Our Latest House Adventures!

Well, it has been a very long time since I gave an update on our house, and a lot has changed! Rather than write a lot, I'm just going to post some pictures! Here we go!

Last year, we painted the laundry room this awesome shade of turquoise! This pictures doesn't QUITE do it justice, but you get the idea! We also bought the shoe bench and shelving at Ikea on a big shopping trip! Lots of storage for all the stuff that accumulates near a front door!

I got my new jars for my spice rack, and even did some crafting with them! I ended up getting a set of alphabet metal stamps and stamping the herb name into each lid. I found this was much better than trying to find a pre-made set that had "Lawry's" and "Lemon Pepper" in addition to "Parsley" and "Thyme"

We finally removed the half-wall and spindles that broke up and dated our main room! Brian worked hard demolishing, then patching, and it looks great!

We painted the downstairs guest room! It looks so fresh with bright new curtains, too! Next, a new bedspread. This cheery room is just waiting for guests if you're ever in the area!

Lastly, but CERTAINLY not least, we just finished redoing our flooring! Out with the brown shag, and in with beautiful "Luxury Vinyl" floors! With the exception of Izzy slipping and sliding all over the place, everyone loves them! Again, Brian has been hard at work. The new floors cover almost the entire upstairs, including kitchen, dining, living, hall, and both bedrooms. Our rug for the living room is currently on back-order, and we still need to get the baseboards and some of the furniture back in, but it is a large project almost complete!

Next comes actually getting something up on the living room walls! Outside work is coming yet before winter, as well. Then it will be the downstairs family room - a fun project for sure! Always a project to be completing as a home owner, and we are enjoying it (most of the time)! 

Everglades National Park: Backcountry Canoeing

Let me start with this: I am experienced in the backcountry, but in backpacking. I am experienced in canoeing, but on rivers. I am NOT experienced in backcountry canoeing on the ocean! I was a little terrified for this trip, as no matter how much reading and research I tried to do, I just couldn't quite wrap my head around what this trip would be like. Well, we survived! In fact, it turned out to be pretty amazing, and I would definitely do it again!

Some of the basics of preparation:

• You cannot reserve sites in advance like you can at some other parks. You reserve your site when you get there, no more than 24 hours in advance. This drove me crazy as a planner, but turned out to be a blessing, as we really ended up changing our plans.
• You can pack much heavier in a canoe than you can in a backpack! In fact, we couldn't find the right fuel for our little backpacking stove because people use larger camping stoves! So if you're heading to the Everglades, do some detailed research on where to buy your fuel outside the park.
• You can buy nautical charts at the park, but if you know what area you are going to be in, just get it in advance. One less thing to do, and they were almost out of the chart we needed (we bought the display copy)!
• Always talk to the park rangers about your trip and anything you need to know (you will be making your reservations with them anyway). For a beach site, we needed a hard-sided container for food. Since we didn't have anything, they were able to provide us with a bucket and lid to borrow for free! Nice people, those rangers!
• While we didn't NEED to do any complex navigation for our route, we did some figuring a couple of times, and it really came in handy. Know how to use a map and compass before you head out into open water. Just do.
• A canoe ended up being the best option for us, as they have more space for gear. If you rent from a retailer outside the park, you might be able to find a kayak with dry hatch storage, but the ones you can rent in the park don't have much storage space.
• You have to carry all of your water with you in the Everglades. A gallon per person, per day! So plan ahead for that! We bought "floppy" water jugs, but the soft sides can be an issue if you're beach camping.

So we got our boat, packed up our drybags, and headed out into open water! Talk about feeling small!

On day 1, we paddled from the Flamingo Marina to Johnson Key Chickee, a total of just under 10 miles. The views were gorgeous, and we didn't see a single other paddler. Other than the occasional motor boat, you felt completely alone. The sun was shining all day, and our paddling time flew by! Navigation was easy with all of the keys around, but we did hit bottom for awhile when we were just starting. Our entire Everglades trip was sans-watches, but we're estimating we got to the chickee by mid-afternoon. We saw a sting-ray and lots of large snails (the kind that live is sea shells).

Now, what is a chickee, you ask? It's a platform built up out of the water. It isn't attached to any land, so you are camping in the middle of the ocean! There is a roof over the parts for camping, a lower area for unloading your boat, and even a porta-potty. Here's our 360 degree tour of our chickee:

There was another group on the other side of the chickee from us. This opened my eyes to a huge difference between boating backcountry and hiking backcountry: we worked hard to get to our chickee! The guys camping on the other side were on a fishing trip with motor boats. In a backcountry site in other parks, everyone is in the same "boat"(ha!). We all hiked to get there. While not unpleasant, it was a very different experience to stay backcountry with someone who essentially drove there. Here are some more pictures from our day/evening on the chickee:

Day 2 backcountry was SUPPOSED to be from Johnson Key Chickee to East Clubhouse Beach. However, we got to the "site" very early, and there wasn't a site. There is no sign, and the beach didn't look real great for camping, so after paddling up and down the shore a bit, we just decided to paddle back to Flamingo and not stay the second night. We ended up paddling about 16 miles. The ocean was so calm when we started paddling that it was like glass. We saw dolphins AND manatees on this day and even got back to Flamingo in time to enjoy dinner near the visitor's center. Note: While I enjoyed not having a watch, it was hard! We totally thought it was 5 or 6 by the time we got back. It was 3:30. Ha!

It's hard to beat a morning like this! If you ever head to the Everglades, it is totally worth the work to experience this feeling being in a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean. It was a backcountry experience unlike any other!

Adventures in the Everglades

Well, we have officially checked National Park #6 off our list with our visit to Everglades National Park!

It was a great time of year for a trip to warm-weather Florida, and we enjoyed every bit of it! The start of March is the end of the dry season in the Everglades. The weather was perfect, and the bugs were minimal. Here is an overview of what we did at the park. Check out my other post for our experiences back country.

Shark Valley

Put this area on your must-do list for when you go to the Everglades! Shark Valley is a 15-mile loop of paved road that you can experience in two different ways: a guided tram tour, or by bike. Rentals are available at the visitor's center at Shark Valley. We were planning to take the tram tour, but the next available tram wasn't for a few hours, so we decided to go ahead and bike. Despite the strong wind that seemed to move us backward the first half of the loop, I'm very glad we biked. I was able to stop and take pictures as I wanted, and we could set our own pace. We saw dozens of alligators along the trail (there is literally one every 20-30 feet as you start), as well as lots of unique birds. I kept saying that everyone can be a wildlife photographer in the Everglades, and my photos are proof!

Anhinga Trail

This trail is short, and not far from the main visitor's center. In fact, this trail and the Ernest Coe Visitor's Center should be the first two things you do when you get to the park! It's a great introduction to the Everglades, and a great place to see alligators, as well as some crazy birds like Anhingas and Cormorants. Plan to spend an hour or so on this trail despite its short length - there is a lot to see, and you'll want to enjoy it! The Gumbo Limbo trail nearby was a much faster walk, but we had fun looking for lizards! We also came back to the Anhinga trail at night! There is a specific ranger-guided tour at night, or just walk it on your own! Watch for gator eyes, which reflect like a cat's.

 How man gators will you see? Here's just a sampling!

Mahogany Hammock and Pa-Hay-Okee Overlook

Both of these short trails are between the visitor center area and the Flamingo area, and both are worth a look, though they won't take you much time.

Off-Trail Exploring

At the Everglades, you can hike just about anywhere, as long as you're willing to get a little wet! Hiking off-trail is allowed everywhere except areas protected for nesting, etc. We explored off-trail in two ways. First, we explored a Cypress Dome on our own. This was an area recommended in one of our books about the Everglades, and we really enjoyed it. It was muddy and messy, but we had so much fun finding our way across the soft ground without sinking in, and discovering the alligator hole in the middle of the dome! The Cypress Dome we explored was 1 mile past the Pa-Hay-Okee sign. We just parked on the side of the road and walked on in. It was amazing how far you feel from the world despite being so close to the road.

In the middle of the cypress dome is a gator hole. It's different to find alligators off trail than in the main areas - a little scary! But this was such an amazing experience as we just walked silently through the trees finding all sorts of things.

The other way we experienced off-trail hiking was on a ranger-guided hike that is either called:
       1) a slog slough
       2) a wet walk
       3) an adventure walk
       4) gator feeding
This was awesome, and is highly recommended! Depending on the conditions, etc, the rangers basically just choose the best place they can think of to take you! Our walk was truly an adventure, as our ranger, Kirk, was trying out a new area he had never explored. It was fun to meet other adventure-y folks, and to learn about the park from Kirk. Partway through our walk, we found an alligator foot, followed by a few other bones, and then the rest of him! Only .2% of people who visit the park take this guided off-trail hike. Choose to be one of them!

Long Pine Key Campground

We spent all of our front-country camping time in Long Pine Key campground. We really enjoyed this area, close to the main entrance. There is a whole network of nature trails near the campground, and an amphitheater with ranger programs on M, W, and F evenings. There are no showers at this campground, but the bathrooms are nice and the campsites are great! There are more trees and less bugs at Long Pine Key. Flamingo is a nice campground as well, and we went there to take showers once, but it is very open.

We loved our trip to the Everglades - Definitely a great winter trip! Watch for another post coming soon about our backcountry canoeing experience!

Adventures in Wild Edibles: Puffballs for Dinner

Brian and I have been interested in edible plants and other wild edibles for awhile, but haven't really dug into the topic a whole lot. We bought the book "Edibles Wild Plants" by Lee Allen Peterson while on our National Parks Trip this May, and have been wanting to try some things ever since, but it's a little overwhelming. For one, you better be sure you're right when eating something you picked in the wild! It's not something you can guess at! It's also difficult to find what you learn about and/or learn about what you find (if that makes any sense). Identifying a plant is one thing, now you have to check the book and see if it's edible. On the other hand, you learn about an edible plant in your book, but where can you find it locally?

Well, yesterday became our first true adventure in wild edibles. I had seen what I believed to be a puffball mushroom at Kilen Woods State Park a week or two ago. Then, when we were there a few days ago, we found berries that I believed to be wild grapes at the same park. So we did our research on both of these wild edibles, then went back yesterday with the specific goal of identifying the grapes (more on this in another post) and finding a puffball.

What is a puffball mushroom, you ask? If you've ever thought to yourself "Woah! That's a huge mushroom!" or maybe "Is that a dinosaur egg?!?" while out on a walk somewhere, you've probably seen a puffball mushroom. When they're brown and more dried out, they are fun to kick or squish because they release spores everywhere! Before they get to that point, they look like this:

Through my research, I learned that as long as your puffball is large (this one is about the size of a cantaloupe), there really isn't anything else you can confuse it with (as far as poisonous mushrooms). Just to be sure, when you cut it open, it should be all white, and consistent in texture throughout (no gills, etc). The one above is actually past ready to eat - it was yellowish brown inside. This is not the one we brought home, but the picture is pretty sweet because it totally makes it look like a dinosaur egg, don't you think?

So the next part of wild edibles that is challenging... how do you prepare it? I found some good descriptions online, but nothing with pictures! So, here we go!

First, cut your puffball mushroom in half. This isn't completely necessary, but I figured it's good to be safe and make sure it is consistent all the way through. You're probably going to cut it up anyway, and this will make it easier to handle. I warn you: the texture of these things is crazy! It squeaks as you cut it, like styrofoam, but it's softer and kinda crumbly. Very strange!

Next, take off the outer layer of the mushroom. It's thin, but it's tough. You can definitely tell a difference in texture. Some say it's just tough to eat, others say it can upset your stomach. No reason to take a chance. This is also how you clean the mushroom, since it is like a sponge in water. By cutting off the outside, you take off all the dirt. I cut mine off with a paring knife, but I saw that some people said you can peel it off. Cutting it seemed just as easy to me! 

Now, you have two clean halves of your mushroom, ready to go for whatever recipe you'd like to use! We tried ours two different ways - I'll show you both below!

We started with large slices for the first recipe. Many people just cut large "steaks" out of a puffball and fry it up with butter. We decided to start by trying it breaded... because everything is delicious breaded and fried, right?! I cut large slices, dipped them in flour, then egg, then seasoned breadcrumbs (use whatever breading recipe you'd like). Then I fried them up in a mixture of olive oil and butter - yum!

And then it was time for the moment of truth - try them! You can see how much these cooked down. They get very soft, almost like a melted marshmallow. The flavor is a little earthy and reminded me of eggs (I read multiple times that they go well with eggs - I see why!). They were pretty good, but I wouldn't go out of my way for them like this.

On to the next recipe! First, I chopped up all the remaining mushroom. That's a lot of mushroom....

You can see why some people call this mushroom the tofu of the woods. Notice how big these chunks are... they shrunk down a lot, so don't make them any smaller! Now, we knew we wouldn't finish all of these in one meal, so I set aside enough for the rest of our dinner and then sauteed the rest in a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. One thing I was not prepared for was the way these soak up the oil - they are like sponges in water, so why not in oil?! Add it sparingly, but a little at a time to coat as much as possible without saturating them.

After these started to get soft, I set them aside to cool, then put them in ziplock bags for the freezer. From what I read, it's good to cook them before freezing. I will update later on how these are out of the freezer!

Our final preparation was to include our mushrooms in a stir fry! I chopped up some zucchini, peppers, and onions, sauteed them for awhile, then added the cubed puffball I had set aside. When they were looking close to done (just use your best judgement), I added in a stir fry sauce (which I found here). This. Was. Delicious.

We served this skillet of awesome over some cous cous, but you could also do it over rice or just eat it as is! The puffball got very soft, and it soaked up the sauce so it was flavored all the way through. Really, it just blended in with everything, but not in a way that you forget it's there. It really added to the dish!

So, here's to puffballs! Would you ever try this wild mushroom? Have you tried other wild edibles? I'd love to hear about your adventures in the comments!

A New Addition!

No, it's not a baby... it's a puppy! Meet Isabella!

Isabella is 6 months old and adopted from the Calhoun County Shelter in Iowa. They believe she is an Australian Cattle Dog/Terrier mix, but who really knows! All we know is she is adorable, and as sweet as can be! Her mom was around 40 lbs, but Isabella may end up staying around 20. Only time will tell. She is already house trained, and crate trained. She does well with "sit" "come" "leave it" and "lay down." She is a very smart girl!

So far, Isabella loves sticks and grass, and loves to be outside! She isn't a fan of playing fetch but loves to chase her rope toy and go on walks. We have yet to hear her bark, and she is very friendly with other dogs. She curious about the cats and wants to play with them... they, on the other hand, are not too sure about her. It will take some time, but it is already going better than we thought it might. Yes, hissing happens, but the cats like to keep an eye on her, so they don't go too far. They actually come up and sniff her when she's sleeping! Here are some more pictures of our sweet girl!

Fun Finds

Now that I've finally finished my posts about our National Parks trip this May, I am very excited to share some posts about our new house!

Moving from a trailer to a 3-bedroom house is a big change. We have so much more storage space, but a lot of empty space to fill, too! It's been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun! We didn't want to go out and buy matchy furniture for all of our rooms, so it has been a process of searching for and finding those one-of-a-kind pieces and making them our own! Our focus has been the main areas upstairs - living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom. Here are some of the fun things we've added to our new home!

This table is actually a new purchase from Slumberland, along with a coffee table and another end table from a different collection. I thought this table was particularly unique, though, and a look that could be created from a bargain find if you wanted. We love the splash of color it brings, without being too over-the-top.

Family treasures! This is my grandparent's hutch, and it fits perfectly in our new home - it is like it was made for this corner! We are considering a blue/gray stain at some point, for the time being, we are enjoying the natural wood look of it. It has such character!

Another piece from a family member, this dresser was a hand-me-down from my cousin, who bought it at a garage sale. We sanded and spray painted this one, and then I added the decorative tree! So much fun, and it really brings personality to the room!

After purchasing most of our living room furniture new, I wasn't sure what I could get for a TV stand that would match, but not be too "match-y." I saw this trunk at a consignment store and immediately knew it was right! It looks great with the darker wood of the coffee table, etc, but brings a totally different feel to the room. What to do with the DVD player is another issue, but we'll figure that out. Any ideas??

This is a Coca-Cola crate, now hung as my spice rack! I am getting glass jars with metal lids, so that they look a little nicer being "on display," but I think this is so fun! Our kitchen is one area that we've really struggled with storage space, so this keeps all of my often-used spices within arms' reach and - more importantly - out of a cupboard!

Another piece of furniture we were struggling with was what to use as a bed-stand. Just like with the trunk, when I saw this crate at an antique store, I knew it was the way to go! I clear-coated it, but left the label-remnants for a more rustic look.

These awesome hampers are finds from TJMaxx, which I love for organizational items! I was amazed at the prices I found looking at hampers online - how much does one really need to pay for a hamper?! So, I was super excited when I found these! I bought a similar one for the bathroom, as well, since that's another area that dirty laundry often ends up.

So far, nothing on the walls - that's my next step! Here we go!

Mammoth Cave National Park

And now on to our final stop! Mammoth Cave was the last stop on our National Parks trip this May! After spending about a week at Great Smoky Mountains, and a couple days at Congaree, we were on to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Here's what we did, and our tips for a successful trip!

1) We stayed at the Mammoth Cave Campground, and because we reserved a spot, we practically had an entire loop to ourselves the first night! The campground and bathrooms are very nice, but do note that they do not include showers! You can buy shower tokens at the general store or at the hotel. The showers are not the nicest, but they sure felt good as only the second shower of our trip. Another note was that we found our site to be very hard for staking down our tent - you may find a site with grass space for a tent easier if you plan on tent camping. There are also cottages available for lodging, which we didn't realize! Might be a fun way to experience this park!

2) If you have the time, don't skimp on the above-ground features of this park! We didn't have a lot of time, as we only spent one full day at the park, but I was amazed at the amount of trails, picnic areas, and lookouts there were available at this cave-based park.

3) You can always email a park ranger before your trip for tips. This is how we decided which tours to do. I wanted to be sure our tours didn't overlap areas of the cave, and we wanted the most "adventure-y" tour possible, since the "Wild Cave Tour" wasn't available when we were going to be there. I have also emailed other parks with questions, and they have always been super helpful!

4) The visitors center is something I often overlook at parks, but this one is not to be missed. Maybe it was just the A/C, but we spent a lot of time at this particular visitor center. I loved the interactive exhibits, maps of the cave, and videos about continued exploration. 

5) The Domes and Dripstones Tour is your basic cave tour. It takes place on established paths, staircases, etc, all with electric lighting along the way. It was a great overview of the history of the cave, and features some of the best cave formations in this mostly dry cave. If you only have time to do one tour, this is probably your best bet! We were with a group of kids on a field trip (the tour size for this one is huge!), which was a little crazy, but it was really fun to hear their questions and see them take it all in!

6) The more adventure-y pick for our second tour was the Violet City Lantern Tour. This tour takes place completely by lantern-light. The tour guides each had a flashlight for pointing out specific things we may have missed otherwise, but the majority of our time was spent seeing the cave by the light of about 10 lanterns (it was a group of 30 or so). The majority of this tour focused on the history of the cave, from Native Americans thousands of years ago, to the first explorers of the cave in the 1800s. Our tour guides were great, and the tour was a really unique experience!

Mammoth Cave, and our trip as a whole, was an adventure we won't soon forget! We checked off national parks 3--5 on this trip, and can't wait to start planning what's next! If you have experiences to share or recommended parks, please let us know! We would love to hear your experiences!