Springing Up!

Want to come for a ride through the woods with us?  Todd came in from his walk yesterday wanting me to join him for a little ride down to the creek.  The Ides of March ushered in warm temps -- near 80's -- yesterday and it was the perfect day to take the golf cart out and explore the trails.

The trail to the creek is called "Beech Bottom Trail" for a good reason!  The beech trees keep their light, silvery brown leaves until their new spring growth comes in.  Their leaves are just starting to fall and every time a light puff of breeze hits the air, their leaves dance and swirl to the ground.

This first dip in the trail is always wet.  Todd and I figure there's a natural spring that runs somewhere there, though we've never found it.  It's not just puddle water because minnows live in it year-round.  It's gravel bottomed, though, so it's easy enough to drive through.

Looking up the little creek you can see where it runs down and around the trees and their roots.  I love the sound of water trickling through the trees!  We think it empties into the big creek.

Every time we roll through it, you can see the minnows swim up and away from our wheels!

This little plant caught my eye.  I've never seen it anywhere but here . . . I'm not sure what it is.

But whatever it is, it sure is prolific!

The closer we got to the big creek, the more we started to see signs that spring is here!

Wood violets are so darling . . . as are the pretty little white flowers.

Those little white flowers looked like fairy dust gracing the grassy carpet.

Poor Todd!  We'd roll a couple of feet and then I'd holler for him to stop so I could snap another photo!

Anyone know what these are?

Just around the bend from the creek, we spied these beauties:

I only found two sets of these sweet little blooms, but I *love* their colors!

 I also found a couple sets of these dainty little blossoms...

We've had a LOT of rain lately and it's apparent from this run off from the creek.  In the dry summer months, this is a gravel bed.  But when the creek rises, it naturally overflows into this little bed.

It was such a lovely day!  The grass is so green ... and you can see my fairy flowers on the other side, too!

The water was moving pretty swiftly ... I could sit there and just listen to it for hours.

There's just a hint of green leaf buds on the trees.  In another couple of weeks, it will be very green and dense in here!

As we headed out, I spied another . . . flower?!  I've never seen a plant like this, either.

But once I'd spied the first one, I saw them all over the place.

I'm not sure if that center is a flower or not ... it's not what I think of as your traditional bloom, but that's what it looks like it.

As I went through editing my pictures from this trip, I realized these were in a lot of my photos.  I just hadn't notice them until I saw the one with the very purple center!

Other than dandelions, these were the only little yellow flowers I found:

And Todd spied this little fellow, out enjoying the sun!

On our way back to the RV, in the woods close to the pavilion, these pretty native Bradford Pear trees are in full bloom.  It's fun to look down into the woods and see them all over the place.

The two peach trees out at the camp are also in bloom.  These are such pretty little flowers!  The two trees themselves are not in great shape -- they'd been left to themselves for a long period of time and could really stand a good pruning.

 

We also drove down to take a look at the fig bushes.  They are greening up nicely and we hope to have another bumper crop of figs this year, because fig freezer jam is the BEST!

As we drove around the figs, a little movement caught my eye . . . 

 Todd backed up and got a little closer so I could catch a shot of this handsome fellow, soaking up the sun.

He only stood for us being there for a short time before he shot back into the safety of the bushes.  He didn't need to worry about anything with me!  And just so you know, I'll take a black racer over a black widow ANY day!  :)

I love this spot ... it's a grouping of about six HUGE cedar trees.  Even this early in the season, the temperature difference under their shade was noticeable.

It can make up to a ten degree temperature difference to be in their shade!  Great spot for a lazy summer afternoon picnic.

I leave you with one of my favorites . . . 

 The wisteria is starting to bloom out!

It smells so good!  I've always wanted to have some, so it was such a sweet surprise to find it our first spring up at the camp and I look forward to its reappearance each year.

Storms are due in today.  Hopefully they'll clear out before our campers are due in this afternoon.  Thanks for taking the tour with me.  Y'all come back now, ya' hear?!  Or better yet, give us a call and explore the camp ground for yourself!  Set up a day for a spring picnic ... check out the camp's calendar on our website.

Archers and Storms

This past weekend the Mable Hill Youth and the Christian Southern Archers both had events scheduled up at the camp. Everything was worked out and ready to go when the weather decided to intervene. It rained most of the day on Friday, so Mable Hill decided to reschedule for a day in the fall. The Archery Shoot was not supposed to take place until Saturday morning, so the rain was of no concern for them.

Earlier in the week CSA came out and set their targets up in the lower field and just off the nature trail. Our grandson Sawyer spent the night with us on Friday and he loves to go for a ride in "Easy" so Denise took him around the camp. A couple of targets really caught his attention and he was okay from a distance but the closer she got to the animals, the more concerned he got and would even growl under his breath.

On Saturday morning my dad came up for a visit and we hung out around the pond for awhile until it got hot. I saw a few friends of mine who were participating in the shoot. Heath Quick and Greg Able were here along with their boys Drew and Bryce. Carla Brown came up to hang out with her daughter, Rachel, as well.

The event organizer, Chris, said the shoot went well and I believe there were close to 40 folks involved. The shoot was scheduled to be over at 2:00 but sometime around 1:00 a quick storm came through with some extremely strong winds that brought down some huge trees. Already the High Ridge Trail is completely blocked off and now the Nature Trail is as well. It also brought down a very large tree that snapped the top of the utility pole and put the main lines down on the ground. We were without power from about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday until about 8:00 on Sunday night. The utility guy told me that when he came into work on Saturday morning they had 145 tickets still to go from that quick little storm.

Plans are to have the Disaster Relief Team up here this week--if they are able--thanks to Harold Sellers and Wayne Miller. There is one section of the pier that needs spindles put on the handrail and it will be finished. If the weather cooperates I will finish that up today. We now have a working stove up at the pavilion which is a big asset for those SS Fellowships and Church Picnics. As a matter of fact Kay Howard and Company from Winchester Road Baptist were glad to have it yesterday as they began their yearly Hispanic VBS! We have recently acquired an ice machine and hope to have it up and running next week. Willowbrook is scheduled to have a camp-out this coming weekend and we're looking forward to having them.

"Easy" on Trail Patrol

Every time a storm blows through the camp I go out on Trail Patrol very soon afterward, to make sure all roads and trails are clear. With so many trees on the place there are bound to be limbs and even possibly trees down somewhere. Me and "Easy" headed out this beautiful afternoon to see what we could find. Now since Easy has come along it has made this venture a whole lot easier.

Before coming into the ministry, Easy had a life that was, simply put, easy. For the first 15 years it traveled the paved streets about a mile, twice a week, down to the Valley Hill Country Club, where it transported its owner for 18 holes (maybe even 36, on a great day), go up and down the hills and fairways that was almost as nice as a road, then carry him the mile back home where Easy was kept in a nice garage out of all the weather.

I would say while his life was filled with luxury, it was lacking in adventure. That has drastically changed! Shortly after the Fall Jamboree, Easy came into the ministry and I must say it's adjusting well, along with a few scratches and bruises.

A lift kit and some off road tires would probably save it from some bumps on the trails but other than one flat on a real rocky stretch things have been just fine. Just the other day I installed some headlights so the adventure would not be limited to just the daytime.

Anyway, the first place we went was down Beech Bottom Trail.

This is the trail that leads down to the secret creek and has been blocked by some huge trees. Since I don't have the equipment yet to handle quite that big a job, I managed to cut a trail around the trees. There were a few limbs down but nothing too big to handle.

After all the rain in the past week and especially yesterday, the creek was up and rolling. Right now this is the only trail that you have to eventually turn around and come back the same way you came; I'm working on changing that.

Next we went across the road to High Ridge Trail which begins shortly after you enter the gate, on the left. It goes up, down and around, and when the leaves are off the trees there is a beautiful view of the ponds, especially the Upper Pond.

Speaking of the Upper Pond, I created a new picnic area there this week and cut a path down to it from the main trail. Plans are to put another picnic area there in the spring or maybe even the winter. As we were nearing the top of the last hill there was quite a big tree that was blocking the way. I managed to pull it back just enough that it cleared the way. There were a few more smaller ones but nothing that was a big deal. We left that trail and traveled up and then across the field to the Nature Trail.

Easy must have thought it was back on the golf course for awhile -- well, maybe the rough any way. We started down the path and right away there were a few limbs in the way. Now this trail was cleared off by Sam Kelly earlier in the year and Sam did a great job. Easy's brakes got quite a workout for the next 15 minutes or so as I had to stop several times in the middle of going down the big hill.

Really there were no major obstacles, just some small limbs and a few rocks I moved out of the way. The squirrels did not seem to appreciate all our work as they were barking at us everywhere we went. Occasionally a chipmunk would dart in front of our path and would be gone in a flash.

Of all Easy's duties, I would guess Trail Patrol is his favorite, though last week he was a workhorse and there was some groaning going on. On patrol you just never know what will pop up. Here is a picture of what was discovered on High Ridge Trail last week. I am sure they could tell a story of days gone by.

Whitesburg RAs -- The Raincheck

The Whitesburg RA's had scheduled an outing up at the camp back in the spring, but the weather caused them to cancel. This time it all went according to plan. I had talked to Ray Romine but had never really got to meet him until this outing. He seems to be a great guy and a little younger than I thought. The younger and older groups were both up here on this trip. After everyone was settled, Denise and I drove up to chat with them a bit and get a picture or two

Later that evening I went back up and did a little mingling, snapping a few more pictures and meeting a few folks. I met John Crocker, which I had heard quite a bit about before this day. John seemed to be a very outgoing guy and suggested we have lunch sometime in the future. This sounded like a great idea to me.

They had everything laid out for supper and were finished when I arrived up there.

Matter of fact John was just about to begin their devotion so I quietly eased on off.

The moon that night was full and bright. We didn't need any headlights on Easy that night!

Birthday Celebration

After church we had our kids and their families up for Denise's birthday. I grilled out some burgers and some dogs and even through in a couple of brats...or as some folks call them sausage dogs!

Jocelyn made a birthday cake which was chocolate on chocolate and very good.

Sawyer, our grandson was present and this always brings a smile for Denise. Everyone had a good time and after a few hours folks dispersed.

Later this same afternoon the Kimbrough family came out to do some fishing and just walking around the camp. They had relatives from out of town - Michigan, I believe. Eddie and I were up at the pavilion talking until dark. After awhile folks finally started returning to the truck.

Grandma had gone for a walk and was coming along but the hill below the pavilion proved to be too much. Eddie's wife asked if I could go down and help her. Well this is before Easy had lights but we could still see enough to make the trip. I also had a flashlight just in case.

We traveled down the hill, scooped up Grandma and completed the rescue mission without a hitch. She was very thankful and we were pleased to be of service.