The Next Chapter in the Book . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOB!

Last week Mary Lou and I did the Naches Peak Loop trail  at Chinook Pass. We try to do it each summer. We sure noticed that the young folk got a lot faster over the winter! The trail is 3.3 miles of beautiful spring flowers and colors. This is Mt. Rainier with Tipsoo Lake in the foreground. Which was also under snow last time we went by.






Tipsoo Lake was mobbed by early tourists and the area was decimated. As you can see above, it's made a great recovery.

This is especially amazing because last month when we drove around Mt. Rainier with Mary Lou's sister, the same area still had about 4' of snow. This is Mary Lou's sister, Linda, with her friend for scale.

Lake #1 is along the trail and is a beautiful lake filled with thoughtless people trampling the delicate flowers and shore just like long ago with Tipsoo Lake.






The bear grass was spectacular.

Meanwhile, back at home Bob is starting on our new front walk and deck replacement. First he tore the old boards off the family room porch, then chopped up the old sidewalk and tossed it into the fresh opening.

...and sealed it all in with deck boards. Someone's going to have a fun surprise when the deck is replaced 20 years from now.

Next it was time to install the sidewalk. After we chose the paver stones we had to create a pattern to lay them in the sidewalk. Enter the sidewalk mock-up on the family room rug.

The old sidewalk has been removed and we are back to the original gravel sidewalk we used to have 40 years ago when we first moved into the old homestead.

Bob cut the pavers amid a spectacular cloud of dust and safety wear. Check out the knee pads and basketball shorts with the Carhartt shirt. Not shown: classy safety glasses and super-cool respirator.


























Bob got the pavers all installed. Imagine he did it without any guidance from me. Laying this pattern was too much of a nightmare for my ADHD brain! It physically hurt when I tried to figure this part out.

With the addition of a little sand to fill the cracks, the pavers magically turn into a real sidewalk! Just sweep and use.

We had the cutest little raccoon family come out and eat the leftover crow food. The momma and her three kits were picking up the dog food with their cute little hands and stuffing their little cute little faces. It's kinda like having lunch in the classroom with the guys again!

Speaking of wildlife, check out these two piliated woodpeckers. The original "Woody Woodpeckers!" They are big really big, beautiful looking birds. This is a mom and her chick. You can tell the chick on the left because of it's slouchy posture, helpless attitude, and tail feathers hanging low like a true millineal while he waits for Mom to eat from the suit feeder then feed him. 

I got a card from Auntie Karen and she enclosed some old photos she had stashed away. This is Auntie Karen and me in a photo booth in 1961. I must have been about 3-ish?

My Gram and I in Saco, Maine. I didn't know I'd ever been to Maine. Woo Hoo! I went to Maine before Chris did!

We've been through our projects, our hikes, our old pictures, and our wildlife so why not our flowers? The Easter lilies are on fire this year and I love the smell of them. We love to sit on the patio and smell flowers in the evenings. The smell even wafts into the house so we can enjoy them while we watch tv.

My angel trumpet tree has beautiful flowers too. Sadly it's not the nice big kind like we've had before but it's beautiful and smells reeeally good.

Y'all know how I like to troll the airplanes going overhead. Well, Mary Lou was going to Denver and made the mistake of sending me her flight info. License to troll! There she is, on the end of the arrow, at 5,540' heading for her sister's house.

This is her plane along with all the other air traffic up there. It's hard to believe all those airplanes know where they are going! I'd be taking side trips to swing over Mt. Rushmore or to take a gander at the Great Lakes if I were the pilot!

Have a great week, everyone!