After Africa - Illinois, Iceland, DGz, home.

 After we finally adjusted back to our time zone, we enjoyed getting back into the routine of Longmont friends and things to do.  We like it at home too!

I made a short flight to Illinois in October to pick sheepshead mushrooms with Vicki and to see family.  It was a great spur-of-the-moment visit!

Cousins got together at Suzie's newly built river house!

Sheepshead (cooding) mushroom hunting was VERY successful!  First time I've seen a giant puffbal and we ate it too! 

Scott and I had plans to spend 5 days in Iceland with Terri & Kent before Thanksgiving.  The flight on Iceland Air was easy and we liked Iceland a lot, except for how cold, wet, and dark it was.  The waterfalls, geothermal features, coastlines, easy walking in Reykjavik, "wild" horses, were all amazing.  But if we go back it will be in sumer.  Good experience.

Solheimajokull Glacier walk was wonderful.

Black sand beach at Reynisfjara.

Quilting retreat!  Our first retreat in a few years - at YMCA of the Rockies.  What a great place and a great time!

We drove to Illinois for Thanksgiving and the weather cooperated.

First stop - Rock Island.  Scott's mom has been at Heritage Woods for one year and she has friends, a cozy apartment, and is happy there.  His niece Megan and her huband and 3 girls were visiting from Virginia so it was a treat to see the kids. The occasion was his mom, Marilyn's 90th birthday.  A good time was had by all at her party with great food.

Megan, Rich, Finley, Maggie, baby Nora, and Grandma Marilyn

Next stop, Manhattan.  We spent Thanksgiving with Vicki and family and she arranged a euchre tournament night with her friends, which was a hit with us.  So good to see the kids and grandkids and my sister.

Thanksgiving day!  Girls rule.

Next stop, Mausten, Wisconsin.  We decided to drive north and spend a few days with our camping cousins and Kenya traveling buddies, Joe & Nancy.  We had a great time with them even if the weather was lousy.

Christmas Lights with Joe & Nancy

Surprise!  Kirin and Matt (our long time travel pals from Washington state) were driving from Green Bay & going past Mausten while we were there.  That visit was unexpected and such a treat! 

A surprise meet up with Kirin and Matt!

We had a rough drive toward home on day 1 with snow and wind,  but the visit to the Spam Factory made it interesting.   Day 2 was easy and home was all fine like when we left.  

Run with the DGz whenever I'm home. Those lovely ladies keep me motivated.  Nanci is not coming very often but sometimes someone picks her up and she enjoys the coffee visit.

December birthday celebration for me and Steph.

Kenya and Uganda did not disappoint!

Mama Gorilla with baby in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda

We spent two weeks in Kenya in late August and two weeks in Uganda after that.  This was a fabulous month in eastern Africa for so many reasons!  

Great things about the Kenya part of our trip:  

The Old Friends reunion! Our guide and driver for two weeks was Amos, who was the guide that took us teachers around Kenya in 2013.  We booked our trip with the company he now works for. I've been in touch all these years and got to reunite with him, his wife, their son Adriel, and their daughter who I had never met, Eli.  And a brand new baby Zoe.

The Friends! We shared this with two couples who we know and love and who are our camper buddies.  Terri and Kent from Longmont and Joe and Nancy from Wisconsin. 

The Animals!  We saw so many animals doing what they do in their own habitat.  The Masai Mara (Serengeti) was so full of life! Every park we visited was interesting and fabulous.

The People! And we met wonderful local people working in the beautiful lodges.  And visited the Masai tribe and the Samburu tribe to learn more about their lifestyles.

Great things about the Uganda Part of our trip:

The Friends!  We planned this Uganda trip with Kirin and Matt in 2019 for spring of 2020.  Covid canceled it.  We rebooked and canceled due to covid a few times. And in fall of 2022 we all got there together!

The Animals!  Wild chimp trekking in the Kyambura Gorge was amazing.  Wow, they can scream and scared us.

Wild gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park were our main reason to go to Uganda and our two visits observing gorillas did not disappoint. Silverbacks are HUGE!

The People!  Everyone asks about gorillas, but I came home with new people in my heart.

The kids walking to school for miles in the dirt and dark.  So many people walking and motorbikes for transport on bumpy rutted roads.

The Batwa Pygmies outside of Buhoma where we stayed to go see gorillas in Bwindi National Forest and who have changed me. They are the poorest in one of the poorest countries in the world, yet they smile and laugh and find joy in life. They are my project.

The Karamajong in northern Uganda who are farmers and live a very primitive lifestyle in their villages. Who have nothing, but welcomed us and sang and danced for and with us.

We did not care for our main guide and driver, Moosa, but we really liked our final guide and driver in northern Uganda, James.  The guide can make or break the experience.

There is little infrastructure and maybe 100 miles of paved roads in the entire country of Uganda.  We saw Idi Amin's place in the north.  What a horrible legacy of terror that we hope never returns to these wonderful people.

loved seeing the elephants and especially the babies and teens

Scott and me with the Batwa Pygmies outside Bwindi National Forest, Uganda. 

riding bikes in Nairobi, Kenya with Terri & Kent, Joe & Nancy, and our guide Amos.

Giraffes are so elegant when they move.  Loved finding them!

Karamajong kids with Scott in northern Uganda

Waterbucks outside one of our rooms.

This Karamjong cutie was intrigued by us.  And us with her.

The brother of the chimp troop leader hung out near us for a long time.  The rest were very elusive and we only caught glimpses of them.

Kirin and Matt were our fabulous tour partners.  What a great adventure we shared this time!  

This is a leopard in a cactus tree!  We don't know how he got in there but it was a joy to find him.  We also saw cheetahs, lions, tree lions (very rare for lions to hang out in trees), hippos, hyenas, rhinos, hartebeests, wildebeests, cape buffalo, antelope, jackals, zebras, warthogs, baboons, maribou storks, various types of monkeys, and so many other animals.  Truly an amazing part of this world. 

  You can see why these giant males are called silverbacks.  This leader of the group kept an eye on us.  His head is much larger than the females too.

Our Kenya group - Scott and me, Terri & Kent from Longmont, Joe & Nancy from Wisconsin. 


Except for the long hours of flying, I would go back in a minute.  And hope to be back again soon.

Summer! Red Rocks, New baby, Mushrooms

Summer 2022 at home was wonderful.

I'm a great grandmother!  Danyelle had a baby girl, Maisy, in July.  I can't wait to see her in person.  Of course she's adorable in pictures and in video visits.  Scott will be a great grandfather in December and we're only 65!  ha ha ha.

We made the most of our July and August at home.  Our new front door is finally installed and the plants that make up our new front landscaping are noticeably larger!  All is good.

Artwork in Niwot

This is the summer that She Fly launched their ladies' pants with an under the crotch zipper!  Now we don't have to pull our pants down to pee in the woods.  This is fabulous!!!  Love the pants. 

A Sunday coffee at Nanci's after our run

Went to Red Rocks on a beautiful night with Jordan (Scott's son) and saw the Queen cover band called Killer Queen.  I got us 5th row seats (a fluke I'm grateful for!) and it was so enjoyable.  

These months included regular kayaking, hiking to get in shape for our trip to Kenya and Uganda, Sunday runs with the Dirty Girlz, biking as much as possible, home improvement, visiting friends including my former sister-in-law Lynn in Boulder, and as much mushroom hunting and learning as possible.

We've totally gotten into learning about our local mushrooms and are happy to say we found about 8 edible species that we sampled.  We found many that were not edible but were pretty!  Thank goodness for our two mushroom expert sources who helped us identify all our finds.  We are VERY careful and don't want to get sick or die.

I've found these Sheepshead mushrooms in Illinois since hunting them with my parents as a kid. We love them. I went back to Illinois in October to visit Vicki and family and to look for these and we found so many! Jackpot!   We also found a giant puffball which was delicious.  So fun to share mushrooming with my sister Vicki and with Scott.  And to see her kids, grandkids, cousins Suze and Lee Ann.

It's been so HOT this summer!  High 90's for many days in a row.  The west is having major drought but some parts having flooding rivers.  Yellowstone got a huge rain and much of the park was damaged and closed.  Extreme weather has become part of our lives and still people argue that humans have nothing to do with climate change.  We do our part to try to avoid plastics, we compost and recycle, etc but it sometimes seems like it's futile.  But we continue to do our little part. 

Camping Twins in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho

Home for a month....gone for a month....  That's our new motto.

Early June 2020 - Terri & Kent packed up their ePro and we all took a driving vacation to Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, a little Utah and Colorado.... with camping reservations every night (absolutely a MUST due to overcrowded campgrounds) - which included a raft trip on the Salmon River in Idaho.  A great time was had by all!

Camper Twins in Wyoming

Visited Longmire's cafe, western museum, rode bikes, enjoyed Buffalo, Wyoming

Thank goodness for our screened tent to keep millions of bugs at bay.

A beautiful hike near Bozeman, Montana

Weather changes quickly on McDonald lake at Glacier National Park

Just beautiful river rocks

A hot ride with 3 flat tires on the edge of Glacier National Park

The ride up Going To The Sun Road was spectacular!! The road was closed to cars and was home to hundreds of bikes - many e-bikes.  We made it to the top past the Weeping Wall and amazing vistas.  We stopped whenever we felt like it, with no cars to contend with.  Had a snack at the top next to a snowbank, then coasted down in no time!  A highlight of our time in Glacier for sure.

A return trip for me to Polebridge outside Glacier NP.

 

That blue green water made for fabulous kayaking at Lake McDonald at Glacier NP.  We also rode on the Great Northern Historical Trail, a Montana Rail Trail.

Route of the Hiawatha Rail Trail in Idaho was 15 miles each way with 10 tunnels and 7 trestles.  Very cool! Also, suprisingly, very crowded but most people only rode downhill.   We also rode the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes Rail Trail from Blue Anchor east to Mullen at the end. Rode another segment from Cataldo to Kellogg.  And another ride at Heyburn State Park at the south end of the trial.  Beautiful scenery. Millions of biting bugs.

We met Heather & Paul in Coeur d'Alenes, Idaho for a day before the raft trip.  And did some riding most miles of the Trail of the Coeur D'Alenes Rail Trail.  We spent a few buggy nights at Heyburn State Park and in other towns along the trail.  

Raft trip on the Lower Salmon River with OARS.  Three nights and 3 days of great rapids and paddling.  Delicious food, good people, billions of stars at night, and a wonderful trip.

In Idaho, we also visited Castle Rock State Park and Cascade State Park, and stayed at Bear Lake (in both Utah and Idaho) and its turquoise waters, known as the Caribbean of the US.  These summer camping trips with active friends are the best. 

Landscape, Mushrooms, Bolder Boulder, Bagna Babes in Illinois

 We made the most of our time home from Mid-April until early June, including getting our front landscape project done!  We are SO happy with Marcos & Sonia who did it, and the final look.  We love it and it went smoothly.

The same can't be said for the new front door from Home Depot.  We hope to never give Home Depot a dime of our money every again.  What a fiasco.  Some day that door will get put in.

Bolder Boulder 2022 is In Person Again! - Jordan, Scott's son, ran it with some friends for their first time.  Scott and I did well and met up with friends at the end - Jordan, Steph & Steve, Ann & Mike, Ron & Regina.  Our group is getting smaller.  We had perfect weather and enjoyed the Memorial Day festivities.

Oyster mushrooms grow on dead cottonwood trees

In August I found my first King Bolete!  Edible, big, beautiful mushroom.

Yum.  Oysters clean and ready to freeze.

I hit upon a mushroom jackpot on Nextdoor and now we are hooked!  We got many pounds of Oyster mushrooms and shared a lot of the with friends, froze some, dried some, fried some in butter, air fried some, and loved the experience.  We joined the Denver Mycological Society so we can learn and find other edible types in our mountains.  We've found a great new hobby!

Vicki decided to have all the lady cousins over for a bagna caulda party and I wanted to be there.  So, I booked a flight and spent 3 nights in Manhattan.  As it happened, Kirin was going to be there too!  We had a great time at the party & doing some stuff with my sister.  It's always good to see family.  

Italian sauce made with garlic, butter, anchovies and cream.  So delish.