August 21, 2006

• We are back home and it feels good. Don't get me wrong, camping was wonderful, fun and relaxing, but I was running out of room for the mosquitoes to bite! So where to start on the recap of the trip? We had a bit of a rough start, arriving at 3 pm to check in, only to find our cabin was not ready and apparently the campground was short on staff. We had to cool our heels for almost 3 hours, till they could get someone to clean it for us, but once we were in, it was lovely. We had the cabin at the farthest end of the camp, way up in the canyon, so we had a lot of quiet and probably more animal sightings than most campsites managed. One night we even saw two dear, less than a stones throw from where we sat! That really had Becca and Megan excited.

  
  

  The first night Becca and Megan decided that since they have claim to some Native American Indian blood, they needed to sanctify the camp. This involved them dancing around our campfire with walking sticks that they pounded against the ground periodically. Then they created 'spirit' creatures from found twigs and leaves on the ground and tossed the completed objects into the fire. Becca announced that one hour after they burned, that spirit would watch over us. They were having fun, so who was I to argue?

  
  

  Joe learned what s'mores were and also that putting the marshmallow securely on the roasting stick is a good idea, but this was after one caught on fire and then fell off, onto his arm, as he was waving it about, trying to put out the flame. He ended up with a hicky-looking burn on his forearm, but seemed to recover enough to eat several s'mores that night and the following evenings.

  
  

  The girls got to do a Jr .Ranger program at the state park across the road from our campground. One day they learned about the native Indians who had lived in the area (the Chumash) and the next day they learned about the marine life in the area. Appropriately enough, there was a large school of dolphins playing off the coast for several hours that we had fun watching as they played and jumped out of the water.

  
  

  Down the road from our camp was a horse ranch, so we arranged to go on an hour-long horseback ride. Up to this point, the most the girls have done with horses has been pony rides at the fair. Becca was especially excited finally get to be on a 'real' horse. The weather was lovely and we joined another family with girls almost the exact same ages as Becca and Megan. Becca loved it so much, that she managed to talk Joe into taking her again the next day. Megan opted out for the second ride so I stayed with her and she did the Jr. Ranger program.

  
  

  We also spent one day in Solvang, a Danish village nearby, where we found a beautiful set of quilts for the house. One is for our bed and the other we want to hang in the stairwell as a decoration. I will try to post some pictures of each, the one for the stairwell was made by an Amish woman and is all handstitched in lovely deep blues, golds and yellow. It really is a work of art. The one we picked for the bedroom is done in the wedding ring pattern and is warm shades of cranberry and evergreen on a cozy light coffee colored background.

  
  

  One our last day there, we drove up to see my grandma who just turned 101 last week. She seemed to be doing pretty well, although her memory has obviously been affected by age now, as she told us the same story several times in a span of 30 minutes, etc. She was also too weak to stand up to give hugs to the girls and I, which she has always managed in the past. She got to meet Joe and Joe also was able to meet my Aunt Dolly and Uncle George, both who seemed to be doing well.

  
  

  That is the trip in a nutshell, I will try to post some pictures in the next day or so. Hope everyone is well!

  • 7:52 am
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