But Officer, It's Only 5 P.M...

Well, my baby is now 15 years old. WOW! I'm getting old. We decided, since for the past 10 years we have not been in Florida for his birthday, that we would have a party for Alex and a few friends. So, Alex for the past couple of weeks, has been planning and inviting, etc...We told him to let us know what he wanted to do, the menu, the place, etc...He decided to have the party at the house with 26 of his friends and family. Alex and his band,

made their debut in the backyard on the patio. It was awesome. Food, Family, Friends, new talent bursting forth, exciting right? Well,yes, yes, yes, and not quite. Apparently, three of our neighbors, whether it be on our road, or three streets over did not appreciate the young lads budding talent. Yes, it's a first for the Dickinson family. We had the Citrus County Police called out to the Dickinson residents for disturbing the peace. However, the officer was great, and said the boys sounded great, his son is a drummer as well, but it IS his RESPONSIBILITY to respond to all calls. SO, he did. We agreed to do whatever the man in blue advised us to do in order to not give ALex the memory of his parents being hauled off to jail to make our parental point of "But officer, it's only 5 p.m. The noise ordinance is not effective till after 11P.M." Long story short, the officer completely understood, and said since the party ended at 7, to pretend he was never here. SWEET!
SO, ALex and the band, played one last song to commemorate his 15th Birthday and hopefully, prayerfully, his last encounter with the Citrus County police.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

What a FANTASTIC day! Haleigh Bug, Alex and I spend the morning creating our very own gingerbread house. How fun! Alot of work, which they fail to mention that on the box, but it was fun. We're also puppy sitting for a client, so we took some pics of Haleigh bug and Baxter and Spotty. All three look drunk in the picture, but I can honestly say, liquor was not involved. Dan, Alex and I braved the stores just one last time, hopefully, to finish up some shopping. I believe that's about it. I have to work for alittle while tommorrow before I tackle the never ending grocery list. The world can shop for just about anything online these days, I wonder if Walmart will ship your holiday food shopping list straight to your door?

Let It Snow, Let It Snow,Let It Snow!

This weekend, we went to Kissimmee with family and friends. Unfortunetly, Kristen, Jared, and Haleigh did not get to come with us.
Buggy caught tonsilitus and Jared was sporting a 101 fever this morning along with Kristen's sore throat. BIG BUMMER! We are praying for a quick recovery! Forward, march...and that's what we've been doing this whole weekend. Seriously, we had to walked atleast 50+ miles today. We went to Downtown Disney, and Celebration this evening to see the snow. How awesome it has been today. We missed seeing the expressions on Kristen, Jared, and Haleigh's face when the "snow" began falling at Celebration, but, maybe next year. Anyway, we've been "wooping it"up with our oldest son Sean, and his girlfriend, Kate, and Alex.
Alex and I even shared the best Brownie Sundae this evening and I just know that delicious culinary treat put 5 pounds on my hips. Some things are just worth it!

We survived!

Well, it's been ALONG time since my last post. Yes, we did do the hike. However, we did not complete it all. After the ups and downs we had, we only did 53 miles. We plan on going back someday and finishing the remaining 20 something miles, but, we'll see. It was awesome. The views, the weather, the experience. Breathtaking. All together we only hiked for 4 1/2 days. Some of our fellow compadres did not finish with us, but they sure did put in 100% while they hiked. Dan and I did get to have some alone time, in the woods, on top of a mountain, which was WONDERFUL. We camped and hiked together, just the two of us, for 2 days. It was awesome.
We learned alot from this trip. Like, 60 pounds is alittle too much for one man to carry. And the body tends to react and respond to such weight in not so nice ways, NO MATTER HOW MUCH TRAINING AND PREP YOU DO. But, like I said, it was worth it. And we found out we need to do alittle more research. So, it wasn't a wasted trip after all.
Though, we did learn the hard way one very important lesson. If you plan on taking pictures, at all, of your adventures, it's better to invest in a digital camera that you feel comportable with rather than numerous disposable cameras. $54.00 later, and only a few pictures came out. UUUUGGGG!!!! That was hard to swallow. Oh well...

South Carolina, Here We Come!

Well, as you can see, three of us are very excited about our trip. We leave in 2 days. WOW! Time has kicked in turbo drive. It's hard to believe this crazy adventure is really here. I've been asking ALOT of questions these last couple of days. I sure hope and pray we have trained hard enough for this expedition. I think we have.


Well, Kristen and Jared celebrated their anniversary this week.

And that meant Haleigh Bug stayed with us for 2 days and 2 whole nights.

She was an absolute joy. We tried to do as much as we could before we leave.

It's going to be 2 weeks before we get back. WOW! I already miss my family and friends and we haven't even left yet. We will be taking lots of pictures and ibuprofen...HAHA, and I'm keeping a journal to write down our days ups and downs (the mountains, that is) enlightened moments ( what we're we thinking, those thoughts etc...) and plans to get Dan back, I'm sure. Just Kidding. I'm on board with this trip just as much as he is. Though I have to admit, seeing a port-a-potty in the wooods during our trek would be a most welcomed treat. UUGGG!

It's Buggy Time!

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Is it just me, or does Haleigh look ALOT older these days?


Here's Kristen and Haleigh coloring a picture for Pop-Pop.



And here's Haleigh and I checking out this year's future orange crop. Looks like it will be Orange Marmalade in every ones Christmas baskets this year.


We have been VERY busy with our upcoming hike. It's in 3 WEEKS, YEAH!!!!! This weekend we camped out in our tents. Dan and I have our own tents, and decided we better get a trial run in (sleeping in separate tents), before our trip. This was the first time, EVER, in a tent by myself.It wasnt too bad. Though there's nothing like the comfort of your very own cuddle bear to help lul you to sleep. But, I guess the ole Tylenol P.M. will have to be the bear on this trip.

Quick, Turn Off The Butane!

O.K. Just to let you know in advance, I'm having one of "those" days and spelling was not one of my better subjects in school, so... here goes. I have been sick with a glandular infection and finally went to the doctors . Needless to say, my hiking prep for a week and a half has been nada, zilch, nothing. I can only clean one house a day but then feel like a 90 year old needing her oxygen tank and wheelchair. Anyway, we did do alittle hiking prep with the crew regarding our kitchen skills, tents, and safety skills. Here's how it went. Here's our stove.
Dan, a.k.a Thunderbolt, lite the stove in our living room to see how easy or hard it would be. No, problem, it's very easy to use just don't get too close while lighting or you will get a very ODD odor seeping up your nostrils. We also tried one of the soup mixes that we will have on the trail.
If you like Cheddar and Broccoli then this is for you. For those of you who are amongst the normals and despise the green stuff, your better off eating a granola bar and peanut butter instead. We worked with our tents to see how long it would take to set them up.

We had no manuals and eventually we got it. Dan, Tammi, and Alex donned their packs on and hiked 3 miles last Saturday. Dan made it in 52 minutes. I asked later if he was planning to keep the same pace when we are on the trail, and thankfully he said no. He's in training now, so he's whipping his body into shape. Alex, according to both Tammi and Dan ,said the kid was jumping around after this hike. He had no problem with the hike and his pack that weighed about 25 pounds. This has put my mind at ease. My baby will be o.k. on this adventure. I thought for sure we would have to carry his load and maybe him at times, but he can handle it. Oh youthful energy, how I long to have you back.


Now if you ask Alex about his great upcoming adventure he still acts like it's the end of the world. HELLO...am I missing something here. What teenager doesn't want to get out of school for 2 weeks? His vice principal, Mr. Darby thinks this is an awesome opportunity, wishes he could join us, and is getting everything prepared, ahead of time, so Alex can have all the work he will miss completed before he even leaves for the trip. How great is that? On Thursday night we went over some excellent emergency and safety skills/scenarios with a friend Carl, and his wonderful daughter Kessid. It was a blast! And though it will add alittle extra weight to my pack, I think I'm going to bring part of the safety manual with us on our trip, just in case. Well, as I am writing this, my fellow com padres are on a 6 mile hike. I'm still getting my strength back and do not want to over do it. So here I sit.Do you think blogging and typing can be considered hiking prep? I'll need the extra strength in my fingers and hand to catapult my bear bag up and over the tree. Yep, that's it!

Are We Really Going To Do This?

What have we gotten ourselves into, has been the phrase floating around amongst us lately. With our impending trip rapidly approaching, we have decided to kick up our training, drastically. And, since all of us hikers involved in this crazy adventure have not been diligent in training alone, we've decided to meet 3 times a week, and hold each other accountable. OUCH! So, on Saturday, Dan, Tammi, and I set time aside for some serious training! Dan picked out a trail that was 7 miles long. So we put our loaded packs on and ventured into the woods eager to push these bodies to the limit and see how they would react. Well, surprisingly enough, we all woke up Sunday morning, and are not sore, at all. HALLELUJAH. So, we have either not pushed hard enough, have conditioned alittle with what minimal training we have been doing, or our bodies are just waiting for us to relax only to turn on us in pure rebellion in order to possibly prevent this crazy expedition. Now don't misunderstand, this WAS challenging in almost 90 degree weather. We made plans to avoid the scorching sun by starting our hike at 7:30 a.m. Well, that time came and went and we stepped foot onto the Citrus Trail, Loop D at 8:40 a.m.

Needless to say, we DID NOT miss the brain frying sun, and the last mile seemed to almost do all of us in. I know, we live in the SUNSHINE state, but for those who are not used to the direct sun beating down on you, know that there are certain times of the day, that if you can avoid this appointment, then your better off scheduling activites when the sun is not out blazing in all its glory. Well, we did not, and even though our car was only parked a mile away, this girl was tempted to hitch a ride with the next available mode of transportation that did not require me to exert anymore energy to get to where I needed to go. Though it was tough, I have to admit, it was worth the effort and energy. We hiked in the Withlacoochee Forest, about 10 minutes from the house. Parts of the forest were quite pretty for Florida.

It's not Table Rock, but still pretty for Florida. We did see some wildlife...moths, butterflies,
a baby turtle, and a deer.
Oh, and we saw the most welcoming and pretty red truck in front of us, not too far ahead, that brought hope and alittle happiness to us weary hikers, that yes indeed, we managed and survived this test of endurance.
So, maybe we're not as crazy as we thought...MAYBE?