March 9, 2009

    
We awoke to a beautiful white snow-laden wonderland. It was like looking at a postcard! It was beautiful.

We packed up our stuff, cleaned a little and hit the road. 

We drove through a lot of fog for quite a long time.

As always, we are looking forward to our next visit!

March 8, 2009

While having breakfast, we noticed a couple of deer in the back of the cabin. Not wanting to spook them - we just watched. We didn't get a chance to get their photo, but ultimately, five ran across the property. They were almost the same color as the bark of the trees and all looked very young, except for the first one we spotted...obviously, the mother.

We spent the late morning and early afternoon getting appetizers together for our friends - neighbors get-together. On the menu: Taco Salad, Meatballs, Cheese, Sausage & Crackers, Crab Dip, Pinwheels, Egg Rolls and for dessert - eclairs, fudge, cookies and coffee.

We were shocked at the weather. It had rained all morning, then turned to sleet and then to giant snowflakes and they were accumulating!

Paul, Betty, Steve and Cathy arrived at 4:00. We enjoyed the conversation and the food. While they were here, we accumulated about 8" of snow. They stayed until about 7:30 - it's funny how couples have little ways of telling the other that it's time to go...Cathy told Steve she was concerned about the weather and Betty slammed into the door ~ dammit ~ amongst a couple of other tell tale signs and Paul offered for them to leave. It may have been the longest period of time she had gone without a cigarette - for for that - I thank her!

We cleaned up and re-hashed our visit after they left. We started organizing for an early trip home. We needed to head the Indiana to spend time with Katie and her family because they had just lost her grandpa Mel after suffering a lengthy illness. 

We wanted to catch the evening snow and snapped a couple of photos before getting some sleep.
       

March 7, 2009

We both worked Friday night, so getting ready to leave Saturday morning seemed a bit stressful - but we were able to be on the road by 9:00 am. Most of the drive was dealing with the rain; the weather was damp and cold. We went straight to Culver's for lunch. We were both famished and of course tired. After our yummy lunch, we made our way to the cabin. The road - infamous for its water logged, sandy path was just as we expected - as disappointing as it always is. Ruts in the sand - filled with water and in some spots, filled with snow or mini ice bergs. Carlo navigated the Tahoe quite well and after the bumpy journey, we arrived to our muddy, somewhat flooded driveway!

We didn't bring much but after we put it away, we cleaned, made the beds and just moved things around in an effort to neaten up.

     

By the time we hung up a couple of cabin decor pieces we bought, it was nearing 5:00 pm and we figured we deserved to take a  nap before grocery shopping. However, an hour into an awesome nap, I woke to the almost worst ever leg/foot cramp. After crying and screaming, we were both up and decided to finish up our day. Carlo fed the birds and when he was done we went to Wal-Mart - although we were able to get almost everything we set out to get, we were disappointed with the store. They are remodeling and is was difficult to find things. So, I guess we saved money! We went to Jimmy John's for a change and took everything home, ate and I started on the appetizers for the guests we were expecting on Sunday. Carlo crashed on the couch and shortly afterward, I called it a night as well!

March 2, 2009

Alex woke up bright and early. We started to pack up our things...we gathered the unwanted leftovers for the animals and Alex helped Carlo with putting them out by the tree. We said our good-byes and headed home, looking forward to our return in five days!

March 1, 2009

After a great night of sleep, we woke to a fresh fire in the fireplace and made a great breakfast of pancakes, sausage and fruit. It's great to have everyone together! After getting ready, we took lots of family photos...thank goodness for the tripod!

We indulged in a vast array of appetizers for our luncheon snack and then Rick and Katie needed to head home. The rest of us took it easy - mostly due to our stuffed bellies! Alex attempted to nap and Jackie and Tom did the same.

We now have a new favorite O'Wich story...while Carlo was showering, Alex wanted to ask him how to say juice in Spanish - so, tired of waiting for Carlo to come out of the bathroom, Alex went in. Jackie and Tom told him to leave Carlo alone, and I got up and closed the door. When Carlo was ready to leave the bathroom, the doorknob wouldn't turn. This knob is a non-locking knob, so it was odd that it was stuck. Alex decided he would "save" Carlo and did his best to push the door open. He used all his might and pushed and pushed..."ball-jam", he said. "I will save you Carlo." At this point, Tom is thinking it might be a good idea to 'shoulder' the door. However, being the door is more costly than there was any danger...Carlo decided to remove the hinges. Good thing the maintenance room is just past the bathroom. This was when a photo would have been worth a thousand words. Alex was so proud of himself, yet disappointed that he couldn't get the door open. Once Carlo came out, Alex said, "I saved you, Carlo." It was adorable!

We didn't do much else for the rest of the day - Carlo ran to town, Tom took and nap, Jackie, Alex and Zoe went for a walk and I watched a little television.

We finished all the food for dinner and visited for the evening. It was already time for bed!

Even Zoe seemed to be enjoying her weekend away; sprawled out on the couch!

February 28, 2009

Carlo and I slept in the loft and overall it was great - getting used to the ladder is another story along with the other story about "watch your head." But I was able to navigate with minimal problems!

Rick and Katie brought wood from their de-construction which worked out great to get a fire going. 

We had a nice continental breakfast with lots of fruit and just kicked back. 

Katie had papers to grade and got to work on those. 

Jackie, Tom, Alex and Zoe arrived mid-morning and after settling in, Alex helped Carlo feed the birds. 

We had a cook-out for lunch - brats, italian sausage and chicken. It was scrumptous!

Alex took a nap and because it seemed like such a great idea - I decided to do the same!   

Around 4:00, we loaded up and went to Cascade Mountain. 

Jackie decided to not tube and took photos. 

The rest of us went up the 800 feet to the top of the run via the Magic Carpet people mover. It was pretty scary and although I eventually got used to it, I was still a little shaky on it. The Magic Carpet takes you and your tube up just so you and your tube can slide down. Great concept...it was awesome. There were five runs and four of them were working. We took turns tandem-ing with Alex - who did a great job! We tubed for almost two hours and each time was incredible - even crashing into the foam barricades at the bottom was fun. It's a good thing those were there - otherwise, you'd be in the parking lot! We look forward to going again.

          

From tubing, we went to Pizza Hut and had a pretty tasty dinner. After tubing, we needed to eat. Back at the cabin we kicked back, watched a little television and looked forward to getting some much needed sleep!

February 27, 2009

The day started off a bit rocky - the outer basement of my house flooded and I needed to clean it up again, before we left. Carlo had trouble starting the truck - the map light was on for at least a day. But once he got the battery charged, he was on the way to pick me up. While I finished getting things out to the truck, Carlo changed the wiper arms and blades so the windshield would be clear - on both sides. It's hard to co-pilot with obscured vision!

Our trip was comfortable and went quick - but it still took over 3 hours. We stopped at Culver's and had a nice lunch. We got near our exit, and surprisingly, the barn is still standing! 

After we unloaded the truck, we did a few chores to make some extra space in the cabin. Then we headed out to use our rewards check of $56 from Do-It-Best and we wanted to get the groceries we would be needing for the weekend. On the way back, it was getting dark and I was able to capture the moon and a star. Although the photo is rather blurry, it was an amazing sight!

Rick and Katie arrived about 45 minutes after we got back and we enjoyed the ever famous O'Wich Skillet and (of course) pasta, for Rick.

We visited the rest of the evening and called it a night - Carlo and I were up for over 24 hours and we were ready to stop moving!