From Camper to Cabin - a well needed break

While it may seem that I have disappeared, I have not. While it has been my dream to blog and write and inspire people to live lives that are valuable to God, others, and themselves, my priority is to my family. So while I have seemed to have vanished in the internet world, I have been living full time with my family.

The past eight months have brought many a changes in me. I would not even know where to begin to share our adventures since we left Utah. My heart has been touched, broke, re-built, then recharged, and to be broke again.

Winter brings much needed change in our life.

I have had zero free time.  I don't need free time.  It is a privilege.  While I may have been too busy to blog and write, I have not been too busy to reach out to my husband, kids, and the people God has brought to me.

The hours spent with campers, new friends, old friends, people in need, people who don't need anything, hurt people, happy people, and every crazy one in between - they have taken much of my free time and even more of my heart.

These past months have been amazing.  But now I find myself at the other end of the spectrum and am hiding out in a cabin in the Ozark Mountains for the winter.  My husband was determined to give us a break from the camper.  He has had his fill of traveling for the time being.  He has no desire to go anywhere and is ready for a break.

This is our third time renting a cabin.  The first was Wisconsin, then Utah, now Missouri.  

So, another adventure begins.  Day two in cabin - brown recluse!

Desert Big Horn Sheep at Zion National Park, Utah

The Desert Big Horn Sheep in Zion National Park were a sight that we looked forward to seeking out.  While on a hike to the Canyon Overlook Trail, we spotted the awesome beasts deep in the crevice below.  We watched them jump and climb around the cliffs and ledges.







The next trip to Zion, we were shocked to see them hiking down the road, close to that same trail.  They weren't in any hurry and seemed to enjoy stopping the traffic.  I'm not sure what Ranger taught them to pose for pictures - but he or she deserves a raise!

We have a rule in our family that if someone sees an unusual animal that we all get ice cream that night.  These Desert Big Horn Sheep were definitely unique and exciting so we all enjoyed ice cream that night!

Wild, Dangerous Beasts are Everywhere!

One of my bigger problems is all of the dangerous animals we encounter in our travels.  I have kids of all ages and it seems that most places we go they are like bait.

Last year we spent the winter in central and south Florida.  I couldn't believe all of the alligators!  They were everywhere.  One campground had a pond in it, and guess who lived there?  Yes, an alligator!

The parks we walked in and playgrounds we played in had signs everywhere that said to beware of alligators!  Why in the world have they not killed them or at least relocated them?  Kids run right by those ponds every day!

This sign is found on the way into the Florida Keys!

Then, of course, there were the sharks in the ocean.  I have never let my kids watch Jaws, and never will.  We had a lot of fun playing in the surf and kayaking the waves.  Cody got a little freaked once when he saw something swim by him in a wave, while he was on the kayak. 

Cody on his kayak at Playa Linda, Florida

I actually paid to hold an alligator!  I rested it on by pregnant belly.  The kids thought I was crazy!
 But then they did it, too!

We can't seem to get away from snakes.  I grew up in the northwoods of Wisconsin.  Nothing deadly can live up there, except bears, lymes disease carring wood ticks, and millions of mosquitos.  But, when I was a kids I didn't even really notice them.  Up there, though, no poisonous snakes.  I could walk through a swamp and not even worry about it. 

Living in Missouri, I have had to get used to copperheads.  We had 13 on our property one year!  We saw one in northeast Kansas, in Marysville.  It got real close to Shae and Josie.  Shae was so mad at it, he chased it down the hill with a tree branch, trying to kill it!

There was one, huge rattlesnake at Superstition Mt. near Phoenix.  He was right on the side of the trail, all coiled up.  Nasty thing. 

Heading into South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana brought a whole nother' level of beast.  Mountain Lions are down right evil.  I hate the way they watch us at the zoo.  Then the black bears, grizzlys, and moose, sure keep us on our toes.  I remember hiking in Glacier National Park.  We all sang, "This is the Day", clapped our hands, rang bells, carried bear spray, and stayed together as we walked to see an amazing water fall.

While at Yosemite, we giggled that the sign said to not even leave food in the open because bears will break into our cars! 

We did see a grizzly and two black bears at Glacier National Park.  I was thankful we were in our van, but just in awe of those magnificent creatures.  Now, if I had been on foot, it would have been another story!

A grizzly at Glacier National Park

A black bear at a bear encounter in Bozeman Montana.

 A black bear at Glacier National Park eating huckleberries.

Black bear in Glacier National Park

Yummy huckleberries

Grizzly at bear encounter

Since being in Missouri, we have killed 3 rattlesnakes and two or three copperheads!  I can't believe it!  I have decided there is nowhere safe, no place is free of its beasts, I just have to learn to live with them, or at least in the same forest as them.  Now, if they come after me or my kids, well, that is another story.  I have hunted my whole life and am not afraid to kill an animal of any sort.

I remember in Key West, there was a scorpion.  It was on my kid's toys.  I took their play hammer and beat it so badly that the only thing that was left was a claw!

I unloaded a whole clip on a copperhead, just to make sure it was dead.  I didn't want to get close to check, so I just kept shooting.

Now, I did check the law, and it is illegal to kill poisonous snakes in Missouri unless they are a threat to people.  Well, all of these were in our yard and where the kids play.  We had to kill them.

Speaking of scorpions, there was a very poisonous one sitting on our atv tire when we were in Arizona.  Cody kept it in a cage for a while until it climbed out.  It was a good thing he didn't have it in the camper! 

Lastly, Cody was riding his atv this afternoon and came across a huge tarantula.  I am thankful they aren't very harmful.  He wanted to catch it of course.

We try to read up on what are the dangers in a particular area or state.  Education is the one of the best deterrents to fear.  We try to learn all we can, and then do all we can to not be a victim.  Beyond that, it is out of our control. 

We pray and trust and have a lot of fun!

There is always something, everywhere.  We enjoy our trip and deal with what each day brings.

Donner Party, Alcove Spring, Kansas and a Copperhead

Most people have heard of the Donner Party from 1846.  They are the group of 87 pioneers heading west that got trapped in mountains in California. Their story is tragic and horrific.  Not many people know this same group passed through Marysville, Kansas.

We took the hike to Alcove Spring near the Big Blue River.  It is the location where many of the wagons took a ferry across to continue their journey west. If the water was high the wagons and people would wait until it was safe to cross, which could mean days upon days of camping in the fields surrounding the river.

The Donner party was one of hundreds that passed through this area on their trip west.

The hike to Alcove Spring was easy and a great historic experience.  We got to see original carvings made by some of the pioneers and see the spring that many of them frequented.

It was so amazing to get to walk where the pioneers walked and see what my husband called, "their graffiti". But, on the way back to the van things weren't as pleasant.  We had to cross a bridge. Shae was carrying Josie, I was walking with Gabriel and Naomi and had Tytus in the sling. Cody and Hanna had taken a different trail back to the van. The rest of us went back the way we had come. Shae was in the lead. He had to go potty and found the perfect tree. He set Josie down and began to walk off the trail. He suddenly began yelling at Josie to get back. I started to run towards her. Shae jumped and then kicked his leg towards the ground. I saw grass, weeds, dirt, and a copperhead poisonous snake fly through the air in the opposite direction of Josie. I grabbed Josie by the arm while trying to hold Tytus’ in the sling. We ran back to the bridge and as far from the grass as possible. Josie was crying loudly. Shae began searching for a large stick to kill the horrible creature with. All he could find was branch with lots of small branches on the end. He stabbed at the snake over and over again. The snake kept striking at the branch and trying to come towards us instead of getting away.  Finally, Shae got it to head down a hill away from us. He chased that thing down the hill with that branch. Gabriel stared at his daddy with awe and respect. He talked about the incident a lot that night. We praised God over and over for protecting Josie and Shae. Shae said he has never kicked a poisonous snake with his foot before and especially in sandals!

Here are some links for more information.
http://www.cityofmarysvilleks.com/
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-donnerparty.html
http://www.donnerpartydiary.com/survivor.htm
http://www.marshallcoks.com/attractions/oregon-trail/

Our Cat Came Back! what we did with our animals

FLUFFY CAME BACK THIS MORNING!!!

Cody was walking around out back and there was Fluffy laying on the concrete! 

She found her way all the way back from her new home! It was about 2 miles down the road. 

Their house is going to be such a great place for her, I hope she will stay there. 

We will try to bring her back tomorrow.....boo hoo.....

Fluffy and her daddy, Eli, made the move to our friends farm.

Eli loved his new home and his daily food service brought to him on

hay bales by their daughter.  He chased mice all night and

slept all day.

His daughter, was not so content, and kept coming back to our

home.  

We went to visit the kitties one afternoon.  

The kids had a blast

climbing the hay bales and petting their kitties.

(Fluffy never did settle in at the farm, but always snuck back home.  So, our next door neighbor took her in and was thankful for a good mouser.

Eli eventually died and we were thankful he got to spend the end of his life at such a great place.)