Our Little Get Away

 

Since having the scooter we've tried to take as many opportunities as possible to go and explore Qingdao before summer is over. We've loved riding it & have explored our city, even in small ways,  like taking a new route to our usual places. 

A few weeks ago we took the thirty minute drive out to Lao Shan Beach & took time to explore the Lao Shan area a little more. After we enjoyed a nice walk on the beach, we turned off the main road and followed a little road through one of Lao Shan's many villages ending up amidst the beautiful mountains with some stunning little lake views. It took less than 20 minutes to 'get away' from the city & car noises, with no one in sight.

 

2014 Rural Life 

We were amazed by the spectacular water views & the quiet people-less views. It's hard to come by in China.

There were several small dams on the way up.

This water was crystal clear. We wanted to jump in so badly!

After we walked around a bit, we found a tiny tea farm, which also had a few tables, where you could drink tea & have lunch.

They had fresh green tea and fresh vegetables for sale. I had to go to the bathroom and was directed by the little old lady & man, the farms owners, to the back of the shop, towards their house. I walked past a dog, a turkey and a few chickens to get to the small opened roof brick 'bathroom.' It was more like an outhouse but was surprisingly clean.

Green tea is famous here in Qingdao. I'm not a huge fan of it but this tea, nice and fresh, was delicious. Maybe it was the ambiance or my good mood, but I really enjoyed it.

The old lady shop owner let us come into her kitchen and point out which veggies we wanted.

We pointed to eggplant and green beans but she ended up bringing out all of the dishes above plus a huge plate of steamed scrambled eggs and veggies. We were so full! It was all delicious though, fresh and lacking the usual Chinese restaurant oil, which we appreciated.

Can you spot Zachary?

After lunch we rode back through the village & arrived home before we had our afternoon tutoring. It was so cool to us that we could have what felt like a little vacation by appreciating our city & God's creation getting away all in a few hours.

I loved this day. It reminded me that I don't have to buy a plane ticket to get away. Heck! I didn't even need a whole day! I just needed a few hours, with my love, with a grateful heart & a quiet soul, to feel refreshed & renewed!

Kayaking Loboc River

One of our favorite things we did on our Philippines trip was kayaking the Loboc River in Bohol. We were beyond blessed to stay at the Loboc River Resort, which gave us daily views, on our rooms balcony, of the beautiful Loboc River. Another perk was that the resort had kayaks for rent for $3.50 each. On our first day, we rented their kayaks and set off from the resorts restaurant bamboo dock down the Loboc.

It was my first time kayaking so Zachary had to show me the basics, which were pretty easy. With in a minute or two I got the hang of it and we were off, down the stunning river.

There are several trees along the river that are filled with fireflies at night. We took a night ride down the river to see them. At night the river was even more like glass and so quiet. It seemed like it could have been creepy, except that it was just so peaceful, like sacredly so.  We saw a few trees filled with fireflies which made it look like the tree was decorated with twinkling Christmas lights.  It was just amazing. Our day kayak was just as peaceful and spectacular.

Reader, please get ready for a gajillion pictures. Well, at least 50. I just will never be one of those bloggers that is able to choose between 100 pictures those 2 or 3 that will awe you. I'm awed by each one, and so, for my future self, I put all 50+, so I can remember it all. I expect our mothers & grandmothers to be oohhing and ahhing over each picture out of love for us, not because they like looking at the seemingly same pictures over and over, but I realize to you, Reader, they may all really look the same. But, really they're not! Each one is from a different part of the river! The whole river was filled with mangroves & coconut trees & blue skies & beautiful green water! The beauty went on and on, Reader. I could no sooner pick my favorite pictures as " I could choose a favorite star in the heavens." Name that movie folks! Anyone? I'll give you a hint. It rhymes with Shmever Shmafter. Oh! Also, can I just say, none of these pictures are edited. I took them straight from the camera to the blog. Amazing, right!

Mangrove, coconut trees galore.

This is the underwater view. Just in case you were wondering. It was so clear you could see nothing at all.I know it doesn't look clear here, but that's just because all there was to see was water. The water was clear of debris or fish or any of those other usual river inhabiting things. I assume that's because the river was 45 m deep in some places, so all those creepy swimmies (get it? Like creepy crawlies, but they swim) were down in the deep.

One of the popular things to do in Bohol is to take a river dinner or lunch cruise down the river. The boats host a lunch or dinner buffet and live music. Thankfully, where we were staying we were never bothered by any of the boats. In fact we only saw two or three solo, quiet fisherman. Originally we wanted to do the river cruise, but after kayaking it, in the peace and quiet, it just seemed like it would spoil the beauty of the river for us.

"Here Zach, I'll pose and you take a picture. Got it? Great. Let's go!"

"Here I go."

"I'm really far now."

The water was like glass. It was so still & reflected all the beauty around it like a mirror.

"Find a flower pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck!" I found a flower to decorate my kayak with. Bohol was filled with gorgeous flora and fauna.

Exhibit A. ;)

Zachary was kayaking in front of me and went around a bend and started shouting "Heather, you have to see this!"

I came around the bend and saw a huge white cross atop a mountain. It was just amazing and such a reminder of how good God is and how really, all this beauty, is all about Him and His glory and His awesome creativity.

Later in the week, we rented a motorcycle and drove up the mountain to check out the cross.

After kayaking a bit, we decided to take a break and lay down on our kayaks. I could have stayed like that all day. This was our view. Blue skies & palm trees.

 

After our short rest, we turned around and headed back down the river to our resort. 

I loved these mini hills filling our view.

Home sweet home. The waiters helped us dock our boats & were waiting with wet towels & ice waters for us. Such great service in the Philippines!! If you visit Bohol, kayak Loboc River on your own. It was so peaceful and gave us the chance to really soak all that beauty in. We recommend the Loboc River Resort as a place to do that from, too.