Aug 1 Big Darby Creek Kayak

August 1, 2013

Lucy, Lesley and I (minus Chelli who got stuck at work) kayaked the Big Darby Creek today in Plain City. It was a peaceful evening on the river. We saw several blue herons and a kingfisher. It was sunny for the majority of the trip, but we got a little wet when a dark cloud brought in some rain. The vegetation has grown tremendously since Lesley last kayaked this stretch, so it was challenging at times, but a lot of fun.

Lucy with her superhero pose.

And we're off!

Are we in a field or a river? Lesley is trying to scout our way through the tall weeds.

Ok, lets head to the right.

GRLZZZZ trip reunion (minus Carolyn and Anissa)

It's a serene night on the river. After the rain, the sun kindly came back out. We paddled hard to put out right about dusk. Lesley's husband picked us up and made us dinner. So nice!

Looks kind of like a fire, but its the sun setting through the trees. Thanks ladies for a great evening!

July 25-31 Door County

July 25-31, 2013

A summer is not a summer without a visit to see Ryan's 94 year old Nana and Boppa. They live in Door Country, Wisconsin. Door County is a peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan northeast of Green Bay. They have a cottage right on Lake Michigan with a gorgeous sand beach along Glidden Drive. We picked up Ryan's parents in Indiana and dropped off our RV for some servicing on the way.

We arrived as a storm was moving through and the sun was setting, it made for some amazing colors in the sky and some good sized white caps.

The waves were so high, it flooded the beach after the storm. This is the first time I have ever seen these plants growing on the beach. 

 Uncle Dennis, Ryan, Boppa and Ken checking out a property for sale only 7 houses down from Nana and Boppa's place.

An immature eagle (without its bald head), digging into a fish on the beach. 

This squirrel was making all kinds of noise in our general direction. 

The begonias are thriving this year. They must like rainy, cool summers! 

Boppa and Ryan getting ready for a bonfire.

Fresh blueberries from Elkhart and Nana's old recipe for pie is a great combination!

SkipBo game. Boys win 2-1. For some reason Ryan is sporting pigtails :) 

Beach path before clean up. Ryan's grandparents call it "Jill's boulevard" since I started initiating the yearly cleanup. 

Seagulls are working on eating up the alewives (little fish that wash ashore from time to time). 

The beach path after some hard work from Ryan, his dad and I. A little curvy, but much improved! Along with beach path duty, we stained the deck and power washed the limestone patio.

Another pretty sunset on the lake. What a nice visit. See you again soon.

July 18-21 All Good Music Festival

July 18-21, 2013

We returned for our 2nd All Good Music Festival in Thornville, Ohio. We did a little work and had a lot of fun. It was a rainy, steamy weekend and we had our RV with a temperamental air conditioning and refrigerator. Ryan stayed for 4 days straight and I, the fair weather fan that I am, drove myself home to sleep in our comfy, quiet bed each night.

Hula hoop light show. 

Brothers Cantzler minus Chris plus Drake. 

One of the few moments I have spent with Ryan since we returned home. 

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals rocking it out! 

The stilt people. How do they walk in those things? 

The Indiana crew; Mark, Mikel, Kevin, Tina, Brie, Reagan, Sean and Nicole. 

Gorgeous sunset over the festival.

Now its time to: re-clean the RV for 2 days

July 13-16 Back in the Midwest

Phase I of our trip went by amazingly quickly. We have seen so many beautiful places, spent quality time with family, friends and each other. We met nice people everywhere. We still don't have a clue of what we will do with our lives when we complete our next phase of travel. But before we head back out west, we are spending about 5 weeks back home for some prior obligations, family fun, Ryan's brother Kevin's wedding, visit with friends and to work a few shifts.

While Ryan spent the weekend with his family in Indiana, I went up to Detroit to bring Olivia home and visit with my family and a couple friends. Along came with me the camera.

Here are just a few of the sweet faces we missed while gone...

 Austin and Lila (the younger two of my brother Travis and his wife Megan's three kids)

Gabriella (my friend Melissa's youngest) 

 My sister Leah and her daughter, Cecilia

I even got my hands dirty helping Travis drywall the kitchen in his new house. It was a family affair...Travis, Uncle Bob from California and our cousin Adam. Uncle Bob thought it was great to have a nurse to help drywall :) He also thought it was great when it was beer-thirty!

Ryan and I both made it home late July 15. Ryan's sweet little 92 year old Grama C, who lives in Mansfield, Ohio unfortunately had a mild heart attack over the weekend resulting in some congestive heart failure. After unloading some of our trailer the next morning, we headed up to visit with her. She is doing amazingly well, given her age and history of diabetes. She said its like a vacation for her...the food is great, the nurses are wonderful and she feels really good. She still has her spunk, and we are so glad to see her again!

We introduced her to FaceTime so she could chat with her son, Ken (Ryan's dad). Her reaction was priceless! 

We met Kevin (Ryan's brother) and his fiance Lindsay at Byrne's in Grandview to catch up and see some live music. 7 Nations is the name of this Orlando-based band. It is nice to be home!

Day 70-73 The Road Home

July 10-12, 2013

I think all of us were done with being in the car after the drive from Montana to Indiana and Michigan. We made a couple pitstops along the way to stretch our legs and get our minds off sitting on our butts (in addition to stopping every 200 miles to put gas in the QX).

Olivia, Brayden, Jill and Ryan imitating George, Thomas, Teddy and Abe :) 

We made a quick stop at Mt Rushmore on our way through western South Dakota. 

Olivia and I riding a jackalope at Wall Drug, also in South Dakota. We got ice cream here on a hot day and Olivia found some cool cowboy shirts for her brothers.

We had dinner in Sioux Falls, SD at a pizza spot. Olivia is showing off her winnings from Ryan. Ryan made a bet with her and Brayden that he would give them each $1 every time he referred to them as kids. Each of them made off with at least $10!

Now we are getting really delirious, Ryan and Brayden are trying to get some milk from this giant cow statue near the Wisconsin Dells. Are we there yet? Our leg stretching today was at Noah's Ark waterpark. It was a nice way to spend a few hours on a warm day. We arrived in Elkhart around 2am on July 12. Olivia and I got to Shelby Twp around 5pm on July 13. 

The last two weeks were a whirlwind of activity and tons of fun. I don't think Ryan and I have had a real conversation in these two weeks. The four of us got along well. Ryan and I are hopeful that this trip created some fond memories to last a lifetime for Olivia and Brayden. Thanks to Cindy, Bob, Liberty and Sean for entrusting us with your precious children, I mean young adults :). 

Total Miles: 1,825 

Total Gas money: a small fortune by now

Day 69 Missoula

July 9, 2013

We had just a few hour drive today from Glacier National Park to Missoula, Montana. While Ryan and Brayden enjoyed at Widespread Panic concert, Olivia and I went horseback riding.

Brayden getting pumped for the concert at Big Sky Brewery. It was a small venue with an audience of about 1500. 

After we got a lesson on how to handle our horses, we saddled up for the trail ride. Olivia had the tallest horse in the group, Charger. My horse was named Flash.

We crossed several streams and the river you see below. We climbed up this hill for a nice overlook over the valley below. Lewis and Clark actually came through this area.

Back down from the hill, this open field allowed us to canter/trot a bit on our horses. We were thrilled that this ride was less nose-tail than several others we looked into! 

Olivia saying goodbye to Charger. We learned how to de-saddle the horses, fed them treats and lead them into their nightly grazing area. What a nice evening for all of us, tomorrow begins our 3 long driving days back to the midwest.

Total Miles: 217

Day 67-68 Belly River Hike

July 7-8, 2013

Well here we go, we are all a bit tired and know we probably bit off more than we could chew with this hike, but we will survive!

Sad/happy faces before we start Belly River Trail. It is 8.7 miles to camp at Cosley Lake. The trailhead is about 100 feet from the Canadian border.

I am in wildflower heaven on this trail. There are also butterflies everywhere. 

Break time in a lovely wildflower field. 

 This was a fun part of the trail, a seasonal walking bridge that avoids a river ford. One hiker at a time on the way across.

Are we ever going to find our camp? Cosley lake is right here, but the camp is just about a mile to go. 

Time to make dinner on our little camp stove. Fires are not allowed at this backcountry campground. 

Sounds gross, looks gross, but tastes amazing! Maybe we were just really hungry :) Olivia thinks the mashed potatoes taste like broccoli cheese soup from Panera Bread and it feels like home. 

We made it through the night, but didn't get much sleep. On our hike out we came across a ranger walking her horse down the trail. Olivia wanted to steal it and ride it back to the car. The ranger had just spotted a black bear off the trail, but we never did catch a glimpse.

Ryan took a little side trail for a nice view of this waterfall. Olivia, Brayden and I continued to hike on. 

Lunch break at a campground near the ranger station. Brayden's side view to see the size of his pack.

Olivia was on a mission for the hike out. I had to keep up with her and we talked about everything we could think of to help keep us moving and attention off our sore feet, calves and hips. 

Ryan and Brayden caught up with us about 15 minutes from the car. It was starting to sprinkle and we could hear thunder in the distance. Brayden got his mind off his sore feet by thinking of imaginary cookie dough ice cream that was waiting at the car. Olivia said she was never so happy to see a car in all of her life, but also said, even though it was really hard hiking 17.5 miles, she was really glad she did it! It warmed my heart.

And then it started POURING rain. Thankfully we are in the car, driving back to our camp. We cleaned up and had dinner at The Belton in West Glacier. We had the most attentive water boy named Vio from Romania. We had a lot of laughs with him.

Driving miles: 191

Hiking Miles: 17.5