Fun Weekend

Jimmy and I just had a very fun weekend. On Saturday we went to the Madison Farmers Market which is an event in itself. We brought home, two pies (cherry and apple), corn, cheese curds (they are very good...trust me), tomatoes, cucumbers, cantelope and green beans. We had such a nice morning.

Then on Sunday we went hiking at Devil's Lake State Park. If I ever need a dose of the North Carolina foothills and hiking trails this is the place to be. We hiked two trails. East Bluff and Balanced Rock. Both were fairly difficult.

Some views from the East Bluff trail.



Just me being a shutterbug.



Jimmy showing off....


This is Balanced Rock.


This is me trying to unbalance, balanced rock. You know I was not nervous taking this picture at all. I didn't think twice...it was fun. But when I just posted this picture it makes me a little nervous...just me and a 500 foot drop.



A shout-out to Sara Becca, Keith and Bruno. Good luck moving. Can't wait to see your new place. Love you!!

Bye bye, for now.

Our place... quick video

A few people have requested a video tour of the apartment. Since blogger.com won't allow long video and since I tend to be very long-winded this is an almost silent and very quick view of our place....

Pope Farm Park

Today Jimmy and I visited Pope Farm Park. The park is about a mile from our apartment. It was beautiful. The parked was given to the town of Middleton by the Pope Family to be kept has a "farm park" The main goal of the park is to preserve farming by reminding people of its importance to the world. Another goal of the park is to preserve the prairie and glacial land formations.

Jimmy and I have developed a whole new vocabulary concerning topography: kettles, moraines, glacial ridges. All of which were created when glaciers covered this part of the country. Fortunately, the glacier did not flatten Wisconsin as it did Illinois. Here the glacier pushed land to form moraines and glacial ridges. It also formed kettles which is when rubble was on top of the glacier then the glacier melted and created a hold or sink area.

The farm includes grassed walking trails through many types of fields: corn, barley, wheat and soybean. There is also a field of sunflowers.

Here are the pictures from our walk:

As you enter the park you walk up a gravel path lined with a rock wall. There is a picnic area at the top of the hill.

This is a view while walking the trail.



The left is corn, the dark green on the right are soybeans.



This is a view of the sunflower field. They are facing opposite the camera. Their flowers follow the sun.
Here they are! All facing me. They were so pretty.


This is a view of the Middleton country-side.
Here is Jimmy reading a sign about the land formations. If you look closely and I mean very closely you can see the Lake Mendota. You can actually see the capitol from here as well but the camera just doesn't capture it very well.

bye bye for now. anna

Things that go bump in the night....

Last night around 9 Jimmy and I were watching tv when we hear very loud booms around the apartment. I mean the noises were HUGE. They shook the walls and windows of our apartment. We thought that since we live near a quarry that maybe they were doing explosives that night. But the noises wouldn't stop. They kept going. It was scary.

We both were running to the windows but could see nothing, no flashes, no fire, no toxic plume.

Being in Apex when the EQ chemical plant exploded made us think that the sounds were dangerous and that we should call the police or something. Are the apartments blowing up? Has a gas line erupted. Has another chemical plant blown up? Is the town going down in flames? What is happening!! What do we do????

Well thank goodness we did not call. The sounds that we were hearing were fireworks, not the store bought NC kind either. These were honest to goodness 4th of July style fireworks going off over our apartment complex. The reason why we couldn't see flashes or flickers of light was because they were right over us. Which is also why the apartment was shaking. It may not seem scary but it was. Imagine hearing all of those noises with no explanation of what was happening.

We are not sure where they came from or who was celebrating but please warn someone next time. I expect them during July 4 but not on August 6.

Go to blonde board Anna and Jimmy......

In the land of Laura Ingalls Wilder

You know you are out west when you pass by an exit that reads, "Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Highway."

Last weekend I traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota with Jimmy for the annual APS conference. We had a great time!! Here are some pictures of our trip.

Our hotel was in the middle of downtown. During the day while Jimmy was attending the conference I would shop and sight see. The sidewalks on some of the main streets are very wide so when the weather is nice many restaurants have dining outside. It was very pretty!!




One highlight of the trip was being able to visit the Mall of America. This is Melanie, Heather and I posing in front of the roller coasters.


Jimmy and I posing for the camera.


Another highlight was the BASF social. We had a great time and were entertained by a lumberjack show.
Can't wait for next year....

Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living.....

I am not really working 9 to 5 but I am working again. That's right I have entered the working world after a two month vacation. I know, I am such a slacker but I enjoyed every second of it.

I started work on Friday and my day went really well. I am carpooling with Jimmy and the commute is only 10 minutes instead of 35. I also get home before 5 so I am really excited about that.

I miss my friends at Duke!!! (Hi...if your reading this!!)