Camping at Big Bone Lick State Park

This past weekend Jason and I went camping at Big Bone Lick State Park in Union, Kentucky. This was our first trip out with the new (to us) Ameri-Camp fifth wheel camper and our first trip out for 2015.

We had perfect weather and had three RV sites with four other friends - Christina, Charlie, Beth and Lydia.  Beth had her new rig out for the first time and Lydia came for a night and bunked up with her. Charlie and Christina have their own rig and we almost always camp together.

Site #035

Site #034

Site #033

The park was very clean and fairly quiet for how busy it was.  There is a pool (which wasn't open for the season yet), a mini golf course, a dump station, a small camp store, a gift shop and a very nice bathhouse with three nice sized shower stalls and three toilet stalls.

The 62 RV sites offer 30 amp electric service and water hookups that are shared between two sites (50+ feet of water hose is a must for water hookups).  There are no sewer options on the sites, but there is a dump station on the premises.  No WiFi or cable here either, though we were only in the camper to sleep and prep food so that wasn't an issue for us for a weekend trip.  We did have 3G on our Verizon signal.

The park has access to a couple of nice hiking trails.  We hiked the trail down to the Bison viewing
area because we wanted to see the new baby bison that was born the previous week.  We were told momma bison was in labor for a week - yikes, poor momma!

Week Old Bison - Photo by Christina

On the way back we were told by hikers passing by about a large snake in a tree up the hill.  Sure enough there was a large black racer slithering around the branches just beside the trail. Apparently the park staff keeps moving him further into the woods, but he keeps making his way back to the trail paths and is spotted often.

Some other areas of the park that we didn't get to check out were the lake, the museum and the church that is known for ghost hauntings.  Hopefully we can go back again and check out the rest of the park.  It was a very nice park to visit and we would definitely visit again.

We took all three dogs with us on this trip and they all did great!  We set up their XPens around a tree for some shade but where they could see us no matter whose site we were at.  They need a little bit of work with barking at passing dogs, but they get better with each trip and we're working on the barking.  The last thing we want to do is annoy other campers. Overall, they do great and they love to go with us on our camping adventures!

See all of our trip photos in the Big Bone Lick camping photo gallery.

Winter Wildlife

It's been a while since I've posted some photos of our local backyard wildlife (or front yard as it generally is around here).

This little opossum was scrounging around the bird feeder and eating up the sweet potato fries we had thrown out for the birds.  The birds didn't touch them, but he located all of them, even the ones still under the snow, and had a nice little meal.  I felt bad for him because he was limping and favoring his back left foot.  I hope he heals up soon and doesn't become an easier prey target because of it.

We feed the birds throughout the winter and the little Tufted Titmouse is one of my favorite little birds. When food is scarce they appreciate the feeders and become very brave when we refill them. They want to be on standby as soon as the new stuff gets loaded into the feeder!

The Northern Cardinals and Mourning Doves aren't so brave, but they do sit in the closest tree waiting for me to move back a safe distance.

This little mourning dove wasn't concerned about the food - he was peeping inside the french door window while I was clearing off the table.  (Pardon the blurry shot - my windows are very dirty).

Girly Prize Pack

My latest Internet win - an awesome girly prize pack from a Facebook group I'm in.  This one was a random drawing for helping another member become an Uber Brand ambassador and I happened to win the draw. The prize pack includes three varieties of Herbal Essences shampoo, three varieties of Lady Speed Stick deoderant, a pair of sunglasses, a pair of earrings, and a necklace.  Yay me!

March Snow

It's been almost 2 weeks since we've seen the ground due to about 6" of snowfall and frigid temperatures ever since. This has been the view from the front porch for the last couple of weeks.

Yesterday got to a balmy 59 degrees and we got a couple of inches of rain, which melted most of the snow off and started quite a bit of flooding in certain areas. Our pond is about to overflow. It was kind of cool watching the snow on the ground steam as it dissipated.

So this morning, this was the view from the front porch - we can see the ground again! Yay!

BUT wait! There's more!  This is what we are in store for tonight.  (We are in the pink area.)

Can I cry now?  I just want spring. I want to go camping. I want to porch dwell. I want flip flops and sun. *sob*  Daylight savings starts this weekend at least.  That's a start.

Update: I'd guess there is approximately a foot of snow on the ground. We had a lot of blowing snow, but the outside table looks like it's holding about a foot on the flat surface.  It's a good thing snow is pretty.  But it can melt now.

Zep Commercial Cleaner Prize Pack

Yesterday I received a prize pack from Zep Commercial Cleaners that I won last month. I received a heavy duty degreaser cleaner that works great for cleaning stovetops, sinks and anything else that gets extra grimy.  They also sent their new microwave cleaner.  Today is Friday, which is cleaning day for me, so I'll be giving it a whirl today.  And they also threw in a bonus logo t-shirt. I love me some free t-shirts!  Such fun winning things.  :)

Bakeware Set

This is a fantastic Bakeware set I won back in November from Kitchen Daily.  It arrived on New Year's Eve in perfect timing to cook up some yummy food for a small get together. I won it from a contest entry form on one of their blog posts. This was one of the first of many prizes I've won online and I thought I might start documenting some of them here to give a shout out to the folks that do the awesome giveaways and to swoon over my winnings.  ;)

This prize was especially awesome because our bakeware was lacking and old! This covers just about anything we need for casseroles and baking!  We use the red casserole dish a lot for large portions of green beans and the large white one on the right is used for double batches of casseroles  that I make - generally Enchilada Bake.

Here are the details on each casserole dish as per Kitchen Daily:

1. Le Creuset Heritage Square Casserole
2. Juliska Small Casseroles
3. Elizabeth's Everyday Essentials Casserole Dish by Revol
4. Rachel Ray Bubble & Brown Rectangular Casserole
5. Sophie Conran Portmeirion White Mini Casserole (2)

More Charity Bears

I made three more Charity Bears to give out to my girlfriends for the big University of Louisville vs University of Kentucky basketball game over the weekend. I think they turned out so cute! Now I just need to make a UofL bear for myself!

Making these bears has been a great way to get me some extra practice in on the machine and working with curves. These were made with team themed fleece I came across, felt for the muzzle and eyes and large black button beads for the eyeballs.  Photos of the girls with their bears are here.