doppelganger

We were suppose to go to a music festival (Bret Michaels and then some) yesterday. Middle of last week we got to thinking - 6 hour drive (round trip), 2 kids to try to settle and chill for 12 hours of music, having to possibly rent a car and then maybe a hotel --- did not = 'fun' to us.

A girlfriend of mine asked us to go camping instead = FUN!

We stayed in the state and just 2 hours from home is BEAUTIFUL, mountain views and HUGE lakes! We have been here 5+ years and have never been to a lake here (coming from the gulf coast, it just seemed wrong).

Spent a couple hours yesterday at the lake and then today about 4 hours (that is something I realized about us and our friends....we come from the gulf coast, there you go to the beach for a few hours and leave....our friends that grew up on the west coast can spend ALL DAY at the beach). Anyway---

We even went canoeing! Last time hubs and I did that we kept going in circles (that was about 12 years ago). Found out today that hubs doesn't much like canoeing...something about 'small' boats easily flipped. So, he and I took the boys out once and he didn't get back in the canoe after...poor guy.

We saw bald eagles! 5+years here and never have we seen a bald eagle in this state...go away for the weekend and we see about 20. At the lake we could watch them hunt/fish and hear their songs...it was very cool!

This morning we took our tent down and we were sitting on the picnic table waiting on our friends, when this woman walked by.
I see her and watch her, I whisper to hubs 'that looks like ma', he replies 'I was just thinking that'. Everything about this woman was ma. From her reddish hair pulled back in a ponytail, to her white capri pants, to her stance, to her build, to her walk, to her chin! OMG! I watched her and I was wondering why ma wasn't coming to talk to us. She looked more like ma's TWIN than her actual twin looks to her (no offense). A few moments later she was in the passenger seat of a truck that went by and she even smoked! This woman was the exact image of what ma was about 10 years ago (which is how I remember her). NO JOKE! Not until after she had come and gone did hubs ask 'did you take her picture? Because no one will believe us otherwise'. Do you know what??? No I didn't take her picture, now I am wishing I had thought of it.

Here are just a few of the pictures I did happen to take---enjoy.



*ACTUAL SIZE* big, BIG BumbleBee



I love birch trees.



I always have to take pictures of flowers wherever we go. Here are a few flowers and a baseball size dandelion.















This here is 1 of 2 of the snake friends we met. We first get to the lake and hubs reaches down and picks one up...a while later, Hoss does the same thing! (ma would have been so proud! There were many times where she would just reach down and pick up random snakes...)







In the 8+ years its been since we last went camping...the ground has not gotten any softer.



I call myself a 'hotel type of girl'(<~ that could be taken way wrong), but after the fun we had this weekend, I might consider going camping again.