Firstly and Secondly

Firstly :  This is what happens to folding chairs when a vacuum cleaner  is placed on them in an effort for the brush hose to reach all the way to the ceiling fan, and the owner of said vacuum cleaner is unaware that the brush roller continues to run until it is manually turned off, as apposed to a vacuum that would not run its brush roller unnecessarily while the hose is being utilized.
I understand that this is entirely my fault and not the vacuum cleaners...however i am still angry, and wanted to share my story with the world to prevent another tragic occurrence such as this. (Thank goodness we don't have nice chairs...)

Secondly: I would like to welcome back my Sister and Brother in-law from their Honeymoon.
Welcome back Dorothy and Josh!!!
(I would have posted a picture of the two of you, but apparently we didn't take any of those.)

Thirdly: Frankly I don't have time for a thirdly right now, but let Firstly be a lesson unto you!

~Christie

On Top of Old Smokey (part 5)

Day 3 Sunday (part 1)

1st waterfall of the day was. Whitewater falls.

The kids were super excited.

Falls # 2  Silver Run

a little something we came across in between falls 

 # 3 Upper Cullasaja Falls

 #4 Dry Falls

Everybody staying dry underneath Dry Falls

#5 Lower Cullasaja Falls

# 6 Bridal Veil Falls

Perfect Day for waterfall viewing. There was a lot of time spent in the car between viewings, but the kids didn't seem to mind too much... that is until we were finally on our way back to meet their parents. Our little gray map was missing a few roads that we needed to know the names of in order to get back. Our Phones were out of service, and we were at least an 1 1/2 hours away from our campsite. It was at the moment that we realized we could be truly lost that Sunny informed us that she had to tinkle. Perfect...  There were no marked streets, let alone roadside markets with public bathrooms. I've never in my life felt so helplessly lost. Worried that we would not find our way back before dark, worried that Sunny would end up tinkling in the back seat. Worried because we were all hungry and no one knew how long it would be until dinner. Worried because the road that we had chosen as the one we needed to be on turned into a gravel  after about 10 miles. and then...

 We had coverage...we found a bathroom...and Shiloh decided that she probably wasn't going to throw up after all.  

WHEW! ! ! 

On Top of Old Smokey (part 6)

--------
Day 3 Sunday (part 2)


We managed to make it back before dark. Miracle!
We said good buy to the kids and to their parents, and sat down to relax, just the two of us and a cozy fire.
As it was Sunday night there were hardly any campers left and the night was very quiet. It wasn't nearly as cold as it had been the night before either.
For our dinner on this, our last, night. We brought along frozen chicken breast tenders. (which had thawed out in the cooler over the past two days) and corn on the cob with Jalapeño butter, and queso fresco. The chicken tenders we just salted and peppered and stuck on our skewers. ( much like the bacon we enjoyed for breakfast) The corn was cooked much the same then slathered with the butter and sprinkled with cheese. This was such a simple and satisfying meal that it may become a Matta camping staple. Add a (perfect for camping) sippy cup of 3 buck Chuck and its a meal thats hard to beat even in the comfort of home.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 More about this Jalapeño butter... this recipe is a ***** (five star) must try! Phil has actually announced that, if given the option, he will never eat corn again without it. But its deliciousness does not have to be limited to corn, we recently tossed it into a quick pasta dish with shrimp, roasted squash, and broccoli. If you have more of a simplistic approach to food at home, this stuff is great on toast.
Here's the recipe:

2 jalapeño chiles
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ears fresh corn, husks and silks removed
1 cup crumbled queso fresco cheese*
*Queso fresco is a fresh cheese found at Latin markets. A mild feta could be substituted.
Directions


Prepare a grill or grill pan to high heat.


Grill the jalapeños, turning them occasionally, until charred on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer them to a cutting board and let cool for 5 minutes. Keep the grill on high heat.


Using a small paring knife, peel the jalapeños. Scrape out and discard the seeds and veins. Coarsely chop the chiles and transfer them to a medium bowl. Add the butter, garlic, and parsley and mash together. Season the jalapeño butter with salt and pepper, to taste. Put a square piece of plastic wrap on a work surface. Spoon the jalapeño butter onto the center and roll it up into a 1-inch-diameter log. Refrigerate it until firm, at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 week.


Grill the corn on the hot grill or grill pan, turning occasionally, until it is browned in spots and the kernels are tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer the ears to a platter. Top each ear with a pat of the jalapeño butter, sprinkle with queso fresco, and serve.
 *use rubber gloves when handling the Jalapeños... trust me, its worth it

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Nutella Smores were the finishing touch to our lovely evening. We fell asleep with visions of  hiking trails and breathtaking views, dancing in our heads. We both woke up Monday morning at around 4 am to POURING Rain. The good news is that the rain had brought the temperature up by about 20 degrees. The bad news is that it was POURING Rain. 2 hours later. The rain had subsided somewhat and we decided to pack up quickly and get on the road; hoping that the weather would clear up and we would still be able to do some exploring before we had to head back home. Wouldn't you know it, the very moment we began to disassemble our tent, the heavens re-opened. And so there we were, driving through the mountains in the dark once again, only this time there was also the rain. Driving, once again aimlessly toward a spot on our little gray map with no known roads to follow, and no GPS signal, the higher we climbed, the more ominous the fog became. We found ourselves at the Blue Ridge Parkway on top of some mountain, not able to see more than 10 yards in any direction. Perfect place to stop and have some breakfast, pray for safety, and wait out the weather a bit.
here are some pictures from later that day, as we made our way home along the Blue Ridge Mountain Pkwy.

On Top Of Old Smokey (Part 4)

Day 2 Saturday (Part 3)

3 pm we made it down the mountain. I still hadn't gotten any messages from my sister in law to say that they had arrived and so we went to take a few pictures of a nearby waterfall. Little did we know that my phone was out of service and the entire time we were photo shooting. Shane Beki and the kids were in the Wal-Mart parking lot for nearly an hour, calling nearby campgrounds trying to find out where we were. We did finally meet up with them, after we randomly passed their van on the road.
The 1st thing the kids wanted to do was go climb a mountain... We decided to have dinner instead of hiking in the dark. Hot dogs, apples, peanut butter filled pretzels, hot chocolate, and s-mores. The only injury of the night was Josiah cutting his finger with a pocket knife trying to open Sunny's trail mix, which incidentally didn't require a knife to open it in the first place. It was a mere flesh wound and we were able to proceed with dinner and the rest of the evening. Josiah and Shiloh, (the two oldest) insisted that we tell scary stories as we sat by the fire. Its funny how some things never change. Josiah told a story that had been circulated among my friends 13 years ago at least. Sunny (the 4 year old) told a story too. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, I think it was actually a story about her and her doll. Adorable. I think its pretty safe to say that the stories were unsuccessful as far as making anyone really afraid. What was genuinely creepy though, was the sounds of Frankenstein that permeated the campground, as the community movie played from the amphitheater not 300 yards away from where we were situated. Then there were the wild animal noises in the middle of the night. Owls, raccoon fights, other unexplained noises. Honestly I think those noises concerned Phil and I more than they did the kids. They took the cold unfamiliar night like champs.
For breakfast I had found a recipe for bacon and eggs in a paper bag. According to this recipe, you line the bottom of a paper lunch bag with bacon, and crack an egg on top. Then you hang your bag on a skewer over the fire to cook. ... sounds sketchy right? but I honestly couldn't pass up the opportunity to try it. The whole ordeal took about 20 minutes. It really wasn't cooking hanging on the skewer and so I sat the bag on some coals. It actually started cooking! For 10 minutes or so a slow but steady cooking process was occurring. Then in an instant, just like that, the entire bag went up in flames. ...surprise, but not really, cause what would you expect a paper bag to do in a bonfire? I would really like to know how this actually worked for someone well enough for them to recommend it to someone else. (note to self: not everything you find online is worth your time)
While all of this was going on, the kids were enjoying roasting individual pieces of bacon over the fire on their skewers.
After all the bacons had been individually roasted and consumed, and i had cooked eggs for everyone in a real non-flammable pan. We set out on a mountain waterfall safari.

On Top of Old Smokey Part 3

Day 2: Saturday (part 2)

So I was starting to find the whole situation to be kind of humorous. I mean, we had made it our goal to be organized on this trip.  ... (clearly, organization was not turning out to be the theme of the weekend.) Phil, on the other hand, was still upset about the way we had to spend the previous night, and was all the more distressed by the fact that his instincts about Lazy J's had been proven correct. ( He had not been previously deceived by their web site as I had been.)
From all we could tell, we had one final option to pursue. Davidson River Campground in the Pisgah National Forest. We headed straight there, because really there was nothing else we could do, if we were still going to be responsible for 3 tykes later that night. I checked their website for open camping sites as we made our way there. Two sites, both 1st come 1st served...we drove a little faster.
As we turned onto the last street there was a sign, obviously advertising camping sites, that was covered in a giant orange, beware of construction tarp. We looked at each other, swallowed the uncertainty that was rising,  and turned into the parking lot. 11am Camping spot acquired! (not before we had to drive back into town, and find an ATM to be able to pay the deposit for our spot...true story)
Life, including vacation, is a lot less stressful when you know you have a place to lay your head for the night. (makes me wonder how Jesus managed to stay anxiety free durring His ministry, and He didn't even have a tent in His car to set up behind a tree if He had to.)
With the car unloaded and our two tents set up a decent distance from the fire ring, Phil and I breathed a sigh of relief and took off for a well deserved (we think) and much needed (we are certain of this) hike.
This hike is worth mentioning for three reasons 1) "Sliding Rock Falls" is not so named because it has anything to do with water, but rather because it poses a high risk of falling to ones death 2) it took us 2 hours to hike to the top (Phil was carrying one of our backpacking bags loaded down with camera equipment, food stuffs, and, because I assumed it would be a short hike and never dreamed that 1/2 way up the trail we would both be sweating like the 4th of July, a (one) half empty water bottle.)
3) this is what we saw when we (FINALLY) reached the top. (Bright unhindered sunlight was not the best for allowing us to capture the beautiful fall colors that stretched for miles.)

I understand that I am taking my sweet time to share this story, please bear with me, I have yet to be able to catch up on my sleep from this very trip, I am doing my best to stay awake to post. :)

On Top of Old Smokey Part 2

Day 2: Saturday (part 1)

Two sleepy campers awoke before the sunrise.
We wanted to get some good pictures of the sun coming up over the mountains, and we wanted to get away from the site that was never meant to be a camping site in the 1st place. The 1st place we wanted to see was the land fill. Yes... the landfill. Phil had heard from a guy at work that this particular landfill was quite a sight to see in terms of landscape. 6:30 am: once again, in the dark, we took the narrow mountain road toward our destination. It was less surprising than it was  disappointing that when we arrived at the land fill entrance, the gate was closed and  would not open again until 8:00 am... long after the sunrise.
Looking to our scribbled and non-descriptive maps, we headed south again toward Table Rock National Park in South Carolina (the state border was only 10 miles or so away.)   It was still dark when we arrived, and as the sky began to lighten we discovered that the only hiking trails around were ones that lead to other peoples campsites, and not beautiful scenery. Discouraged, we decided to try and make the most of the scenery we did have, and took some pictures at the shore of a small lake next to the parking lot.

this one was taken 10 minutes or so before the next, hence the difference in lighting,

After 30 minutes or so out in the cold morning air, we got back into our car and made our next goal to find a camping spot for the coming evening. We were not about to repeat the previous night. 

1) because it was pretty sucky 2) because we were meeting up with my oldest brothers family later that afternoon, to take the kids camping for the night, and it would have been extra sucky to not have a real place to camp.

We called all of the numbers on our Camping in the Mountains information sheet, and they were all busy or disconnected. The gas station lady wouldn't let me look at a map unless i bought it, but i didn't want to buy it unless i knew what it looked like...I didn't buy it. 

From our phone maps we found a few sites, one of which had a website that looked promising. 

Lazy J Campground. Excited and relieved we got there in no time at all. And no time at all is how long it took for us to turn around and pray that something better would be available. ( I have sense read more reviews that support my initial approval of the place from what I read on their site, but from what we saw I find them hard to believe.) The "campground" was accessible down a steep gravel driveway and across a perilous looking one lane bridge.  Close to the scenic river for sure, but the grounds themselves were far from enchanting. Scattered here and there were what looked like abandoned cars; there were a couple trailer homes and a cluster of RV's off in the distance. JUUUUST  a little too sketchy for our comfort.  

7 hours till the kids were to arrive, and we didn't have a clue as to where or how this wild goose chase (as my mom would say) would end.

On top of Old Smokey, Part 1

Seeing as though I will not be doing any laundry, or dishes, this afternoon, due to no running water. I will begin the story of our latest adventure.
 This past Friday afternoon Phil and I ventured to Eastern North Carolina, and set course to see as much of the Pisgah, and Nantahala National forests as reasonably possible in 2 1/2 days.

The following  is a day by day account of what occurred.
NC Mountain Camping trip Day 1: Friday

I had to work in the morning, so as soon as I got home we packed up the RAV and hit the road. It was about 3:15pm when we left Raleigh, so by the time we had reached any worthwhile scenery it had long sense been dark. Ashville by 7:15, we were making good time, and looking forward to a cozy campfire to end the long day. Phil had printed off two maps of the National Parks in the area, and had highlighted the places to camp and the attractions we wanted to visit, we found our favorite campsite on the map and followed its trail into the twisty, turny, pitch black forest.
8:45pm, we arrived at the gate to the park where we wished to camp. We hadn't made reservations for a site because most of the sites were 1st come 1st serve, and there are dozens of them in the area. Unfortunately, because we didn't make reservations, we had no idea that the gate to the park would be closed promptly at 8:00pm. We were 45 minutes late. SOL...as it were.
After taking a few wrong turns, due to a combination of mountain signage, poor lighting, and two unhappy campers, we came across a gas station and went in to ask about our lodging options.  The options we were given were as follows:
1) you can drive your car up to the park gate, drop off your camping gear, drive your car back to the gas station park it here overnight, and walk your gear into the park. (this option did not sound good to me as I had been suffering from a terrible stomach ache for the majority of our drive. * Ladies, there are certain times of the month during which, Camping is not advised.)
2) you can drive back down this twisty, turny, pitch black forest road,  turn onto this other, more narrow, road and take that to a different entrance to the park where you can find a campsite.
Naturally we went with option #2.
20 minutes later we found the 2nd entrance into the park. This entrance however, was in reality a small parking lot with a Port-O-Potty, a street lamp, and a hiking trail that may or may not have led to the actual campsites that were still at least 20 minutes South of that location.  At this point we were both tired of driving, but the thought of having to set up camp next to the port-o-potty gave us the inspiration we needed to keep following the map toward those little tepees that had been so full of promise just a few hours earlier.
As our luck would have it, our "yellow-brick" mountain road emptied out into a private gravel drive about 10 minutes later. Our only feasible option was the parking lot. This... was not what we had in mind.  On the up side, there was a nice babbling brook close by to lull us to sleep, as we lay, under the stars, behind a tree, next to a Port-O-Potty, with no campfire.
* I've go to give the Port-O-Potty some credit here, it was kind of nice not to have to squat in the woods.


Part 2 Coming soon

A perfect fall meal

Psalm 104:14
He makes grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate- bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart.


Some blessings are undeniable. I believe that a good meal is definitely one of those blessings.
I love being able to eat out, to taste foods i have never heard of , to stretch the culinary imaginations of my family and friends.  I have had the privilege to taste some of the worlds finest foods, and work with some of the freshest and best ingredients known to man. Still nothing is more exciting to me than being able to share my experiences with my family, I love being able to make a good meal at home.  To be completely honest this has not happened on a regular basis... ever. Phil and I don't eat poorly, i've come to grips with the fact that people just find meals that work for them, especially when life gets busy. Once in a while though, I get the itch, the undeniable desire to create something different (from our day to day). Aside from the recent strudel, there hasn't been much of a stretch of my culinary mind at home; though i do intend upon doing so little by little.
 Tonight's dinner was one of those  meals that just had to have a little something extra. There was nothing entirely special, or technical about it, but it was delicious, and in case anyone is searching for a perfect fall meal I am sharing this one with you.

Pan Fried Pork Chops with Apple Chutney, Asparagus and Wild Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Winter Squash, and a whole wheat roll 

(why yes that is a tiny plate for such a hardy meal... the picture was an after thought and i didn't feel like having to wash another large plate. Lazy, yes. Do I regret it, no not really.)
 First of all I did not make this all in one night. Lets just get that straight.
The Risotto is actually leftovers from the other night, but it was a perfect compliment to the pork. Personally, I think risotto is the perfect compliment to anything. This was Phil's 1st experience with it, and i am pleased to say that he really enjoyed it.


The Risotto is Alton Browns recipe. (we <3 AB)
recipe here


The Squash
was simply peeled like a potato (you will need a good sharp veggie peeler for this one),
seeds and yuck removed,
chopped into generous bite-sized pieces,
tossed in oil,
sprinkled with salt and pepper
spead out onto a cookie sheet and bake in 350 F oven for about 20 min (till softened)


The Chutney
recipe here
I made it without the orange peel.
the end result was a bit to vinegary for me so i stirred in about
1tsp honey


The Chops
for 4 chops, i mixed:
1/4 tsp ground corriander
1/4tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp ground mustard
salt and pepper
sprinkled this mix on both sides of the raw chops
 browned them on both sides in a pan with some veggie oil
finished them in the oven 350 F for about 10 minutes
(they turn from pink to a whitish gray color and their juices run clear when fully cooked)

So there you have it. A perfect fall meal.  It happened to be 85 F here in Raleigh today, but its fall in my heart.

Eat Happy!

Streudel

This is the little life journey of an apple strudel that  I made for Phil to take to school and share with his lab group. Rumor has it that they liked it o.k. I would like to apologize for the haphazardness of the structure of this blog, but then again I don't really feel all that bad because it took me at least 2 hours just to get the pictures in the right order. Enjoy!





 

Step 1 Lots of apples!







Apples... like this one.





So this is a few steps later,... apples are cooked and cooled, dough was made 4 hours before hand and now I am beginning to stretch it out.



Stretching the dough is a process...



a very tedious process

...



...

but the end result is pretty neat. that small chunk of dough covers the whole table!

the stretched dough must then be buttered, liberally

apple filling close up.

then the apples are placed      

Some graham cracker crumbs to absorb some of the apple juice as the streudel bakes.

all ready to roll up.

the careful rolling begins, its harder than it looks to not rip a hole in the dough.

the rest of the rolling process is fairly easy. You thought the table cloth was there just to for looks didn't you.

half way rolled

all the way rolled! Ready for the pan.



before

after



hungry? you should be that just took 5 1/2 hours!

Stuff

 Shorts and a sweatshirt weather, my absolute favorite!

 Football is on, Phil is pretending to do homework while he watches, perhaps the other way around... perhaps. He seems to be able to multi- task in that way. I always had to have music playing while i did my homework but I could never focus if the Tv was on too. Im pretty sure he could finish this assignment hes doing and still give me a play by play of what happened during the game.

This week at work we are entertaining General managers and Executive Chefs from the best country clubs around the nation. My boss is pretty stressed about us doing a good job. Hopefully I can work well under pressure two days in a row. Sounds easy, but when everyone around you is freaking out, its kind of hard to keep your own composure.

What does the thermostat have to drop to in order for Chili to be an acceptable dinner decision?

GOOD EVENING!

Hello World.
Quick update.
My dad came by for a visit this afternoon. I love having company, especially family. We sat around showed him our Cape Hatteras pictures, had pizza for dinner and sat around some more. Made for a great afternoon.
Phil has been very busy with school the past two weeks. He did take a break for his birthday last Thursday though and we went to the movies. We hadn't been to a movie in a while, probably since the 4th of July, and that was to the dollar theater, so the $20 just to get in and the $6 for a SMALL popcorn was quite a shocker. Dollar theater from now on!
It finally rained here in the desert. Oh wait we live in North Carolina, honestly, it was getting to the point where one could not tell the difference. Very thankful for the rain and the cooler weather. Its still strange to me that it is so warm still, and nearly October.


~Christie

Bakers Log

10:10 pm Monday September 20

There always seems to be that period of time when starting a new job, that no matter how well I do I always feel like i didn't do it fast enough, or nice enough, or delicious enough. Then there are the days when things are undeniably bad. Those days, when on your way home from work you think about dropping your resume off at a couple of places, just so you don't have to face your mistakes again the next day. Thankfully I've only had a few of those day, and lately i leave work with a good feeling rather than an I'm not really sure how that went feeling.
Here's a little insight into what I get to work with.
Things I have been doing at work the past few weeks:

Tempering Chocolate using the tabling method (playing with puddles of chocolate on my work bench)

turning this

To this

To This! Ok... so i've never actually made anything like this, but i could if i wanted to, using my tempered chocolate

Making bread (feeding the dough baby)

Turning something like this...

To this

To something like this... sure, i will try to get some pictures of things that I actually made myself...

Cookies (the past couple of weeks i have been making batches of cookies that i could literally drown in)

I think you all know what cookies look like, plus its past my bed time.

Over and out

Nothing new

This week I have Wednesday off of work. How random. It has been a lovely day thus far i must admit.  Its the same temperature outside right now as it is inside, perhaps a little warmer outside, but i've got the screen door open and the ceiling fan on. I love having the windows open.  I knew weather would be different down here in North Carolina, but yesterday on my jog i was downright confused as to what was going on. There were leaves falling all along the path i was on. Large, brown, dried out and perfectly crunchy; they smelled perfectly of fall as I crushed them under my feet. There was just one thing that was not making sense to me. I was not wearing a cute plad shirt, jeans, and my fall boots to keep out the slight but wonderful chill in the air. (I realize that this is not jogging attire anyway, but stick with me here.) I was wearing a tank top and shorts, because there was no chill. In fact what breeze there was, was very welcome because it was 94 degrees without a cloud in the sky!
Please note that I am not complaining, how could i possibly. I am merely expressing the fact that even though I could be just about to experience the most wonderful fall season of my life, a piece of me still misses the short but sweet Minnesota version.

Nothing new to report, because if you know me well at all you know that the fact that I fell on the concrete in the parking lot in front of our apartment  on Saturday and bashed my right elbow so hard that today (Wednesday) it is still slightly swollen and less than slightly black and blue, is not a shocking story. This is just another page in the chapter of small injuries that i have accrued over the years. Really though, I'm fine. It still works. The popping really doesn't concern me yet. Good news though, if it should happen to concern me, i got my health care package from work yesterday! Three Cheers for 90 days of a steady job that i enjoy and health insurance!!!
Cheer! Cheer! Cheer!

Enjoy the weather wherever you are!
~Christie

Anniversary/ Birthday/ Labor Day

As I sit here amidst the mess that is well known as the return home from vacation, I have to smile, because I know that the trip was well worth the 4 loads of laundry and the pint of sand that we will never be able to get out of our living room carpet ( at least until we get a vacuum cleaner that doesn't BLOW, literally.), but mostly I have to smile because I know that it will take at least another week for all of this laundry to get put away. My own fault, I am aware, this is just how things are.
Taking us all back for a moment, I am proud to say that our last couple of dinners (not disregarding the lovely beach bonfire hot-dog and Cheeto's with a juice box meals) have been very successful, apparently all the motivation i needed to change things was to wine before the entire Blogging world about my own laziness, and ta da! instant accountability! and there was also the dread of actually having to go to McDonald's again for a balanced meal.

And now a recap of our mini Anniversary/ Birthday/ Labor Day vacation.
One thing to note as i recount this adventure is the fact that 0% planning on either of our behalfs, aside from our final destination, went into this weekend trip... 0%

I had to work on Saturday morning. Thus the 1 single plan that we had was to leave as soon as we could after I got home from work so that we could maybe make it to our campsite before the sun set. I got home at 2:15 pm and we left for Cape Hatteras for the 1st time at about 3:20 pm. We forgot a couple things, like our beach chairs, so we turned around and left for Cape Hatteras for the 2nd time at 3:40 pm. We had a cooler in our backseat with an already melting bag of ice in it, but no groceries. We "planned" on picking some up when we got closer to our destination. This is all fine and well, but we never really got around to making a list of what we wanted to bring along to eat. This is what we ended up with. Hot Dogs, Buns, Ketchup, Juice Boxes, Smores things, Plates, Paper Plates, Cheeto's, Granola bars, 2 bananas, and Twizzlers. (note that we had failed to pack any kind of device that would allow us to cook the hot dogs  or smores over a fire, and that we had also failed to pack a lighter, which means (unless you are Bear Grylls; although we are big fans of his show, we are indeed not Bear himself) there would also be no fire.) With groceries in tow we arrived at the coast at about 7:30 pm. There is only one main street that spans the length of the peninsula, and there were parts of it that were still under water and sand. The going was slow but it allowed us to really take in the sights all the way down the 1 1/2 hour strip of road. As the sun sank lower in the west our confidence that we would be able to find a campsite before dark sank with it. We ended up missing the street that would take us to the campground that we wanted by about 20 minutes, when we reached the Ferry at the end of the peninsula it was plan B time. We chose to camp at the 1st site we found. After picking up some firewood and a lighter mere moments before the corner store turned out its lights we found ourselves in an ocean view campsite fending off giant gnats and hungry mosquitoes as we struggled to put up our tent in the light of our headlamps. The night ended on the beach under more stars than perhaps either of us has ever seen at one time, with a blazing fire and some well deserved hot dogs and juice boxes. A Birthday unlike any other.

Sunday, we woke up in time to catch the sun rise with our camera. Phil had never been to the beach previously, and thus thought it would be best for him to start his morning off wearing the wool socks he had, had on the night before to fend off the mosquitoes, and his canvas beach shoes. Why did I not stop him from committing such an atrocity? So that I could share the moment with all of you of course.

Phil standing ever so close to the waves in his shoes and wool socks = the next picture.

After the sun was up and hot we drove our Rav 4 right out to the beach and camped out on the sand till lunch time.
 Fried seafood sandwiches and fries! (fried oysters are officially the 2nd item on my list of foods that I just cannot enjoy. The 1st being liver.) We bought boogie boards and battled the waves; a battle which I apparently lost considering the giant raspberry on my leg. I got sun burned and Phil just got tan. Looking out over the water at one point in the afternoon i saw fins two fins, three fins it was a pod of dolphins! They were pretty far out there but they were dolphins for sure. (according to the combined knowledge that Phil and I have of marine biology)  Frozen custard just before sun set, and another fire on the beach completed what I would call a perfect day.

Monday we packed up early and headed back home, but we didn't get very far before we parked the car, got out our beach chairs and spent a couple more hours taking it all in (pictures, as well at literally taking a giant Conch shell that I found). We got home in time to unload the car, build a sand castle with what was left in between the seats and on the floorboards (we didn't really, but we very well could have), and take it to the car wash. Then I cut Phil's hair so that he didn't have to spent the next week washing sand out of his hair which we aptly and affectionately call "the web".

 And there you have it. Anniversary/ Birthday/ Labor Day from the Matta's View.