An Amazing Friend and Adventure Part II

 

The day grew darker and a bit more dreary when we got to the south end of the ridgetop. The Hogback Ridge opened up into a larger and flat plateau like area. At different times, the State Land had been rented out as farm land. 

We walked around this field and entered the old oak forest. Jason kept looking for an old trail he knew he'd used a couple of years ago.

He said that he hadn't done this part of the hike alone because he didn't feel safe in case something happened to him. He has trouble with his knees and had surgery last year.

This type of landscape is something I've hiked in for the past 28 years. I often scramble up and down rocky and dirt dry runs. Looking for handholds while climbing over roots and rocks is something I don't even have to think about any more.

I took this shot below after we had an incident with Jason's older dog. While negotiating this animal track on the hillside, Felix lost his balance and rolled down the steep incline. He rolled into a log. Jason was upset. Felix got up and shook while Jason called to him.

Felix had decided he wanted nothing to do with that trail and did not want to follow us stupid humans. [In the mean time, Charlie and Jason's other dog Piper sat and watched]

Jason called and called. Felix ignored him and started slowly started to climb the steep hill with a slippery bed of oak leaves up and away from us.

I'm a fast scrambler, so I took off after Felix. I used trees, rocks, and balance to get ahead of Felix. Jason warned me not to grab Felix by the collar. He'd bite me. Felix is a pretty laid back dog except when he is upset. He is a rescue 'off the street' dog. Jason calls him his High Dollar Doggy for all the vet bills they have had.

I positioned myself on the trial so that Felix couldn't get by me except by climbing over a huge log. I offered him one of Charlie's dog cookies to interest him while Jason came up to put him on a leash.

As expected, there was quite a tussle getting Felix leashed. We eventually made it to the main attraction.

We took several minutes to just chill out, get the dogs some water, and sit quietly on the floor of the cave.

Jason suffers from PTSD and Anxiety so I understand his need to be able to just sit and breathe when something happens. He has to process things differently than I do. He just recently had doctors diagnose him with borderline autism. His life long struggles with processing information and relationships now make a bit more sense to him. That said, he is a brilliant geologist that no longer works in that field. He is smart and articulate but needs different rules for conversation and friendship.

Let's say, we get along just fine.

I pulled out two Lego Minifigures and set them up on a rock shelf to take their photo. I presented the one minifig as Jason, one as me...and one little Charlie.

Jason pulled out something from his backpack and handed it to me.

I quipped with delight: You are so prepared! You brought along Guardians of the Galaxy in case we needed Superhero's!!!

With things settled down we had some fun. Jason tried to crawl back to see how far the holes in the rock extended. The shot below is an infrared shot in black and white. I really love how one can see the details of the rock that was washed and eroded by underground water flowing millions of years ago.

And after that, silliness happened.

Jason wanted a photo of himself doing silly things. Jumping up and down...

A silhoutte.

And the last bit of fun silliness. Charlie and Jason's dogs were curious when Jason started jumping up and down. Charlie wouldn't get out from under Jason, so he scooped Charlie up and continued to jump!

We found a better trail to climb up and out of there and started back towards our vehicles. With Jason, I never have to think of something to say as he is always chatting. That's fine, listening is a good skill to have.

He says he enjoys my friendship and hiking with me because he doesn't have to worry that I can't handle myself. I bring emergency gear like he does and have some good knowledge of woodcraft.

On our way back Jason had to take a few rest breaks. Apparently, Charlie adores the heck out of him!

We got back to the parking area as it started to drizzle. Both of us were a bit sad that the hike ended but I had to get home to hubby. Jason had a two hour drive to get back to Madison.

Lots of hugs and promises to get together to explore together again with our dog pack.

Until the next time....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One last bit.  
While standing on the top of the ridge, Jason explained the development of the historical geology of this particular area.

Direct, copy and paste from his FB post explaining the Hogback Ridge.

This is the floor of a formerly underground sandstone cave that was exhumed and eroded away including the ceiling and walls. The sandstone has various dissolution textures (vertical pipes, polished surface, lots of eroded fracture sets) than can only happen by groundwater. It’s a very unique rock and unlike the weathering textures seen in sea or ice caves. There’s more of this a few other places. I like this spot the best.

Road Trip

 I did it ... I did it!

I asked for help and I got it!
I get to get off the farm and get
some me time for a mini
adventure!

The last time I actually had a 'day' off from being a Caregiver was in July 2021. But hey, who is counting, right?

692 days. But who is counting? 

Charlie and I are going to make this into mini road trip. I plan on stopping at a couple of SNA or State Natural Areas to do some exploring. The last time I was at Paradise Springs, it was April of 2017, just days before Rich's stroke.

Morris and I explored together and took a 'selfie' in the doorway of the Spring house. 👇

I think I want a do over with Charlie. I'm packing a lunch for Charlie and I to have on our drive. In reality, the drive across the state is not that terribly long.

But, I'll make it longer by taking a route for us to stop at a couple of places.

Morris and I used to do road trips often...he just loved riding in a car more than anything else in the world.

I'd often just take him in my old Jeep to a closed back road and let him 'hang out' the window while I idled down the road at about 5 mph. He thought he was king.

Charlie can't hang out the window and I made him a 'car seat' so he could at sort of see where we are going.

I've since added a sheet to the seat of the car as Charlie is often full of dirt and sand on his belly when we get back from hikes. This contraption  ended his motion sickness.

Now when I jingle the keys and ask if he wants to go for a ride, he runs to the passenger side of the Subaru and waits for me.

He is a pretty good travel companion but he whines a LOT more than any other dog I've ever had. He also has to comment each time I use a turn signal. 

Charlie will be meeting my son and his wife's new pup, Twila and the cats. If nothing else, it will be a fun animal fest.

This little trip and weekend is such a great birthday gift from my son and his wife as hosts and my friends who are going to care for hubby in my absence.

To say I am thankful is an understatement.

Later...tators.

I'm unplugging for the weekend!

Toy time

 Here is Frank. He is leading his troopers. I don't know if Frank really knows where he is going...

Frank needs more riding lessons. He crashed the Speeder Bike.

How embarrassing!

Joan of Arch!

I really like this figure. A female knight!

Joan of Arch in Film Noir

Fred the Fly

Friends out checking the last of the ice in the creek as it melts off and enjoying the sunshine.

Last but not least...HO Scale people.

What is she doing in my coffee scoop?

Hopefully, this gives you a distraction and makes you laugh.

My Life in Legos

 Muck the pony stall...

Pick up manure!

Drive Safely!

Check fences...[I don't have a Lego 4 wheeler, this will have to do!]

Ride... [We do have a grey mule, so is this close???]

Explore... [There will be more of this going on as the Forest floor awakens with Spring Beauties and other wild flowers!!]

With the rains and warmer temperatures coming, I am looking forward to hunting wildflowers and morels!

Just Squatching

I have a fairly large to do list but I tossed it aside yesterday afternoon when the temperatures were so pleasant I could NOT be inside. The weather for the rest of the week is supposed to be a bit dull, dreary, and wet. I figured the to-do list could wait for indoor weather.

As Charlie and I got ready to go, hubby asked what I was going to do, where was I going?

I replied: I'm going Squatching.

I got that look and then dug into my pocket and showed him Squatch.

I pulled out the little card that came with Squatch and read it out loud to him again. He shook his head as he searched for an old Western on Tubi. 

Sometimes I carry things in my pockets when I take walks. It adds a bit of fun if an idea pops into my head while Charlie and I are hiking.

The woods are rather dull looking right now, so I like to look at moss and lichen that give off colors in the rather bland landscape.

I decided to walk along the banks of the creek and look for color.

I found a part of a hickory nut and stuck it in my pocket. I wasn't sure what I'd do with it, but an idea was forming.

The creek was back to its low flow and I saw a log stuck against a rock. And an idea hit me.

What if Squatch floated downstream on the log? Why would he be doing that? What is he searching for?

Maybe he is looking for a place to stay.

Caves are okay, but they can get cold in the winter time. Maybe it would be a nice cool spot in the summer when it is hot. After all a Squatch is pretty hairy.

If it rains, he might need a hat. A Hickory Shell fits just perfectly.

Hmmm, how about a Squatch Hut?  Sticks, grass, rocks and greens to lay on! Nice!

Very Cozy...

Squatching. 
I will leave it at that.

The Deal!

 

Spectacular sunrise.
It set me in a good mood.

A little bit of morning Yoga on the porch was fun too with the mules staring at me as the sun peaked over the trees after my morning walk.

I know some folks think I life the Life of Riley. I am learning to become more chilled and perhaps less stressed out.

I stretched my old aching parts out and then did the chores. Then it was a trip to the Big Town for groceries. I wanted to browse and stock up on things. Huh. 

The aisle with paint? Nearly empty! I guess shortages are the thing we feared a year ago and are now coming to pass. Interesting isn't it?
I stocked up on my canned stuff, dry goods, and items I really did NOT need. I purchased an all weather blue tooth tiny speaker to carry into the woods, or garden, or ...well, wherever. I also purchased a Groot ornament. I mean who can pass up that cute guy? I love the raccoon too. I'd love an action figure of him.

Two brightly colored dinosaurs [cheap] dropped into my basket for doing some more Treasure hunt games with the neighbor kids. Who can resist dinos that are $1?

I went to write an email back to a fellow blogger for a meet up. My stupid poor old laptop froze up and crashed. BSOD. Blue Screen of Death again. Yeah. Well, I had custom ordered the top of the line in 2012, so I am guessing things are starting to have issues.
Sort of like a brain with malfunctions.

I did some phone calls and wrote out some checks. One for the skid steer service call.

Boring Monday stuff. Phone calls and bookkeeping crap. You know the drill.

I got all of that out of the way and decided to chat with Lenovo. I have been watching their site for over a year. So I decided to make an inquiry. Did you know that many desktops and laptops have a shipping estimate of 4+ months? I've had friends who have waited forever on refrigerators and other items. 

Last week at the dealership they had one new Subaru on the lot. One.

Back to Lenovo. I talked to some IT folks in town and they said they stood by Lenovo. Dell had some nice slick computers as did ASUS and ACER. The specs I wanted would have gone over $2,600 with a Surface Pro. 

Lenovo had one with the specs ready to ship and on sale [truly on sale because I've been watching their site for over a year]... I bought it. I took a deep breath and dove right in. 
As soon as my card was run, I was called by the credit card company to see if I'd authorized the purchase. This is how their fraud department works. It was an unusual purchase and it was flagged for a call.

That was absolutely cool.

Tomorrow? Tuesday?
The Rock.

Meeting up with a friend.
Hiking in the morning light. 

It will be like Yoga of the Mind.

If you can make a way to learn to chill with your mind and life, it is really something quite awesome.

I'm learning, one small step at a time. 

That's the deal.

Geocaching with kiddos and dogs

October 25th

"Do you want to go Geocaching with the dogs and the kiddos?" 
the email from my neighbor inquired.

I talked to Rich about it, asking if he wouldn't mind having a day of peace and quiet and if he would be okay with Charlie and I going off hiking for the day.
He said yes.
I typed a reply...YES! I have heard of geocaching, but have never done it.

After CrossFit, I hurried did the chores and made sure that Rich had what he needed to have lunch. I packed some snacks for myself and stuffed a backpack full of light items to bring along.

I've been to WildCat Mountain State Park a few times and have even done the Old Settler's Trail twice, but I'd always had a limited amount of time and never really explored the different outlooks or the trails. I just hiked the 3 miles of up and down hill trails and always hurried home.

The first stop was the Outlook. I'd been hiking here before and for the life of me I cannot figure out why I didn't take the time to look!

Really...? The view is something incredible!

After ohhhing and ahhhing, we set off to hunt caches.
Basil and Charlie tried to wrestle as we walked and often got tangled up. The kids ran ahead with the cell phone to look for treasures.

It was a great learning experience for the kids, as well as fun. At times the app would say that they were 100 or so feet from the next cache and they'd want to cross through the woods. Since I knew the trail I suggested they follow it as many of the spots were switch backs because of the steep terrain.

We couldn't find some of the caches, especially the one that was 'hidden' near a little quiet stream. The clues left said that we may get our feet wet. However that was not an issue for the dynamic trio.

We didn't find the cache and I explained to the disappointed explorers that we'd had some rather heavy rain falls this summer and flash floods...the cache may just have been washed away!

Basil and Charlie enjoyed the trip too.

They were super troopers and walked the whole distance along with all of the little side trips.
Both of them took instant naps when we did get back in the car to go home.

Geocaching.

An electronic scavenger hunt.
And the scenery was beautiful too!

How much stuff can you....?

....Pack into a Crosstek Subaru?
Well, I should have taken photos but I didn't. It was so HOT and humid that all I could think of was to get home and unload my 'stuff'.

Items purchased.
Kitchen sink. [Heavy Granite ~ Champagne color]

This is not the faucet going in though.

Lights. 2 Lights for the porch, or as Rich calls it, the Veranda.

One light for the North entrance.

I will give a nod to Menard's  as I had used their very easy website the night before to preview what I wanted to get and checked stock at the store I was going to.

I also had all of their SKU numbers written down.

When I went to lighting all I had to do was hand over my list and check the items I wanted.

It took me longer to drive to their store than the time it took to make my purchases off my list!

Well, let's just say I had a load of items and was able to get some groceries on the way home. The only place left to put things was in the front passenger seat.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing on the porch and doing some gardening. 

Ariel is coming to visit for nearly a week! I can't wait! Sounds like we may do some fun things that she has planned for us.

I have a surprise adventure for her too. Hopefully most of the mess of interior work will be done but if not, we'll just do as we've been doing.

Work around it.

I had some down time to play with items I've found and do some still life.

Account book from Elliott's Welding, Richland Center circa 1930's.

And ... Made in USA

Well, I can't wait until Miss Ariel arrives, it looks like we will have some fun.