Life at a "Swell's" pace

Road Trip: About our Trips to Arkansas

I've come and gone from Arkansas on various trips the last few years that I've been in Oregon and over the course of the trips I have taken some wonder photos. After going through some of the pictures from my little brother's wedding I decided to do a piece on just the Arkansas trips I've taken recently alone. Here are some of my favorite shots. (This post is a bit photo-heavy)

Trip from Oregon to Arkansas (March 2012)

My first trip was amazing. I hadn't been back to Arkansas in about 5 years and I was excited to see the changes. I got to see some great views from the plane on the way there, like the Rocky Mountains above and also a view of Mt. Hood. from the top.

I am not the best person to fly with in the world and at times I almost break out in tears flying because of fear, but who can pass up a view like that?

I got to see John while I was in Arkansas for the first time in 18 years and I was so sad to say goodbye to him when I left. It was a bitter sweet departure. On one hand I was flying back to see Skylar, but on the other hand I had to say goodbye to John. :(

When I landed in Oregon, after being in the sunshine in Arkansas, I was greeted with lots and lots....AND LOTS of snow fall. It was such a drastic change....I wanted the sunshine back!

On my second trip, here recently, I attended my little brother's wedding. It was a great time and I took some amazing shots, but here are a few of my favorites on the trip from Oregon to Arkansas.

Trip from Oregon to Arkansas (May 2012)

Skylar got excited to know he was going to be flying on an airplane.

He was so interested in everything as we were walking onto the plane. His curiousity always make me smile.

Pilots in the cockpit ready to take off. Skylar actually took this picture, but I really thought it was neat.

The view from the Oakland Airport in California.

We landed in Oakland, California and were able to stretch out feet a little before our next flight. Skylar quickly makes friends in the airport and talks with them about his last flight.

Then we boarded again on our way to Arkansas.

I read Outlander series book (The 1st of the series) and Skylar played games and watched movies on his Kindle to pass the time.

We checked the Kindle often to see how far we were from landing in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Almost there!

Skylar's first time boarding a plane that he can actually remember this time. The last time he flew he was 2-1/2. Watching him look out the windows was so amazing to see for me. His face in shock and excitement and at times surprise. It was such a treat to be able to fly with him this time.

And thanks to his teacher, he had plenty of school activities to keep him busy on the plane. She's a great teacher for thinking of him during his time away!

The views from our plane ride to Arkansas was so fascinating. Flying during the day yield such different views than flying at night. Here is a view of Alcatraz Island near California.

The view of the San Francisco Bay front.

And the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our plane ride to Arkansas gave us such great views above the clouds too. Here is a wild fire burn cloud that we could see clearly from our plane.

The sun setting as we passed over into another time zone.

How scary is this to see. Yikes!

There's the lights over Little Rock, Arkansas as we come into land. At this point we were about zoned out we were so tired.

And out little guy crashed out completely in the back of the rental car. And as soon as we got to the hotel Skylar was out!

And we were so glad we got to see John while we were there too and Skylar loved riding him his Mustang!

On our way back from Arkansas to Oregon we saw a much different view from the plane.

Trip from Arkansas to Oregon (May 2012)

Land and mountains over Arizona.

Somewhere over Arizona.

Coming into Phoenix.

Near Oakland, California.

When we landed in Oakland, California the pilot of the plane asked Skylar, as we were departing, if he wanted to see what the inside of the cockpit looked like. And, of course, Skylar said YES!

The co-pilot.

And the pilot.

We boarded the last flight to Portland, Oregon

The following three pictures are of the San Francisco Bay in California.

Tiburon Uplands Nature Preserve on the opposite side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Skylar with his face buried in his Nintendo DS. At this point we were trying to find anything to occupy the time.

Like napkin drawing. Ha! How cute is this though, I mean really?

Northern California, almost to Oregon now.

The Siskiyou Mountains

When we landed in Portland, Oregon Skylar asked if he could see the cockpit this time and this co-pilot went all out on an hour long teaching of every gear, knob and control in that cockpit. Ha!

But, he was super nice and his personality was great! Southwest has some great employees.

Snail-Polish

Snails! They are everywhere here in the Pacific Northwest. They eat your garden plants, your pretty flower petals, even stick to the side of your windows. They are a pretty vicious nuisance, but my son loves them. I have learned to control them in my garden and flowerbeds for the most part, but I still see one from time to time. Mostly they have been showing up on our porch and you have to do the Tango to avoid stepping on them or hear the wrath and an eight-year-old about how mean it was to crush the poor, innocent, little snail.

So we have decided to mark them. We started with random colors like purples and greens with markers, but that didn't seem to last long because of all the rain. We then switched to fingernail polish. Starting with some reds and even blacks, but it just wasn't bright enough. So we went with a hit pink and it worked! I didn't feel too awesome about using the polish have it has stroked the back of a slimy creature, so it got it's only label and is now used to only coat the snails.

And my son is happy!

It's sort of interesting to see all the hot pink snails roaming around now. And it makes them easier to spot in my garden and flowerbeds too. We all are happy........for now. :)

Oh, on a side note, these are the same snails that people eat. (Escargot anyone?)

Growing Ginger

I've always loved growing a plant from itself. Ginger is one of my all-time favorite spice and I love adding grated ginger to some cheese cloth and throwing it in with my bath water to help remove and eliminate toxins from my body; Especially after an intense workout. Ginger root has also been associated with reducing fever, relieving minor pains and reducing inflammations. Crystallized ginger is especially helpful, for me, when flying or riding long distances in the back of a car on road trips.

Growing ginger is quite easy and really fun. It can also save you a ton of money on buying ginger if you tend to use it a lot around your home. Here's how it's done.

Purchase your first ginger start from a grower, farmers' market, or even the local grocery store. You want to look for a root that has a few nodes on it so that the growth of the ginger will take off a lot faster. Place your ginger root into a small paper sack and place in a warm, not moist, dark environment until the nodes/rhizomes start producing some growth to them as below.

I like to store mine under my kitchen sink. Everything seems to grow under my kitchen sink without me even trying. I've started potatoes (brown and red), onions, ginger root, and even 'Pole' beans.

Remove your ginger from the paper sack and lay on top of your pot of soil that you are going to plant it in. There are a lot of different ways to start the growth of the ginger and I like to read all about them, but I have found that laying the ginger on top of the soil over night helps. I like to do this in order for it to remain in the same location that it produced it's shots in order for it to start to establish a "bed."

The following day go ahead and plant your ginger root in a good quality soil. I use a mixture of top soil, compost, saw dust and steer manure.

After about a week you should start to see some root shoots and at this time you can move it to another larger pot or keep it in the same one. I always plant mine shoot-side down, there are others that would disagree, but it's really your call. It will grow either way, but you want to make sure you bury the entire root.

Water only when the soil feel dry and do not over-water!

2 weeks later your ginger will have taken off and start it's growth process.

I always keep my new ginger growth in a sunny window out of direct sunlight. Ginger likes the humid, warm climates and is considered a tropical foliage plant. It will come back year to year if it is protected from frost and colder temperatures. You can start to harvest the ginger when the leaves begin turning brown and harvest some for yourself and for growing all over again.

As far as the picture above with the onion, here's what I mean by "growing anything under my kitchen sink."

Purchased Walla Walla Sweet onions and they began to take off! (Well, one of them did) How funny is that?

Enjoy growing your own ginger!

A Season of Baseball

Skylar's baseball season came to a close and we had a great year of play! It was a great season of baseball for all of us! He has improved greatly and Skylar increased his ball skills a lot in this season alone. I was so proud to see him hitting the balls left and right and knocking them out of the park each game!