Making a List

This morning we did one last hike.  It was the last 2.5 miles of the Yellow trail that we had not done.  Since this trail meanders through the woods up and down the hills along the base of the north ridge, it’s a little more difficult to create loops.  It is the longest of the hiking trails (excluding the bike and horse trails) at 8 miles.  That’s too much for us to do a complete out and back.  So we divided it into three different hikes.  One was the short loop at the north end when we connected to the White trail. Our second hike on the Yellow trail was from Picnic Area 2 when we did two out and backs, one northbound from the picnic area and the other southbound.

Today we drove over to Group Camp Road and parked the car.  There is actually not a parking lot here, but there is enough room on the side of the road to park 4 or 5 cars.  We walked the short distance from the main road to the junction with the Yellow trail at the point where we had turned around on our last hike.  From this starting point the trail crosses a stream on a foot bridge then climbs up the first of several hills. Much of the trail in this section shares the path with horses.  For the first mile or so we saw little horse use, but the portion beyond Tranquility Road seems to be popular with the equestrians.

The trail crosses Tranquility road near the Alabama Wildlife Center and soon comes to the junction with the Treetop Nature Trail.  We continued on the Yellow Trail to its end at the South Trailhead parking lot.  After a short break we turned around and headed back.

There is a new connector trail which connects the Yellow and Green trails.  This trail is so new it isn’t on the map yet, but in our hiking we had seen the other end at the Green trail so felt comfortable taking it on our way back.  At the Green trail we were able to pick up the Treetop Nature trail and hike up the hill to connect with the Yellow just below the Wildlife Center.  It cut off a couple of climbs and maybe a third of a mile on our return trip.

We’ve hiked 34.6 miles while we’ve been in this park.  We’ve enjoyed it all, but it is now time to turn our attention to something entirely different.  With just five more days until Christmas, I guess it’s about time I got organized.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute to rev up that old Christmas spirit.

I’m one of those crazy Type A personality people and I just love lists.  I love everything about lists.  I love making a list and I love marking things off of the lists as I get it done.  Yesterday, I worked on making lists.  I have a list for who’s getting what for Christmas, a list of gifts that still need to be purchased, a cookie and candy baking list, a chore list, and the ever present grocery list.  We got started on marking things off of these lists yesterday.  We went out with the rest of the population of Birmingham to do Christmas shopping.  Thank goodness Gene had ordered a lot online and we didn’t have many stops to make.  Still the traffic was horrific and the stores were crowded.  I purposefully waited for Monday morning because I had heard that is supposed to be the least crowded time of the week.  Maybe that rule doesn’t apply to Monday before Christmas.  We were both exhausted by the time we got home.

Needed a little snow to help my Christmas spirit so I found this
picture from last December in Nashville.

This afternoon and tomorrow, we’ll be staying at home working on the baking and chore lists.  Thursday, we’ll be moving back to Nashville to be with family for Christmas.

Better get busy, now.  Time is short.  Thanks for tagging along.

The Rest of the Story

Well, the rains came.  Once started, they didn’t stop all night last night.  Today, we’ve had sprinkles off and on, but mostly just a dreary day.  Late this afternoon, it started raining again and, if we can believe the forecast, will rain all night and throughout tomorrow.  It’s cold, too.

Found this on one of our hikes this week.

The rain has given us the opportunity to stay inside and get some real work done.  Gene had computer maintenance to do and kept himself occupied while I did the laundry.  Right after lunch we got out and got our errands done before the next round of heavy rain started.  We buzzed through Wal-mart, Lowes, and Hobby Lobby and were back at home within a couple hours.

This hawk hangs our on this utility pole next door.  We see him nearly every day.

We haven’t just been hiking since we got here, although that’s pretty much how it seems.  I’ve decorated our humble abode with the few Christmas decorations I have.  Like last year, I stopped in Hobby Lobby and picked up one of the smallest trees they have.  It’s about 2 feet tall and sits perfectly on the large shelf we have over the cab.  I put on one strand of lights and about 40 miniature ornaments.  Even has a star on top.  So far, Peanut has left it alone.  There’s no storage space to keep it, of course, so after Christmas I’ll give it away.  I think Kayley may have last year’s tree in her room this year.

Peanut got in some big trouble his first Christmas.  We were living in the Montana 5th wheel then and I put up a small tree, maybe 4 feet.  We came home one afternoon from work and found the tree toppled over, ornaments everywhere, and Peanut in the middle of the tree.  After that we did things a little differently when it came to Christmas decorations.

We decorated the garland above the slides; well out of the reach of a certain CAT.

I continue to enter a few posts from the old Trip Journal into Blogger every day.  I’m about halfway through 2008 now.  That was the year we went to New York for the summer.  It’s been fun rereading those old posts and especially looking at the photos.

On our way to the trailheads, we’ve been seeing some of rural Northern Alabama.  It’s farmland planted in the summer with primarily corn, cotton, and hay.  Of course, the fields are empty now.  Most have been cut and are ready for spring planting when the time comes.  There are a fair number of dairy farmers with large herds of cattle.  It seems like poultry farms were big business at one time.  There are many of those long, low barns used by poultry raisers.  They’re dilapidated and falling down now. The communities we pass through are small with a church or two, a gas station, a small market, and a few houses.

We came across this old store one day.  Looks like they used to sell gas, too.  There was a small shed on one side and an outhouse on the other.  I loved the outhouse with the galvanized tub hanging on the side.  When I was a small child and visited my grandparents, I’d get a bath in a tub just like that on Saturday night.  This outhouse, complete with its bathtub, reminded me of Judy, Emma’s mama, and her post a few days ago (Nov 24) about her first shower.  I’m not sure I could even get in a tub like that anymore.  One thing I’m pretty sure of--if I got in, I’d have a tough time getting out!

So, that’s the rest of what we’ve been doing this week.  Thanks for tagging along.

In The Spirit

Yesterday I woke up with the Christmas spirit.  Or maybe that was just the sound of all the 18-wheelers stampeding down I-24.  We are so close to the interstate you can see the faces of the drivers.  Well, you could if you were able to focus fast enough.  Along with the increased traffic flow as dawn approaches, we also have the construction workers pulling out from their surrounding campsites--all with diesel trucks, of course.  The last to leave in this morning parade are the two young men from Colorado who are enrolled at Nashville Auto Diesel College.  I, for one, will be glad when they get to the chapter on mufflers.  Ahhh, morning in the campground.

Noisy as it was, it did not deter my spirit.  After breakfast and our usual morning chores, Gene and I ventured out into the holiday shopping crowd to the nearby community of Madison (really a suburb of Nashville).  Our first stop was Hobby Lobby where we selected garland for our traditional RV decorations.  Then it was on to Books-A-Million for a few books for Kayley and a final stop at Staples where Gene got a pocket calendar for 2010.  One strip mall, three stops, and our shopping is done.

We spent the afternoon putting up the decorations.  As has been mentioned by most of the RVers whose blogs I read--there ain’t much space for decorations.  The first year we had the Montana, there was an unoccupied space at the end of our kitchen counter which was ideal for a small tree.  We got one about 3 feet tall.  Gene and I were still working at the time and each day we went off to do our duty and left the Peanut home alone.  We were so proud of that cat for about a week.  He never bothered the tree.  I guess he got especially bored one day.  We came home to find the tree turned over, all the ornaments scattered about the living area, and Peanut intertwined among the branches of the tree.  We threw the tree and the ornaments away.  Peanut barely escaped being thrown away himself.

After a few days, we came up with the idea of garland.  Garland is really a Christmas tree in the shape of a straight line instead of a pear.  I wound the string of lights on the garland and placed it above the slides.  Then we hung the garland with ornaments and, behold, a tree the cat could not reach.  Last year after Christmas, I threw that original garland away.  This year, we got garland which already has the lights and the slide frames in the Everest are deeper than on the Montana.  I didn’t even have to secure the garland in place with velcro.  With a few other decorations adorning counters and tabletops, we are just waiting for Santa to come knocking at our door.

Perhaps I should make cookies; that’s always a nice touch.

Deck the Halls

Today has been a much more relaxing day than the previous several and I have just “wallered” in laziness. We had to make a short trip the Wal-Mart to pick up an extension cord to complete the holiday decorating.

Our first Christmas in the Montana, we found a cute little tree about 3 and a half feet tall.  It was perfect to stand at the end of the kitchen counter and we enjoyed it there for several days.  To our surprise, Peanut didn’t show much interest in the tree.  We were both working then, and one afternoon we came home to a royal mess.  I guess Peanut got bored and found the tree to be a fun place to be.  I got out a big garbage bag and threw out everything, including the tree.  The next day, I had an inspiration.  Those don’t come very often so I acted on it right away.  I got enough garland to drape over the full length of both slides.  I strung it with lights and decorated it with tinsel and miniature red and gold ornaments just like I would decorate a tree.  It has all the festiveness of a tree, it’s not taking up floor space which there is very little of and it is far out of the reach of precious Peanut.  I like it—I like it a whole lot better than a tree.

Our Christmas tree strung above the slides

This year I have spread out a little “snow” on a corner countertop and added a few decorations.  We’ll see how long that lasts.  So far Peanut hasn’t paid it any attention, but we’ve seen that behavior before.  Time will tell.

This looks like it has real cat appeal to me.

Jack and Ansley have given us tickets to the Predators game tonight.  We are excited.  I’ve never been to a hockey game before.  So, I’m posting this early and after a quick bite of supper we are off to the game.