Grandpa Struble's

Built in 1827

We've had a nice visit with Grandpa Struble and Grandma Cathi. The kids have had a ball in their apple orchard. They don't work it anymore and it's gotten over grown but the apples are still amazing. They leave them for the deer and other wildlife, they aren't sprayed but hardly have any insect damage or bad spots. The trees are just loaded. 

Lots of Asters, Queen Anne's lace and Goldenrod , too. 

The orchard

We took a nature walk around it so the kids could show us around. They were very busy picking apples and are full of plans for them. 

They filled this bin up!

The polished up a few, very pretty. 

These small grapes were growing in the trees but they tasted bitter and yucky. 

Teasel. I was able to scrape off some thorns to bring a few home. They look so pretty dried. 

We don't have milkweed quite like this at home. It reminded me of the Minnesota prairie. 

You can barely see Ferns head here. 

For an immediate return for their labor, I made applesauce. 

I don't have pictures of the finished product. I wasn't fast enough and it was gone!

Three generations of Strubles enjoying an after dinner visit. 

It was really great to have a quiet day after going going. We are gearing up for more fun! Birthday party, Luigias ice cream parlor, children's museum etc etc. 

Following The Appalachians

Today we are following the mountain chain we love so well. We actually chose this route, despite it being longer, just so we could. As we meander up through Virgina and get into PA, I like to think about my ancestors, coming here from Wales, Scottland and Germany and how the hills must have reminded them of home. 

These are from northern VA. 

Kids are riding well. So nice having a potty on board! There's actually TWO. And a washer and dryer. So FANCY. 

We crossed and followed the Susquehanna River in PA for quite a ways. Very beautiful. 

That a tiny Statue of Liberty out there. 

At the end of day the kids are not riding so well. We had a meltdown in Wegmans, a grocery store daddy and I actually love going to, and were greatly relieved to finally arrive at Keuka Lake. It's shaped like a Y and we are camped at the top left point. 

Our favorite NY state dinner, burgers on freshly baked brioche buns from Wegmans, corn on the cob, salt potatoes and s'mores. Ate in the dark as it started to mist. 

Tanglewood Days

For years and years my sister and I have been meeting at Tanglewwod for visits. We live four hours apart, she drives further but it's almost halfway. We bring food, and always frappacinos, all our kids and sometimes dogs. We do the same thing every time. Playground. Food. Peruse the gardens. Walk the woods to the pond. Skip rocks and roll down the hill. (Try not to pierce our eardrums with stray sticks or get poison Ivey. Yeah.) Then slowly walk back to our cars, motivating cousin miss thang with the promise of ice cream. 

But for the first time ever, we brought the daddies! It was so nice!! Very relaxing. We did a lot of talking, laying under trees and in the grass and catching up. Priceless. 

Beech tree with loads of nuts. 

Spotted these mating? Wheel bugs. 

Almost all the cousins but missing a few. It's like herding cats. 

These people. Love love love. I've known my birth sister for 18 years this August. She reunited with us, her birth family, that long ago. She had just become a mother and a Christian. I'd been praying to find her for six years. I deeply honor my mom for sacrificing so much and bearing deep scars to give her life. I honor her parents for giving her a family. None of it was perfect. But she is an amazing person who I am so thankful to have in my life. She is truly my sister, by blood, by heart, by faith. It's too beautiful to even put into words. 

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

First, a bit about Mr. Kilmer:

Joyce Kilmer (born as Alfred Joyce Kilmer; December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection Trees and Other Poems in 1914. Though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his Roman Catholicreligious faith, Kilmer was also a journalist, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. ~wiki

And about the forest: 

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is an approximately 3,800-acre tract of publicly owned virgin forest in Graham County, North Carolina, named in memory of poet Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918). One of the largest contiguous tracts of old growth forest in the Eastern United States, the area is administered by the U. S. Forest Service. The memorial is a rare example of old growth cove hardwood forest, a diverse type unique to the Appalachian Mountains. Dominant species are yellow-poplar, oak, basswood, beech, and sycamore. Some trees are over 400-years old, and the oldest yellow-poplars are more than 20 feet (6.1 m) in circumference and stand 100 feet (30 m) tall. ~wiki

We visited this lovely place with our natural history club. What didn't fully impact me until the evening was we were in the same area the Cherokee, or Snowbird people, were from exhiled from and sent to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. Some were able to hide here and some made it back. 

My photos cannot do justice to these amazing trees. The biggest I've seen, saved from logging by a dam, the depression and some people who cared. 

I'm so glad I finally made it here. Worth the 6hr round trip drive and the yellow jacket stings I got. 

•more info about the Cherokee 

http://www.grahamchamber.com/cherokee.html

Hunting Island Camping Trip

We just came back from one of our best camping trips! We will definitely go back again. Hunting Island is a great state park and very unique. We had a terrific spot, back in the maritime forest, away from the strong ocean winds but just a short walk to the beach. 

We explored a lot of places. The forest, the beach, the salt marsh. All so beautiful. 

We visited the lighthouse and all the big kids went up to the top with dad. 

I hung out with these guys :) We had lots to explore. 

The lighthouse from the beach. 

Our first day it was in the high 50s but after that it was warmer and just lovely. 

The kids found almost 70 shark teeth collectively in our week there! Also a mermaids purse, lots of sand dollars, a live starfish they threw back to sea, some dead horseshoe crabs, one dead jellyfish,  sea pansies, live conchs and lots of shells. 

On our marsh walk with a ranger we learned this glasswort is also called pickle weed and is edible! It tasted yummy, like salty cucumber. He said high end restaurants forage for it. 

Sadly, the island has a bad erosion problem. Especially on the south end. They lost all their cabins a few years ago. 

I actually climbed under this tree into those roots. It was a unique perspective and actually felt very moving. 

We also visited Fort Freemont, a Spanish American war fort. Very interesting and only recently taken under the wing of the county. 

South end of the island. 

This doe came into camp many nights and brought her yearling twins. She eventually ate out of the kids hands. Pretty neat. Not as neat were the raccoons. Bandits. Last night there they opened the screw top lid of the dog food canister and ate every bit!!

This camper has been the best investment ever. A week long vacation on an island within walking distance to the beach, close enough to hear the waves crash at night, for a family of ten for less than $400. Win! Our own little house on wheels. I adore it. I should have been a gypsy.