Crochet Me Crazy

My friend gives me cucumbers from her garden. I saw these cucumbers sitting there and a memory came back to me.

I had a memory of my mother putting thinly sliced cucumbers in a bowl with ice cubes, vinegar and water in the refrigerator. I don't remember exactly how she did it but I remember it had those three things in it with some pepper so I tried it. If anyone knows how its supposed to be done, please tell me. I just used half vinegar and half cold water with some ice cubes and pepper and they are in the refrigerator now. I guess we'll see...

This guy was on the window of the visitor's center all day while I working yesterday. He's actually *smaller* than one that Michael and Jeff saw in a shelter but they didn't have a camera with them! I called Alison and told her to bring me my camera. He's very colorful too!

Well, a few days slipped into the black hole. The rest of Hannah's visit I was working at the stables so they were with me there. They got several horse rides in. Hannah was starting to get home-sick and we were all starting to look forward to it being the end of the visit. We drove to San Antonio on Sunday to bring her back to her mom. We got a picture of the girls on our way out.

After we dropped her off, we headed for our favorite restaurant that we've eaten at for years....The Alamo Cafe. It was such a treat! We haven't eaten out in so long!
I've made a friend since we've been here. Becky works at the visitor's center during the off season and her granddaughter is staying with her for the summer. She brought her up to the stables on Friday and Alison gave her a pony ride. Becky brought Alison a gift. She brought Alison a package of panties and a couple of outfits she had bought for her. It was so nice of her! (Alison really did need the panties pretty bad)

Michael wants to learn woodworking. His dad dropped him off at a local shop in town where they make custom wood furniture. Michael went into to talk to them about learning. They told him they couldn't afford to pay him but the man told Michael to call him back this week. He's going to check with his insurance to see if he can let Michael use his tools and equipment to learn. Michael called the man back last night and is supposed to call again this Wednesday. We're letting Michael handle this all by himself. Right now he is working with his dad everyday. Hopefully, he's learning a valuable lesson. The other day he asked his dad if they could get started earlier in the mornings because he's not having time to do anything else like swim, etc. Welcome to the world of adult-hood! LOL! Then, he asked me how Daddy and I ever even got married...I mean you both worked 5 days a week all day...how did you have time to get to know each other!

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as
the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

*****
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.
Live simply and appreciate what you have.
Give more. Expect less.

Yesterday was just a long, long day of swimming and swingin off rope swings for the girls all day long. I was there most of the day except I came home for a bit to get some preparations done for dinner last night. We've been trying to have fajitas all week but just haven't had the time. Jeff makes some awesome pico de gallo. I chopped up as much of the stuff ahead of time for him yesterday afternoon. I made guacamole, rice, and beans and Jeff grilled the meat when he got home.

Today the girls went with me to the stables. It was a slow day up there today. The girls rode one time and spent the rest of the time running around and playing with the goats. Then, more swimming.... Right now they are playing badmitten and the guys are picking up trash in the park. I'm finally *almost* caught up on washing the dishes. I have to do them in shifts because I don't have anywhere to put them to dry when they are clean. I'm too lazy to dry them by hand.

This blog is getting a little monotonous. Same thing, different day. Nothing very exciting to report.

Ah...but I always have pictures!

Today we got up and went to the critter corner presentation at the visitor's center. The ranger talks about the animals we have in the park and I hung around and helped out while it was busy. My friend, Becky, and her granddaughter Amiyah went with us to the swimming area. We hung out around there in the shade while they swam. I have a sunburn from yesterday so I didn't feel like being in the sun today. We came back to the RV to get something to eat and they went home. My girls got right back on the river again and I picked them up down river a few hours later. We needed to get back and eat and get changed to go on the hay ride. I sell the reservations for the hay ride in the visitor's center every week but I hadn't been on it myself yet. I was saving that for when Hannah came to visit. They drive you up on the mountain on the hay ride where you get out and they have a presentation called the "Cowboy Serenade" My boss Linda is a cowboy poet and our own Ranger Frank here at the park plays the guitar and sings. They put on a really great program full of Texas history and pride about this great state. The girls really liked it too. I told them they could walk up the mountain on Thursday if they wanted to come again and not have to pay for the hay ride.



I've already enjoyed reading Linda's book "Somewhere in the West" of cowboy stories and poetry since I've been here. It's fully of stories of people like Mary Ann Goodnight who is responsible for saving the buffalo which is the last remaining buffalo today. I have been to Caprock Canyon State Park and remember seeing those buffalo. It's more interesting when you hear Linda's stories. She has moving poems and stories of indian raids and captures. Linda is a real life "cowgirl" who's family is steeped in the history of this area.
You can read some of her poems here
Folks' Linda Kirkpatrick www.cowboypoetry.com

The girls babysat Amiyah for about an hour this morning. Then they came back and waited around for me to finish cooking potato soup. They wanted me to drive them to the mercantile in town so they could buy some candy for a candy party. Then they headed to the river with their candy bags and tubes. I found them down there a little later and then drove them to the swimming area. It was really busy today at the swimming area. Alison came up very upset. She was swinging off a rope swing and Hannah was in the river watching her from afar. Some boys beside Hannah were saying some VERY EXTREMELY crude things about Alison. Hannah told Alison what they said when she came back and Alison came up to me very upset. I won't repeat what those boys said. We left shortly after but the boys seemed to have disappeared when they realized Hannah knew Alison. Alison's bathing suit is a one piece with a skirt that she picked out herself. There must have been at least 50 girls there Alison's age and older practically naked in their bikinis so Alison is not advertising. I don't know why they had to pick her at that particular time to say such things. It really turns my stomach how immoral our society has become. It makes it a hard world to live in for a sweet girl like my daughter.

If my kids did have any curiosity about the nightly dance they have around here every night, it's over now. Alison never has wanted to set foot there and after being around all the kids that will be there in the swimming area during the day and seeing how they talk and act, she said it looks like "hell on earth" to her when we drove by. Jeff and Michael had to go up to the dance one night while they were working park duties. They said it looked like a bar scene to them. Lots of drinking goes on. I really don't get why people keep saying its a great place for kids...I really don't get it. Michael didn't seem to impressed either.

Being around all this stuff kinda gets you down sometimes.

Jeff came home this evening barely able to move. He's been digging the holes for the stairs in the banks of the river. He was sunburned and his arms are twitching and cramping. One more day of this hard part before the stair building begins.

Jeff and I drove around tonight for about an hour and a half picking up trash tonight. It's utterly amazing to me how people just leave all there trash everywhere after their day of fun. We only made it half way down the beach area before my fingers were about to fall off from squeezing the little trigger on the trash grabber.

The girls were tired tonight so they went to bed early. Everyone will get a good night's sleep tonight so we can get ready for another big day tomorrow.

I actually slept a late today. It's Father's Day but Jeff had to go off and finish the cabinet job today. The girls were ready to swim as soon as we got up. They went swimming by themselves behind the campsite for awhile until I was ready. Then we went up to the Visitor's Center and I picked up my friend's granddaughter. She is working the visitor's center today picking up my shift since I'm taking off this week. Her granddaughter is visiting for the summer so we decided to entertain her for a few hours so she didn't have to sit up there all day. I took her along with my girls to the swimming area today. It was packed out. They closed it down to new people for most of the afternoon because it was full. After a little bit of time there, we moved down river a bit for the girls to float a rapid. Then, we came back and changed clothes and ate a late lunch before dropping Amiyah (the 5 yr old) back with her grandmother. Then the girls were ready to go out again and wanted to tube. I dropped them off in the North end of the park for them to tube from there to our campsite. I have this feeling I'm still going to be tired even though I'm not working this week! They want to climb the mountain. We've already done it this year but we did it before the weather was so hot. I'm not going to let them do it by themselves. I hope I can carry that much water as I'm going to need in this heat! Better bring my park radio with me in case I collapse on the mountain...just kidding...I'll be okay! But the park radio is still a good idea.....
We ate dinner and they went back to the river after dinner supposedly not to swim but just wander around but they still came back with their clothes all wet. I guess they thought i would be upset...but who cares? Lol. I can't count the times I "fell in" when I was a kid. I grew up on a river myself!

Yay! Okay, I know it's not really Friday but it feels like it to me. Since I'm taking off from the visitor's center, I don't have to work until next Thursday! WOW! Today was a really busy day at the stables today! We were pretty much full rides one after the other all day long. Plus the phone ringing with people trying to book. Three of our horses we normally use are out because of being bit by another horse. The biter is actually one of my favorite horses but he's a bit territorial and he bites. They have bites on their backs and can't be saddled. It makes us short on the horses they normally use for kids. I finally just blocked out the 2 o'clock ride because the wrangler needed to eat at some point. It may stay busy like this from here on out. They said business would pick up mid-June. Well, at least I'm not bored!

Jeff's cabinet job is going smoothly and he may have another couple of jobs lined up after this and the stair job. He's found that their well house roof has completely caved in. She also asked if I thought Jeff could fix a broken water pipe at the stables. The guy that was supposed to fix that took $240 and then disappeared. I guess it pays to be trust-worthy and dependable around here.

By request from a reader, I'm posting the recipe for my Chicken and Dumplings.

Wash a whole chicken. Place in large pot and cover with water. Add a chicken bullion cube. I don't generally measure my spices but I usually add celery salt or maybe a little poultry seasoning. Bring water to boil and continue cooking until chicken is very tender. I usually have to keep adding water as the water boils down. My chicken is generally falling off the bones by the time I'm done. I then removed the chicken and bones from the broth and put it on a plate to cool. Then I removed all the bones cut or shred chicken into bite sized pieces. Add chicken back to your broth and bring the broth to boiling again.

Now for the Dumplings:

Combine 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 tsp of baking soda, and 1 tsp of salt. Cut in 1/3 cup shortening and add 1/2 cup of milk. Combine until it forms a stiff dough. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into approx 1" wide strips. You can make them however long you want them. I usually make them about 4 or 5 inches long. Now, the important part for my family is to have LOTS OF DUMPLINGS so I triple...yes, triple...the dumplings when I make them! Drop the strips in to the boiling broth. Cover tightly and boil gently, stirring ocassionally, for 8 to 10 minutes or until the dumplings sink.

I used to make this with one dumpling recipe and they would eat the dumplings out and I'd have just chicken left...so I doubled it...still the dumplings disappeared...so finally, I tripled the dumplings and it's impossible for them to eat the dumplings out before its completely gone. That was voted the best chicken and dumplings EVER so I do it like that every time now. Also note, this is a very cheap meal to make.

She's making little benches for them to sit around their little fire pit they have set up.

She is so excited because her best friend since she was 4 years old is coming for a visit. She's getting to stay a week. Alison and Michael have been very busy the past couple of days getting their campsite all set up. They moved the tents around and got them very well tied down this time. We have a lot of wind here and they weren't holding up too well. They found some carpet in the dump here at the park and they have the big tent set up with chairs and the portable DVD player. They have been making tables and chairs and have everything set up just perfect. I'm wondering why they don't want to keep our campsite that neatly organized!


I was able to get off of my job working in the visitor's center next week so I can be around here while Alison has company. Also, I want them to have a good time and I don't want to be tired and useless like I usually am!

Jeff is working right now and I'm about to go to bed. He's going to be working long hours this weekend to try to get about 7 feet of kitchen cabinets torn out and rebuilt before he starts his big stair job next week. Last night he got this emergency call about this cabinet job that she needs done by July 3. He was just about to start the stair job today but he checked with the people he's building the stairs for and they said it would be fine with them if he did this job before he started on theirs. He's trying to get it knocked out so he can get started on the other one. He's going to be very tired over the next couple of weeks working that hard out in the heat. It is right on the river so I guess if he gets close to heat stroke, he can always jump in!

No near death experiences or exciting adventures to report today. We just went into town to get groceries. We actually had to put two things back because we didn't have enough money to buy them today. It wasn't actually something we needed at the moment though...it was just a good deal on the detergent. I was thinking tonight...Wow, God provided for us this week to get groceries. Jeff hadn't had any jobs recently but this week they need him to replace the faucet and put the water heater in. That money paid for our groceries. We have everything we need now.

Wow, I found out I don't have to work at the visitor's center tomorrow! I'm trading days with another park host. I haven't had two days off in a row so I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to be cooking up some stuff tomorrow. Alison has been wanting chicken and dumplings for awhile. It's her favorite. I haven't been up to it but since I'm off again tomorrow I'm going to make it for dinner tomorrow night. It's not really hard...its just a little bit of trouble. I don't like it made with canned bisquits either. The only way I will make it is with the rolled out dumplings cut into strips like my mama used to do it. I loved hers when I was a kid too. I'm also going to make hot sauce AND green sauce. Everyone always asked where the hot sauce is when I've made green sauce a couple of times in the RV. I used to make both at home but it's a pain to wash the food processor by hand. I seem to wash dishes 24/7 in an attempt to keep that tiny little sink empty....but generally its not, but not for lack of trying!

I've made a lot of progress on my baby blanket tonight because I was off the computer. I let Alison use my computer tonight because her computer really doesn't work well here in the park. The internet connection is super slow and its hard to do much. I can't really complain though since its free! When i get a little more of this blanket done, I'm going to try to get started on the hammock. It's a little hard to get started on that one. Once I get going, I'll be good..but its going to be a big project so i don't want to get ahead of myself. Also, I'm thinking about whipping out some can coozies out of plastic bag yarn. I wonder if those would sell in the gift shop? People come here with pockets full of money to blow while their on vacation....and um...drink lots of beer too. I've held more hundred dollar bills in a week around here than I have in a lifetime (when I worked at Randalls!)

Well, people that pray...please pray that something breaks through for us soon on the job front for Jeff. God is taking care of us, that I know, but unless He's planning on sending manna from heaven, Jeff needs a job or lots of jobs soon! It will be a year at the end of July that he's been without work!

This really hasn't been much of a "crochet" blog lately. I actually have made some pretty good progress on the blanket I've been working on (or haven't been working on, I should say..) This week I brought it with me to both of my jobs and I worked on it during my down time here and there.

The park has been really busy but I can tell I'm already getting used to all of the daily accidents, ambulances and commotions that go on. It seems like there's something most every day and I miss a lot because I'm out of the park all day 3 days a week! Last night some lady was laying in the middle of the street screaming and refused to move and earlier in the day there was a compound fracture. Tonight the ambulance came for a dehydrated guy.
Sigh...never a dull moment but I'm not out in it all much. I do my two days in the visitor's center and Jeff and Michael pick up the rest of the hours.

I don't know why I get so tired on the days I work. The jobs are very easy and I'm not doing anything strenuous or tiring but it seems like I'm just worn out when I get home and there's still so much to do. I guess I've been too spoiled all these years being a stay-at-home mom. This evening, I ended up falling asleep on the couch and when I woke up, I was so disoriented. I was trying to remember what day it was and what time of day it was. Boy, it did me wonders though. I felt so much better after that nap!

Alison hasn't been able to ride the horses for the past two days. That's been rather sad for her. I'm not sure exactly what's going on but the owner's wife told the guys not to let her ride more than a couple of times a day and now one of the wrangler's has been acting strange the past two days. I told Alison not to say a word about riding and they haven't offered to put her on a ride for the past two days. I'm not sure what is going on but I have a suspicion about what it might be. No one has done anything wrong...I just think there's some bad communication happening here. Anyway, I hope it works itself out. I asked Alison if she still wanted to come with me if she wasn't going to get to ride. She said she does. She really loves those horses.

Jeff was at the stables today doing another little job replacing a water heater in the little cabin he put the screened porch on. Nothing else is new. Tomorrow, we go to town for groceries. I want to make it a quick trip. I don't feel like going anywhere.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

It always catches me off guard at the strangest times that my eyes will tear up because I suddenly think of my mom. Mainly I remember her and miss her before the Alzheimer got the best of her. I used to talk to my mom on the phone all the time. I sure wish I could pick up the phone and call her now. It's been 7 months and 3 days now. Now, I'm I better stop before I have to go to work with puffy eyes.....

Yesterday, I had a close up view of a porcupine for about 10 minutes. I was only about 5 feet away from him and watched him take his time up a tree. I wasn't sure what it was at first because his quills weren't sticking out at all. All the times I've seen them before it was very obvious what they were. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me....I ran back with the camera and the family to see if he was still there but he was way up the tree by then.

Today, we saw a mama fox and three little babies come scampering across the road....they were so cute! No camera and no picture, of course.

Today was my day off and I did a whole lot of nothing until about noon...well, because I wanted to do NOTHING! Then, I cleaned the RV a little bit and made green sauce. Next week, I'm going to make hot sauce on my day off....we need hot sauce really bad.

Jeff is about to really get his skills tested! There's no doubt in my mind that he will do a great job on it. We went out to some people's property today with him to look at a job building a stair case down to the river. They had some but they were washed away about 5 years ago. This stair case will have two landings. This will be quite a staircase. He's giving it a lot of thought and I think this one will be better than the last one. I took a before picture....the staircase will come down all the way from the top of that cliff. The top section is still there and he won't have to rebuild that but you can't see it in the picture.

They said the kids could swim so Alison brought her bathing suit and enjoyed the river while Jeff surveyed the situation. They have a beautiful little spot on the river. Michael was glued to a DS game today so he didn't want to swim.




I love it here so much....It's just like a little heaven on earth. I really hope everything will work out and we will get to stay here. I'd rather live here with less than in Houston with more. Sometimes less is more...and its true.

Tomorrow, is my volunteer day working in the visitor's center. I like my days working at the stables better than the visitor's center. Alison is ready and waiting to go to the stables again!

Alison is about to get to have her best friend from Houston come for a visit. She is very excited about that! We're going to work on getting those plans together to pick her up in San Antonio. If we have to pick her up on a Saturday, I might not get to go because that's my day to work at the stables. If so, then Jeff will have to go pick her up. I hope I get to go!!!

We went and visited a church in the next town over to this morning. We went there because we had heard they had a good youth group. Alison needs some friends. It was okay. I didn't see too many youth there today and it they weren't too friendly. Two people acknowledged our presence which was pretty surprising to me because people out here are generally very, very friendly. More people speak to you in the gas stations that spoke to us in that church! LOL...pretty sad, actually. Anyway, we'll start visiting the churches in the local town now. Then, we headed straight to Kerrville from church to do some grocery shopping. That was an amazingly beautiful drive! ... not something I would want to do on a regular basis because the curves and hills were severe. It was really, really pretty though...I was thinking I HAVE to be in one of the prettiest places in the whole state of Texas! It took us longer to make that trip to get groceries than it normally would and I'm not convinced its worth it. I think we'll just keep going to the same town we've been going to for groceries. It's not very pleasant place to go but its quicker to just go there and get it over with. Anyway, by the time we got home and got the groceries all put away it was dark. I've got to get up early tomorrow and work in the visitor's center.

Alison was on cloud nine today! She was literally riding horses all day today. I made her ask the owner of the ranch herself if it was okay for her ride because she needs the practice in talking to people. He told her she could ride anytime there was a horse. She went out on all 4 rides today and rode a different horse each time. That's about 4 hours of horseback riding. She was tickled pink. One ride, the people were getting their horses out of order and the horse that wasn't supposed to be behind her bit her horse on the butt and he bucked her a little bit. Then, the last ride the guy was whipping his horse and trying to get him to go out of line. Alison was mad after they left. I told her she needs to speak up and tell the people the rules. The horses are supposed to be in a certain order because some of them don't get along and they will irritate each other. I'm going to ask the owner if Alison needs to speak up when stuff like that happens and the wrangler doesn't notice. Jeff came up to the stables to replace a faucet in the bathroom and un-clog the sink at the stables today. Jeff and Michael went out on a ride while they were there. It was a good day today.

I forgot to turn my flash on so some of these pictures didn't turn out too good.

Alison on Bandit...


Alison on Shiloh...(he's the biter)



Alison on Dago...



Alison on Cowboy...



Is it possible to take too many pictures of my daughter??? I guess I'll find out! LOL

Alison went out and took some scenery pictures a couple of days ago. She loves taking pictures! Hmmmm....I think photography is something she would really like. My camera isn't the best but seems like she always has it!





This is what became of some left over wood Jeff had from a job.



The dog crate was falling apart and I needed something to stand on to reach the high stuff in the RV. Walaaaa....dog crate/step stool! Thank God for handy hubbies!

Only worked half a day today because there was only two rides today at the stables. Alison drug herself out of bed this morning to go with me even though she could have stayed here with her dad. She was hoping to get on a ride. Well, she got her wish. She ended up getting to go on both rides and ride two different horses. The first one gave her a little trouble getting him to keep up so they put her on the lead horse the next ride. She was happy as a clam! Just about the time they were about to ride out on the first ride some people came wanting kiddie horse rides. The guide said...well, do you want to do those while I'm out? I'm like....ummm, sure! lol! I know nothing about horses! He got the horse out for me and I put 5 different kiddos on the horse and walked them about 2 times each. No problems except the horse would try to eat grass but he was the gentle kiddie horse and was easy to pull away. Okay then...maybe Alison will be an expert by the end of the summer!

Some kind of work for Jeff has got to come along soon!! Poor Jeff was so worn out from that sleepless trip that it took him a few days to recover. Now, he's trying to recover from the river trip and his blistery feet. Sigh....hopefully, today he can get out and at least go talk to the park about the park ranger job. Un-employment won't last much longer....

I worked by myself at the visitor's center yesterday and wouldn't you know it, it was the busiest day I've seen since I've been in there! It was fine though... I came home with stuff home grown vegetables from people's gardens! We have lettuce, yellow squash, zucchini, peppers, and lettuce and some eggs! I want a garden!

Poor Alison can't go out in public here without someone saying something to her about the "dance" here. Every single day.... "Did you go to the dance?...or Are you going to the dance?" They have a dance here in the summer every night. These are adults asking her this. She does not want to go to that dance! Her answer..."I don't want some random person asking me to dance!" Then, she gets all kind of advice from people about being shy, etc.... poor girl.

Well, I'm off to the work at the stables today. Gotta go get Alison's rump up out of bed because she said she wants to go with me. I know she's hoping for a free horse ride today and wants to see her favorite goat!

We've been here for 2 1/2 months and still hadn't floated the river. Yesterday, was my day off so we decided to go ahead and float the river as a family. We had been told it was a 6 hour float from the bridge to Concan. So...we parked the car at the destination and then drove back in the truck to start floating and got in the river behind our RV which would make the float a good distance closer than if we started at the bridge. We had a good time for the first half. Then, I started getting a little bit cold and concerned. I had no idea what time it was but it seemed to be getting late. I have never been that far down the river and we went through a lot of very deep parts that you had to pretty much paddle or swim for very long distances. The banks were either private property or completely over-grown. We went on and on and on....the kids were still plodding along and having a great time. Then, Michael noticed how low the sun was and started getting concerned...uh-oh! We started getting out and trying to walk on the bank some to go faster. We are walking through over grown jungle like stuff getting all scratched up and the river was getting kinda yucky in parts. We got to where we couldn't pass through so we had to jump back in the river a couple of times in yucky partys and swim again. We're starting to get colder and colder as the sun goes down and there's no site of the bridge we parked at. All we know is that when its dark out here, its very, very dark out here and we do not want to be in the river when it is!! Finally, we see people and a bridge. We get to the low water bridge and Jeff says this isn't the bridge. He knows where we are but he's not sure how much further it is to the bridge we parked at on the river. So we decided that the kids and I will sit here with the tubes and Jeff is going to hike to the car on the road and come back and get us. He takes off and we sit and wait. The sun is going down...we're waiting....a few cars drive by.... we wait.....less cars are driving by....it's getting darker.....we wait.....Michael wants to go scout out the entrance to the RV park across the road before we can't see our hands in front of our faces...I told him No, daddy is going to come get us no matter what. It's dark now....we wait...we're sitting on the side of the road in our wet bathing suits freezing to death...we wait...Alison is getting frantic and starting to pray so I'm just telling her not to worry, it must have just been a farther distance than he thought....I'm starting to worry because I can't figure out why its taking him so long and hoping nothing happened to him. I know that once he gets to the car, it would only take a matter of minutes for him to get to us. Finally, we see car lights and a car zooming down the road....I hear the horn...it's him! LOL ... He has the car all warmed up with the heater on. He tells us that he had been running as long as he could...then walking...then running the whole time. Two times things tried to chase him and eat him... ha, ha...well, maybe not eat him but he said two times things snorted from the bushes and scared him to death because whatever it was didn't run away when he snorted back! LOL
He wanted to drive with us and show us where he had been and we measured the distance in the car. He had run/walked about 5 miles back to the car. Poor Jeff has huge blisters on his feet. He was wearing water shoes.
Needless, to say...that was a really dumb thing to do. I don't believe what we've been told about the from the bridge to Concan being 6 hours. We're going to start from where we left off one day and see how much longer it would have been if we had stayed on the river....and start much earlier in the day, of course, just in case. When drove back by where we had parked our car at about 10PM there was still another lonely car sitting there that had been there earlier in the day when we dropped our car off. Wonder what happened to those people?
It was a perfect day for our neighbor to cook us dinner. Our neighbor had told us earlier in the day she was going to have some BBQ for us last night and to come on over when we got back. We knocked on her door when we got home late because her lights were still on and to apologize for getting home so late. We were famished. She loaded us up with BBQ ribs, green beans and salad. She couldn't have picked a better day! :)

Well, I'm off to work in the visitor's center today. I have it all to myself today afor the first time. Everyone else is still sleeping!