New Adventures

     Some say that, as you age, you should stop trying new things. We say we don't have time for that kind of negativity in our lives. Typically on Tuesday evenings we have our grandsons for the evening. However, things got changed this week so we decided to make the best of the evening. It looked like it would be a simple evening but it turned into an adventure I'm anxious to go on again.

     After school, I picked Drew up and we headed out for a quick dinner date. When we left home, we figured we'd eat dinner, stop for iced tea and come home. I was ok with that. After all, I knew Drew was in pain, we were both tired, it was cold and slightly drizzly. So, we headed to Chick-fil-A for a leisurely dinner together.

     After dinner, it was still a tad drizzly but not too bad. We checked the radar and saw no rain in sight, so we decided to go to Notre Dame since we were so close. I'm convinced there is no time of year that the campus isn't beautiful. But I think Fall is my favorite there. With so many trees, you can see beautiful changing colors everywhere you look. We took some photos of the Dome surrounded by beautiful Fall colors and drove over by the lake to get some photos of the Dome across the lake in a couple places. Even though the sky was gray and cloudy, the views were beautiful. Unbeknownst to me, while Drew was waiting in the car while I got some photos across the lake, he was looking at a new app he had gotten that I didn't know about. He had a bit of a surprise in store for me.

     Geocaching is like a modern-day treasure hunt. You use your GPS to find treasures hidden all over. Once you find the hidden treasure, you sign the log or register it on an app and put it back where it was for the next treasure hunter to find. My sweet husband didn't know that I was even interested in geocaching until last week. When he found out, he secretly went to work at finding an app that would point us to geocaches hidden around us. While I was taking photos, he was finding out there was a geocache hidden not too far from where we were. So, off we went.

     The app said the geocache was near an old footbridge on the north side of South Bend, IN. We drove to the Darden Road Bridge and found a spot to park. Before I continue, let me tell you that my husband struggles to walk on a good day. A little over a year ago, he spent almost two weeks in the hospital and we didn't know if he'd leave there with both legs or not. So, we don't often do things that involve a lot of walking unless there are plenty of benches around for him to take breaks at. The parking lot was quite a distance away from the end of the bridge. But he wanted to go. So we headed off. We searched from one end of the bridge to the other and found nothing. We looked in a couple wooded areas just off the bridge and still found nothing. We were about ready to give up. But then Drew started looking at the app and realized it was showing where he was with a blue dot and where the geocache was with a green dot. We realized we were near it but it wasn't as close to the bridge as indicated.

     It was getting dark and cold. But we weren't ready to give up. So, we ventured into the woods. While there were definite trails carved out between the trees, they certainly weren't clear easy trails. But I never said my husband is one to give up or take the easy way out. He plowed right up those little hills, pushing branches and brush out of the way, clearing a trail for me to follow. We almost gave up as it got darker. But he saw we were almost right on top of it. We plugged away and kept going, using the flashlights on our phones to light the way. Next thing I knew, Drew said, "We're looking for something right around here...kind of like THIS!" as he held up a large plastic jar wrapped in camouflage. We had officially persevered and found our first ever geocache! It was thrilling and absolutely exhilarating. By this time, it was pretty dark so we didn't open it to see what was inside. But we found the jar. We felt so accomplished. We logged our find and headed towards home.

      While I was very excited to find our first geocache, I think I was more proud of how hard my husband worked to find it. To see him plow through those trails was so inspiring. I'm thankful for this new adventure we've discovered and looking forward to our next hunt...with a little more light!

   

Finding Adventure

     I'm ashamed to admit that it's been over a month since I've written a blog post. It's not because we haven't been doing anything. It's more a matter of not thinking anything we've done is interesting to anyone but us. Then I remind myself I didn't start writing this blog for any other reason than to document our life so we can always remember.
        Some days we feel like all we do is work and sleep. Most of the time that really is the reality of our life this time of year. Some days I get home first and get things done so we're ready to relax together. Other days Drew takes care of things at home in preparation for my return home. Either way we spend most evenings relaxing on the couch and watching "our shows" that we enjoy. Just for the record, I like the fact our shows aren't on during the summer because it makes it easier to go on adventures and get some movies in. But it makes it hard to watch what we like to watch and still get to bed at a decent time. First world problems...
     Anyway, Drew continues to be busy at work as he prepares for inventory in a couple weeks. He deals with constant pain but puts a smile on his face and pushes forward through every day. He continues to give 110% even when he feels like giving 0%. He continually encourages me to put my best foot forward no matter how I'm feeling. He continues to play bass in our worship team and loves playing with our grandchildren when they come over. Most people will never realize how he's feeling on the inside. In fact, sometimes I don't even realize it because he hides it so well. He pushes himself to the brink of exhaustion to brighten my days and make me happy. I sure am blessed to call him mine.
     I've started teaching computer coding to everyone in my school. Between that, regular computer projects, and computer repairs my days are pretty busy. I hit the ground running early in the morning and don't always get to stop until close to time for our shows. But I love what I do and am enjoying being so busy at school. Outside of school, I keep up with laundry and things at home, help my parents as much as possible, spend time with our grandchildren and visit our neighbor weekly.
     We celebrated my birthday last month by going to Lake Michigan to watch the sunset. We've gone out to dinner a couple times and even started talking about next summer. Yesterday we had the chance to go on a bit of an extended adventure.
     I was able to get things ready for the new work week on Saturday afternoon which meant nothing needed to be done on Sunday except for going to church in the morning and then family lunch at my parents' house. So, soon after lunch, we headed out. Drew found a Fall Festival at Doud's Orchard in the tiny town of Denver, IN (we didn't even know this town existed!) It took almost 1 1/2 hours to get there because of a detour. This little orchard is literally in the middle of nowhere! It was a cute little orchard but the festival wasn't much of anything. I think the vendors had all packed up by the time we got there. But we were able to get my dad some apple butter and bring home a bag of mutsu apples and some fresh apple cider.
     Drew was determined to take me to find a lake before we headed home. While looking at the map, he found Lukens Lake so we decided to head that direction. Please understand, I'm a self-proclaimed beach bum. I'll go to the beach in February and stick my toes in Lake Michigan. My favorite feeling is soft beach sand between my toes. So, when we pulled in to this little "resort" and saw a sign that said "Beach" I was pretty excited. However, when we got out of the car, the lake, dock and beach that we saw could only be described in one word - "Sketchy." I wouldn't have stuck my toes in that sand and water if it was 110° and that was my only chance to cool off. Apparently, that area of Indiana has a different idea for a resort than I've ever seen. We spent all of two minutes there before getting back in the car and leaving.
     We attempted to find another lake but it was a private one down a long driveway. We figured that wasn't one we should try so we headed back down the road. We noticed a round barn along the way so decided we'd drive past and get a couple photos. But when we got up there, we noticed there was a small parking lot. It seemed to be telling us we should be pulling in to get close to the barn. So, we pulled in and spent some time taking photos. All we knew was that it was a bicentennial barn (built in 1816 and added to the bicentennial list in 2016) but there was no other information. After some research, I found out it's called the Hileman Round Barn, which had been a wedding venue. It doesn't seem to be used for anything anymore, but it sure is eye-catching and intriguing. We weren't sorry we stopped for photos. But now it was time to find dinner.
     We weren't too far from Warsaw so decided that would be the perfect spot for dinner before heading home. We settled on Mad Anthony's Lake City Tap House and we sure weren't sorry! First of all, Drew was able to enjoy a lager from Mad Anthony Brewing in Fort Wayne, I was able to try wine made at Two-EE's Winery in Huntington and also had a hamburger made with ground beef from Didier Meats, which is down the street from our first apartment. So, it was a dinner that made us feel at home. The food was delicious and our server, Jeff, did a super job! The kitchen was a bit slow as they had a couple people call off. So Jeff made sure we had an appetizer on the house to hold us until dinner arrived. Dinner was well worth the wait!
     After dinner, we stopped for drinks and made our way home, only missing the first bit of our Sunday night shows. It was a fun adventure and a beautiful day for a drive in the country! You just never know where we'll end up!