Seeing Triple?

The other day, I got stuck behind this sight on the way home from work. Not as bad as being stuck behind a group of bikers taking up two thirds of the road. That was just bad manners. These guys were moving faster than the bikers. And from all I could see, they were cuter too. (I'm not seeing the people weren't cute - I wasn't really checking. It's more of a statement on spandex. Not. Cute.)

Kissing Bridge ;)

On the way home from the market, I took Ed on a little detour to see the West Montrose Covered Bridge. This was another coveted part of market trips when I was a kid. We'd generally get out, run around, get pictures by the sign. (One such which immortalizes me in a horrid green-and-white striped button up, short jumpsuit. Ugh. Oh...and topped off by an ill-fitting black and purple Jump Rope for Heart hat. Double ugh. I was quite the stylin' kid. *Cough*)

The locals informally call this bridge "Kissing Bridge" - presumably because it was a favourite area for local courting Amish/Mennonite couples in open buggies to sneak to under cover of dark :)

It was pretty busy with visiting families and their kids.

Wish we'd had time to pull over and enjoy the river, as well as the view. And well.....I mean...

Um. So. Picture?

Bucket List: CN Tower

I made a bucket list for this summer. It's kind of a big deal. Not because there's a lot to do. There isn't. But, because I don't have much time. See last post.

• I've spent a lot of time with Ed already, so check.
• I've gone to the Christian bookstore & read more than three books. But mostly they were 'fluffy' novels. Check. And, not quite check.

But my favourite so far? Going up the CN Tower!!!!!

For many tourists, this is a pretty big deal. But.....I'm not a tourist.

I have lived an hour's drive from the tower my ENTIRE life. On a clear day, I could see it from my grandparent's front window, across the lake. So last Monday, I went with Ed, who comes from Australia, and who had already 'been there, done that.'

We had lunch while watching the view. The nice thing is, when you buy lunch, you get your ride up for free. Sweet deal!

Enough chatter now: photo time!

The upper half

View 1 from the restaurant

Appetizer: Tomato Salad with baked cheese of some sort. My favourite part!

View 2: Financial district, I believe.

:)

View 3

Ed's min course: Mushroom Linguini

Can ya spot the kayaks? And yeah, we need rain.

Dessert: almost too pretty to eat!

Glass floor :)

Beautiful Visitors!

On Tuesday I looked out my window and saw these beauties feeding. Couldn't help but pull out the camera & try for a shot. God created so much beauty in this world! They were so much fun to watch, chasing each other around.

Flirting...

Feeding...

Inukshuks

Inukshuks are something of a Canadian symbol these days.

They take a place of pride on Nunavut's flag, and can be found on top of mountains, wherever rocks may be found, and sometimes even in random mid-city empty lots.

These are all tourist-made inukshuks at Bruce Peninsula National Park.

Shaun & Joel's creation, in the middle of the path.

This guy's got a nice view...

...see?

Tales from the South: Trail Clean-Up

Every Wednesday morning that Faithworks spends with SWAP in Kentucky, we clean up Little Shepherd Trail.
It's our way of giving back to the community that hosts us.

And every year lends us some interesting finds.
Some years it's diapers, others its undies.
We find skulls & dead animals.
There's car parts and home reno remains.
And always the usual cans & bottles.

And, we always have fun!

A gorgeous morning: view from the top of Margot's driveway

Someone dumped their shed? We can take care of that...

...Step 1: get it off the hill & on the road. Step 2: get it off the road & on the truck...

Ta-da! Good work, group!

Clean-up crew '1' at the bus, with Bec holding evidence of where the goats went to...

They used their muscles, yes they did! Showing off this year's haul.

How many people can we fit in one truck!? You better believe the truck complained about it. Loudly.

Tales from the South: Ziplining!!

I feel like I'm going through blog-withdrawal. Just one messy blog last week :(  (and "Dreaming.")

I have so much to share that rarely do I get to share it all.

But this, this is something I don't want to forget: zip-lining! Something I never even knew I wanted to do.

I had thoughts of being nervous about it. Then I did it. And now I realise why the nerves never went further than just thought. It is FUN! And not at all scary. And, just happened that is was a beautiful, gorgeous, 30 degree day!

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Gerb coming in perfectly on the practise run

They brought us up the mountain in the back of a truck

:)

Le zipping along like a pro

Emily W's turn! Notice the tiny people waiting at the other end?

Tales from the South: Sunday

This year Sunday in Harlan was a tad bit unusual.

First of all, this is usually the first chance that we get to see a bit more of the area. After hiking Knobby Rock on Saturday already, the pressure was on to see more on Sunday.

Second of all, our usual lookout point over the city was inaccessible due to road construction. I think this affected our group-picture taking (because the only group shot we have is the standard SWAP-issue one - always good, but usually supplemented by multiple others.)

Sunday morning we went to church as usual - this year at Harlan Christian again (the new usual.) It was wonderful - a good sermon by the new pastor, and a chance to connect briefly with old acquaintances.

Sunday afternoon we viewed the tunnels, used the vans as changing-rooms, & then brought our picnic lunch to Kingdom Come State Park. We viewed Log Rock before lunch. I never tire of that place. It's my most-visited park. And it's a 13 hour drive away from my home.

Log Rock

View from the lookout behind Log Rock

After lunch we did devotions with our devo partners - it was awesome to enjoy creation and study God's Word at the same time!

And then we finished off our afternoon adventures with a quick visit to Halcomb Overlook and a short hike (actually short this time) to the natural amphitheatre.

Trail signage to Amphitheatre

Can you spot all the Faithworks hikers?

Amphitheatre seating

Amphitheatre Ants

Amphitheatre Ants II

Finally, we finished up the day with an awesome spaghetti dinner together with the youth group from Harlan Christian. The kids really enjoyed themselves and the youth pastor (BRYAN, folks!) left us all encouraging notes in our pocket patches.

And, finally-finally, the day ended with group devos and an early bedtime! :)

Tales from the South: Saturday

For the first time that I've been down to Kentucky with Faithworks, we arrived before 12. 12 noon, to be
clear!

We even stopped for breakfast!

Being early meant we did our first DQ stop of the trip right away. We grabbed some lunch (and/or ice cream because of the beautiful weather.)

And then : Knobby Rock

I clearly have forgotten how far the 'short' climb is, since I said a couple of times "we're nearly there." (We were halfway the first time.) It was probably also that it was a far more difficult climb than usual. Hiking after a night of no sleep and a DQ lunch lets you know how wore out your body can get under those circumstances.

But, I did apologize for misleading them, and told them that the climb would definitely be worth it. It was.

Leana

Alyssa & Emily Br

Mandy

Edward :)

View from Knobby Rock