Our Fresh Air Girls are Visiting from NYC and We're Having a Blast!

It was a great reunion to have our two young friends from the Big Apple visit us again this year. We're in the middle of all kinds of fun: going to Brusters for ice cream, dancing at Skyline Terrace Nursing Home, swimming, picking peaches and blackberries at Marker Miller, visiting the horse ranch to watch Anya and Bianca's riding lessons. Today we're off to the farm to milk a cow and help with other farm chores. And tomorrow will be a marathon of fun: touring Shenandoah Caverns, eating at a Thai restaurant, playing Putt-Putt and going to the Fresh Air swim party. Just take a look at the pictures and you'll see the smiles and know how much fun it is to be a Fresh Air family. (The girls were also interviewed and photographed by the Northern Virginia Daily and will be in the paper. What a souvenir to take home!)

Pick up in Harrisonburg and ready for fun!

Stop at Southern Kitchen for supper and make a couple of new friends.

"Boot Scootin' Boogie" at Skyline Terrace - Line dancing is fun!

Picking apples at Camp Kreitzer.

A bumper crop for making apple sauce.

Enjoying the breeze on the porch at Marker Miller while we wait for Anya and Bianca.

Wow, those blackberries are sweet and good!

Now if we just had a horse or donkey to pull the wagon...

More new friends at the horseback riding facility

Celebrating Anya's big seventh birthday

Jackson Hole and a Tram Ride up Mount Rendezvous

September 25-26

There's so much to do here in Jackson Hole we extended our two nights (with one full day to explore) into three nights. It gave us time to do laundry, catch up on some blogging because I have internet finally (none in Yellowstone's campground), and just enjoy gazing at the mountains and hiking along the river. We settled in on Sunday afternoon with enough daylight to walk down along the Snake river which runs in back of the campground. The tenters are right on the river overlook. Wow!

The next morning we dawdled a bit over breakfast then made a stop at the Visitor's Center to get hiking information. We decided to take a flat walk on the levee along the Snake River near the town of Wilson. At the .5 mile marker there were two female moose nibbling on the trees. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a clear picture because they were in behind the trees. We probably would have missed them entirely except for several other walkers who pointed them out. They really blend in with the scenery. We stood and watched them for a few minutes and then went on hoping they would come up on the levee to cross to the river for a drink. No luck. But the three mile out and back walk was delightful with all the fall colors and the bluest sky I've ever seen. We also came across a few young people with a border collie who was trying to catch his shadow. What a sweet little animal (reminded me of our Shaley who lived to be 16 and was our "circus dog" who would jump through hoops and do all kinds of tricks). The river is clearly down now and there is driftwood all along the dry places in the river. People tell us in the spring when the snow starts to melt it turns into a raging riot. I sure wouldn't want to take a whitewater trip then.

We drove up to Teton Village and had lunch at the Mangy Moose. It was breezy but we sat outside on their deck and braved the occasional cold gusts as we ate our buffalo burger and Idaho trout fish and chips. Great food and a hefty lunch to prepare us for a hike on the mountain. We took the tram to the top of Mt. Rendezvous. It was an eleven minute ride and what a view! But when I got off at the top, I had to sit down I had such vertigo. The mountain is over 10,000 feet elevation and  looking down into the valley with nothing around me but open air (and a breeze to boot) made me dizzy. I had to look down at my feet when we climbed the stairs to the "top of the world" to view the scenery all around. Looking over at Grand Teton peak, the highest mountain in the range, we seemed to be at the same level but Rendezvous is actually about 3,000 feet lower. Sure didn't seem like it.



Dad with Grand Teton peak in back.



We hiked about a half a mile down the mountain and then stopped to sit on a rock and pray our rosary. A large group of young people came along and then an older man. We asked who the kids were. They were students from Iowa state studying landscape architecture and he was the professor. He said the hike was to explore what exactly landscape architecture means. What a place to think about it!

I'm not sure what "landscape architecture" is, we didn't get into that, but we've seen lots of buildings here in the west that are designed to fit into the landscape. I imagine that's what landscape architecture means -- designing buildings in comformity with the surroundings. There's definitely a different look here. The visitors centers and museums are often made with local stone and in different designs from back east -- simpler and more rugged. Lots of the log cabin type look in the restaurants with cowboy decorations: ten-gallon hats, saddles, dear and buffalo heads, antler chandaliers and door handles. It's really different from what we're accustomed to. And bronze sculptures, big bronze sculptures are everywere: bison, groups of elks, bears, moose, etc.

The temperature at the top of the mountain was about twenty degrees colder than the bottom. Brrr...ice and snow in the crevices. A sign at the top showed pictures of wildflowers and called the area an "alpine meadow." There were still flowers blooming among the rocks and it made me think of Heidi living with her grandfather on the mountainside and running barefoot in the summer meadows with Peter and the goats. The view down into the valley was breathtaking once I could look farther than my feet. I think I could get used to being that high. I never get vertigo on our own beloved Virginia mountains but they are an entirely different breed. I think the Massanutten is about 1500 feet as it rises from the dam below our house -- quite a bit smaller than 10,000 foot Mt. Rendezvous. And people ski off Rendezvous. Someone on the tram was talking about a teenager who was killed last winter when he fell head first into a snow well under a tree. Apparently the snow under the trees doesn't get packed down and he must have smothered when he couldn't get out. I hate to think of such things.

We looked for wildlife on the tram ride down but didn't see any. We did see lots of beautiful fall colors, but I kept hoping for a glimpse of mountain goats or bighorn sheep. No luck, only the shadow of the tram preceding us down the mountain.

Then back to the campground for a campfire. What camping trip would be complete without an occasional hot dog cooked on a stick over an open fire? The stars were brilliant in the dark, clear sky. So I've decided to name our little home on wheels la maison de les etoiles, the house of stars. We haven't spent much time there except at night sleeping under the stars.

Grand Teton, Jenny Lake, and Interesting Conversations

Sunday, September 25

The angels continue to be on the job. This morning Larry noticed that the ball on the trailer hitch was loose. (Thanks, angels for the alert! Losing the trailer hitch could be a real disaster putting all the weight on the two linklines.) Lacking a wrench large enough to fix it, Larry borrowed one from our neighbor, another blessing. If you don't have the right tools, pray that a human angel has one to loan you. After tightening it, we hooked up and went off to a service station to have the hitch looked at and further tightened.

We had a long talk with the mechanic who is a native of Wyoming and fiercely independent. He described how the government is destroying the work ethic and gave the example of a friend who had open heart surgery and went on disability temporarily. He wanted to go back to work but social services told him if he did, not only would he lose disability, but he would also have to pay back all the disability he had received. So, of course, he can't afford to go back to work. This is how the government creates a permanent welfare class. Penalize work. Talking to this gentleman was a real education in economics. He said the people of Wyoming (about half a million in the entire state) keep a close watch on their state legislature. He favors a flat tax, but a state senator told him that will never happen because it would put so many people out of business: IRS agents, CPAs, tax preparers, etc. He predicted a revolution is coming bigger than the Civil War. Interesting conversation.

Meeting people around the country is fascinating. We had a long conversation the night before with a gentleman at the Jackson Lodge as we sat by the fire. He was concerned about government as well although he was more shoulder-shrugging, what-can-anyone-do-about-it frustrated. The mood out here is definitely anti-government. These are people who love America and hate what the career politicians are doing to her.

But back to vacation.... We left the service station and headed south toward Jackson Hole. I booked a KOA on-line (Gosh I love that Ipad my daughter-in-law loaned me! Thanks, Jes.) That relieved the stress of trying to find a place later so we could stop and take our time enroute which was exactly what we did.

The views along the road of the towering Grand Tetons are glorious! They are so strange. There are no foothills. The land is flat up to the base of mountain that then appears to go almost straight up. I can imagine the pioneers seeing those moutains. "Great Jehosaphat! How will we ever get over those?" And then there's the Snake River which crossed the Oregon Trail over and over so that the people had to ford or float it numerous times. Here behind our campground the Snake isn't too wide -- only about 30 yards, but it's swift and looks deep. Imagine a wagon train trying to cross that!

Jenny Lake is one of the prettiest stops we've made. We took the boat across the lake. It was a speedboat ride with the wind whipping so much we had to take off our hats or risk losing them into the lake. It made me laugh and I loved feeling the spray! Once we landed we hiked out and back to a beautiful waterfall (Hidden Falls) and an overlook only a little further on with an expansive view of the lake and the mountains. The walk was a well-travelled path but rocky and steep. It was like climbing an endless staircase along a stream. The views were lovely with water tumbling in little falls and cascades beside us all along the way.

Hidden Falls is probably a hundred foot drop and lovely.  And only a little farther on was a rocky outcrop overlooking the lake. We didn't walk as far as Inspiration Point because I was worried about my knees holding out for the walk down which is very hard on them. But another angel had given me a hiking pole on the way up so I had that for support. Someone had passed it to him and, when we got about 200 yards from the boat landing, we met a group climbing up with a lady who clearly needed help. They commented on how smart I was to bring a pole and I said, "An angel gave it to me on the way up, and I'm passing it on to you. Have a wonderful walk." I hope she was able to make it to the falls.

We had a quick tailgate picnic in the parking lot and moved on to Jackson Hole where we found friendly KOA staff and set up for the next few nights. The bathrooms are spotless, the river is right below our campsite, and we are ready to explore Jackson Hole. My only regret is that the local parish showed no daily Mass. Churches out west have been fewer and farther between and have fewer priests. Pray for vocations.

Mt. Rushmore and Rapid City in the Rain

Wed. Sept, 14th

Mt. Rushmore in the mist

Wednesday night whenever I woke up I heard rain pattering on the camper roof. It’s a soothing sound, but I was hoping it would stop by morning. It didn’t and it was freezing as well, down in the 30s. Nothing like a COLD rain to dampen your spirits. We had a leisurely breakfast waiting to see if the weather would improve. No luck. So we decided to go into Rapid City and check out inside activities. But when I looked for attractions in the Garmin the first thing that came up was Mt. Rushmore. It was so close, only 1.7 miles away, that we decided we’d just take a quick look and then go back on Friday. But when we got there the drizzle had subsided to a mist that didn’t seem too bad so we parked and headed into the visitor center/museum. At the outside viewing area I took some pictures that turned out well. One advantage of a cloud cover is no shadows. The faces were clear.

I’ve seen pictures of Mt. Rushmore, but being there is a different experience. Just the scope of the
vision is impressive – to carve a mountain. Frankly, it would never occur to me to do such a thing. And it’s almost funny to read about its conception, “an idea to draw sightseers.” Well, it certainly has succeeded in doing that. Even in the rain and outside the popular season there were plenty of tourists and us among them.

George Washington in earmuffs

In the museum we watched the movie about its creation. What a project! Much of the “sculpting” was done with dynamite and the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, had a crew of about 400 workmen helping. Over $800,000 of the million dollar tab was picked up by the federal government. Isn’t that interesting when you consider its original purpose was to be a tourist trap. LOL! Well, the federal government gets its $11 a car. I imagine it brings in millions every year and the government has recouped its investment many times over. The thing I found most inspiring were the photos and quotes from the workers who became truly caught up in the project.

Larry and I followed the president’s trail that gave a number of interesting views of the individual heads. At one point I snapped George Washington and when I looked at the picture I had inadvertently positioned a pine bow to make him look like he was wearing earmuffs. It made me laugh and reminded me of all those photos you get with things coming out of people’s heads.

About halfway around the trail is the artist’s studio with a model that Borglum was working from. His original design included the presidents’ upper bodies, but that part of the project died with Borglum.

Gutzon Borglum, sculptor

Since we had to go back through Keystone to go to Rapid City, we stopped at Peggy’s for lunch. The sign said “home cooking” and it certainly was. The chicken noodle soup was so good I was sorry I only ordered a cup. We shared a first-rate Reuben sandwich as well. While waiting for a table we struck up a conversation with a gentleman from Australia who loves coming to America. He’s been all over. We also talked to a couple from Wisconsin. Part of the fun of traveling is having these impromptu conversations with interesting people.

Our first stop in Rapid City was the visitors’ center. Right next door was a park which included an exhibit on the Berlin Wall. That was a head scratcher to us until we started reading the markers. Mt. Rushmore seems to have given Rapid City a sort of national identity with an emphasis on patriotism. Americans can do big things, they seem to say, whether it’s creating a nation based on republican principles and rights, building the Panama Canal, carving a mountain, or running an airlift into a besieged foreign city.

There are several blocks downtown with a bronze model of each of the presidents through George W.
Bush. We were intrigued by the “props” in each sculpture. John Kennedy held John-John’s hand. Taft was crouching with a baseball behind his back ready for the pitch. Truman held the newspaper that says “Dewey wins.” George Bush Sr. has his hand on a globe. Reagan is wearing his signature cowboy hat and boots. If it hadn’t been so cold we would have visited all of the presidents. Instead we stopped at Edge of the Prairie, a combination store and museum of Indian culture. The art was incredible including paper sculptures in three dimensions, one showing a buffalo hunt. Very impressive.

We went to the 5:30 Mass at the Cathedral, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, for Our Lady of Sorrows’ feast day. It was another orthodox, reverent Mass. So far the closest we’ve come to a crazy liturgy was a sign for a “polka Mass” on the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin, but we haven’t seen any liturgical dancers dancing the polka or anything else. On the other hand, we’ve been to two Sunday Masses where the congregation was praying the rosary before Mass and this evening virtually the entire congregation stayed after the priest left to make their thanksgiving.

Our day ended with dinner at the Alpine restaurant in Hill City which has one menu item – filet mignon in two sizes for either $8.95 or $10.95 served with a baked potato, lettuce wedge, and Texas toast. Having only one dinner item doesn’t seem to suppress their business; it was booming and we had to wait 40 minutes for a table.

What a great day! And the weatherman is calling for sun tomorrow.

Junior Cousins Camp

Camp Kreitzer hosted its first "Cousins Camp" of the season with three little munchkins who were out of preschool before big brothers and sisters. It was a spontaneous event when we decided to bring two siblings home from my brother's fundraising event last Sunday. Their cousin asked if he could come too and there you have it -- Cousins Camp. It was just the right length for young ones to be away from Mom -- three nights and two days. That gave us time to swim, jump on the trampoline, play on the swing and teeter-totter, throw rocks in the river, walk across the "scary bridge," ride bikes (and trikes), have a "movie night" with Rikki Tikki Tavi and popcorn, eat popsicles, get a little local cousin to come join in the fun, take tractor rides, and have a campfire with hot dogs and s'mores. We went to Mass one morning followed by a visit to a local nursing home (and a trip to 7-11 for slurpies). We ended each day with a decade of the rosary and night prayers by candlelight and a bedside song with Gramma, a Camp Kreitzer tradition. Unfortunately, I didn't think about pictures at the campfire and some of the other fun events until they were over, so you'll just have to take it from me that everything was a big hit. The staff at Camp Kreitzer is looking forward to the next cousins camp of which we expect there will be plenty this summer!

Life's a Beach -- Or Don't We Wish?

Our trip to Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks was so much fun. Let the pictures tell the story.

Our first stop is always Grandy's for peach flurries and some fresh produce. Marianna was taken with the pink flamingoes.

Our cottage was on Lindberg Ave. between the main drag and the beach road and a short walk to the beach access. The front porch swing was a favorite spot for morning coffee and just hanging out.

The beach was perfect for watching the waves....

Burying Paka in the sand....

And feeding the seagulls.

Our landmark for walking up and down the beach was the pink (really pink) house.

We hated to see the sun set on our last evening as we rode our bikes along the sound trail the eight miles back to the bike rental shop. What a great vacation!

Quiet Time at Camp Kreitzer

Things have been pretty busy at Camp Kreitzer since the Spring with the swinging door swinging mostly in. Our daughter recovering from knee surgery will still be coming a few times a week with two-year-old Marianna, but after a seven week visit our Houston family hit the trail yesterday. Five wild women danced off into the sunset. (Actually six if you include their mom who can still dance with the best of them. (Okay, so they didn't actually dance; but drove off in a grey van.)

Camp K is quiet -- too quiet? While they were here we celebrated birthdays, a First Communion, had lots of fabulous fun time. There were outings to the caverns, lakes, and rivers in the area, and lots of pool, trampoline, and swing time. I baked cookies with several little ones and played Labyrinth and other games galore. The puzzles, cars, and blocks got lots of use, but not as much as the dress ups with all those little girls.

Larry and I will enjoy the peace for a few days, but then we'll sigh and wonder how come the refrigerator stays so full of food and the family room is so neat and there are no wet bathing suits in the bathrooms.

When Marianna comes tomorrow, I know she'll ask.... "Where Ella? Where Sophie? Where my cousins?"

My answer will be, "They've gone home again, home again jiggity jig. But they'll be back." We're all praying for a quick sale of their house in Houston so that the "be back" day comes soon.

Meanwhile, Camp Kreitzer has plenty of room for extended family and friends. Y'all come.

New desktop -- Some of my favorite little people!

After several weeks of snow and ice and cold weather, I decided it was time for a virtual break. So when my niece, Becky, sent a photo of the kids (five of my grand-nieces and nephews and five of my grandchildren) from last summer enjoying a popsicle break at our pool I decided to make it the "virtual summer escape" from wintery weather. So every time I boot up, I'll blow virtual kisses to my little virtual visitors. Okay, kids, get ready to start taking over the world for Jesus in about 15 years.

Camp Kreitzer's Last Summer Fling

The last week of August was also the last big summer adventure on the Camp Kreitzer calendar. The Lauderdale kids came for a week and we had more activities planned than we could fit in the hours available. So we didn't throw rocks in the river or walk on the scary bridge. But we did: bake cookies; swim, take hikes on the Lion's Tale Trail and the Storybook Trail; go for lots of tractor rides; have a picnic and wade in the creek; spend a day with Dave and Jes and family for swimming, a campfire, and fireworks; eat lots of popsicles served from Brendan's Tiki Hut; spend a morning playing with friends; read Mr. Wolf's pancakes at least a dozen times; go to the library; stop at the farm to get fresh eggs; bake (and eat) cupcakes; go the Shenandoah County Fair and get armbands for the rides (but forgot the camera); and watched Brendan dance the hula.



We ended every day with a decade of the rosary and on the way to meet Tara and Lawrence on our last day, Ryan insisted that we "say the rosary for Mommy and Daddy." So we did.



It was a joyful end to the the Camp Kreitzer summer season. We have an open calendar for the fall including apple picking, hiking, and more campfires. Y'all come.

Summertime

If spring turns a persons thoughts to baseball, summertime has to turn thoughts to (what else?) the beach! I've been looking at pictures in my file from our last beach trip -- 2007 when we had a family reunion in North Myrtle Beach.

How I love the sound of the surf, the smell of salt air, kites flying, a continuous breeze, soft sand between my toes. Oh gosh, just thinking of it makes me want to pack my suit and head out. I'm not sure whether we'll make it to the beach this year. Maybe if I keep thinking about it, the beach will come to us.

Here are some photos from our 2007 Kreitzer family reunion reunion. The kids are a little bigger and the grandparents are a little older, but the happy memories are just the same and always bring a smile to my face!

Brendan is king of the sand castle!



Alex, Brendan, and Jonathan are coming at ya!



And looking over it all -- the Jolly Roger! Ho, ho, ho and a bottle of rum.



What's a beach trip without hunting for ghost crabs. This creepy little critter in the spotlight is haunting his pursuers.



Matthew and Paige join forces for sand fun.



"Look at me, Gamma!" That's Lauren.



The village it takes to raise a child...also known as "the family."



Postscript: I wonder how the beach house and the condos family members stayed at fared during the big fire in April. They say tourism hasn't been affected, but it destroyed 40 homes and plenty of beach pines. Fortunately, things recover pretty quickly, but I'm sure visitors this summer will see lots of signs of the damage.