Online Outdoor Deals – Steep & Cheap

My newest online addiction is Steep and Cheap. One item is listed for 15 minutes or so – only one item at a time – and when they run out they’re gone! They have all sorts of great markdowns on popular gear and clothing including Marmot, Patagonia, Smith Optics, and other varied camping and backpacking gear. My hubby gave me the link and I’ve only bought one thing (yeah for my new Smith Optics sunglasses!) but the shipping was extremely reasonable and FAST – I had them in hand in 2 days!

Nebraska Camping – Grove Lake & Niobrara!

More. Camping. Soon. It is so fun to be outdoors. There’s something magical about camping that transforms the all-too-common question of “So, what do you do for a living?” into a much more interesting and valid one: “So, how far have you come?” Always nice people and dogs to meet. We camped at Grove Lake and took a couple of side trips to the Ashfall Fossil Beds (extremely great place) and also to the Niobrara State Park for a quick hike (another great place – who knew we were so close to Yankton, South Dakota – with even more interesting things about Standing Bear and the Ponca Indians) and found a very small, old cemetery to document for genealogy as well as an historical monument built for Newell Knight, an old friend of Joseph Smith’s. It put many of his family’s stories (including the famous Provo resident Jesse Knight) in a new light! I’ll post pictures of the monument soon. Our newest 4G SDHC card isn’t being read by my old computer so this post will only have pics from the small 1G card.

The Highlighter Cabin

I heart Mike and Julie. We just enjoyed the best weekend! Big thanks to our friendly neighbors who took us up to their Highlighter Cabin. The kids had so much fun packed into one day and two nights that they’ve ever had. It might as well have been Club Med or a spa for me because Julie planned and cooked every meal and provided paper and plastic utensils so there was no cleanup. You heard me right. I felt like I had signed up for the best vacation ever. AND we got to take the dog. NO kidding.

Ben spent most of the time playing with Marcie and her kennel.

Cole had his first tubing experience! We loved their 1971 boat (we are such boat newbies).

The cutest little “island” in the middle of the lake where we played in the sand for hours!

Gabe had the most fish caught – at least 11 and I wasn’t keeping track! He had bluegill, crappie, catfish, largemouth bass and a white bass. I think. Very nice casting skills for a 7 year old!

Jack caught his first fish or two – including the cutest catfish. I say they’re cute while they’re kittenfish but when they get to be catfish…ugly!

Not to be outdone by his boys (cough cough), Don had a little fun fishing as well…THANKS, MIKE & JULIE (and Marcie the dog)! WE HAD A BLAST. Call me if you need some Prozac. I don’t actually have any but I could probably talk you down off the ledge.