On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 13:49:16 +0000, Magic Mood Jeep© wrote:

PURRS for your aching body.  Remodeling is exhausting  even when others
are actually doing the work/   MLB

I feel for you' Purrs that it will all soon be finished
My Daughters doing big renovations, and I know
how tired she is running back and forth to the house
{they are renting while the workmen finish}and like
you, going shopping all the time for stuff for the reno'
mind you she's pregnant too, Baby due in about 6 weeks
good luck for smooth sailing.  Jean.P.

We decided to take a trip to Turkey Run State Park.

http://www.turkeyrunstatepark.com/

It's about a 2 hour drive, and we've never been there before.  Mom, and my
older sister (who's up visiting Mom from Tampa, FL) went along.  Mom loves
to go walking in the woods, and she's 72!  Actually, her stamina is better
than mine.

When we first got there, we were a early for the progam we wanted (about
bluebirds & then for $10 per kit, you could build a bluebird nesting box.
Even though there were 4 of us, we only built 2, one for us and one for DH
Mother, since Mom lives in an apt & Sis can't really pack a bluebird
nest-box into her luggage), so we decided to check out a trail or two.  We
ended up on trail 3, and if you go to the website, find the hiking trails &
click on trail 3, you will see a pic of a hiker going through a *narrow*
gorge, straddling a creek.  All *4* of us did that!  We got wet (it had
rained the night before, so the creek was a bit higher than in the pic).
About half way through the gorge, I got muddy as we were walking along a
tiny ledge in the wall, and there were people coming from the other way
along the same ledge, so I slid down the 6 feet or so of rock wall to the
bottom in order to let them pass.  DH had already gone ahead of us, going
along the bottom the whole way, and Mom & Sis waited for the other (which
were a mom & dad, and two kids under 10 - hope they made it!!!)

I was worth it, too.  Very beautiful, natural gorge!  Near the end is
afeature called Wedge Rock (actually, the trails intersect, so by this time
we were on Trail 4).  It's a big (house sized) chunk of rock, which a
pie-wedge has broken off, and is at a 45-degree angle, hanging over the
trail.  At the very point of this wedge is growing a tree!!!!  You wouldn't
think a tree would take root on a rock, but I have pics to prove it.  I am
in the process of uploading most of the pics to my webshots page.

http://community.webshots.com/album/313360820dxzOKe

Anyway, we went to the Bluebird Workshop (we got there 10 minutes late, due
to having to stop & discuss whether to go aheah through the gorge, or take
the longer & hillier route back the way we came), and then decided we were
*hungry*.  So, since most of Indiana's state parks have a hotel (or Inn, as
they call it), we decided to go there and have a sit-down lunch.

After lunch, we decided to try another trail - one that led past an old
abandoned coal mine near the river, Sugar Creek.  We had to cross the
suspension bridge again & DH wouldn't quit trying to make it bounce or sway.
It didn't scare any of us, but it was kind of annoying.  The coal mine looks
like a tiny cave, no more than 3 feet tall, and pioneers had to crawl in
there to mine the coal in order to sell it and/or heat their homes.  The
mine is sealed off with thick grating so people won't go it, but the grating
is wide enough apart to allow a colony of bats to enter & leave.  At the end
of this trail is an old covered bridge, built in 1882.  this bridge is still
used, but only for foot traffic now.  There is a concrete bridge just a bit
upstream from it that is used for vehicle traffic.

There are some interesting rock formations under the bridge, that are cliffs
that form the banks of the river.  At one end of the bridge, you can see an
old mansion on top of a hill.  This is the Lusk House, and was built in the
1840's, buy a guy named Lusk who owned some grist mills in the area (he
probably only made $100 dollars a month, but in those days, that was
considered rakin' it in!).  We crossed the covered bridge and continued back
down the river, having to practially climb down in a few places.

When we finally got back to where the suspension bridge is, we had to climb
a set of stairs back up the cliff face to where a trail leads you back to
the Visitor's Center.  Ugh.  all in all, we coverd about 5 very hilly miles
Saturday

It truly is a beautiful place, except for where narrow-minded idjits drop
their trash unstead of carrying it out like they ask you too. *sigh*

And then....

We decided to do some 'gardening' out in fron of our house.  We tor out a 6
foot x 6 foot section of grass, put down gardening soil, planted some spring
flowers & ground cover (creeping phlox), all in front of the bedroom.  We
also planted some more ground cover near the base of our driveway, and then
some in front of our (enclosed) front porch, along with some other flowers.

Man, are we sore!

Mom called while we were in the midst of our 'planting frenzy' to ask if we
were so sore that we had to stay in bed, like Sis was claiming.  I told her
she was faking it, and if she were told SpongBob was on TV, she'd hop right
outta bed like a spring chicken!

that;s about all I can type for now, without my fingers falling off!

--?
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy
former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)? email me at
nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com
http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep