Bears in the campground...Yikes!!!

Is that really a bear climbing that fence?
Yep...that's one of the babies saying..."Wait for me".

Note: little one coming out of the bathroom
I'm done using the bathroom mom...let's eat.

"I'd love to eat, honey, but this darn box won't open!"

"Ah...I can smell the food, now how do I get to it?"

Note: Tent campers in their car now.
"Tent camping can be hazardous to your health...

good thing we have the car."

"Hey mom...wait up!"

"Are you sure the drive-up window wasn't open?"

We had so much fun going back to the Tahoe Valley Campground this last weekend with Carol and Craig. I don't really know how that place can stay so the same as it was 30 some years ago. It's such a fun "home away from home." We're always so surprised at how quiet it is there despite being so near the Y (which includes lots of traffic and shopping areas), but it really is lovely with all the trees and such. We were enjoying the small wildlife in our campsite area and on our walks, but didn't expect for a minute that we would see any bears. I know that we're in the woods, but after all, the traffic and parking lots are just a short distance away. But, while talking to mom on the phone I spied this mother and her cubs coming into the campground area via the roadway alongside the campground. I've never seen bears outside the zoo enclosures, so this was a special treat. It seemed obvious that they were quite used to saundering through this area and seemed very familiar with the fence and tree that they used to enter the campground. Stan was especially excited about the young one coming out the the bathroom. This totally freaked out Carol since she had been and would continue to need to use the showers at the campground. When we followed this little family (in our car) over to the other side of the campground there was a couple in their tent near the dumpster/bathroom area. We laughed at them peaking out from the top of their tent obviously trying to decide what to do about these visitors. They eventually both made a beeline to their car and stayed there until this family had moved on. I have a healthly respect for wildlife, but was so delighted to be able to see them so close up. It made the trip and the camping experience seem more remote than it was.

We also did some biking and took a drive up to where our old house was located. Surprisingly the house is up for sale again. This time the asking price was $584,000. Wow...we can't even believe that we paid $151,000 for it way back when. Candy Dance (the craft fair in Genoa, NV) was wonderful. We got there early and left when it got very crowded at 11:30 or so. Lots more booths this year and lots more people. But all in all, a great shopping experience. Even Stan and Craig enjoyed it...I think. I made a trip into my favorite quilt shop there in Gardnerville and decided that I would come back more often to shop there. Not one quilt shop in the whole Bay Area can hold a candle to this place.

So...a fun time was had by all...even the guys.

Stan and the Scouts

Stan and the boys went on a 5 mile hike. Brave (he says "stupid") Stan did all this with brand new hiking boots. He survived the experience with flying colors. The boys seemed to enjoy the food and camping out near the Napa State Mental Hospital. Stan did so well that he didn't even feel the need to be "checked in". The Friday evening included a flag ceremony, knife and axe safety, campfires (including the ever important Smores) and a talk by one of the leaders. Then some scripture reading, prayers and off to bed. Stan called me at 9:30 and said everyone was pretty much settled in for the night. That would never happen at girl's camp. Only one child (asthma) was up a bit in the night, but otherwise everyone did fine.

Early morning Saturday included the flag raising, first aid workshop, 5 mile hike & nature walk, lunch then finally, the orienteering.

Wow...sounds like alot of activities to be crammed into such a short period of time. But hey, we're talking Boy Scouts here, right?

My Man in Uniform

July 2001 -and- September 2008

Stan has received a new calling. He's now the Assistant Scoutmaster in charge of the 11 year olds. He's enthusastically thrown himself into the calling with gusto. Three trips to the Scout Shop in Pleasant Hill (expensive), numerous phone calls ("I need training!"), many emails (who is in my troop?), a meeting or two (lets get to know one another) and voila' you have Stan doing the Scouting thing.

I say... you gotta love a man in uniform. I sure do!
Good luck with that new calling.

I'm thinking he's gonna need it.

Transformation!!!

Most of you know that we've been doing some remodeling. Nothing major...mostly cosmetic. However, I am so pleased with the results of this project that I just had to share.

After moving all the furniture (not including the Bowflex) out to the garage (a short distance, thank goodness), we moved the Bowflex into the middle of the room, tore up all the carpeting (nasty), tack strips (lethal) and the baseboards (ancient style) and went to work with the transformation. I painted the ceiling bright white with two coats. Wow...already a big improvement! Then the walls got a double coat of the soft yellowish off white paint. At this stage I was really starting to see what the future would hold. Next came the flooring. We had 5 boxes left over that we didn't use upstairs and got 7 more to complete this job (it came down to three planks left over...not bad on the measuring job Stan!). This part went pretty fast with my "Mr. Handyman" masterfully knowing what he was doing. It moved along at a pretty fast pace with only minor input on board selection from me. (I know when to stay out of the way of progress). Anyway, you can see the results after everything was returned to the room. Only a couple of things were placed back in their original location, with one of the two beds being given away.

Now the bathroom on the other hand was a different story. Stan decided that the toilet should be taken up. You have to understand that this was a major life altering experience for him. HE HATES PLUMBING!!! But up it came anyway. Well, needless to say, what we saw after that was not a pretty site. Oh, thank you Southampton Homes for another shoddy job. Anyway, about 6-7 hours later, three trips to Ace Hardware or Home Depot, a few phone calls to our helpful friend, Mike Kincaid, and a number of disgruntled remarks we finally got to the final product you see above.

The long and the short of this journey is that I will no longer refer to this room/area of the house as the "dungeon" again. I now love its new windows, flooring, wall color, white baseboards, white bathroom cabinet (it was dark, dark brown before), lattice mirror in the bath and everything else that now makes it so bright, warm and inviting.

Now, if only, we had somewhere to put the "loverly" Bowflex.

Well, I guess I can't have everything.