Camping Continued

All of the items that we bought for camping have been wonderful. I don't think I needed the hammock but it has been lovely. I would upgrade my hammock for one that lets two people enjoy it at the same time just because my daughter is very snuggly and can't stand to see me nap alone. haha.
We have enjoyed a couple of State Parks since the first camping trip.

This is Historic Jefferson College.

 https://plus.google.com/110856970830074203347/about?gl=us&hl=en

http://mdah.state.ms.us/hprop/hjc.html

http://mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us/articles/315/jefferson-college-in-washington-Mississippi

I am not going to write all about its history. These websites have done that so much better than I ever could. I would just like to say that it is always a pleasure to have a bit of history injected into our traveling fun.

This site was the saddest place that I have been in a very long time. I couldn't help but cry for the people that suffered at that time. This was one of the largest slave trade sites in the nation.

I don't care what people say on Pinterest. This recipe did not work. The rolls would not cook in this orange peel. I am sure it must be my fault but seriously - this did not work for us.

We had the worst storm this night and at some points truly believed we would be drenched because the winds were so strong that the tent could have been torn to shreds but it held up and I love it because it did not let us down.

I know this is difficult to read but it is a memorial to the lives lost in the Rhythm Club fire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_Club_fire

http://rhythmclubfire.com/ Please watch this if you get a chance.

We crossed the Mississippi River into Louisiana. The town was named Vidalia. It was funny to me because I have heard of and been to Vidalia Georgia but never knew there was a Vidalia Louisiana.

This is the shack that welcomed us each time we turned on to the road that took us back to our campsite. So many little landmarks like this one. I found them all very charming.

We drove around and continued to find great tidbits of history.

Too dark to see.                                                         Too bright to look good.

This is all that was left of the Female college. So sad.

We simply could not figure these out so we turned around and went back to get a closer look.

I am pretty sure these are great grey herons. I am often wrong though....

And these were just on the way home. Not that big of a deal but I thought I would throw them in here in case someone was interested in either one of the signs and wanted to look them up.

Overall we had a great time camping. It was the right temperature even if it was kinda scary weather. By the way this trip took place in the middle of April 2014.

Power Outages

Well, the power has been very iffy today so I am trying to post an entry from my iPad. If I get used to this I may just develop a habit of posting entries. 

I started packing the Jeep today for the camping trip this weekend. I never realized how big our stuff is. Tent, folding chairs, cooler, sleeping pad and bags, there might not be room for our clothes. Hahaha. 

Camping Stuff

My mom is visiting me for a few days so I only have time to jot down some of the equipment that I will be receiving from Amazon for my camping adventures. TOO EXCITED!!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004E4ERHA/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00339NSI6/ref=oh_details_o02_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A8D05TA/ref=oh_details_o02_s02_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AIBJNS/ref=oh_details_o02_s04_i04?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TT5P1E/ref=oh_details_o02_s04_i05?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003IMO3I2/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6UZCC0/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

 

 

 



Cooking is Coming Back to Me

Camping FOR THE WIN!!!

Hubby and I have spent an enormous amount of time searching the internet for just the right camping equipment at just the right price. I made the order today and I scheduled the first camping trip. OH My Goodness!! We are actually doing this! I will post all of the fun goodies that we bought when they get here and we can try them out.

I don't think I could exaggerate my excitement about this. I have cabin fever. The winter has been long and mean. I am ready to get outside and play.

I am actively working on a rug. I have cut up old socks and crocheted them into circles. I don't want to show pictures of the progress right now because they look really primitive.

I have been cooking more lately. I felt as though I couldn't do anything right in the kitchen so I just spent three days just trying to get the cooking skillz back.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/baked-italian-zucchini-boats

http://www.simply-gourmet.com/2012/07/165-vegetable-tian.html

 

 



http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/recipes/SALMON_FISH_CAKES

 

 

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/brownie-pudding-cake-50400000124413/

 



http://www.theroastedroot.net/zucchini-yellow-squash-soup/

http://cookiesandcups.com/pretzel-hugs/

 

http://www.sippitysup.com/chocolate-cream-pie-resolutions/

 

I also made the ever easy crowd pleasing Chili. Everything that I made turned out great except the bacon for Sunday brunch. What the heck man!!?? I can't be in charge of bacon. It is just wrong to destroy that delicious goodness. I destroyed it. Seriously it was barely recognizable. My hubby was so very sad.

Luckily, I made separate bacon for my bacon pancakes for brunch. At least my pancakes were rockin'.

 

 

I will be making some homemade soups next week to clean out the fridge and also to take me into some awesome Springtime weather. Once it is Summer we won't want soups.

 





Birthdays for Teens

I expected more kids to show and I expected my brownies to be better..... bummer.
They had a great time. Kids just like to hang out together. I should know that by now.

She keeps telling me that she just made "suggestions" to her friends for her gifts but all the parents said that she told her friends what to get her. I believe it. She had a very specific list of wishes this year. (and she is rather bossy) We painted pottery and played with punch balloons and I sat in the corner being sick. I did take some time to break the rock hard bricks of brownies that I had made. Next time I will not cook them so long. If I had been able to serve them warm they would have been softer and easier to deal with but they were cold and ROCK HARD!! Advice to all the moms who don't know this yet - when serving brownies the next day be sure to cut the cook time down so that they will be soft. UGH!! so frustrating.
Well, she is 13 now and I can't even think about her getting any older. She will be in High School in the next couple of years, then she will be driving, and boyfriends, High School graduation, and then college. So much happens so close together now. I think I may just cry forever..... Deep Breaths. One day at a time and don't miss a single thing. That is all I can do.

Many Fun Things

I have caught a head cold and feel oogy. BUUUUUT, I have great news!! We bought a Jeep. I am so excited that all of our talks and plans to go adventuring are coming together. We have started planning 2 trips with the Jeep. One will be in the next couple of months. My husband's uncle is turning 90 so we will drive out to Arkansas to visit and maybe while we are there we will go fishing and try to set up all of the camping stuff. I am not sure if he will want to camp because we are only planning a day trip. So that will be the test run. I have found many things near home that we have never seen so we are going to Natchez and that trip will probably be around my birthday - so late May.

 

We took the top off of the front, rolled the windows down, and drove out to the Refuge. It was a perfect day and we saw lots of Canadian Geese. It was almost 80 degrees outside so we walked some trails and looked for alligators. I could not convince hubby to drive through any dirt roads or mud because the dealer had not detailed the vehicle yet and that would just be mean to get the truck all dirty just before they have to clean it.

The weather in Mississippi is a joke. It was no warmer than 32 today. When I got up to take the truck back in to get it detailed there was ice all over it.

We stopped at Krispy Kreme to get some breakfast. My diet is going well, don't you think? Hahaha!!
After the detail work was done I took my daughter out to the Lock and Dam to go through some ditches. I didn't get it too muddy. It is more grassy than muddy out there. She had a blast. We also did some tight circles in the parking lot. (two sets of donuts for the day)

Crazy weather....