We Will Miss You

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A last true connection to my mom crossed over the rainbow bridge today at 19 years old.  While Ben “the dog” has lived with us these past three and a half years he always was my moms dog.  He was her constant and dedicated, spoiled rotten companion for 16 years and then ours his last  three.

Some of mom’s last words to me were to ensure he was okay and settling in at our house until she could bring him home. Today she brought him home to her!  While our hearts are sad, our home much quieter, I know they are together again and I know my mom is so very happy to be with him again.

We will miss you Ben. We love you!  Say hi to everyone!

Back Bay Wildlife Reserve and False Cape State Park Tour

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Guy and I headed down to Virginia Beach last weekend to take a tram tour through the Back Bay Wildlife Reserve and a hike through FAlse Cape State Park.

The Back Bay was gorgeous, and loaded with water fowl. I had my camera but really could not get any great photos from the tram. I definitely could have just taken all day to take pictures and been super happy. Once we passed through the Back Bay reserve we entered False Cape State Park which you cannot access by personal vehicle. You must enter on bike, feet or canoe/kayak unless you are on one of these tours. It is a very rustic state park with an incredible history that neither of us had ever heard. The land was so sandy and baren through much of the park, it’s still hard to believe that several hundred people at one time made it their home and community.

The tours run all winter, on Sundays and only cost $8 per person which I think was well worth it. You must pre-register by calling the state park.


Flood Wall Fox

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Since I had to head downtown to the office today, I grabbed my smaller camera/lens combo as I rushed out he door thinking just in case I saw something I would have a camera. 

I decided to walk over to the flood wall during lunch to see if I could catch a glimpse of the kestrel even knowing I didn’t have the reach to get anything great.  Glad I grabbed the camera as one of the flood wall fox decided to stroll out for some sun.  It was amazing to hear him/her calling out another, even though no one responded.

Dining Room Make-over

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We got a whim last week to do a bit of decorating in our boring dining room.

Here is the before… BORING!!!

It was time, we hadn’t really done anything with it since we moved in over 7 years ago. I knew I wanted to bring the outdoors in and embrase the warmth of the trees and plants we had in and out of the house. I was told peel and stick wallpaper was the easiest to use and since neither Guy nor I had ever done it before we decided to try it. NOthing to lose after-all.

After much trial and error, we found a flow to hanging it and Guy just rolled right through getting it hung up.

It took us about 8-9 hours in total work time to complete and then I worked another hour to replace all the furniture and plants.

We are thrilled with the final product and know it will be a favorite quick redecorating project for a long time.

Here is the finished project (we have to pain the plant rods as soon as the temps raise up a bit.)

White Pass Railway, Skagway Alaska

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Can you believe we have been home from Alaska almost 6 months now, and I am just now getting around to blogging and sharing video I took there. Oh well, better than not sharing at all.

First up is White Pass Railroad excursion we took in Skagway. I will admit, this was not a excursion I was looking forward to doing but Guy really wanted to do it so we booked it and off we went. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the ride. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and the narration was really well done and I learned so much about an area I knew nothing about. Definitely an excursion I would recommend to all ages.