Billy Jacobs

I had wonderful day today roaming the back roads of north eastern Ohio with my friend Lisa. We had lunch at a cute little restaurant and visited the Billy Jacobs gallery in Navarre, saw a bunch of cool historical buildings, stopped at a cheese shop and a winery and even saw sasquatch and got a baby bunny fix!

The Canadian Rockies

DH and I joined his parents and their friends on a week-long trip to Fairmont Hot Springs in British, Columbia the first week of October. We also went to Radium Hot Springs, White Swan Provential Park, The HooDoo's, Yoho National Park, Kootenay National Park, Banff National Park, Lake Louise and Golden.  There is no way to recap the entire trip as we took close to 500 photos. I have included the highlights. The scenery is break-taking and the fall colors were at their peak. We had temps ranging from -1c to 12c with rain and snow intermittent. Highlights of the trip include a stop at The Bear Paw Brewing Company in Canmore: this just after a bear ran out in front of us across the TransCanadian Highway, and a sighting and interactive visit with an American Pika- the smallest rabbit (lagomorph species) in the world. The Pika sighting was on my bucket list.  I also got to try Potaine-a regional dish made from french fries, gravy and cheese curds- absolutely delicious. And rounding out the list was the purchase of a new bathing suit on clearance for $24.99 marked down from $79 and a dip in the Fairmont Hot Springs pool.  We also had a nice long visit with Andrew's parents and their friends.   

Kootenay River. IMO-the most beautiful river in North America

 Fairmont Hot Springs

 Aspen Leaf

 Lake Louise with the parents

 Big Horned Sheep near Radium Hot Springs

 American Pika

 Loved the Ravens

 Raven in Yoho National Park

 Lake Louise

 Bear paws on the trail to Dog Lake

The Kootenay River

 The hot springs pool which is drained and filled every day

 I'm in Banff National Park, Alberta and Andrew is in Kooteny National Park, British Columbia

 The Hoo Doo's. There are Hoo Doo's in lots of places. It is the name of the type of rock formation.

 At Takakkaw Fall, Yoho National Park

 Near Canmore, Alberta, Canada, Frosty morning

Ooh and ahhing over the beautiful aqua color (caused by glacial flour) of the Kootenay River.

We're Outta Here

Too much work and not enough relaxation prompted the following:

Friday May 31st  Annette to Andrew-"I got a message today from Candace on Drummond Island. She said the the Prairie Smoke has buds and is likely to bloom in 3 days.  The blooms last a week so that puts us at next weekend.  Want to go?

Andrew holds out arm (as in twist my arm): Let's check the weather next Thursday and if it looks good we are outta here!

Friday June 7, 4:10 pm  in Detour waiting on the ferry.

Friday June 7, 5:30 pm   happy campers at the township park

Perfect weather all weekend!  Ahhhh...... Definitely worth the 10 hour drive  Here's the rest of the pictures

 Prairie Smoke on the Maxton Plains

Evening paddle.  Daisy asked to go by jumping into the canoe.

 Perfect campsite overlooking Rabbit Bay

 Mama and her colt  - such a treat to see these up close.

Dueling freighters in the St. Mary's River

Yellow Lady Slippers

King George

I’ve been a George Strait fan since he came on to the country music scene in 1981 and have seen in him concert a couple times. When the press release came out last fall that George was doing his farewell tour I immediately checked the tour schedule for dates.  I signed up on the arena website and got advance notice and was able to buy tickets a day prior to when they went on sale for the general public in October so we got great seats almost on the floor.  This past Saturday night was the big night and we traveled to Lexington Kentucky to see George and Martina McBride’s The Cowboy Rides Away tour.  I splurged and got a room at the Hyatt which is attached to the arena so that made it extra nice in that we didn’t have to fight traffic before or after the show. Martina sang for an hour and then the stage was reset and George played for just short of three hours including a couple of encores.   It was hands down the best concert I have ever seen. The sound was fantastic and George was, as always spectacular.  Even hubby (the classic rock fan) said George was a great entertainer. The tour runs through June 2013 with more dates to be announced for 2014. If he comes with in a 3 hour radius in 2014 we are going again!!

A Week on the Beach...

...is sure a nice way to recharge the old batteries. Especially when it's 80 and sunny there and 50 with clouds and rain here. We camped, rode our bikes, shell picked, cooked sea food over the fire and photographed wildlife in the salt marsh for 5 wonderful days. Of notable interest we saw a painted bunting, a scarlet tanager, several species of warblers, lots of skinks (which give me the creeps) and a 8 foot + black rat snake. On the way home we took a side trip to see the Angel Oak, the largest tree in the eastern United States, located on John's Island, SC and stopped to see my uncle at Badin Lake, NC where we enjoyed beverages and seafood on the deck.  I'm still sorting 500+ photos. Here's a few of my favorites.

A starfish, a big shark's tooth, and a fozzilized deer antler were among the finds.

 Bicycling on the beach. Daisy was a hit in her basket.

 Anole

 Creepy but colorful skink

 Sunset walk

 Beautiful sky

 Scallops & shrimp a cookin'

 Canoe trip out into the sound.

Daisy loves to canoe!

Our campsite in the live oaks

The famous Angel Oak tree