Making Time for Adventures

Life has been busy lately.  I had high expectations for my last few weeks of "summer break" before returning to work.  Things didn't really go according to my plan.  Mike ended up picking up full time hours at work and that didn't give us any time off together.  After several weeks of no adventures and barely seeing each other, I kinda broke down.  Just a bit.

Please don't get me wrong... I am grateful my husband has  job that he enjoys.  I have prayed a lot for him to get a job that makes him happy.  And Lord knows we needed the extra income since we are trying to rebuild our savings from the EPIC adventure of home-buying.

But, I miss the days where we would just jump in the car and GO... somewhere... ANYWHERE new to us!

We've done a LOT around the Tahoe area.  But there's still SO much to go do and see!

So, my super sweet husband (realizing how bummed I was) planned some impromptu adventures.

One week night a couple of weeks ago, I came home to the paddleboards loaded up on the car.  He had laid out my bathing suit/clothes and told me to change.  It was a complete surprise to me.  We paddled Bliss State Park and headed over to The Beacon for a lakefront, sunset dinner.  I didn't take a single picture but it was AWESOME.  Sorry folks.

But, I did some pictures of our impromptu hike up to Cave Rock to watch the sunset.  Super easy hike.  Super awesome views.  More pics on facebook for you to enjoy but THIS was one of my favorites:

I give my hubs a lot of credit.  He TRIED to get a full weekend off so we could go do something fun but, it didn't quite work out.  He ended up having to work on Saturday but as soon as he got home, we headed out to do some camping and bike riding.

We headed to Blue Lakes (without a reservation) and luckily we found a campsite.

SUNSET FROM OUR CAMPSITE

GLAD WE FOUND A SPOT! 

WE LOVE A GOOD CAMPFIRE

WE ATE BREAKFAST BY LOWER BLUE LAKE

PEACEFUL MORNING

 From Blue Lakes... we headed to Big Meadow Trailhead for a bike ride to Meiss Meadows... with Zater's ashes in tow.  Ok, so that part we planned in advance a little bit.  

We made a quick stop by Round Lake.

ROUND LAKE

ROUND LAKE AGAIN

BEAUTIFUL MEADOW

 Several years ago we hiked from Carson Pass to Luther Pass with Zater.  It was a nice long hike.  We stopped at Meiss meadow at these little cabins.  While we were here, Zater (who LOVED to chase chipmunks), actually caught a chipmunk in his mouth.  He grabbed it.  It squeaked.  We yelled "NO" and he dropped it (he was disappointed because it was the first and ONLY time he had actually caught one).  Anyway, the chipmunk was fine and it was a funny memory of our dog that we still talk about.  

So, it seemed only fitting to bring a little bit of him back here.  We know he's chasing chipmunks in heaven.  

MEISS MEADOW CABIN (one of several cabins)

PRETTY FLOWERS

A BEAUTIFUL STREAM 

OUR LITTLE MEMORIAL TO OUR BELOVED DOG

BEST WE CAN REMEMBER, HE CAUGHT THE
CHIPMUNK SOMEWHERE AROUND HERE.

THERE WAS CONVENIENTLY A ROCK THERE
SURROUNDED BY BEAUTIFUL WILDFLOWERS
AND RIGHT BESIDE THE STREAM. 

 We opted to ride from Meiss meadow to Dardanelle's Lake.  A place we've never been before!  EXCITING!!!!  I love NEW adventures! 

MY BIG BIKE TIRES LOOK SMALL NEXT TO THIS
BIG OL' TREE

I BASICALLY TOOK MY BIKE FOR A HIKE IN
ORDER TO GET HERE...

MORE ROCK GARDENS THAN I EXPECTED ON
THE TRAIL.

IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT THOUGH! 

WE SAT ON A ROCK... ATE A SNACK...
AND LISTENED TO SOME THUNDER IN THE DISTANCE

DARDANELLES LAKE

MY PERSONAL ADVENTURE GUIDE

SINCE THERE WERE STORM CLOUDS ALL AROUND US, WE
OPTED TO RIDE BACK THE WAY WE CAME (A SHORTER ROUTE
THAN WHAT WE ORIGINALLY PLANNED)... 

...BACK THROUGH BIG MEADOW

PRETTY PRETTY STORM CLOUDS... NOW RAIN ALREADY!

We had a wonderful weekend with all our favorite things... campfire... sleeping in the truck... mountain biking... memories of our beloved Zater... etc.  

Thank you Mike for realizing that I like spending time with you, and that I NEED to spend time with you (and nature)... just every once in a while ... just enough to keep my sanity.  

My Last Week of Summer Vacay

What a sad title for this post?!?!

My short summer break is over and tomorrow I head back to work.  Honestly, I'm not ready to head back.  I don't feel relaxed or refreshed.  Oh well.  Regardless, it's back to work I go!

But, on to happier things...

... my hometown friend Frankie, his lovely wife Alli, and their friends and pup came to Tahoe for a quick visit and allowed me to tag along on their hike up Mt. Tallac.  

WE STOPPED AT ALL THE LAKES TO LET THE
PUP SWIM AND COOL OFF

ALMOST THERE!
BEAUTIFUL WILDFLOWERS NEAR THE TOP.

THIS VIEW NEVER GETS OLD

LOOKING AT SOUTH LAKE

THANKFUL FOR A CLEAR DAY WITHOUT
SO MUCH SMOKE AND HAZE

LOOKING AT LOTS OF LAKES IN
DESOLATION WILDERNESS

FRANKIE AND ALLI

We've also been dogsitting our friends sweet pup who is so goofy and lovable.  

Here are some pics of some of his crazyness:

THIS WAS AFTER A NICE LONG WALK.  I SAT ON THE COUCH,
HE LAID HIS HEAD IN MY LAP... I GOT UP AND HE DIDN'T EVEN
NOTICE I LEFT. HE WAS OUT!

BUTT ON THE COUCH... PAWS ON THE FLOOR..
HEAD ON THE COFFEE TABLE

TAKING A NAP WITH HIS NEW FRIEND JAKE

LOOKING REGAL ON THE COUCH

PRACTICALLY BEGGING FOR A WALK?
ACTUALLY, HE WAS GETTING AWAY FROM
THE SUPER SCARY VACUUM CLEANER. 

Well, short and sweet for this post.  Now, back to watching the Olympics, doing laundry, and savoring my last day of summer vacation til next year! 

Projects

When Mike switched jobs and became a ski patroller, we were excited to have summers off together.  So far, that hasn't really worked out in our favor.  But, that's ok.  He's been picking up a lot of shifts at work which we are really very grateful for.  And for the remainder of summer he will actually be working full time.  So, instead of spending lots of time hiking and mountain biking and paddling (like we originally intended for this summer), he's been spending lots of time at work and I've been spending my free time working on small projects around the house.  

One of the first things to get done in the house was our upstairs bathroom.  Overall, the bathroom is fine.  The fixtures are all relatively new.  The layout works.  It is the smallest room in the house, and the one that needed the least amount of work to make it what we want... so obviously I started there. 

The only problems I had with this room were:

 1) There were 4 different finishes in this one tiny room... brass door handles, chrome faucets, oil rubbed bronze bathroom accessories, and satin nickel cabinet hardware.  That's a lot of different fixtures for a tiny room.  

2) There wasn't much storage.  The only storage available was in the bathroom vanity.  So, we always ended up sticking a lot of things (like extra paper towels, toilet paper, towels, etc) in the shower!  Not a big deal because we don't often use that shower but, still, it was kind of annoying.  

So, during our visit to NC, I noticed my mom had painted all the handles in their house an oil rubbed bronze color and they looked amazing!  With that as my inspiration, we did the same.  

This sounds like a super easy project and in theory it is.  But, I wanted to make sure I did it correctly because I want it to last as long as possible.  So, I took off all the hardware, cleaned it, sanded it, cleaned it again and then sprayed primer, paint, and a clear enamel layer on top.  Might've been overkill in hindsight but if you can have a little patience (which I struggle with), it turns out pretty well.  

BEFORE

DURING

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU AREN'T PATIENT

AFTER

 I also decided to spray a couple of soap dispensers throughout the house.  They were old and needed to be replaced.  But, I was on a roll and figured I would give them a shot with the spray paint.  

BEFORE
RUSTY AND GROSS

AFTER
SLEEK AND SHINY AGAIN

So far, so good with the soap dispensers.  The paint is holding up well to lots of use.  And when they do wear out, I get to go buy new ones.  But, at least I salvaged these as long as I could.  

So the other issue was storage.  This bathroom has the old "pass through" that connected the two sides of the duplex.  On our side is a door, on the neighbors side is just a sheet of plywood.  That doesn't offer much of a sound barrier between the bathrooms.  

 The nice thing though, it that this area is about 7-8 inches deep... perfect for a set of shelves in my opinion.  

So, I headed to Lowe's and bought a sheet of 1/2" sound board (which I doubled up to make 1 inch thick), and a sheet of bead board to make the back wall look a bit prettier.  

I found old plywood in the basement and marked out the dimensions for the shelves.  I took it to Lowe's and they cut it for free.  

There was only one problem, the guy cut 2 of the 3 boards too short!  He cut them on the wrong line (there was a faint old red line on the boards and he cut on those instead of my nice, new, black lines). 

Naturally, I didn't double check his work in the store (that would be rude) so I didn't realize this mistake until I got home.  Great!  Perfect.  

Anyway, I decided it wasn't a big deal and I could either have new pieces of plywood cut OR I could attempt to resolve the situation and just make the best of it.  

Luckily, we have a basement that just seems to keep providing for our needs.  I started looked around the basement for anything I could use to salvage this project.  I stumbled across 2 pieces of black plumbing pipe which I used as legs for the 2 short boards.  

  PERFECT solution!  And this ended up being a total blessing because now I have a tall, skinny opening on the side of the closet that so perfectly houses our broom and swiffer!  It couldn't have worked out any better if i'd planned it that way!  

I got way too excited over this new found storage!  It's so nice to have a purpose to that wasted space.  

It's awesome to have one small project finished (on a list of seemingly never ending projects)!  Maybe I can get a few more done before the school year starts back up... stay tuned. 

Our Sweet Tea Sippin' Southern Vacation

It was SO good to be back in North Carolina for a week... it's just a shame it happened in July!  Ok, that's not really true.  I love NC during all seasons but the heat and humidity did seem to be at a peak while we were there (at least initially... it did cool off a bit on our LAST day).

Fortunately for us, we know how to handle such extreme weather - by going to the river... and the beach... and the pool! 

After a full day of travel, we landed at RDU and headed straight for the nearest Smithfield's for some bbq, hush puppies, and sweet sweet SWEET tea.  It had been so long I had forgotten HOW to order a bbq sandwich with slaw!  

We then headed to Wendell where we relaxed on the front porch swing and visited with my best friend/neighbor until the mosquitoes drove us inside.  It was GREAT to see you Jennifer.  I'm so glad we got to catch up.  I miss you terribly and you've always got a place to stay if you find yourself in Tahoe!  And you SHOULD find yourself in Tahoe sometime!  

The next day we picked up a rental car and headed to Knightdale to visit my sweet adopted grandmother.  After some good southern hugs, we headed on to Apex for a visit with Mike's grandmother where we sipped homemade lemonade while rocking in her rocking chairs.

MIKE AND NANA

From there, it was onward to Burlington/Greensboro.  We made NO plans in advance of this trip so on the way I started texting people in the area and asking if we could stop by for a quick visit.  As impromptu as that strategy was, it TOTALLY worked out!

We made a quick pit stop at a Krispy Kreme along the way (I really just needed coffee because I was a little fatigued from the previous days travels but ya know what goes great with coffee??? ORIGINAL GLAZED DONUTS!), then started our visiting in Greensboro with my dear friend Kendall and her family!  I can not even express how much I miss spending time with this girl.  She is purely happy.  Nothing seems to get her down and her smile and laugh are totally contagious!  It was sooo wonderful to catch up with her whole family!  Thanks again for letting us come by for a visit!  I'm so glad it worked out.

From there, we headed to Burlington where we visited my friend Amy and her ridiculously adorable pooch... our friends Josh and Andrea and their 2 sweet and adorable babies... and where we got to meet our tenant who is renting our townhouse!  All that was followed by a totally impromptu cook out with our friends, Dacia and Nathan!  Whew.  That was a productive afternoon of visiting if you ask me.  Thanks again everyone for being totally flexible and allowing us to stop by last minute!  And a special thanks to Dacia and Nathan for providing good burgers and good beer (and good company).  I hate that we didn't get a chance to visit with the Rocheleau's.  Sorry guys!  Next visit for sure!  Sorry we missed you too Gracie!  Love you!

Ok... lets get to the part of the blog that has accompanying PICTURES!  I know that's what you really want... less words... more pictures!

Friday-Sunday we spent at the Chowan river with my whole "fam damily."  We did a lot of river floating, tubing behind the boat, water skiin', storm watchin', EATIN', beer drinkin' and swingin' on the swings!  It was perfect.

ON THE WAY TO THE RIVER WE STOPPED TO SEE THE NEW
TREEHOUSES THAT WERE BUILT.  YOU CAN RENT THESE AND THEY
WERE FEATURED ON THE DIY CHANNEL.  PRETTY COOL. 

WALKING THE PATHWAY TO THE TREEHOUSES.

RANDOM BUT BIG SHOUT OUT TO MY SWEET PARENTS FOR RIDES TO AND FROM 
THE AIRPORT... FOOD... A PLACE TO STAY FOR A FEW NIGHTS... ETC.

WE SO APPRECIATE YOUR CONSTANT LOVE AND SUPPORT.  I DON'T
CARE HOW OLD I AM OR WHERE I LIVE, I WILL ALWAYS NEED MY MOM
AND DAD... AND I KNOW THEY WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR US.
LOVE YOU GUYS! 

THE RIVER!

WE GOT TO WATCH SOME AMAZING STORMS!  

LOTS AND LOTS OF FLOATING TOOK PLACE

AND MIKE SHOWED US HE'S STILL ABLE TO SLALOM WATERSKI!

MY SWEET COUSIN AND HER ADORABLE FAMILY!

FIN AND JOHNNY GOING TUBIN'

SEE?  MORE FLOATIN'!  I TOLD YA WE DID SOME SERIOUS
TIME FLOATING IN THE RIVER!

PA AND LAINEY PLAYING CHECKERS.
LAINEY ALSO PAINTED FINGERNAILS (WITH
COLORS AND SPARKLES) FOR ANYONE WHO
WANTED THEM PAINTED! 

IT'S NO SECRET MY HUSBAND LIKES CLEAR WATER.
I TOLD HIM TO IMAGINE THIS AS A
BIG RIVER OF SWEET TEA!
I LOVE IT.  IT'S CLEAR (BY NC STANDARDS) AND WARM!

 We spent a lot of time tubing behind the boat.  My sweet nephew is 6 years old and fearless when riding in the tube.  I honestly don't know who had more fun though, me or him.  

FIN, ME, AND UNCLE MIKEY

WE PLAYED BUMPER TUBES AND FIN WAS OBSESSED WITH
TRYING TO "BUMP UNCLE MIKEY OUT OF HIS TUBE."

WHICH WE DID SUCCESSFULLY.... 4 TIMES! 

HANG ON UNCLE MIKEY!

WE HAD A BLAST!  THANKS AGAIN UNCLE CLYDE
FOR PULLING US BEHIND THE BOAT!  IT WAS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS
OF THE WEEKEND FOR ME!  

MY SWEET AND WONDERFUL FAMILY!
MINUS SOME AUNTS, UNCLES, COUSINS, AND THEIR BABES
WHO WERE SICK!  YOU GUYS WERE MISSED!!!!!!!  

I can't thank my Aunt Sylvia and her family enough for sharing their river house with us for the weekend.  It is SUCH a cool place.  I have memories of going there when I was a kid, and now a new generation of kids are getting to make memories there too.  We really appreciate you letting us use your floats, and taking us out on the boat, and feeding us so, SO well the entire weekend!  We had a blast!  Love you guys!!!  

Sunday after lunch, Mike and I decided to drive to the Outer Banks since we were only about an hour away.  Neither of us had been there in many years so it was great to do a quick visit.  

OBX!

DUCK DONUTS!!!!!
THEY WERE DELICIOUS!

WE STOPPED IN NAGS HEAD FOR A SWIM IN THE OCEAN!

 We made a quick drive down to Oregon Inlet, stopping by the fishing center to see the big boats coming in with their catches.  

 We made a quick stop in Manteo... 

... and then we headed south to New Bern where we stayed with my brother's family for a night.  

I didn't take a single picture while in New Bern because I was trying to soak up as much time with my niece and nephew as possible!  Thanks again for letting us stay with you guys!  We love the house.  It looks great!  Fin and Lainey - WE MISS YOU BOTH SO MUCH ALREADY!!!  

Aunt PJ and family - SORRY we didn't get by to see you guys!  Wish it would've worked out.  Hope everyone is feeling better!  Miss you and love you all!

I also was hoping to see my friend Alli from college but it didn't work out this trip!  Next time I'm going to be in New Bern, I will contact you in advance and we will try get by for a visit!

From New Bern, we continued south to Carolina Beach.  We brought Zater's ashes along on this trip and we spread a few of them at the water's edge at Carolina Beach.  We used to drive Mike's truck out there and set up for the day.  Zater would run after the ball ALL DAY LONG.  He absolutely wore himself out.  It was a wonderful memory and it was important to us that part of him remain there.  

The only dilemma was the fact that we were driving a rented Nissan Versa.  Luckily, a wonderful friend, Justin, allowed us to borrow his ridiculously awesome Jeep to be able to drive out on the beach.  We will never be able to thank him enough for this.  Seriously, never.  But, Justin, if you read this, please know that you've always got a place to stay in Tahoe... in the summer so you can take that Jeep on the Rubicon trail AND in the winter so you can snowboard!  Bring your wife and kids!  

ALL THE OTHER JEEP OWNERS ON THE BEACH WERE STARING AT US
(AND PRACTICALLY DROOLING).
I FELT LIKE A CELEBRITY RIDING IN THIS THING. 

CELEBRATORY DRINK IN MEMORY OF OUR SWEET DOG!

UNFORTUNATELY, IT STARTED RAINING ON OUR
WAY BACK TO RETURN THE JEEP!
IT WAS ONE OF THOSE GOOD OL' NC DOWNPOURS!!!!

WE DID TRY TO RIDE IT OUT UNDER A GAS STATION AWNING,
BUT WE DIDN'T MAKE IT BEFORE GETTING SOAKED.

SORRY JUSTIN!!!!!!

 I told ya... we owe him BIG TIME!!!!!!  

We had tentative plans to visit one my best friends from college but unfortunately, it didn't work out.  Next time Lauren, for sure!!!  Miss you!!!

We made quick stops by Mike's dad's boat and Hibachi Express (our favorite take out Japanese restaurant in Wilmington where NOTHING has changed), before heading to Raleigh to visit Mike's mom.  

We got so lucky that Mike's mom had the following day off from work.  So, we lounged in the pool and ate some delicious Mexican food for lunch.  

 My mother-in-law's birthday is in a few short days so we celebrated while we were there!  With cheesecake!!!  Unfortunately, we didn't have a candle so Mike improvised by sticking a match in it. Never-the-less, M-I-L, we wish you the happiest of birthdays!  And we love you dearly!  Thanks for letting us stay a few nights with you guys!    

We met Mike's Dad and his wife, Kim for drinks on our last night in town.  Sorry we didn't get to spend more time with you guys!  We really do love you guys!

There were SO many more people we would have LOVED to have visited.  And we are SO SO SORRY we didn't get to see EVERYONE!  Quite simply, we ran out of time.  Guess we will just have to come back for another visit sooner rather than later!

After a very long, and somewhat annoying flight, we find ourselves back in Tahoe.

Back to this... 

To my family, my friends, and my dear home state of North Carolina... I miss you all more than you know!  It was great to spend time with you!  And I can't wait to come back and visit again!  We'll try not to wait so long between visits this time!!!!  Thank you all for your sweet hospitality!

MUCH LOVE FROM TAHOE!!!

XOXO!!!