South Dakota

August 8 - 13th we went and visited the Klubers in Chamberlain, South Dakota. We flew into Chicago where we met my brother, his wife and their daughter. We all flew to Sioux Falls, rented a car and drove to Chamberlain - that takes about 2 hours.

On the 10th John and I took off for a day and a half in the Badlands, Rapid City and the Black Hills. This is where I grew up and I showed John my old house, school and where I used to hang out. We then drove to Hill City where we were staying for the night. After we checked in we drove to Mt. Rushmore and watched the lighting. It was very patriotic.

The next day we drove the Needles Highway and hiked up to Little Devil's Tower and saw the view. I mistook the trail for going straight up the mountain and crawled up there - I should have looked to the right - that's where the trail really went. The view was tremendous - from the wrong way up the trail and from the right way!

We had a lot of fun visiting with everyone. And yes, we all tried on cowboy hats (they were my dad's and Trav's).

You can find more pictures of our trip at: http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r53/klub0002/

Spelunkers!

Ever since we moved to Baltimore, I have been wanting to go to the Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia. This weekend we finally went. This cave was huge and had some really neat formations.

The cave temperature was a constant 54 degrees. John bought me a sweatshirt at the gift shop before we went down into the cave so I wouldn't freeze. The tour took about an hour and we went down 168 feet at the deepest point.

In this cave there is also a "stalagcpipe" organ. A guy invented a way to hit the stalagtites to create a specific tone. They had it play a song automatically (like a player piano). It was pretty cool. Sometimes they have weddings down there - 500 so far since the cave opened to the public.

After the cave adventure we went to Luray to have lunch and then hopped over to the Shenandoah National Park and got to see some great views. We went to Shenandoah National Park 3 years ago - they raised the price to get in by $5.00! Outrageous. The views were worth it, though.

Along the park is Skyline Drive that you can drive down the whole park (101 miles) - we entered at the 30 mile mark and drove north to zero. Its such a nice drive. The Appalachian Trail also crosses the road quite a few times. Unfortunately it was raining a little bit so we didn't go for a hike.

Blazin' Hot

Well, the last couple of weeks here have been to hot to do much of anything. So, we have been stuck in the house. And because of the boredom, poor Chopper suffers:

Don't worry, he only had to wear the pink t-shirt for about an hour. When John got home he took it off of Chopper.

I have been busy knitting a birthday gift for our friends' daughter's 2nd birthday. It took me about a week to knit and I think it turned out pretty well:

Hopefully the weather lets up a bit and we can get outside for some more adventures. I know Chopper certainly hopes so!

Babies and Fireworks

For the Fourth of July weekend John and I went to visit his family in Milwaukee, WI. We hadn't seen our niece and nephew (Kayla and Evan) since Christmas and boy have they gotten big! They are even tailgating at baseball games.

On the Fourth of July we went to a parade in Cedarburg - it was quite a parade and had everything from dogs to horses to a polka band on a trailer. The day was beautiful and sunny, probably one of the most pleasant 4th of Julys I have ever had. The fireworks in West Bend were great and there were tons of people ooooh-ing and ahhhh-ing.

On Saturday we went to a pool party at Shaun and Heather's house. The have a beautiful back yard and pool. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun I forgot to get a picture - but trust me it was great. Later that night we went to Adam's to have a barbecue and play Guitar Hero (as a matter of fact just about every night ended in Guitar Hero and I learned that I am woefully inadequate as a player and I need to practice more!)

Kayla's in training already!

On Sunday we went to the Brewer's game - they were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. They won quite handily and it was a very fun day - a little hot sitting in the sun, but still fun.

I just want to thank Pete, Erica and Evan for being such great hosts and to the whole Anderson clan for showing us a great time!

Hooray!

Ahhhh! I've done it! I completed my summer chemistry course. On Monday afternoon I will find out my grade, but it sure feels good to have finished that class. It was soo intense.
Chopper was inspired by my commitment and has decided to pursue the nobel prize in chemistry...(as you can see above).

Bobblehead

On June 19th we went to the Orioles game. They were giving out Nick Markakis bobbleheads. I put mine on top of the TV and John took his to work. Since he is making a sliding catch, it looks like he is falling over, so I put a tennis ball under his elbow and it doesn't look like he's falling over anymore.
On Sundays, we try to make it to our local farmer's market. Since the weather is getting warmer they have lots and lots of veggies and fruits now. They even sell live crabs there! Its only about 4 blocks from our house, so its very nice to be able to go there and get our veggies - less time spent at the grocery store.
I have also been growing some herbs on our deck. This picture was taken after a massive harvest of basil, so its not impressive as it looked before. Its so nice to have fresh herbs - we have gotten pretty creative with adding herbs to our food.

Back to Hiking!

Last week John and I took the weekend off and didn't go on a hike. We probably should have because I think it was the last nice weekend before the summer weather came. This weekend the heat index is 110 degrees and it is reallly humid out. So what do we decide to do? Go hiking!

We went in the morning before it got extremely hot, but it was very humid and foggy. When the sun finally came out, you certainly could tell. I told John that it felt like walking inside someone's mouth! Ew.

The scenery was really gorgeous, so green and ferns were everywhere. The rododendrons were also blooming and the forest smelled so great. There were some beaver dams in the river and in some spots the trail was pretty narrow - it felt like a green tunnel.

Here are John and Chopper in the greenery. (That black blob that John is holding is Chops)

Once again on this hike we met a snake. The three times that we have seen snakes they have all been different. This one was the most cranky of the three.