they had some exploring to do.

Saturday, it was misting rain and so cold that L&S wore their camouflage coveralls over clothes to keep warm. They stayed outside all day long with Cliff, exploring the area around the lake.

During the winter the water level in the lake is lowered so residents can do maintenance on their retaining walls and docks, etc. The lower water level gave them the opportunity to discover hidden treasures.

 

Cliff said, "Found a perfectly good chair left after lake level down three feet".

 

 

 

Artifacts recovered - musselobster, moonshine jug spout, 8th century candle,

Native American headpiece and ancient fossilized driftwood.

Sawyer eating mud ice....because I'm pretty sure Bear Grylls does.

 

Their exploration wasn't limited to the shore line, they went deep into the woods, too.

 

Into the woods.

Erecting a mound of stones as a marker, also known as a cairn.

 



Lidia and Sawyer's signature cairn at Mt. Vegroovious..

 

 

I can't stop laughing at this video. They were obviously thirsty at the end of their day. They look like the babies I remember sucking their bottles. 

 

 

 

Sunday, back at The Hard Place, Cliff prepared the fire for cooking their 'end of adventure' meal. Squirrel. I imagine that one day Cliff will also teach them to hunt squirrels.

 

 

 

 

Lidia with misty rain in her hair and blue nails sitting at The Hard Place eating squirrel.

 

No doubt, L&S are going to be the most outdoors savvy kids by the time their Papi gets through with them. And, Lidia and Sawyer love it. They don't miss television or video games. They never complain about being bored. Their imaginations run free. Oh the memories and stories they're going to be able to tell their kids one day. Adventures and explorations of a lifetime! 

 

Until the next expedition,

Laurie

 

Slip Sliding Away....An Upstate Adventure

I'm from the south and when we get weather other than thunderstorms, it's a big deal. Winter weather? Even bigger. Sleet? Well...that just begs for us to come out and play.

So Friday....we head upstate. Straight in to the sleet and rain. Good thing Cliff's jeep is a 4-wheel drive with nice grippy tires.

Sleet didn't start to accumulate on the road until we got to Spartanburg. We took I-85 for a short route over to Sista's.

You know, I'm sure one way to weed out the folks that text and drive is to throw 'em on a sleet covered interstate. No lie, we saw 7 accidents within a 3 mile span. All single car accidents. It looked like they had spun out of control.

Experiment: Cliff wanted to see how easy it would be to spin out. He slowed down and waited until no traffic was coming and then hit the brakes. Nothing. His tires grabbed. They did spin very slightly, though, when he hit the gas to speed back up.

Conclusion: I'm going to be a little presumptuous and say that clearly these accidents were the result of someone not paying attention. Don't text and drive, people!

Finally, we made it to Sista's. Let's call her Terri. Now, she's not a biological sister. She is a cousin, but has been adopted into my clan as a bonafide "Sista". And we sistas love an adventure (weather permitting).

Now, if you read my blog about "Cracking Up", you'll know it was over some chili. I hope my laughing at Terri the other night over the chili didn't hurt her feelings. Terri was planning to make it for dinner Friday, but when we got there....No Chili!

I was silent. Thought to myself, let's not stir this pot. Ha! No pun intended. We had pasta instead. Turns out she was accommodating my athletic husband who had a Triathlon the next morning. Gah, she's so sweet?

So, Terri informs me to eat hearty. We are going to slide into an adventure after dinner. Huh? It's 27 degrees F outside. No matter! We are going sledding in the sleet covered hills that she lives in. Oh joy! Oh boy! Wait, this could get dangerous.

Scott, Terri's boss husband, has this thang about wives submitting to their husbands. Well, let's just say, "ain't happening". He just does what Terri says. And Terri said, "Honey, go get the sled." OMG!


Disclaimer: Cliff has videos coming out the ying yang. But for space and time's sake, I've only attached one.

"Said Video"

Jan 25, 2013 Sledding at Terri's.

Yep, that's me. And nope, I didn't die.

Good thing Scott told me how to turn the thing or I would have ended up in the bushes like Terri. Ha!Ha!

Cliff had his Triathlon Saturday. It was one of those that take place inside the YMCA. Lap pool, treadmill, and stationary bikes. Kind of a bummer. This dude likes the outdoors, but he'll take what he can get. He's in training for yet another Ironman. Tri results - Cliff took 3rd place in the 40+ age group. Pretty darn good, considering he hasn't been in his 40's for some 7 years now.

I'm so proud!

Now we had to go feed this man. He needed some major calories. So off to Ryan's we go. Everything went smoothly here, until.....

Terri walked off with a serving utensil.

I don't think she has Alzheimer's. In fact, I'm pretty sure of it. She has what my mama calls half-heimer's.

Hey Scott......maybe drawing up some papers might not be a bad idea, right about now.

I'm thinking of purchasing my own metal detector.

Like I said, weather affects our adventures. You do the best you can with what you have. Spring adventures....coming soon.

Til next time,

Laurie

Oh, wait......in case you were wondering:

I ran 2 miles last week. That's it.

This week's plan (knee permitting): Run 2 to 3 miles every other day. I've got a 10K to train for, people.