My year end review

Happy New Year,  
I brought in the new year with family and friends and good times over at neighbors.  I hope you had just as much fun as I did.  

I know every year there is a meme out there posting your favorite posts for the year.  Well this year I had every intention of posting lots and lots of posts because I did lots of things to write about but that was all that it was -- good intentions.  I guess its because I was away from the computer so much and just couldn't get to one where I could work  on them.  Then I started to have all sorts of troubles with the computer.  After it spent 3 weeks in the shop the consensus was it was time for my family to get a new computer.  Which we did and I'm like Yippee and It's about time - but now I'm like I want my old one back where I know how to work it.  It took me a couple of days to figure things out and I'm still learning. 
     But then to throw a kink into things with learning about the new computer  my husband decided it was also time for us to update the families phone.   I'm sooo excited about this new phone.  I've never had a smart phone before and it is just blowing my away with all the things it can do.  Now I'm spending all my time on that thing and have hardly touched the computer since its like the computer in so many ways.  I have learned it does not do well when you are try to write blog posts - its way to sensitive (ie to many typo mistakes and it assumes to many words that aren't what you want and then you have to delete those to get the one you want)  and it gives you very little room to compose things so if you want to see what you've already written its difficult.  So now I'm back to out new computer.

I did get some posts in and where happy about most of them.
It's been a been a busy year and here's what kept me away from the computer.

   January started out with us just getting back from North East  Ohio Lake Erie a year later.  My middle child had decided to join the Marines and he wanted to visit his grandparents since they were in poor health and he didn't know when he would be able to see them again once he joined.  I was very proud of him for being so mature when I figured he'd much rather spend the time with his friends.  He got sworn in on January 9th and I was grateful that we were allowed to be there to see the ceremony.
     The end of the month saw us visiting my brother-in-law who went into the hospital for a week.  The hospital he was at was just right around the corner from where we live.  Less than a mile to get to so it was easy to go back and forth to get things for him, but also a little to convenient for things too.  It seemed like everything got push to the side so that we could be there to help him.  He is an amputee and has been one since his early 20's - he's now in his 80's and its not easy for him to get around since he only has the one leg.  When he needs care its more than just routine care. I was just glad we were able to help him like we could.  Once he got better and went back to his place we felt like we needed a break.

   So for the 1st weekend in February my husband and I went up to Hot Springs Arkansas here's the link, to get rejuvenated and to start Valentines time early.
Then for Presidents day we went to Houston so that my youngest son could see the King Tut exhibit.  From the time he was little he loved ancient Egypt stuff and talked about it all the time.  To show how much he loved it - when he was in the 4th grade his birthday party theme was around the ancient world.  We had King Tut type things all over the place.  The exhibit was done very well and was worth the trip to see it.

In March my husband had some business trips to go on.  Since it was easier to drive to these place, he asked if I could come along and help with the driving which I was glad to do.  From that I got two posts in  A Fox at Cypress Bend Resort    and   Austin Chalk  .. even though it took awhile to write some of them.  (a side note the Fox at the resort gets more hits than anything else I've done so far - I never would have imagined that.)

The end of the month saw us in Baton Rouge, LA and New Orleans.  My youngest son went to the states Geography bee.  He placed 6th in the state and we were very proud of him.  It was held in Baton Rouge.  He had been to Baton Rouge a lot but its been a while since he was in NOLA and he really wanted to go there.  Since he did so well in the Bee we just had  take him there.

We weren't home but a couple of days before we had to turn and go to Parris Island South Carolina to see my son actually become a marine  here's that link.  So that was our major trip for April.

Got back from that and looked forward to some peace and quiet and enjoying the area we lived in.  Here's a couple of posts from that time  The American Rose Society - Shreveport    and   Rocking on the Red .. 
    At about this time I got a new Ipad and that was when I found out how much my computer was messing up - when I went to do an updated post on Hodges gardens.  I realized that what I was seeing on my home computer was not what others were seeing when they would look at my blog.  That made me real gun shy about posting a lot until I could work out the problems.  I finally figured out a way to get posts done without looking like I was totally crazy doing them.  It took setting up a different blog - posting things there.  Looking and correcting things on that blog using the Ipad for seeing what others where seeing.  Then I could copy it and past the corrected stuff in a new post here and then view it on the Ipad again to make sure it was showing what I wanted to be shown.  All of that took twice as long and that really slowed me down with posting things.

In May I was glad I had figured that stuff about blogging so that I could post my dream trip to Spain posts.Here's the link to May which has that Dream Trip to Spain posts.  .....  I'm so glad I got them in when I did because the summer did not turn out like I thought it would.

In June we were traveling to San Destin Florida.  My husband had a conference to go to there.  We had never been, and since our son was out of school we decided to make it a family vacation also.  Had a wonderful time.  I planned on doing a couple of posts on the trip since we visited Vicksburg on the way but time slipped away.  I still may do those posts but for now here's a couple of images.

First we stopped in Vicksburg Mississippi to see the national military park that is there.

USS Cairo Ironclad Gunboat  @ Vicksburg Ms

one of the monuments at Vicksburg National military park

The Mississippi River as seen from the military park in Vicksburg

An area where heavy fighting took place

The hill the yankees had to go up

 Then we were on to San Destin but first we had to go through Destin to get there.

the sign welcoming you to Destin Florida - I liked the way people followed the no parking sign

Destin Florida as you cross the bridge to it

 This was the area we were staying in San Destin Florida

this was pretty typical the whole time we were there in Florida.

Close to were we were staying was the state park.  I liked seeing that - because it kept the whole area from being built up.  What amazed me most about the place was how white the sands were and I could see why its become such a destination place to go for vacations.

Sand Dunes in San Destin Florida. 

 The view from the place where we were staying at..  The ocean sure was pretty there.

beach in San Destin Florida

    Got back from that trip and had to turn around to get my son ready to go to camp.  All of my children have loved going to Camp Fern in Marshall Texas. In fact my oldest son liked it so much when he was in college he got a summer job working there.  When my youngest son goes he likes to go to the all boys session which lasts for 4 weeks.  He didn't have to go for 4 weeks he could go for 2 but he loves it so much he begs to go for all 4 weeks.  I love them going to Camp Fern because when they come back they have matured so much.  My middle child said that going to Camp Fern prepared him more for the Marines than anything else ever did.  I took that as quite a compliment.  All I know was when its time for my children to go away to college Camp Fern really helped them to be ready for that  - also it got me used to being away from home for an extended period of time.

The cabin my son was staying at - Camp Fern

So  on July 1 we took my son to Camp Fern for the month of July.  We got back from that and I was wondering what I would do with all this free time I was going to have.  I knew part of the time would be spent getting ready for a VBS program I like to volunteer for - but it really wouldn't take up that much time.  I was still looking for other things to do and was not expecting to get the call that I did get from my sister-in-law.  She was up visiting my mom in Cleveland Ohio and realized that my mom was in desperate need of some help with taking care of my step dad.  It was a no brainier to me, I felt I had to put everything else on hold and go up to Cleveland to help my mom. I left after July 4th and stayed for a month.  While I was up there every once in a while I would need a break and when I did so I would like to visit my few friends that still lived there or go see my old stomping grounds.  I did get some images of those places and planned on a post or two too.  But do too not having a computer and then coming home to a really messed up computer they just never materialized.

Downtown Cleveland Ohio

 I went to Cleveland State University for a while and here's what the campus now looks like.  When I was there they were building that big white tower.  

 Here's the high School I went to.  Beaumont
 
 The thing that  made Beaumont so known was there was a stone wall that went around most of the area where the school was.  Most of the wall has been taken down but they did leave this section of the wall up.  I always liked looking at the rocks that were in this wall and this was way before I ever decided to become a geologist.  Most of the rocks in it are glacial debris material and its amazing all the different types you can see in it. 

 Across the street from my high school was a Horseshoe Lake.  It was always one of my favorite places to hang out. 

the spillway at Horseshoe Lake, Shaker Hts Ohio

 As children this was the area we loved to play around. 

 

 This glacial debris bolder was one of my favorite spots.  This is where we would meet up and eat our lunches on/ by it.  It is a whole lot bigger than this picture looks.  I thought the vegetation would be good for scale since it was so muddy and i had trouble getting closer to it.

Horseshoe Lake, Shaker Ohio

 I must admit I did like walking around the lake and enjoying all the stuff that was still in bloom.

When I really wanted to escape I would go out to the family lakehouse in Madison Ohio. 

Lake Eire

Lake Eire

 This is the way the lake looks from the porch.  What I loved most about the lake is how it can look so different from day to day or even minute to minute.

One of the things the area is famous for is that it was the home of James A. Garfield. They've turned his homestead into a nice museum and I enjoyed being able to visit it.

 Here's the portraits that hang there of him and his wife. 

 James Garfield was the first president to have a presidential library.  Its located in this building.

And finally another place I liked to go to was Wildwood.  One of James Garfield's decedents was an architect and he designed this place. Its now a park for the city of Mentor.  Its a nice place to visit and I have a lot of found memories of my time spent there many a year ago.  I enjoyed the peace and quiet I found there while I was there.
 
 

Wildwood, Mentor

 











  It was a good thing for me to go up to Cleveland.  While I was there I felt we got a lot accomplished.  I didn't want to leave until I felt my mom had the help that she needed in place.  We did get my stepfather into some programs and we did get his unemployed son to move back home to help take care of him. Taking care of elderly parents is so hard and time consuming.  You love them  so much and you want whats best for them, yet at the same time you want to be able to help keep their independence that they want to still have even though its not necessarily the best thing for them. Its so hard coming up with solutions that are right for everyone involved. 

I was barely home when school started back up again and I got all caught up in that routine again.
The big break came in September when my family went up to Wisconsin for my nieces wedding.  I got some gorgeous pictures and wanted to do a post about the wonderful geology in the area but I got so caught up in reading about it I didn't get around to posting it.  I wanted to make sure I'll do it justice.  Now I think I'll just post a few pictures and update things at a later time.

the entrance to Eau Claire dells

(I always have a hard time remembering how to spell things so I've found it helps to take pictures of the entrances.  It also helps when you are trying to sort pictures too. )

It was full fall colors when we got there and everything was so pretty.  You couldn't have picked a prettier day if you tried.

The Eau Claire Dells

Eau Claire River

 I saw this rock outcrop and I really liked it . 

 here it is at a different angle and cropped.  I thought it look like a face what do you think?

 

Bridge over the Eau Claire River

view of the Eau Claire river

 In October I was suppose to go to San Antonio Texas with my husband for business purposes.  But then my son who is the Marine got a two week leave and I decided to stay home so I could have more time with him.  I should have gone on the trip because he ended up spending the whole time at LA Tech the school he had gone to for the past couple of years.  Most of his friends were still there and he found that place to be a lot more interesting. The school is just far enough away were it wasn't convenient for him to come home at night.

In November we were back in Houston Texas to celebrate my widowed sister-in-law 60th birthday and Thanksgiving.

And finally in December we ended up in Camden South Carolina for some continuing education for my husband.  While he was in class I got to play the tourist.  I was happy to check off two things on my bucket list  which were to visit Congaree National Park - SC and see Poverty Point, LA.  Both places I thoroughly enjoyed visiting and was grateful I had the time to really see them and experience the places.

entrance to Congaree National park

 

 This was pretty typical of the vegetation you saw as you were walking along the boarded pathways.
I liked the way had made the pathways so you could walk into what was a very swampy area.

 Some historic sites in Camden
Camden was a central spot during the Revolutionary war.  Unfortunately it was a key holding for the British and not the Americans and as such it sometimes gets overlooked for its significance during the war.  Because of the sandy soil, Camden was a great place for raising horses and it became a trade center because they had such good horses.

   The house bellow is an exact replica of the house Cornwallis stayed in during the war. 

Kershaw-Cornwallis House, Camden SC

 Camdem is still known for its horses and have had some winners like this one. 

On the way back from South Carolina we decide to stop at Poverty point.  I had always wanted to go there but never had the time too.  Its about a 3 hour drive from where I live which just makes it far enough away where you think twice about going there.  Coming back we were to the point we needed a break in driving and this was the perfect time and place to do it.

 Poverty point
About 5- 10,000 years ago this area was a very prosperous area for the Native Americans.  It was rich fertile farm land and also in the path of migratory animals.  It was close to the Mississippi which allowed it access to most of the interior country of America.

The reason it was discovered was because its in the Mississippi River flood plane.  Most of the area is very flat.  So when people came to the area they saw these huge mound or hills of dirt that were so out of place.  When they started to look at them they started to discover Indian Artifacts like arrowheads and figurines.
When I was little I wanted to be an Archaeologist and that's how I got into geology to help me with that.  But once I started to study geology I fell in love with that and got away from Archeology.  I never lost my interest Archaeology and this place is an archaeologist heaven. 

figurines found at Poverty Point, LA

 Here's one of the mounds that is present there.

 Some steps leading up to the top of one of the mounds.  It kinda gives you an idea as to how big these mounds are. 

 another view of a different mound and the road that is near by

 With all the traveling we did this year I couldn't blame my son for wanting to stay home for Christmas.  With things the way they were in Cleveland we felt it best not to try to visit at this time.  My stepfathers bed is in the living room now and so when you go to their house you can only visit for short periods of time.  It makes it hard to travel 1200 miles for just a short visit especially when the weather is usually so nasty this time of year in that area.  With all the snow they've had I've felt like we did make the right choice in staying home.

I can't believe I traveled as much as I did this year.  It was fun and I am glad I got to go where I did.  I've taken a lot of pictures and these are just a sampling of some of them.  I'm hoping to someday get a post out on some of them.  Now that I have a working computer, it shouldn't take as long as it has been.  If nothing else it is a whole lot lest frustrating to post things again.


I muse:   I wonder where I'm head for this year?
I muse:   I'm just grateful my health is such so that I can do all this traveling and things. I hope it stays that way for a long, long time.
I muse:   I can't believe I got to South Caroline twice in 2012 since its been over 30 years since I was last there.  The ironic thing was my husband had never been there and he was amazed he ended up there twice in one year, and at the beginning of the year if you would have told us we would I probably would not have believed you because up until this year we never had a reason to go there.