the lake

We had a very relaxing weekend. And, we had company...again. But it was still relaxing. Kim, Bob and the kids came down to see us. They got in early Friday night and we had enchalidas for supper. (Made with the last 3 lbs of my hamburger. We've got to butcher soon!) Saturday morning, Kev made oatmeal pancakes with either blueberries or chocolate chips. So yummy! Then we took Bob and Kim out for a drive. We drove about 15 miles south to see the fire. A prairie fire had burned over 7000 acres last week, so we went down to see. Miles and miles of black ground. And we could tell exactly where it had started--on the edge of the highway. Grass fires burn hot and fast. Fortunately, no homes were lost.

After looking at the fire, we decided to run by the Clark County Lake. Now, I lived in Eastern Clark County as a girl--for 2 years or so. While I remembered certain landmarks, I didn't know how to get to the lake from where we were, and since roads in this part of the country do NOT run on section lines, nor do they run straight...I made Kev drive back up to Bucklin and then around and down to the lake. He didn't argue--but I expected him too. On the other hand, I think he's tooled around enough to know that he might get lost!

I hadn't been to the lake in probably 20 years. What I remember most is the drive down the hill to get to the lake. You see, it was built in the 30's by the WPA and they simply build a dam in a canyon and flooded it. (I can only imagine how deep this canyon was before they flooded the bottom of it.) You have to drive DOWN to get to the lake--the slope of the road is probably a 6% grade. We used to take school busses down to the lake occassionally and riding down a 6% grade slope in a 63 passenger school bus isn't exactly my idea of fun. If the brakes had gone out...we would have landed in the lake. Or off the side of the cliff. Neither would be "fun."

It's a beautiful lake. After looking around for a while, we decided to go home for lunch, feed and pick up the kids, and go back to the lake for the afternoon. The kids were thrilled.

Kim, Bailey, Andy, Tate and I went to the south end, to the Dam. We hiked around, then Andy and Take climbed the canyon walls to the top, we girls just walked the dam and down to the spillway. Beautiful red clay. Beautiful rock formations. We loved every minute. Kev, Bob, Kat and Dual went to the north end. (We had to take 2 vehicles...) Kat and Dual found some lures and some fishing line, so they rigged up some stick fishing poles and also did some "spearfishing" with sticks. There were some shad in the shallows, so the kids were thrilled to death to catch some fish. They saved them to show Kim and I.

Just picture two kids, 10 and 11 years old, running to your car carring a big stick with a very dead fish hanging off the line...

We also saw 2 bald eagles sitting in a tree across the lake. Wish they had been fishing, but it was cool just seeing them.

As the sun started sinking lower than the canyon wall, the temp dropped quickly, and we all drove back home. A nice 20 minute drive. It was so nice and relaxing to just hang out and do NOTHING but enjoy the outdoors and the good friends.

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When we first got married, and we were thinking about relocating, Kev told me he could live anywhere as long as he was closer to a place to fish and a place to hunt. He decided on Saturday, that a 20 minute drive to a lake is great. He's already planning summer fishing trips and he's planning on quick evenings of fishing after work. We already have a place to hunt here. Now, he's got a place to fish. I think Kev's going to be happy here.

Fishin', Huntin', and me. What more could a guy want.