The Adventure that Will Last a Lifetime

Recently I've been completely negligent and absent from my blog. I miss my blogging friends and readers like crazy. However, I did want to announce that my husband and I are expecting our first child!!! We are extremely excited and can't wait for the remaining 4 1/2 months to fly by. However, in a past post about hunters who face difficult physical challenges, I did mention that I'm also a type 1 diabetic. While many type 1 diabetic women have wonderful, healthy pregnancies and children, it does pose its own set of problems. Besides struggling with the regular symptoms, I'm struggling to keep my body at the most normal it has ever been. Without getting into the medical details, it has taken alot of dedication, consideration, and many many many tears. To put it simply, it has been absolutely terrifying. Because of the high-risk nature of the pregnancy, we've traveled about once a week to see a member of my team of doctors, who all practice several hours from where we live. This has truly been one of the most emotionally and physically challenging moments of my life, so please understand that while I miss blogging it just isn't high on the priority list. Hopefully, before long I'll be able to update with lots of photos and good news, but for now I appreciate knowing that not all of my followers have left me. Thank you blogging friends.

Winner

The winner of the $100 giftcard from Dick's Sporting Goods is comment #12 - arielmaya

Please email me your name and address so that I can make sure you receive your prize! Congratulations!!

$100 Giftcard Giveaway to Dick's Sporting Goods

Dick's Sporting Goods has offered the wonderful readers of this blog the opportunity to win a $100 Gift Card! Hubby and I frequent their stores often because of the wide variety of outdoor equipment and apparel. Their stores are not specifically for hunting and fishing - they carry something for every sport and active hobby. They also have a wide range of apparel and shoes for the entire family - I know I could spend hours shopping there! So, here's what you have to do to enter:

~Follow dickssportcmo on Twitter. (This means you do have to have a Twitter account. It is free and I would highly encourage you to join. It's a wonderful networking opportunity!)

~Leave a comment under this post telling me what you would buy with the $100 Gift Card from Dick's Sporting Goods, and why.

~Leave your Twitter ID with your comment (so we can identify you)!! (One entry per person.)

Contest will end on August 20, 2009 at midnight!

For other ways to win from Dick's Sporting Goods, follow on Twitter at dickssportcmo.

***DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR TWITTER ID!***

What Do You Dislike About The Outdoors?

I obviously love the great outdoors - all the creatures, the flowers and trees, the beautiful sky.. everything. And, this blog survives because of other people who love the outdoors. But, is there anything that you really don't like about it? Now, I know that I'm going to get some die-hard, thick-headed comments from people who dare to say they can't dislike anything about the outdoors because even the bad parts make the overall good. Puh-leez. There's plenty of things that the outdoors offers that won't ever make it to the top of your "awesome list."

The first thing that comes to mind for me are snakes. I'm scared to death of snakes - little ones, big ones, ones that rattle. They're creepy and disgusting. I just finished reading Lim, by Hershel Howell (for a copy, talk to Rex) and while it was an interesting and good read (of course!) there was alot mentioned about snakes. In fact, now I'm scared to death to go anywhere down South without some of those thigh-high snake-proof boots!

Of course, snakes bring to mind the creepy-crawlies of the natural world which include spiders and ticks. I can pretty well live with spiders, but not ticks. I go all girly-retarded and scream if I find a tick. I think it's something about knowing that they're sucking the red, life-giving blood from my body. Seriously.. eew.

One of the other major creep-outs for me is the dark. It's not a big problem unless it's early early morning during deer season. Dawn is one of the most breath-taking times of the day and I love everything about it, except for walking alone through a pasture or dense group of trees completely blind. When I was extremely young and first hunted with my father, he mentioned one morning about how the animals could watch our every movement, almost like we were the ones being hunted instead of them. Oh, how I wish I could smack my father for trying to freak me out.. because it worked. I still get the heebie jeebies when I hunt alone in the early mornings.

These are just a few of the things that make me uneasy in the outdoors. I know it makes me sound ridiculously girly, but I also know that there are plenty of men that feel the same way - if only they would admit it. So, for the love of loving the great outdoors, what do you NOT like about it?

Fishing Trip - Day 3

Since apparently there was absolutely no decent fishing at all, on our third day we decided to have some good old-fashioned fun. We climbed a mountain. Ok, it wasn't that big of a mountain.. but for flatlanders like us, the altitude and steep incline is always somewhat challenging. We started the day at Ruby Mountain near Salida, Colorado. It's a recreational area where you can fish, hike, ride ATVs and more. Now, to most people, it's just a simple mountain. Once you reach the top, though, your senses are delighted with a beautiful view; the river at your feet and the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

It's also a dream come true for many rockhounds. Near the summit one can find garnets of varying sizes and colors. Unlike an actual ruby, a garnet is a semi-precious stone. Usually known for its red color, the colors can range from dark burgundy to bright orange to fire red. The garnet is also the January birthstone and found in almost every fine jewelry store. We found several beautiful garnets - one was even the perfect size for a beautiful solitaire ring. Following is a great example of how a rough garnet looks.

Photo courtesy of Old-Earth.com

While one can find garnets near the top of the mountain, located throughout the rest of the mountain are Apache Tears - small, round, pieces of black obsidian. These are extremely interesting and easy to find, though not highly prized like the garnets. Following is a photo of loose Apache Tears, similar to those that one can find on a hike up Ruby Mountain.

Photo courtesy of PreciousPebbles.com

After our morning hike and garnet search, we also visited a couple of old rock quarries. Rockhounds (like my father) love it, but to the rest of the population it just looks like lots of rocks. Either way, it makes for the opportunity to see some beautiful country. Here's one of the quarries that we visited (I just loved how the sun sparkled off the water!):

By the time we got down hiking up and down various mountains and crawling over insane amounts of rocks, we were ready for a good shower and some good food. Trips like these just prove that even when the weather and mother nature upset our plans for fishing and hunting, there is always joy and beauty in the outdoors. In fact, all it takes is the simple act of opening our eyes.

Fishing Trip - Day 2, Part 2

After visiting the Royal Gorge, we headed back west to Salida, Colorado, where our family was staying for the weekend. As usual, we all joined together for a big feast at one of the local restaurants. I don't know if the mountain air and high altitude make me more hungry or if they just have better chefs in Colorado, but the food is utterly delicious and one of the best parts of the trip (in my opinion)! After dinner that evening, while driving around not far from our campground, we came upon a herd of elk, grazing in a pasture in the setting sun! It was an appealing view, since we have neither elk nor mountains in Kansas. This was exceptionally fitting, since before I left my friend EcoRover made a comment about saying Hi to the elk and mulies because they should be moving to calving areas. Its funny how even on vacation I still think of my blogging friends! The place where these elk were grazing is a place not far off the beaten path, but still a place rarely traveled. So, it was interesting when I met a woman that night who traveled every evening to watch this group of elk graze. You don't have to be hunting, or fishing, or doing anything to enjoy the outdoors - and this lady exemplified that statment.. she was just simply enjoying the beauty of nature! As the sun moved behind the mountains and we headed home, it just so happened that the tire on my uncle's pickup started hissing - he was getting a flat! He tried to make it to flat ground, but no such luck.. For the next hour or so - the thingy that holds the spare under the pickup didn't work correctly and because the pickup was on an incline they couldn't get a jack underneath it -we had some serious family bonding time... I did my best to help by laughing at their misfortunes, and taking more photos. At least they stopped in a great spot, because this was our last view before night fell.

Fishing Trip - Day 2, Part 1

Day 2 of our fishing trip started bright and early. We were determined to get in some more fishing time, but when we walked out the door of the camper the river was higher and faster than the night before. We did throw the poles in for a short time, but mainly gave the dogs a chance to run along the river bank. The one thing that I love about these short annual vacations is it's the perfect time to see geese and their goslings along the river. We had a pair of geese that nested on a small island in the river not far from our campground, and at least once a day you would see them floating down the river with the little ones. Then, eventually, you would see them making their way back up the river bank, herding the 3 little goslings along the river's edge and sometimes walking along the bank. The beautiful thing is that even if things don't go as planned, as long as you're outside somewhere, there's always something else to capture your attention. I was lucky enough to capture this goose family on film that second morning.

Since the fishing royally stunk, we decided to head to the Royal Gorge. A family member of mine had never been there so we decided to spend a day acting like tourist. Naturally scenic, it's a great opportunity to see and experience some breathtaking views of that area of Colorado.

Besides being gorgeous, the Royal Gorge also holds claim to the world's highest suspension bridge. You can either walk or drive across the bridge. We chose to walk - on one of the windiest days of the year! Besides being scared of snakes, I'm also pretty well freaked out by heights! This was definitely out of character for me, but the views made it worth challenging myself!

The funniest part about crossing the Royal Gorge bridge was the fact that my two dogs went with us. One is a pointer, who looks more like a dalmation, and the other is a black and white miniature dachshund. The thing about my dogs is that they know no strangers. On that simple walk across the bridge we had more people stop and talk to us, ask us about the dogs, and even had them pose for pictures! They make quite a pair and definitely loved the attention. Here's a photo of them on the bridge, enjoying the popularity!

I know I said there were a bunch of photos that I wanted to share, but it seems that I've got too many from Day 2 of the trip to share in one post. Look for Part 2 tomorrow.