Flowers and Sunshine to Warm Your Day

 We finally have sunshine back in Southeast Texas today!  Thank goodness!  We have had so much rain, drizzle, fog, and gloominess in our weather the past month or two. 

 I just wanted to post a few pictures of some beautiful days we’ve had in the past year.  

San Augustine Park on Lake Sam Rayburn

 I always love a change in seasons and have enjoyed our winter but really starting to look forward to spring!

 

Our Backyard

 My house is full of plants that I've brought inside to protect from a hard freeze we had last week.  I know they need some sunshine too!  I really do need a greenhouse!!

Kansas City

The days are already getting noticeably longer which I love.  I think we should have daylight savings time year round!

Weston, MO

With the cold and rain that we've had lately, I have resorted to mall walking to get my steps in.  My new fitbit definitely encourages me to "get moving!"

Sandy Creek Retreat

The cold this winter hasn't been that bad at all, but we've just missed our sunshine!!

Lake Sam Rayburn

“Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”
― Hans Christian Andersen

Wishing everyone some warm sunshiny days.

Jeanne

Tracy Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier

After cruising through a very foggy Pacific Ocean where we heard the fog horns blow every two minutes, we finally started seeing clearing skies and mountains off in the distance.  We were in Alaska!!   

Stephens Passage was where we first started seeing beautiful scenery and whale action all around us.  

We started seeing an occasional ice berg as we cruised through Holkham Bay and headed towards Tracy Arm Fjord, which was one of the highlights of our trip.  The Fjord is probably about ½ mile wide and is surrounded by steep mountain peaks that reach over 7,000 feet.  They are covered with lush green trees and shrubs and many waterfalls. 

  

 The smooth as glass water is a beautiful jade color and is dotted with lots of floating icebergs.   

At the end of the fjord we came to the Sawyer Glacier and were able to see a few big chunks of ice break off and fall into the water.  The sound of the ice breaking is like hearing a gun shot.  Pretty amazing!

After leaving the fjord we headed north towards Juneau and were treated to a beautiful Alaskan sunset.  Unforgettable is all I can say!

                                

 

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…. [we left] feeling that, whatever the future might have in store, the treasures we had gained this glorious morning would enrich our lives forever.” ~ John Muir, Travels in Alaska 
 

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Fall Camping Trip and RAIN!

Fall is my very favorite time of the year to go camping.  Last week we, along with our son were able to camp at one of our favorite places, San Augustine Park. This is the view from our trailer. 
 

 

When camping for a week in October it's not unusual to see a cool front come through bringing with it a little rain or even a thunderstorm.  But this time we had more than a little!!  In nearby Jasper they had 10" and I'm pretty sure we had about that same amount.  It rained and rained and rained - over 24 hours of rain!!  We had a canopy over our picnic table that kept us dry for a while.  Eventually we had to go into the camper.  No pretty sunset or campfire this evening! 

 

After things dried out we were able to get out and hike a little.  The woods were pretty with the leaves showing their beautiful

fall colors.

We were able to see a beautiful clear sky  most nights and Venus was so bright and pretty.  It was so bright that as it dropped lower in the horizon and the sky became darker it created a reflection on the water.  I wish I could have gotten that picture!

Into each life some rain must fall.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We really did have a good time even with all the rain.  We caught enough fish for a fish fry and had a good campfire every night except one.  We heard owls and coyotes and saw two otters floating along the water's edge.

 

I have to admit though, it's good to be back home! 

I love camping but a week is about my limit.  

 

Happy Fall to You All! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset on Lake Sam Rayburn

We're looking forward to seeing more beautiful sunsets like this one soon. Our favorite parks have opened back up and this is always the very best time of the year to camp.

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Pslam 19:1

Sandy Creek Park

Due to some busy days during the last couple of months I haven’t done much blogging but hope to get caught up soon. We’ve found a place to camp that is only about an hour and a half away so we’ve been there a couple of times lately. It’s called Sandy Creek Park and is a Corp of Engineers Park. Of course right now our government has “shut down” all Corp parks so we can't go back until they re-open. We have reservations to go to another Corp park later this month, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully an agreement will be reached by then, but it’s not looking too good right now!

This is looking back at our campsite which was located by the fishing pier.  It's a beautiful park with lots of wildlife and birds to watch. One evening as we sat by the campfire it was like an animal parade passed right in front of us!  First a possum walked by, then an armidillo, and after that we saw a whole family of racoons.  In other parts of the park we saw deer but I didn't have my camera with me when we saw them.



Great Blue Heron

Caught in action - taking my birdseed!

One night we left some dog food out as a treat for these little guys and they ate every bite!

 

 

 

 

We took our boat up the river one day where the water was as smooth as glass.  It was a beautiful day but quite hot so a boat ride was a good way to cool off.

 

 

This was a small alligator that was watching us fish.  He probably wanted us to get out of his territory!

The Great Blue Heron had better luck fishing than we did!  The pier was covered with bugs.  I think they were mayflies.  They were awful!

We had beautiful sunsets almost every evening we were there. 

“God never made an ugly landscape. All that sun shines on is beautiful, so long as it is wild.” ― John Muir

October Sunset

 

To watch a sunset is to connect with the Divine.

Gina De Gorna

Our June Camping Trip

We just returned from a week of camping at one of our favorite parks - San Augustine Park on Lake Sam Rayburn. 

 

We had a beautiful water front campsite with lots of space.

 One day we visited my brother and his family at a nearby park.  My little niece kept us busy with lots of bouncing and playing games.

  In this game we were having to balance pine cones on sticks - I think I won since Johnny was cheating!!

 This is Sassy and Peanut - trying to stay cool!  They are so cute sharing their bed. 

 Every time we camp at San Augustine, this little critter always comes to our campsite begging for treats.  He actually comes to our trailer door and sits on the top step waiting for us to feed him.

We had a good view of the sunset from our site and each evening we had to stop what we were doing and run for our cameras.  On this day a thunderstorm was off in the distance and we were treated to a beautiful lightening show.  We couldn't hear thunder so it was pretty far away.

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars. ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Martin Luther