A lovely Saturday drive

On Saturday, we decided to take a drive to the Quartzville Recreation Corridor east of Albany, Oregon near Sweet Home. It's a 50 mile-long back-country byway connecting Hwy. 20 & Hwy. 22. The first half of it follows Quartzville Creek, and that's the part we went to. The color of the creek is a gorgeous turquoise. Apparently there is plenty of gold to be found. We saw a few people trying to get their share. There is also fishing, camping, boating, swimming, hiking, you name it. It was gorgeous, and we will definitely go there again. I took way too many pictures, 6 of which are below. Enjoy.

What's in YOUR mug? (THIS IS MY 50TH POST!!!)

After posting this, I realized it was my 50th post!!! So do I get a gold watch or something?

I got this from Driller's Blog and thought it was a fun idea. He got it from someone else, and so on. Go to his blog to find the original source if you are so inclined.

Describe your favorite coffee mug. Is it large or small, plain or with a design? Does it have a big man-sized handle or a tiny little teacup-sized one? Maybe you got it on vacation, maybe it has a funny saying on it, or maybe it's an insulated travel mug. And what kind of beverage do you put in it? Is it always coffee? Do you take it black or with cream, sugar, or both? Whatever the case may be, leave a comment and let us know!

I have several mugs and have included a picture of three of them. I happen to enjoy Winnie the Pooh and his friends, and they are well represented in my mug repertoire. I also have a couple of I Love Lucy mugs, as I am a Lucy lover from way back. Then there are the vacation ones; Hawaii and Las Vegas just to name a couple.

The really funny thing is that I don't drink that much coffee! If I do, it's black. I enjoy it at a restaurant for breakfast or for a fancy dinner, but I really don't drink it much at home for some reason. My husband drinks a few cups every day of his life, but I'd rather drink something cold. Every now and then in the winter I'll have some hot spiced cider. Yum. I just like coffee mugs. Nobody ever said you had to actually USE them.

So how about you? Comment here and feel free to continue this topic onto your blog. Be sure to link mine in your post.

Thanks, Uncle George!

We got our "Economic Stimulus" money May 6th and decided we'd better go ahead and stimulate. We did put most of it in savings. Afterall, we have a cruise in July (which is paid for, but we'll need spending cash) and a trip to Arizona for Thanksgiving coming up. But we took a portion of it and bought ourselves bicycles. We're on a health and fitness bender right now, and these bikes will fit right in.

I was skeptical, as the last bike I had (*cough*) 20 years ago was a standard, old-fashioned 10-speed. You know the type... small seat that kills your booty, handlebars that make you bend over to reach them, and a shifting system that I could never figure out. Needless to say, I hated it. So we discovered something called a "Comfort Bike". It must be made for the middle-aged folks like us. The seat is more roomy and padded, but most importantly - you sit up straight to ride it. And the gear system is sooo easy. Just the twist of a dial next to the hand grips, and you're off and running. It has 21 gears and in the low gears, inclines are as easy as can be. Raise it to about 12th or more and peddling is a breeze. Higher than that, and you can coast down a hill without riding the brakes.

I love my bike! We've been all over our town with them. It'll be great to take them camping with us this summer. We've gotten all sorts of little extras. Flashing lights for nighttime, speedometers, cargo carriers, etc. What we probably should have gotten were knee and elbow pads and helmets!! Pictures below are off the internet, but they are the same bikes in the same colors as ours.

OMG!!! She actually blogged today!!!

After 22 days, I felt it was time. I've been lazy. Sorry. I just don't know what to talk about, so I'll talk about nothing. Seinfeld... it's a show about nothing.

Let's see. I'm watching American Idol right now, even though I've heard all the performances at the best Idol blog around. My prognostication for elimination order is Jason then Syesha, making a battle of the David's with David Cook coming out on top. Of course I'm probably completely wrong. I usually am.

We got our yard all gussied up for Spring. Went to the plant show at the fairgrounds and spent $90 on flowers and baskets. It always looks so pretty with fresh new little flowers. I just keep my fingers crossed that everything lives because my thumb, she ain't so green. I'll get a picture up soon. Not of my thumb... of the yard.

Went to my niece's birthday party on Sunday. She turned 7. She's growing up way too fast. There were 10 girls there and my sister-in-law had a craft for them to do. I was there to help them, but it was so fun I wanted to do it myself!! She bought flip-flops and stuff to decorate them with. They had ribbon to put around the perimeter, beads and feathers to put on the top, and just all kinds of cuteness came out. I didn't know there was actually such a thing as "flip-flop glue".

We're going on a cruise in July and I am sooooo looking forward to it. I've been frequenting a cruise message board to get tips and ideas, and have filled one piece of notebook paper with all the things I want to remember to bring or do. The cruise is to Alaska and we're going with my parents, who paid for it (bonus!!). 74 days and counting. And you KNOW I'll blog about that when we get back! Along with pictures galore.

What else? We're still going to the gym. My husband has been a little burned out on it and has been skipping days. Sometimes I skip with him, but I have gone by myself several times. I've lost 22 pounds since mid-December, which ain't too bad. Last I heard, Hubby had lost 30, but that was before he skipped almost 2 weeks. No biggie though. We all struggle.

Ok, I think that's it. Till next time. And it may even be less than 22 days!!