Hello Again!

Howdy! It's been quite some time since I last posted. The reason for this lack of diligence on my part is really quite easy to explain. For the past week Vanessa and I were counselors for fifth graders at Whiskeytown Environmental School.

It is also known as the N.E.E.D. Camp, or National Environmental Education Camp. The camp is located above Whiskeytown Lake along a creek and on the edge of the woods. It is a really beautiful location and my stay there would have been absolutely perfect if it had been me, family, friends, and a couple of the naturalists. As it was, it was just plain ole good fun and both Vanessa and I had a great time.

As counselors, we had to stay with our kids for 22 1/2 hours a day. I had eight boys to watch over and Vanessa had eight girls. I was originally going to stay with girls, but when they discovered I was eighteen, and therefore an adult, they put me with boys. I had to eat, sleep, hike, play, and everything else with them for five days. It was just a little challenging, but really a great experience that was very educational for me at least! Really, I was very nervous about having to care for eight boys, but now I'm rather glad I got boys because they are so insensitive compared to girls. I was able to keep them in line (maybe a little too well!) and nobody's feelings got bruised. It seems like pretty much everything runs off of little boys like water off a duck, unless you are really mean or strict with them, which I wasn't. I think the boys had as good a time as I did.

Sadly, both Vanessa and I forgot to take camera's so I had to get these two pictures from the WES website. This is the ampitheatre were we met with our naturalist every day and where the evening program was. My group was Cabin 5, also known as Cuyahoga Valley. Our assigned seat was the top bench on the far right, right by and in front of that really big tree. We saw some great plays and sang some great songs from that seat. Ah, good times, good times. :)

School

As you may or may not know, I have been attending Oakview High School for the past couple of weeks. The reason for this is that I could go ahead and get my diploma instead of having to settle for a GED. I have to take two classes.

I have already completed my Economics class,

and now have only United States Government to complete! And then I not only get to recieve my diploma (after I take the exit exam), but I get to go through the ceremony on Friday, June 8, 2007 at 10:00 am! I am extremely excited and cannot wait! It has been a very exciting day. :)

Gold!

Remember in an earlier post about Whiskeytown I had said we were looking for gold? Well, we actually found some! It was quite a process to get it, however.

This plain rock

that Vanessa crushed (using Dad's good hammer at his insistence, quite contrary to the strict rules on the farm!)

and Dad panned,

yielded a single flake of gold!

We were so excited and cannot wait to crush more rocks. We did try panning in a stream using naturally ground down rocks, but we haven't gotten the knack of it yet. This way the whole family is involved in either crushing, panning, documenting, or supervising. It's hard to be that involved out at a creek with only one pan. But it does give the non-busy family members a great chance to wade, rock hunt, bird watch and all the other great stuff that a mountain creek can give you! Gold hunting is so much fun!

Lassen and Burney Falls

This past weekend was a three day one for us, so we had more time to explore and have fun! We got all our housework done on Friday and on Saturday headed over to Mount Lassen and Burney Falls.

While we couldn't actually get to Mount Lassen because of the snow, we had a great time eating lunch at a little park. The major reason it was so great is because there was (can you guess?!)

SNOW!! Vanessa and I were super excited to be playing in the snow again after two years of substituting sand for it.

After lunch, we headed on towards Burney Falls,

and finally got there.

The falls are huge, and they not only come over the edge of the cliff, but they pour out of the cliff face. Truly amazing!

Mom and I were very impressed.

After admiring the falls from their base,

we decided to take a loop trail to get to the top.

The trail meandered alongside a rushing stream,

and we crossed the stream on this beautiful bridge.

The falls were as pretty from the top as they were from the bottom.

On the trail back to the car, we ran into the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from Canada to Mexico.

We also crossed over the headwaters of the falls.

Our day out was absolutely gorgeous and a lot of fun. These days out are getting to be a regular habit!

Evening at Anderson River Park

While Mom, Vanessa, and I get to go to Anderson River Park for lunch, we also get to go in the evenings after supper with Dad. You wouldn't think that a few hours could make such a difference, but the park is totally different in the evenings. The birdsongs have changed and there are more animals out and about.

Ducks come to the ponds for the night,

jackrabbits come out to graze,

and lizards are sluggish enough to actually get pictures of!

Sunsets on the river are beautiful,

but sometimes we like to watch the minnows better.

A river otter graced us with his presence,

and had a snack,

before he left!
Yes, it was another great time at the River Park!

Anderson River Park

Our favorite place in Anderson is by far the Anderson River Park. Right on the Sacramento River (hence the name "river park"), it has many meandering trails, several ponds, and great spots to just relax at on the river. It happened to be a beautiful day yesterday so Mom, Vanessa, and I decided to have lunch there.

We came prepared,

and enjoyed our lunch of cheese, pepperoni, and crackers.

Vanessa enjoyed some soccer practice with her volleyball. Then we set off on a walk around the park.

First we watched a lady feed the geese (do you remember them, Jen and Michelle?),

while a Double-Crested Cormorant dried it's wings.

Then, while we were watching a turtle bask,

we saw these huge fish. We think they were carp and they were at least a foot long, probably closer to a foot and a half long. HUGE! How we wished we had fishin' poles!

We continued on,

found some gorgeous wild iris,and a beautiful spot on right on the Sacramento River!

After a while, we walked into the woodsand saw not only a beautiful blue flowering bush,

but some blooming blackberry vines!

Where a dragonfly rested, butterflies danced above,and birds sang from the bushes. We came to a pond and saw another basking turtle,

and an American Coot.

And on our way back to the truck, we noticed that there was snow on the ground! Actually, it is cotton from the cottonwood trees.

What a great day at the Park!

Sunday's Adventures Continued: The Drive Home

Not only was the time spent at Whiskeytown fun, but so was the drive home! We decided not to take the usual Highway 299 route home through Redding. Instead we decided to drive home by way of Igo on a little used road out of Whiskeytown. Before we actually left pavement, we stopped at a very pretty and apparently often visited cemetary.

Mom and Dad found two gravestones they thought were very neat.

This fancy cross,

and this cowboy's stone from 1895.

Their favorite grave however, was this one:
Family and friends had made a bunch of tiles and placed them around the grave. Not only is it a neat idea, but this guy spent some time in Hawaii judging by some of the tiles.

Besides neat graves, there were some beautiful flowers.

Iris,
more iris,
and something else (lavendar I think).

Just when the flower photographing reached its peak, a huge storm began to move in and we had to leave.

Then the paved road to Igo became a one lane dirt track,

and our 2x4 Ram 1500 only had a quarter tank of gas!

Just when we thought things couldn't get any more tense (or fun!) the storm really started to move in,

and it started to rain!

However, we managed to outrun the storm back to paved roads and home with time to play some chess before bed.

Can a single day be any more fun?!