A Little Roadtrip

I took Friday off work and my mom and I did an impromptu trip up north. She wanted to go to Jackson, WY so that’s where we stayed. That part of the trip we had kind of planned out beforehand. I didn’t let her leave super early in the morning so we got there and checked in the hotel in the afternoon and then walked around the touristy town square.

Castle Geyser

 Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast and then started driving towards Grand Teton National Park. Those mountains are so beautiful. But since we had a full day and we were so close we headed up to Yellowstone instead. I haven’t been there since I was a kid. We decided to do Old Faithful and walked around the geysers there. It was fun. And crowded.

Old Faithful

Lewis Falls

Then we drove back to the Tetons and saw a few of the lakes. Jenny lake was so crowded people were parking on the highway so we skipped that one and went and saw Menor’s Ferry historical sites and then drove over to Mormon Row, which is some old barns and houses still standing from an old Mormon settlement.

Grand Tetons and Jackson Lake

Sunday morning we got up and got ready to leave and stopped for donuts and went back up to Jenny lake.  It was a little cold that morning and I was the idiot who forgot my jacket. Most people there that early were there to hike and they were all dressed up in coats and hats. LOL I had a t-shirt and sandals on. I’m glad I didn’t miss it though. It was so nice. 

Jenny Lake

Grand Teton

We are thinking it might be fun to do a family trip up there one year instead of the Oregon coast.  My mom actually has a national parks pass that she’s never used. Dad had her get one, maybe thinking they would go somewhere, but they never did. She had it with her so it was nice to get into the parks with the pass, especially since we could go back the next day when things got crowded.

Memorial Day

I had a nice Memorial Day weekend. I did spend a little time thinking about those we honor on this holiday. We had a family BBQ on Sunday and I jumped on my sister’s trampoline for the first time in a while. I don’t remember playing on it last year. LOL – but of course I’ve aged since my last birthday and this time I could feel it in my knees. Luckily, I still recovered quickly.

My sister wanted to drive up to the Smith-Morehouse reservoir so I went with her yesterday. It was nice to get out. The mountains are so beautiful. We had never been there before.

 

 

 

 It was nice weather for the drive there and for a bit of the time we walked around the reservoir. Then it started to rain. We walked around the campgrounds in the rain and ate lunch in the car. We definitely want to get the family back up there. I think they would really like it. I know my dad would have. It was a great little mini road trip.

Mother’s Day

Yesterday, my mom and I drove up to Park City. We went shopping and had lunch. Mom had never been to the Olympic Park or historic Main Street so I showed her around. It’s changed quite a bit since the days she would go up there to ski as a teen/young adult.

It rained off and on the whole day. Utah is so beautiful this time of year. We took the “back way” to Park City on the way there, up I-84 through Morgan. The rain stopped long enough for some sunshine to come through and everything was wet and green. Park City didn’t have much sun, in fact we had a bunch of fog roll in but it was still beautiful also. The rain didn’t stop us from having a good time...and spending too much money. :)  We’ve decided to go back with the family sometime this summer.

Last night I had the urge to make grandma’s crescent rolls so I mixed up the dough to refridgerate overnight and then rolled them out this morning. I was just thinking about mother’s day and how I don’t remember mom actually teaching me how to make the rolls but I know I helped at times. Some of my happiest childhood memories are of the holidays and the table being full of pans of rolls raising, covered with those white potato sack dishtowels. I liked to peak under them to see how big the rolls got. She would get up at 5:00 am to roll them out and let them raise and cook for dinner (we always had Thanksgiving dinner around 1:00 pm or so). My mom has always been an early riser. I remember waking up during the summer months and hearing her go in and out of the back door as she picked vegetables from the garden and brought them inside. She always did it early before the sun got too hot. I don’t get up that early to make rolls and mom’s rolls are better, but I like that I can carry on the tradition of making rolls for family gatherings.

The Library

So my niece likes to send me email. It's pretty funny. She's a cute kid and I can't believe how fast she's growing up. I invited her to a library book sale with me and we went last night. The SL city library is huge compared to what she is used to. The Spring sale isn't that big but we did manage to find a couple books each. Then we went and wandered around the library and rode in the glass elevators. Liv had never been in one before. She loves libraries and reading. She has been reading the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter. I got her a couple of them for Christmas and tried to read one to see what it was like, but only got a page or two. Not my kind of thing. I never did really enjoy talking animals. She likes fantasy and there are a couple of series' I would really like to have her try. I guess I just need to take them to her and let her see. If she doesn't like them it's ok. I'll be disappointed a little bit because I love them so, but I can see that the books I loved at that age may not exactly appeal to her. Still, it's worth a try.  I spent so many hours at the library when I was growing up. There are books I still don't own that I fondly remember checking out many, many times. Or hiding on the upper level sitting on the floor reading books from the non-fiction section (mostly about music). LOL - we did have some reading chairs but they weren't in spots I wanted to be. Anyway, good times and good memories.

Spring Odds & Ends

The managers at work decided to give us Good Friday as a paid holiday this year (took away our floating holiday which I wasn’t happy about) so I had a 3 day weekend for Easter. I pretty much wasted Friday by sleeping in, going for a nice walk, doing a little shopping. Then I had the kids sleep over. It’s the first time they have slept over since I got my new floor and I might have been a little anxious that they didn’t spill on it. They didn’t so it was fine. I had 5 kids stay with me and it was a little crazy but not too bad. I think they had fun. They are old enough now, and with that many of them, I let them all sleep downstairs and I slept upstairs in my own bed so I actually got a little sleep.

On Saturday I had my 5 year old niece for the day and we spent a few hours at the park. It was such a nice day and she had a blast at the park. I told my other sister we need to take a picnic and take all the kids back there when it warms up just a bit more.

Only a few more weeks and I can plant flowers. One of the hostas I planted last year survived the winter (possibly 2 of them survived) and so did the ground cover I planted. I can’t remember the name of it but it is spreading ever so slightly which is what I wanted it to do. I can’t wait to get some color in there.

I’ve been buying books like crazy and really need to stop. A lot of them were used, but still. I bought one more bookshelf in February to match my others thinking it would be a good space to fill in eventually. Yeah, it’s filling up a lot faster than I through it would. LOL something about an empty shelf I just want to fill. I am loving my library and am so glad I changed my house and added that room.

March non-Madness

Yay! Spring is officially here, even if the forecast is still calling for snow.

I finally went to the eye doctor a couple weeks ago. Yep, I need reading glasses. I picked them up on Friday. I had no idea if I wanted reading glasses that I only use for reading or if I wanted glasses I just wear. So I got ones I take off and only wear for reading. LOL – it’s kind of annoying because I can’t see anything except the book in front of me with them on. So maybe I made the wrong decision. I don’t know. But I see far just fine so maybe it is what it is. I haven’t decided yet if they help me when I’m playing the piano. I can’t keep them on long enough because while it helps with the music, it’s weird looking down at my fingers. That may just take some getting used to.  I do like them for reading though. It’s definitely an improvement there.

I’ve been on a huge Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle book binge. Overdrive has a bunch of them. Back in the late 90’s when I first started reading contemporary romance types of books, I didn’t really care for her style. That could have something to do with the fact that I liked historicals better back then. Now, I’m picky about the historical books I read and I’m liking the quirks in her books. Maybe it’s just that I’m reading older books but they do seem slightly dated but it’s in a way that doesn’t bother me. I dunno… it’s funny how tastes change over time and how some books will always be favorites but others don’t work at certain times.

I am loving my Overdrive account. Borrowing books with a click of the button is so much fun. Plus, I can try a bunch of books without leaving my home, and if I don’t like them, it’s super easy to return them.

Vacation Dreaming

I think I might have figured out the perfect trip to take this year. It came to me this morning and I’m feeling kind of giddy over the whole thing. It’s kind of been bugging me that I have no vacation plans this year. I mean, I have one week kind of figured out and we want to do a family camping trip but that will be a weekend, at the most.  People at work ask where I’m going this year and so far I’ve said “nowhere”.

And it still might be nowhere, but I now have a specific dream in mind. All I’ve done so far is a quick google search for the time period I need and probable city to fly in and out of. But I think it can be done. I can’t say anything to anyone yet because I don’t want to jinx myself. LOL Well, I did call my mom because she would be up for this one (there would be shopping involved J ) and she is definitely on board. It’s way too early to plan anything for sure. So much in life can change, but now I have lots to dream and think about and later this year I can make it a reality.

It’s a nice change to feel optimistic instead of the winter blues.