Tales of a Shoebox Princess

Two more state parks checked off the list as visited. First thing that comes to mind re Jay Cooke: Swinging bridge First thing for Banning: Quarry on river Hike in Jay Cooke: first half--gorgeous, rocky, rooty, packed dirt, shady, river view. Second half: grassy (at times very long), swampy, buggy, did I mention grassy? Very grassy. Hike in Banning: buggy, lots of off-shoots to the river, ruins of the quarry, dark places, mostly flat and packed dirt. swinging bridge at Jay Cooke two rivers merge perhaps? cool rocky terrain unicorn tree stairs at Banning Cool shore rocks quarry ruins I have my Going on an Adventure hat on Very nice river

My baby is going to serve a mission. The letter came surprisingly on a Monday.  Katie of http:// katetakesthecakes.blogspot.com / made the cake in just a few hours (I frosted it, which is why the ocean part looks like an amateur job) And he's going to Little Rock, Arkansas! The bestest thing in my mind is that my sister lives in this mission! If Matt serves in Memphis, Jenni might be able to see him!  We don't know much about Arkansas, but Jim has been looking up pictures and it seems to be a scenic state with several national parks and many state parks. We like that kind of thing.  It may get really hot (which Matt did not want) but at least there will be winters to cool him off. He'll get good food and friendly people. And he won't have to struggle through learning a language. We can send him packages without worrying if he will get them or if they will take forever to get to him.  I can't believe this kid is old enough! He will leave just d

In planning for this trip, Jim and I looked at places to hike. We chose several, and ended up doing none of them. We did do this 3 miler (round trip) up to Magnetic Rock. It started out nice. I was surprised at how narrow and "wild" the trails are when they aren't state park trails. We are so near Canada Beautiful view!  The three of us. It was buggy, and I'm glad I wore a hat to keep the mosquitoes and flies off my face. So much view Matt and view He insists on tormenting me with getting close to drop offs. See the clouds in the distance? An indicator of the very near future on this hike. So view I will forever kick myself for not trying a blueberry. I only took a picture. After a very long time of hiking and wondering if we were close yet, we finally reached the rock. It's a very different rock than the surrounding area rocks.  Compasses do not point north in close proximity to this rock Alien rock and

We went up north for a few days for a sibling reunion (there were some who did not go, so it wasn't everybody). Jake and Mike rented cabins for us on Poplar Lake near the Boundary Waters. What joy to get away from work for a week and just do stuff I want to do. Like get up at 6 AM and make a time-intensive breakfast, which I never do at home, unless it's Christmas or Father's day, and then it's the standard eggs, sausage, bacon, cinnamon rolls, and juice. No, this time, I planned ahead. I printed recipes for breakfasts I wanted to try. Our cabins had full kitchens, although they did not come with a cast iron skillet or an instant pot, both of which I based my breakfasts on and both of which I brought up myself for use. I made Instant Pot apple dumplings, peach oatmeal, skillet hash, and berry biscuit dumplings. And eggs, sausage and bacon, because we like protein. Two mornings, I took plates of breakfast over to Mom who, for those two days, was staying in her own