Father's Day Hike

Rick and I decided to take a hike through Lone Pine State Park earlier today. We had planned on driving to the top of the mountain, parking at the visitor center, and checking out some maps before we headed onto the trails. It's not a huge park, and I think there are only about 7 miles of trails. Even so, we weren't familiar with them, so we wanted to get a map to see where to go.

Then we changed our mind and parked at a lower trail head we'd seen previously. We figured we'd walk up to the visitor center instead. We asked some people which trail was harder, and then we ventured onto the one we thought they said was easier. Turns out, we walked on one of the harder ones. It wasn't too bad. I guess all those squats I've been doing have paid off because I felt pretty good the entire time. Rick, on the other hand, is on medicine for high blood pressure, so that made it harder for him. He managed okay. It was a little over a 700' incline. 

On our way back down, we decided to go the hardest part, which was still not too bad. It was steep in some places, so I was glad we went that way coming down and not going up.

I took a few pictures, but not that many. I don't know if it's my new camera, my eyes, or what, but I've been having a hard time getting my photographs to turn out the way I want them. I kind of think it's a combination of everything. My eyes are getting worse, and it's hard to see without my glasses. Plus, sometimes when I'm outside my eyes start watering something awful, which just makes it worse. Then I have the issue with having to deal with a whole new camera and all.

The photo above is looking south from Kalispell. You can sort of see a lake there. That's Flathead Lake. I live on the east side of that lake. It looks really far away, but it's only about 20 miles from Kalispell to Bigfork where I live.

We saw some pretty wildflowers. I believe these above are blanketflowers. I could be wrong. I only saw these two, and they look kind of hammered, but I still thought they were pretty.

It was such a beautiful day, so it was perfect for hiking. We got back in time for me to put dinner and desert in my crock-pots. I told Rick I'd make him lasagna for his Father's Day dinner tonight. I also made a cherry dessert in one of my smaller pots. I hope you had a nice Father's Day!

Texture

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed that I'm doing one of those photo-a-day things. They give you a prompt for each day, and then you post a photograph relating to it. I did it for the month of May and am now doing one for June as well. Today's prompt was "texture", so I posted a close-up picture of the alligator. They have such unique looking skin, so I thought that would be a good one for today. However, taking pictures of "textures" is one thing I really love doing. Today's prompt made me think of a bunch of other photographs I've taken that are texture-related. Here are just a few that I've posted on IG ...

Allie-the-Gator

While we were at Walt Disney World last month, we spent a few days at the Animal Kingdom. It's one of our favorite parks, but I never get to spend as much time there as I'd like. When we were ready to leave, we decided to stop and rest before heading back to our resort. We went to the Flame Tree for a soda. The restaurant was still open, but since it was so close to closing time for the park, hardly anyone was there. We walked down and sat at the tables by the water.

That's when we saw this alligator. He (or she) was right by the end of the water, just next to the platform where the tables were. We were pretty high up, so there was no way it could get to us, or vice versa. I think alligators make my mother-in-law nervous. She took a look and then proceeded to get ready to leave while the rest of us stood around taking pictures.

I've only seen two or three alligators in the wild before — all were in Florida. My first one was by the boat dock at the Wilderness Lodge. I've posted that picture before. The others were in swampy areas that I saw from the Disney buses or buses to the airport. I didn't get any pictures of those, unfortunately. 

Anyway, this isn't an animal I see in Montana, so I get a kick out of seeing them in the wild. 

Mystery Men ...

While wandering around the thrift store recently, Neil and I came across these two little figures. I thought for sure they were from the Fisher Price Little People's Nativity set. I collect nativities and have been wanting to get that set for years, so I couldn't pass these guys up.

When we got home, I went online to see if I could find a match for them. Nothing! I saw lots and lots of Fisher Price nativity sets, but NONE with figures like these. I was starting to think might be a knock-off version, but after looking around more, I don't think so. They're too well made, so if they are knock-offs, someone knows what they're doing. The weird thing is that there are no markings on the figures. I would expect to see a "FP" trademark, a number, or even just a "Made in China" statement. NOTHING.

If they are indeed made by Fisher Price, maybe they were an earlier version of the nativity set they have now. I'll keep looking because older sets show up from time to time. It struck me odd how I couldn't find these figures anywhere. In the meantime, I'll be scouring the thrift store for more. Maybe whoever donated had them tossed in a box with more, and just maybe the thrift store didn't get all the pieces out at the same time. So, my quest continues ...

Have you ironed your table?

The photograph above is of my dining room table. It's an old table. I've had it probably since the girls were little. Anyway, I took this picture around eleven o'clock this morning.

However ... this was my dining room table around ten o'clock this morning. Pretty gross, huh? A few months ago a plant leaked all over it and left this ghastly white mess. Between this and all the other stains it had accumulated over the years, my poor table looked hideous. I was just starting to think I'd have to invest in some tablecloths to cover it up.

Then this morning I saw a friend (think it was Deb) post something about getting scratch marks off wooden furniture. It got me thinking of my table, so I did an online search to see if I could find something. I found one website by the makers of the "For Dummies" books, and it had some ideas. First, they said to put mayonnaise on the stains. I tried that, but it didn't work. Then they suggested toothpaste. That didn't work either. The next step was to mix toothpaste and baking soda together. Nope — it still wouldn't touch it. It smelled interesting, though.

So, I decided to look at another site and stumbled on this YouTube video. After smearing my table with mayonnaise, toothpaste, and baking soda, I pretty much figured, "What the hell!" and I decided to give the iron method a try. I could not believe my eyes — it worked!

It didn't take them all off, but it looks SO MUCH BETTER! I had never heard of this method before and would never have thought IRONING a table would make the stains disappear. I keep walking over to it to look just to make sure they haven't come back. I am truly amazed!

Remember this?

Do you remember my New Year's Resolution for 2013? It was to finish a leopard latch-hook rug kit that I started many years ago. I blogged about it here. Well, to be totally and disgustingly honest, after I took the picture for my blog, I put it back into the bag. It sat by my chair in the living room from January until just recently when I put it away before we went to Disney World. I haven't even touched it, more less worked on it. Isn't that the most pathetic thing ever?

I totally had to laugh when Neil and I wandered around the thrift store yesterday and stumbled upon the very same rug. Not only is it finished, but it's framed too. I don't particularly care for the way they framed it, but I was half-tempted to buy it and call my resolution good. Would that be wrong? I'm just kidding of course, but the thought did pop into my mind. Seeing the finished product, however, does give me hope that I might pull it back out and actually start working on it. After all, I still have SEVEN more months to get the darn thing done.

Cinderella's Castle

I'm sorry I haven't blogged much or kept up with everyone else's blogs all that well. The trip to Disney World wiped me out, and it's taken me a whole week to feel somewhat back to normal. Our last day, the day we traveled back home, was very stressful with Nathan being sick. We tried to arrange for one more night in Florida for Rick and Nathan, but the airlines couldn't help us. We either had to pay for all new tickets or spend 4 nights in a hotel until the next available flight. It was crazy. The poor guy was sick all the way home. I think that one day worked us all over more than the ten days we spent in the parks!

Some of you might follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so perhaps you've seen a lot of the photographs I've posted already. Today I figured I'd put up some of my favorites from Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom. I'm always amazed how much larger it is than Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland, although both of them are equally wonderful.

If you don't know by now, I post apple pictures a lot — kind of an-apple-a-day thing. I tried to get them at all the parks. Sadly, the one I took at the Magic Kingdom didn't turn out that well. It was so bright outside and really hard to see where my iPhone was focusing. I'm sure people thought I was nuts taking pictures of apples everywhere I went. I couldn't eat the darn things until I photographed them. This one is blurry, but you get the idea, right?

This picture above is one of my favorites, although this size doesn't do it justice. If you click on it, you might be able to see it better. My favorite one is the first one up top of the light with the castle in the background. I got a few different shots like that, but this was the one I put up on Instagram. I like being able to frame them on IG.

Anyway, despite the sickness, it was a great trip. I'm sure I'll post more pictures from it as well. As much fun as it is to get out and see new things, it's always great to come home again!