How I spent my vacation part 3 or....More information than you wanted to know about Redwood Trees or ...is this girl still talking about vacation?

At one time, when the dinosaurs were here, North America was covered in Redwood trees. Can you read this sign? This tree started growing before Christ was born.

Now, there are only 20,000 acres and they only live on the California Coast, because that area has the perfect climate for them (cool with daily fog). Its the perfect climate for me too. Mornings were about 48 degrees, it was so cool and brisk, and not humid... anyway.... The preservation efforts began in 1918. After Redwood trees were used to build the finest homes in San Francisco.

This is called the "Stout Grove", what use to be a wagon trail straight up a mountain to Oregon.

That's not an ant in a red shirt in the picture.... its my 6'4" husband.

They are the world's tallest living trees. Redwoods live to about 2000 years old and can grow to about 360 feet tall. Taller than the Statute of Liberty, taller than a 29 story building.

They have no known diseases and insects and fire can not kill them (because the bark is so thick). They weight about 500 tons. The only way these trees die is if lightening strikes them, or if the roots get too waterlogged to hold them up or if another tree falls on them or if someone cuts them down.

I kept thinking, "why did God make a tree that cant be killed?"

The sign says that this tree is 900 to 1000 years old and has survived a flood, a fire, being struck by lightening and loggers. Its called the "immortal tree". That's me in the picture, and I am not petite myself.

Even when a tree dies, a ring of new trees will sprout from the trunks base called a "family", using the first trees root system. They also sprout from seeds the size of a tomato seed, or a cone the size of a large olive.

I'm in this picture too. ... see me blending in with the forest....

I have a lot of dark pictures, because, being the professional photographer that I am, did not bring my digital camera which is another story completely... the story of the most stressful day in my life when my husband had to pack for me and pick me up from work and drive like a maniac to make the plane.... anyway.... I had to buy disposable cameras and then never used the flash.

And its dark in the forest.

This is a tree that fell and my husband is standing on top of it. Look hard.

I think God just likes trees and wanted to keep a few of these around.

Of course we did the tourist things.

There are three drive thru trees, where you can drive your car through a live tree. We hit two of them:

And, there are animals in the forest.

'Roosevelt elk" live in the prairies. They look like reindeer. We also saw a skunk, two baby deer, squirrels and a coyote (and that was just in California... not mentioning the two snakes and whale in Oregon).

Only the elk stopped for a picture.

Where do you blog? This is my spot:

Look here for other spots.

How I spent my vacation part 2 (Oregon)

I am sure there is something wrong with me..... I cant stop thinking of Oregon.

It works for me Wednesday

The new swiffer duster with a long handle

With an even longer handle attached to it, so I can reach the ceiling fan in the livingroom

so I dont have to hear my mother in law say one more time, .... "Did youknow you have to clean that ceiling fan more than once?"

It works for me Wednesday.

How I spent my summer vacation in Washington

We made a whole vacation around this:



The LSU/Washington State Football game.

We were at the top. Needed oxygen and a medic after climbing the stairs, but had a great view of the game (except for the pole), and the ocean to the right of the stadium. The mountains were to the left. Washington has a beautiful, although way too many stairs, stadium.



We went to Pike Place Market downtown and ate a lot of clam chowder.


The city feels like it is built in layers. You can see four streets in this picture, and they were about three more below that you could not see. The streets look like San Francisco, although I think they are even more steep.


This is the original "skid row". It was named skid road because the loggers would skid the timber down to the ocean. see the ocean at the end of this road? After the city took shape and roads were put in, this became downtown where the bums would hang out. It eventually became known as skid row.


We spent a lot of time downtown, walking on the piers admiring the ocean. It was cold. We ate even more clam chowder.


After sleeping in very late the first day, we went for a drive looking for a Wal-Mart, but, found this:


and after hiking a trial through the woods, found this: Its 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls. The pool below is 65 feet deep.



We also went to see Mt. St. Helen. I was 11 years old when it exploded, in May 1980 and I remember coming home from school each day to watch the news about the mountain. It was a 5.1 magnitude earthquake that caused the explosion. For six weeks before the earthquake, as the lava was building up, the mountain actually grew 5 feet per day. Now you can see the top of the mountain blown off and the north side collapsed. You can also see where the lava flow made a little river path.

The explosion caused 670 mile per hour winds and temperatures of 800 degrees. It flattened 230 square miles of forest and killed 47 people. Now the area is preserved for scientists to study. It also exploded in the 1800s. It explodes every 130 years or so.

Weight Watcher friendly late summer salsa

Its Foodie Friday!

I love this salsa.

People come over and rant and rave about it. I never say how easy it is or how WW friendly it is. I sometimes make it and bring it to my friends, for no reason, except they just love it, too.

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

In large bowl combine 1 can of drained whole corn, 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans, 1 large green pepper diced, 1 large red onion diced, 1 small jalapeno diced, and 2 diced tomatoes.

Add fresh chopped cilantro, two cloves fresh chopped garlic, one tablespoon apple cider vinegar, juice of one lime, 1/3 cup olive oil and two tablespoons taco seasoning mix.

Toss and serve with chips.

Visit more Foodie Friday's Here

Home

Back from vacation to a perfect day at home. Its a rainy day. Perfect to watch the NFL, stay in a bathrobe all day, throw clothes into the washer, a roast into the oven, enjoy new cup, catch up on bible study and generally ready self for work tomorrow.

Work tomorrow? Where did the time go?

Vacation plans

We are going here

and here and here

My husband's life will not be compete without seeing this

My life wont be complete without seeing this

We might see this. and go do this and maybe do this . We may go here

We will definatley visit these and here

A bit more randomness that is my life

What are the odds that one would get a sinus infection less than a week after being cleared by the doctor from having pneumonia? Whatever those odds, I have beaten them, and returned to the doctor for the second time this week. I should have asked, so how long is it before I’ll get pneumonia again, because I know its just a matter of time now.

I now know what the controversy is in major league baseball. I've been given steroids. The dr said "this will make you feel great immediately, but you wont sleep tonight." He wasn't lying.

I didn’t bother to tell him that I probably wont sleep because I’ve already had three cups of coffee- not counting the one I spilled on my grey suit in the car this morning (on a side note... I’ve just discovered these. They have individual flavored packets and I’ve been working my way through them all. So three time this morning, I brought a packet to the secretary’s desk closest to the kitchen to have her snip off the end...(yes, the same one) so now she is convinced I am really an 80 year old, falling in the parking lot, going to the dr twice in one week, and now three cups of instant coffee.)

I also never mentioned to the dr that I probably would not sleep because I had two diet cokes, not counting the one that I spilled all over the same grey suit at lunch when the bottom of the Chick-Fil-A cup literally fell out- the entire bottom- fell out, leaving the entire diet coke on my suit, my legs, shoes and in a big puddle on the floorboard of the car. I literally had to drive with my feet on top of the peddles so not to be ankle deep in diet coke and ice. (On another side note... my aunt used to tell me to always buy clothes that can be washed and I would just roll my eyes and think that dry cleaning was a small price to pay for fashion... until a grey suit, on clearance at JC Penny found its way into my closet and into the washer. Now, I wish I had ten of them.)

But I did not tell the dr any of that, instead I just took my latest prescription and returned to Rite-Aid for the fourth time that day. Do the people at Rite-Aid wonder who is that woman and why is she in this store every two hours?

And the dr knew what he was talking about. Last night, I worked until 8:30p (which is why I didn't go to Bible study), went home to do two loads of laundry, change the sheets, clean the bathroom and then, about midnight, climb into my new-vacation PJs, a little early. But is there any other day that would more deserve breaking out new vacation PJs for?

Then I was up at 4a, cooking breakfast, cleaning the kitchen and dining room, packing for vacation, and getting to work very early... with only one thought on my mind... how can I get some more of these steroids? Baseball players have known about this little secret for far too long.

But I have a headache from the steroid shot. Because I forgot to get Advil on all my four trips to Rite-Aid. Thats the original reason I went. Then I got up from my desk, drove directly there, got in and just stood in the store wondering why I went. All four times. I just ended up buying all manner of random things that I thought I needed at the time, like a pencil sharper for my makeup pencils and candy for the office.... more proof for the secretary that I am really 80.