Weekend Recap

Last two weeks all of a sudden spring decided to happen. Even just over this weekend we watched the landscape go from mostly brown to gold, then next day to light green. A shade darker from morning to afternoon. 

We made sure to explore in woods, looking for wild flowers and mushrooms.

The river was a little high after a downpour with thunder and lightning, but we went to fish what we could. What was not planned was Joe's line had a backlash that caused his lure to fly backwards, sticking onto his arm. He spent the next 20 minutes fighting with the hooks. He was hooked really good-- the biggest catch of the day!

Everything was alright once we got to our favorite brewery, drinking beer and listening to live bluegrass music. 

Next day we started our day on the trout stream. Joe caught a decent brown first, and then Kayo caught her first keeper trout of the season, a 14" brown. Otherwise we didn't see much action. 

The afternoon had to be improvised a bit, since Joe got called out for work. Somehow we ended up back at the pub for a proper pint to make up. Now Joe cannot wait to train his crew at work fully, so he doesn't have to be on call. That would be a reason to raise a pint... hopefully soon.

End of Vacation

Now my 9-day vacation is coming to an end. Since Joe was working as normal, I got some reading done, had a couple of dates with friends, did extra laundry and cleaning but not too much. The weather got nice out, so I had to do a bit of spring yard work. I think I'm ready to go back to work. 

Though we couldn't travel far, we have plenty of things to enjoy around here. We finally tried a new brewery within a walking distance last night. Oddly enough, it felt like we were on vacation! I realized that vacation is a state of mind no matter where you are. And Joe's workplace has improved quite a bit during my vacation, 2 new promising employees started... hopefully in a few months he can actually take some time off.

Mini Vacation

Like so many people, we've been itching and needing to take a real vacation. To go places far away.... But right now Joe really couldn't take time off from work. So for our anniversary this year we opted for a weekend getaway only about an hour east from home.

These were places we could visit on a day trip, and we had done that plenty of times. But it was nice to be able to take our time and also try a few new places to eat.

Sunday, back home, we decided to get our fishing licenses and check out our trout stream. It only felt right on the second day of trout season... especially when most of the snow is now gone and the river water level has come down. We were thrilled to see a few steelhead, though none of them showed slightest interest in our lures. So our fishing season begins!