Unexpected Pleasures, aka, the Silver Lining in a Wet Cloud

Days 5 and 6,  Friday and Saturday, August 23-24 (having been written on Day 6)

Oh, where to start!

I'm not going to start at the beginning. I'm going to start right now. I'm sitting in a cabin! A cabin that's not where we planned to be. And the power is out!

Our lovely van outside the Jacob Lake cabin

Joe, Elsie, Clara, Sophie, and John are at a talk on the Navajo, particularly focusing on the weaving and other handicrafts of the women. Louisa and Rachel took a walk around the lake, and it took them longer than they thought it would, so they were late for the talk. Instead, they shopped at the gift shop and then came to the cabin all tuckered out and ready for bed, and grinning ear to ear. I was here with Inge and Donna and we were playing a Pictionary Card Game I picked up at Wal-Mart today in anticipation of the rainy weather.

But what about Stella, you may ask. Where is Stella?

She is here with me now. But a little bit ago, when the power was still up and running, she had been with Joe at the Navajo talk.

A few minutes ago, Inge, Donna and I were sitting in our cabin playing our card game. Suddenly everything was pitch black. And at the same moment, there was a knock at the door. We were all a bit befuddled, trying to figure out where the lights were, and where the sleeping bags and tote bags were, compared to the walkway.  And who would be knocking at the exact moment the power went off.  All I could do in answer to the knock, in the dark, in a strange place, was to holler, "I'm coming, just a minute."

Fortunately, I had left the door unlatched. And in tumbled Stella. She had become bored at the talk, so Joe said she could come back to the cabin. She was walking back here all alone, in a strange forest, through the roads and paths of an unfamiliar inn and cabin facility. Thankfully, she was just about here when the power went off, so she could find her way all right! Poor little goose. She didn't seem too phased, which I suppose it good. Inge was kind of freaked out, so she crawled into bed with Louisa and Rachel until her heart stopped racing.

We got the littles all jammied by the glow of Sophie's dollar store LED lantern. They crawled into their bed on the floor of the cabin. We sang I am Jesus Little Lamb and Jesus Loves Me. We said prayers. Besides our regular nightly prayers, we thanked God for the blessing of this cozy little cabin, in which we can sit out tonight's storms.

We prayed for Matt, as we've been doing each night all summer long. But this time we included his birthday prayer. His birthday was really a few days ago, but with not much for schedule these days, we'd forgotten it was his birthday. We always say a special birthday prayer for each of our children on their birthdays. We thank God for the precious gift of the child, and his or her particular personality. And we ask God's blessing on the coming year. Particularly, we ask that according to His tender Mercy and Wisdom, God grant us another year with that child.

Now everyone under my immediate care is tucked in tenderly, so I have time to write. To share the excitement of the evening, and to talk about the wonders of the last few days.

Yesterday morning, we were still in South Dakota, in the lovely Black Hills.  We woke the kids early and rolled everyone out of their sleeping bags and bedding. And yes, there were a few whom we quite literally rolled out. They all worked very busily to get the bedding rolled up and the tents taken down. I packed the van, which job traditionally falls to me. I'm a pretty good packer. I learned from my dad, a Navy man and an excellent packer. Joe finds packing very frustrating, trying to make everything fit. I find it kind of a fun puzzle. But I'm also discovering that, well, I'm not as young as I used to be. It's kind of a drag, really. the getting old thing. I want to be tough and be able to work hard and stand anything. But by the time I get the van loaded and unloaded a few times in a few days, I am pretty much worthless. I'm sure that it's mostly my age. But I'm secretly blaming the altitude. That must be it, right? I can fool myself into believing that were I simply vacationing in Minnesota, I'd be just as spry as in years past.  Or maybe it's the bruises all along my hips and rib cage from sleeping on the deflated air mattress.  Or maybe all of the above.  But mostly the altitude.

We had gotten the van mostly loaded the night before, and slept in our traveling clothes. And we'd planned to eat breakfast at a stop later on our way. We didn't want to mess with a fire that morning, and we knew as damp and chilly as it had gotten, nobody would want to eat cold cereal at 6:00 am. (We have done that before and trust me, it's really, really no fun. For the parents or the children.).  So all we had to do that morning was roll up sleeping bags and take down the tents.  And pack said sleeping bags and tents.  Just a quick morning pack-up.  Ten sleeping bags; six or eight other quilts and blankets; pillows for all; and two tents.

We ended up stopping at a rest are in Wyoming to eat breakfast. There was another family there at the same time, doing the same thing. They were a young couple, with six small children. It was fun to visit and to be able to encourage another younger couple. We certainly remember those days when the number of littles was still far too great compared to the number of bigs. It's a very difficult time, but so worth the work.

We traveled many beautiful miles yesterday, through the southwestern Black Hills area, diagonally across Wyoming, and on into Utah. We listened to Ann of Green Gables as we drove.

We arrived at the Hamilton's house for our evening sleep-over at about 8:00 pm. They are in the middle of preparing for a move to Wisconsin! In just a few days! When we found out, we made other plans, to travel a different route instead and see a few different sites. But they encouraged us that they were game for a little bit more crazy yet. I'm not sure they really were, but we totally understand. Their children were kind and welcoming, and they all made every effort to accommodate us even through they were in such an upheaval. We are thankful for this very great offering. And we understand, too, their desire to have us stop. They are a pastor's family, too. And we understand the sense of gratitude that comes with a visit from another pastor's family. It's always a treat. I'm glad Aaron and Joe had those few hours to visit and build each other up in their Holy Callings.

We got up and left kind of quickly this morning. We had to run back in once, just before we pulled out for a pair of flip-flops; and then we circled back a few blocks away from their house because a certain one of us remembered she had left her pillow. This time, when pulling out, we immediately got lost. Not really lost, lost. But mixed up anyway, to the point that Joe and I had differing ideas of where to go.

But that was soon resolved and we hit the road. I was quite bleary-headed the first hour or two. Just felt in a total fog. Joe drove until he felt groggy and then he pulled off at a truck stop/travel center. He parked way out away from everything, thinking since I was so befuddled, we'd just sit awhile and let the kids run a bit and he could nap. But by the time we got everyone pottied and bought some snacks, and one of the older daughters painter her toe nails in the truck stop parking lot, I was fully awake and ready to roll.

What a beautiful drive we had this day!  Since our destination for the day was the North Rim area of the Grand Canyon, we listened to Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry as we traveled.  We saw view after view of colorful cliffs, lonely looking draws, majestic rim rock, rugged gullies, and mountains and valleys of every shape and color.



The weather continued wet, alternating storm and sun throughout the day. We wound and climbed and coasted and braked. We took time to pull off the highway and photograph the vistas. We drove like old folks, meandering slowing and pulling off to let others pass us when necessary.

John leaving Utah

And so South through Utah, and into Arizona.

And entering Arizona

But with the continuing dreary weather, we really did not feel up to setting up our leaky, somewhat primitive tents. I didn't feel strong enough to deal with a three day cycle of hauling wet bedding to the laundry mat or hanging it all on our clothesline to try to dry between showers. So we just drove. Without worrying. When the kids asked, we'd answer along the lines of, "We don't know yet we'll have to wait and see."  It's always a challenge to find lodging for a group this size. If places have the space available, they often want us to get two or three rooms. Some places even require an adult in each room.  That's really challenging when they sometimes want to put us in three rooms.

We had reservations for three nights in the National Forest Campground, at the Jacob Lake area, about 40 miles north of the North Rim.  When we arrived, we consulted with the nice lady at the Forest Service information desk about the weather forecast and the various options available for lodging.  She said the weather was expected to continue much the same for the next several days, rain and storms with only a bit of sun peeking through.  She called the Inn area nearer the Rim to check on their prices and space availability.
Then I went next door to the lodging complex at Jacob Lake. I had read they had hotel, motel, and cabin options. When I asked at the desk, and explained about our large family, they were very helpful, even recommending we could all squeeze into one cabin, if we put sleeping bags between the beds and in the hallway area. Wow! I was astounded! Rarely have I had anyone encourage me to get fewer rooms! They usually cite fire code or company policy, etc, to get us into more rooms rather than fewer.

And so we had a lovely, relaxing evening. We had to eat cold supper, since there is no cooking of any sort in or outside of the cabins.  But we all filled up on a variety of good things. Sophie took the littles to the playground. Louisa and Rachel took their walk, and Elsie and Clara did dishes. I got the food put away, and the bedding organized for later.   Joe downloaded today's photos. 

The Main Room

Here's a view of the main room of the cabin.  Joe and I in one bed; Louisa, Rachel, and Elsie in another; we put a sleeping bag on each side of the beds and in between, which were occupied by Clara, Sophie, and John.

The Alcove

But that's not all, ... We still had three more kids to bed down.  Here's the little alcove where we made a bed for the remaining three.

A view of the other cabins and the forest setting

The back deck

Later in the evening, those that were interested headed to the cultural talk.  Joe is still there now, at 9:51.  He must have found a kindred spirit in somebody there. By now, the kids who had been at the talk with Joe are back.  They came in almost an hour ago and brought word that he was staying for the discussion afterward.

Everyone here is nicely settled in. The power is not yet on, and I'm at the end of my tales thus far.

Hope all is well with you, my readers.  Goodnight.

A Very Cold Swim and the pursuit of the National Treasure Rock

Sylvan Lake

Part 3, Day Four, Thursday, August 22
After the fun hike and the adventurous drive, we finally made it to Sylvan Lake.  We toted our coolers to the nearest picnic tables, through the natural spring-fed ground that was kind of mushy-muddy.  Ish.  It was grass, like any other park picnic area I've seen, but it was deceiving.  The ground was sodden and sucked at our feet as we walked through it.  Several of us had mud splattered legs and clothes by the time we got to the picnic tables. 

No problem, though, since we're finally going swimming!

Playing in the sand

We quickly ate lunch, but not quickly enough to please all the kiddos, especially the older ones who'd been waiting to swim since we started out Monday morning.  Some kids had swimwear on under their clothes and others changed in the van.  The off we went to the lake.  To the beach.  Along the path.

Until we once again got into some spongy ground.  Thinking it to be only about the same as the ground in the picnic area, since there was a path there, after all, we continued on.  Only to learn too late that we really, really ought to have turned around and found another way.  There was a paved walkway further in, but we hadn't seen it until things got gooey.  But this time, besides just the gooey, spongy ground, we also found the water was sedentary.  Whereas on the hillside where the picnic area was, the springs flowed downhill toward the lake, here on the path too the lake, the ground was level enough it simply sat.

And stank.

So that by the time we had gotten through the quagmire, we were all quite coated with stinky, smelly mud.  Most had on flip-flops, so it wasn't too much trouble. 

But I had my tennis shoes.  Ish!  As soon as I got to the lake, I dipped them in and swished them around to get the stink out.  Which would have been fine had we sunny weather in the days to come.  But those poor shoes ended up in a bag in the car for several days.  And ended up in a gas station dumpster somewhere in Arizona or New Mexico.

But I get ahead of myself.

John trying to open the cave

One of the fun bonuses to which the kids looked forward at Sylvan Lake was the possibility of finding The Rock.  The rock into which one of the treasure hunters in National Treasure Book of Secrets had to stick his or her hand to open the cave or whatever it was to solve the mystery. 

Stella trying to open the cave

But they all knew just what Joe meant when he said, "Sylvan Lake is the Lake where they filmed parts of National Treasure.  The one that's alleged to be above Mt. Rushmore, but isn't really.  But it is a real lake and we'll get to go there when we're in the Black Hills." 

"Can we stick our hand in the rock?"

Sohpie getting bitten by a brown recluse--JK

As it turned out, no, they didn't get to stick their hand in the rock.  That particular rock must have been a prop.  But they found the promontory which was where the rock was supposed to be.  At least they think they did.  Joe took some of the littles around to other places until they found a similar enough looking rock that the kids could stick their hands in.  What a guy!

Climbing the rocks

By the time we were done with lunch and ready to swim, the wind had come up and it was quite chilly out.  The more mountainous lake temp compared to our still shallow lakes in Minnesota was also colder than they expected.  So as it turned out, nobody really swam much.  But they played in the sand, took walks and climbed the rocks.

Trying to keep warm

We listened to the chit-chat of the other tourists in many languages.  We heard German and Turkish and Russian, just at the beach among the few families that were there.

When we tired of shivering, we headed back to the campground to get an early bedtime.  In the morning it'd be time to break camp and hit the road again.

Rock Climbing

Hang on, girls!

Rachel and Louisa

Teeny Sophie

Sophie

Inge

John

Clara

Donna

GF Red Lobster Style Biscuits

Clara recently discovered a wonderful gluten free quickbread to go with soup or eggs or whatever. 
The original recipe is from Gluten Free Easily, but Clara adapted it to work with our flours and fats.  In the original recipe, she also includes dairy free options.

Gluten Free Cheesy Garlic Biscuits (Red Lobster Style)
5 cups gluten-free flour mix (We use Artisan Gluten Free Blend from the Bronski's at No Gluten, No Problem blog.)
1 1/2 tbs xanthan gum
1/2 tb tsp salt
1 1/2 tbs garlic powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 c lard
4 cup milk
4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix together dry ingredients.  Work the lard in with your fingertips until crumbly. 
Mix the cheese and milk together. 
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Add the milk and cheese to the well and stir to combine.

Drop onto greased jelly roll pan by spoonfuls (about 1/3 c).

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the biscuits comes out clean.

Great job, Clara!

The Majesty of Needles Highway

Part 2, Day Four, Thursday, August 22
After our very nice hike in the French Creek Natural Area, and our surprise visit with old friends, we continued on our way.  The kids were all very ready for a nice swim, after sitting in the back of the hot van while we chatted away with the Timms, the couple we ran into from Joe's hometown. 

So we continued on our way to Sylvan Lake.  The scenery along the Needles Highway was tremendous.  We had picked up a couple of more detailed maps of the areas and the kids had noticed we'd be driving through three tunnels.  Oooh, the anticipation mounted with each curve of the highway.  Until finally, ...

The first tunnel one finds driving north on SD 87.  I believe it's officially called Tunnel 6 or Iron Creek Tunnel.  This seems unnerving until one sees the later ones.

But the views only got better after the first tunnel, each progressively more marvelous and rugged than the last.

A view of some of the Needles formations for which the route is named.  I like the roadway curving along further ahead.

More Needles.  I obviously took this shot out the car window, so the areal is in the way.  But it showed how narrow the roadway is along this stretch of highway.

More pretty views.  I think one of the kids took this shot.  Maybe Sophie.  I love how the dark rock along the right contrasts with the blues of the hills.  And the green leaves in the foreground sparkling in the sun.  Can't you almost see them swaying in the mountain breezes?

I think I took this shot looking straight up.  Joe warned me it wouldn't capture the reality of the view.  And he was right, of course.  But it's still a cool shot.

Another "looking up from the car window" shot.  A bit askew, but only that makes it more cool, I think.

The approach to the Needles Eye tunnel.

And a closer view of the 8'4" wide tunnel

Shortly after the Needles Eye, we arrived at Sylvan Lake, hungry and ready to swim.

Taco Seasoning Mix

This mix is salt free.  I season to taste as I cook. 

I've never tried to figure out how much salt to add to the recipe in order to make it "right," but when others have asked, I've calculated that maybe the 1/2 cup that would fill the jar would be about right.  This is based on an estimate of about1 tsp salt/pound of meat.

Taco Seasoning Mix
1 c chili powder
3/4 + c paprika
3/4 c cumin
1/2 c onion powder
1/3 c garlic powder
1/8 c cayenne or other pepper power (adjust to taste, depending upon variety of pepper)

Mix together and store in a quart jar.  Use 1/8 c for every pound of meat, or taco seasoning packet called for in a recipe.

Tip 1:  If you inadvertently get steam in your jar while measuring, a few grains (scant tsp) of dry white rice will help the mix from sticking together. 

Tip 2:  I labeled my jar with a piece of wide masking tape.  I wrote the name, "Taco Seasoning Mix" on the top with a sharpie, but I also wrote the recipe on the tape, too, with a ball point pen.  Then when I need to replenish my stock, I don't need to look up the recipe.

A Hike

We stopped along the way to Custer State Park to take this shot.

Part 1, Day Four, Thursday, August 22
I didn't write anything about this day before, so I find myself trying to reconstruct memories when so very much has happened since then.

This was our last day in the Black Hills.  I still had not gotten to do any hiking, and our bigger girls were keen to do some swimming or maybe even renting a kayak, or whatever they could afford.  We decided that we'd hike in the morning in Custer State Park.  We'd drive the Needles Highway over to Sylvan Lake.  And there we'd have a picnic lunch at the park by Sylvan Lake and swim in the afternoon.

Love this Man

Joe wanted to go to Custer State Park because of a fun memory he carries with him of a camping trip with a group of our college friends.  They had planned to do primitive camping at a hike-in location in the French Creek Natural Area.  As it turned out they got not only rained out, but the creek, which had to be crossed several times on the walk out, had become a swollen torrent and they had a bit of trouble getting all their people and things out.  One of their company was a very small woman who had to be piggy backed across the worst flooding. 

And so Joe wanted to share with his kids the area where this familiar family legend occurred.

Rachel picking some raspberries along the way,

The Abrahamson Parade

We had a very nice walk, although the access area had changed quite a bit in the 20+ years since Joe camped there.  There is a big horse camp area just adjacent to the trail head which through us off a bit.  When we asked directions from the horse camp hosts, they pointed us onward to the right spot. 

Sophie sparkling in the sun

We hiked far enough to ford French Creek twice.  Although there are log crossings at each ford, the weather had turned warm, so the littles wanted to play in the water.  The bigs just wanted to be done, so they could get to the real swimming.  But so it is when traveling with a wide range of ages.  We saw lovely wildflowers and mushrooms and trees and grasses.  We saw one big buck running through the hillside across the creek from where we had stopped to climb around a bit.  I had brought along our aluminum camp dishes and the kids "panned for gold" for a little while.  We took some individual photos in the beautiful natural setting.

Panning for Gold

Pretty hillside

John was very interested in the mushrooms during our trip

A primitive shelter we found along the way

Goatsbeard in seed, with Stella in the backtround

John and Mary

Some of John's treasures

And then we headed back.  By then the day had warmed up quite nicely. Ask any of the kids who were sitting in the back of the van as we stopped to visit.

But who did we visit?

As we were backing out of the parking spot after a potty stop at one of the resort/gift shops in Custer State Park, the kids said, "You have plenty of room, but I think that man thinks you're going to hit him.  He's just staring at the back of our van."

As it turned out, he was indeed staring at the back of the van.  But not out of fear of being hit.  He recognized the car dealership label from southern Minnesota.  So he came over to the driver's side window to ask us where we were from.  He and his wife are the parents of one of Joe's classmates.  Joe hadn't seen them for years, but knew them a little bit during his high school years.  Soon his wife came over to see who her husband was chatting with.  We had a very nice visit.  To make the coincidence one step more fun, one of their kids' family are members of the church in Olympia where my brother-in-law is a pastor.  Their Grandson is a friend of my nephew, Iver.

We visited for quite awhile.  While the kids in the backseat got progressively warmer.  But we were on our way to swim.  "You can cool off then," we reminded them.  "It's not every day you run into people from 'down home'."

Camping, The Abrahamson Way

This post is mostly pictures and links. The pictures are from this camping trip. Just shots from around the camp site. The links are to things either Joe or I have written in the past about how we camp.

Our two lanterns, the trusty Coleman that uses white gas, and a very cheapo one that uses kerosene.  We use tiki torch oil in that one, since it's so readily available.  The cheapo read one is easier for me, since I am a bit intimidated by the mantles and pumping, etc with the Coleman, but Joe, since he's the lamp maintenance guy, says the red one is much putzier to keep clean.

I like this photo, since it gives a little glimpse of so many parts of our camp life.  The clothesline, Clara foraging wood, the dishpan, the hot water pot and coffee pot and the stove.  All of us in various kinds of jammies, and etc. 

A closeup of our water heating pot and coffee percolator.  This one is kept filled all the time, and as soon as the food prep is done, it's put on the hottest part of the fire to have hot water ready for dishes.  The coffee pot is prepped for coffee the night before.  When it's not being used for coffee, it often has hot water, too, in case of need.

Kids always like to play with fire.  We have specific rules and try to enforce them diligently.

Joe uses leather gloves for cooking over the fire.  He finds them much safer than quilted pot holders.

This is Joe at our cooking/clean-up table.  It's a lightweight roll-up table from Cabela's that's very handy for traveling.  It gives us extra space to prepare food and wash up afterwards.

Our hand-wash station.  Since we generally camp in primitive campgrounds, we have to provide our own "plumbing."

The Dome Tent.  This was our big extravagant purchase about seven years ago.   It's been very well used.  The selling point on this one is that if fits a playpen in the middle.  But, ... this trip marks the first time in, oh, 20 years that we didn't need to camp with a playpen.  And the dishes bin sitting by the tent.  This is our Kitchen on the Road.

This is the newest addition to our camping gear.  This style of tent is notoriously leaky in the rain, but it's spacious.  The three oldest girls were able to share the left room and the next two girls the smaller room on the right.

Joe's favorite camp cooking equipment.
Joe tries a new primitive skill, cooking with moss.
Cheap grilling pans.
For a look at a different kind of primitive camping, Joe documented our cabin camping trip at Glendalough State Park several years back, in part 1 and part 2.
And check out the "camping" and "vacation on a dime" index tabs on this blog for more glimpses into camping the Abrahamson Way.