Reconnoiter (365:096) – In ten days time I’ve got to do a photo shoot. This afternoon Ginger and I spent some time on location checking the light and looking for suitable picture opportunities. What happens will all depend on the weather on the day. One-minute read, +2
Family hike (365:093) — After church, we took all the kids hiking at Busiek, which meant having a bouncy twelve-year-old, a reluctant teenager, and an out and out surly teenager with us.4 pictures
Lunch break in the old barn on the Sac River Trail (365:087). Ginger has this habit of distracting me. 2 pictures
Snow? What snow? (365:085). I was most disappointed to find it didn’t snow in the night. Two-minute read
Trail shelter, Bluffs Trail, Meramec State Park (365:084) – I started the day with a monster hangover. Which, of course, was totally my own fault. I obviously ate far too much cheese. One-minute read, 4 pictures
Bluffs on the Meramec River at Meramec State Park, Missouri – I love my little Fuji Finepix F30 compact, it produces such ‘painterly’ pictures.
Gary crossing Woods Fork at Busiek (365:069) – Time for another hike. We’re getting ready for a longer backpacking trip, so we need to get in as much hiking as we can in preparation for several days of carrying our packs. One-minute read, 6 pictures
Day hike – with creeks (365:060). 8 pictures
Gary and Ginger on a snowy Sac River Trail (365:036) – No Interwebs today. To keep busy I cleared the drive of last night’s couple of inches of snow, and we decided to enjoy the sunshine, brave the snow cover and go for a short hike on the Sac River Trail. The hike was fine, proving our gear is up to a winter hike, getting to the trail and away again was not so good. One-minute read, 4 pictures
At the Antique Mall (365:035) – Today we managed to escape the kids for the first time in three days. 2 5
Kayaking on James River, Springfield Missouri — Today was a busy day. 2 7
Halfway up the first hill – Busiek State Forest & Wildlife Area (365:27) — Tomorrow I’ll ache.
Stopped for lunch — We stopped for lunch near the end of our hike on the Silver Trail at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area. +1
View to the North from the Silver Trail at Busiek — This descent is much steeper than it looks, and it’s very easy to lose your footing on the loose stones that make up the trail.
Ginger approaching halfway up the first big (200-ft.) ascent on the Silver Trail.
Kayaking in the ice on Lake Springfield – It’s Saturday so we must be kayaking. It’s amazing how quickly the weekend and our Saturday lie-in comes around each week. One-minute read, 5 pictures
Gary and CD (365:017) – Today we went to Ginger’s parents to pick up Lanie. 7 pictures
Recycling (365:004) – It’s been a quiet day in Springfield. One-minute read
Gary and Ginger on the trail at Valley Water Mill Pond (365:002) – About time for a short hike.
Camped at Berry Bend – Truman Lake. 5 pictures
Berry Bend Campfire – We cheated on the fire. We didn’t want to spend a lot of time and energy gathering and cutting wood, so we bought some logs for $4 and I split them.
Camping at Berry Bend – This weekend we tried out our backpacking gear. Two-minute read. 3 pictures
Minivan Complete with ‘Stealth Pods’ — Crighton put in for kayaking on the James River. We call them stealth pods because once we have them on the roof people seem to be unable to see us coming, and pull out in front of us, or even drive into us!
Kayaking on James River – Look carefully and you’ll see Ginger in the distance.