Caving

Yesterday we visited one of Indiana's caves. We wanted to treat 9-year-old Jayden to an adventure before he begins 4th grade in two days. Bluespring Caverns is located near Bedford, about a 90-minute drive from Greenwood. The adventure is a guided boat tour along America's longest navigable underground river.

When we arrived we used one of the many picnic tables to enjoy the sandwiches and lunch prepared by Ray who has become quite accomplished in preparing picnic lunches. We signed up for the next available tour and had more than a 30-minute wait. While waiting, Jayden did a little prospecting for gems.

Buy a bag of sand with hidden games and wash in the running water

Finding gems

A good assortment of gems

Then it was time for the boat ride. We glided nearly silently in our boat with the help of a small trolling motor for 5/8 of a mile before we turned around. There were no bats in the cave as bats don't enjoy the damp atmosphere. Unfortunately, it's really difficult to get a good photograph in a dark cave though our guide often used a spotlight to point out features. With a temperature of 54 degrees in the cave we were glad we had the good sense to bring jackets.

On reflection, I think that Jayden enjoyed finding the gems more than the boat ride in the cave. Since he is an active child, sitting still for an hour might have been a bit boring; however, it was a fun afternoon spending one-on-one time with our great-grandson.

Thinking back to last week, we had a picnic lunch (does that sound familiar?) with Pat & Max Walker at one of Greenwood's parks. We hadn't seen them for many months and spent time catching up with them. We were home in time to talk to the tech dude that we expected since we were having issues with our satellite TV reception. He's been taking care of our complex since it opened and knew that reception is sometimes difficult since our apartment is one of the furthest from the dish on the third floor rooftop. Over the previous weekend, we had many instances when the reception would freeze for a few seconds over and over until some recorded programs had to be deleted. The tech guy decided that it was time to get on the roof and replace something in the dish but he needed his 40 foot ladder which he brought on Thursday. Since then we've had good reception. All the freezes the previous weekend happened on a cloudy day when there was no rain or storms in the area. He surmised that something may have happened a few days before the weekend when there was a rain shower and one of the components in the dish didn't dry completely and caused the problem a few days later.

Thankfully, we didn't lose all our recorded shows and watched Loving, a movie from 2016 that I was not familiar with but had received a number of nominations and awards. This is the true story of an interracial couple from Virginia in the '60s who were arrested and had to leave the state in order to avoid jail time. The Supreme Court eventually heard the case and the Virginia laws were overturned.

We resolved in January to attempt to visit a state park each month, but now it's the last day of July and we haven't kept the resolve, but we will try to visit two parks in August!

Quiet Week

The past week was pretty ordinary maybe even a bit boring. OK, maybe it wasn't that bad. We did some of the usual things but we did venture out and play Pickleball in a different venue for us on Friday since the weather was oppressive for outdoor play.

I was a bit frustrated yesterday when I was sewing the edges of some quilts that were already knotted. The zig-zag on my machine wasn't being nice so I finally gave up and used a straight stitch. After I finished I decided that I needed more information than my machine's manual had so I turned to youtube.com. I discovered several videos on the subject and learned some things about the sewing machine I didn't know. For example, it's very important to have the presser foot in the upright position when threading the machine. Did you know? Maybe I was doing that, but probably not. Hindsight tells me that I should have looked at the videos before finishing the stitching on the quilts. I'm optimistic that the next time I sew the edge of a quilt the zig-zag stitch will work like I want it to -- keeping my fingers crossed.

Friday morning we were heading out to do some grocery shopping when Ray couldn't lock our front door. My key didn't work either. We locked the door from the inside and left by our patio door. The key worked fine on this door. Fortunately, the maintenance crew had the lock fixed by the time we returned home in the early afternoon from playing Pickleball. Kudos for the good service!

Last evening we joined with other Concordia members for wine and snacks at the home of one of the members. This is a really great group of people who are 50 Plus! I didn't indulge in much wine but sure enjoyed all the goodies and there was quite a wide variety.

In just a few minutes I'm heading out for our semi-annual "Ladies Night Out" at a local restaurant that serves sandwiches and we just spend casual time getting to know each other. What will this new week be like? I've decided that ordinary and boring is OK!

Home Again!

A week ago, Ray and I were on a boat ride on Jackson Lake in Wyoming. The day started with attending church and then we had an outdoor pancake breakfast at Dornan's Chuckwagon Grill. The view was outstanding! Don't you agree?

Ross, Ray, Ruth, Gloria, Judy & Tom with the Tetons in the background

We were in Wyoming for a reunion with my sisters and our spouses. Gloria and Ross provided accommodations and planned the itinerary. After arriving following a two-day car trip on Friday, July 7, we settled in and not much later walked across the Snake River using the new pedestrian/bicycle bridge.

The Snake River is wide and it is a long walk across the bridge!

Later, that evening a six-handed game of Euchre ended in a tie!

The next day we had the first of two longer hikes -- each about 3 miles in length. We left early due to limited parking available at the Laurence Rockefeller Preserve where we walked through the beautifully appointed Visitor Center and then began our hike.

The mountain streams were roiling and noisy due to snow melt. The Tetons had about 600 inches of snow last winter! There is nothing more majestic and fascinating than a mountain stream roaring past you, but one that you wouldn't dare get in because it would sweep you away and it is also very cold.



On our second hike, Daisy, the Edwards dog came along. (Dogs are not allowed in National Parks.) She loved running along the trail, to the sides, and back again and probably covered twice the distance than we did. The "Historic Trail" follows the path the early settlers used to cross the Teton Pass but we didn't go that far.

We crossed a small stream using a well placed log and then approached Crater Lake.

Stopping at Crater Lake, Daisy has a chance to jump in to fetch the tossed stick.

I have beautiful memories of this trip and I hope these few paragraphs and photos give you a glimpse of what we saw and experienced.

One final note: On our last evening, we again played Euchre and this time the girls were winners!

On our return, Ray and I celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary, July 14, Bastille Day, with a special meal at a local bistro. We enjoyed our meal on the porch of an older house converted to a wine and cheese shop also serving meals.

July 4, 2017

This morning we hugged and said farewell to Bart and Persephone after their two-day visit to Greenwood. They arrived Sunday evening in time for a short swim in the Copper Chase swimming pool. Persephone is very much at home in the water and enjoyed the half hour or so we were able to use the pool before it closed.

Catching a ride

Yesterday, Monday, we packed a picnic lunch and drove not far to Holliday Park on the north side of Indianapolis. We parked near the "Ruins." In 1898 a sculptor by the name of Karl Bitter designed the facade of New York's first skyscraper. The statues, called “the Races of Man” represented the African-American, Asian and Caucasian races laboring together as they appeared to hold the skyscraper on their backs. In the 1950’s the owners of this building, the Western Electric Corporation, decided to build a modern skyscraper on the site. Seeking to find a new home for the sculptures, they held a competition among cities for a plan to display and preserve them. Indianapolis among other cities and universities, presented a plan: to place them in Holliday park, then an arboretum. We were awarded these highly prized sculptures estimated to be valued at $150,000. [Source]

 

Persephone and Bart

Preamble to the Constitution with the Ruins in the background.
This is known as the Constitution Mall.

We found a picnic table under a big shade tree and enjoyed our lunch. Persephone visited the swings and the huge playground and even climbed the pyramid of ropes though she didn't make it to the top.

It takes some planning to find your way up and then down.

We followed a long trail that eventually led us to the edge of the White River but, after the recent heavy rain, the area of muddy and the water was flowing swiftly.

The White River

There are more than 3.5 miles of trails in the park
but only a small portion has decking and railing.

We didn't have time to visit the park's Nature Center but that is something we can add to our bucket list. 

We enjoyed our visit with Bart and Persephone but they are now in Bloomington visiting other grandparents.