My In-Laws' New Land

Last weekend, Mr. Pihl and I accompanied my in-laws out of town to take a gander at their new baby.

And by baby, of course I mean hunk of property out by Herington, Kansas.

It's huge.  There's some exact number of acres, but I'm a former city gal so that information went in one ear and out the other.  Oops.  Anyhow, it's a very pretty piece of land, complete with a creek and quite a bit of wooded area.

We actually had to cross the creek in their Jeep to access the land.

I felt like we should be part of an off-roading commercial.

Built-Kansas-Jeep tough.  Grrr.

It's wild.  Wild as in, overgrown and hardly touched by people.  No pathways (other than thin deer-made trails).  No bits of trash.  No way to call for help if you're a numbskull who wandered into the woods with your jeans rolled up into faux capris, not realizing that those weedy-brushy things have thorns.

Guess who did that?

Another accident-proned moment, brought to you by Pihling Kansas.

Here are some other shots:

Gorgeous.  And itchy. 

You see  packrat's nest.  I see something I've never seen before.  Well, until just now.  I mean - uh - you get it.

Le creek.

Side note?  I will not be swimming that water any time soon.  Or, like, ever.

This guy was about the size of a quarter and had jumps like Michael Jordan.

Men.  Checking out their territory.

Peaceful and lovely.  Until.... (see below)

See that long, black thing?  That would be a snake.

 My favorite part of the weekend?  My husband's and father-in-law's reaction to the little guy in the above photo.  Clue?  Yelling was involved.

Hardy har.  Men.