Phew!  That was a little longer of a break away from blogging than I intended.

As you know, I visited my mom in Las Vegas last week.  And it was HOT.  Like, ridiculously hot for a Minnesotan like myself.  It was over 100° every day, with my final day topping out at 110°.  Ugh!

I was able to get up at 6 a.m. every day though and get in a walk on my favorite walking trail before it hit 90°.

But for the rest of the day we had to stick to indoor activities.  For the most part I just helped my mom with some tasks that she couldn’t tackle on her own, like swapping out her mattress for a new one.

Definitely not very exciting stuff.

Then when I returned home the weather was so perfect here that I just had to be out enjoying it rather than working on blog projects.

One day my sister, niece and I went hiking at St. Croix State Park, about 90 minutes north of the twin cities.  They have a fire tower in this park that you can climb up.

However, I have to confess that I only made it up two levels before chickening out.  I’m just not a fan of heights.

My niece made it most of the way up though.

It was perfect weather for hiking here, mid-70’s with a pleasant breeze.

Surprisingly, there weren’t many bugs, even in the woods.  I’m chalking that up to the dry summer that we’ve had.  You can see how low the water was both in the Kettle River …

and in the various creeks and ponds.

Ironically, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, mosquito counts more than doubled in the Las Vegas Valley this summer.  I literally saw more mosquitoes at my mom’s house than I did hiking through the woods in northern Minnesota.  Go figure.

But, I’m back out in the workshop today and I have a really pretty piece of furniture that I’ll be sharing with you soon.  So be sure to stay tuned!