Category Archives: National Parks

Older than You Think Hodgepodge

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Crater Lake way back in the 50’s.  Me, my sisters, younger brother and my mom. I’m in the middle.

HOT off the press are the Wednesday Hodgepodge questions. Thank you, Joyce!

1. Do you feel older or younger than your age? Elaborate. 

I feel younger than my age except when I look in the mirror closely.  I’m relatively healthy for someone my age. I’m not on any medications, can walk easily and most days have the energy to get things done. Hopefully my hips and knees will hold out for a long time.

2. What’s one thing you should toss right now, but just can’t? 

Some clothes that realistically I’ll never wear again. There are other things I should donate or sell, not toss.

3. Have you visited many of the 63 National Parks in the US of A? You’ll find a list here. Do you have a favorite? What National Park that you haven’t seen do you most want to see? 

I’ll work backwards on these questions. I would like to visit the Utah National Parks and Glacier. Glacier is the closest to us and more in my comfort temperature range.

I have been to the Grand Canyon, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Great Smoky Mountains, Crater Lake, Badlands, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic, and Redwood.

The Bible Camp I went to in my teens was in Kings Canyon.

4. How often do you get take out? What’s your favorite? 

We enjoy take-out from Thai to Go. It’s authentic and good. The owners will sometimes take a month off to go back to Thailand to visit family. They will also take a long time off in the winter and around holidays so we always have to double check to see if they are open.

When we are desperate we get take out from our local Chinese Restaurant.

We might get take out once every couple weeks.

5. Do you have many (or any) subscriptions? Not necessarily magazines, but thinking more along the lines of boxes or products that companies offer, and you can sign up to receive on a regular basis. Could be weekly, monthly, quarterly, even daily. Tell us about them. 

At this time we do not have any regular subscriptions. Greg was gifted a razor, etc., from Jeremy’s Razors and he still gets new blades every few months in the mailbox that were part of his gift.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A couple photos from the National Parks me/we have visited over the years…

Can you guess which one this is? 🙂

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Or this one…

This photo is from 1988. *Hint* The mountain behind us is a volcano and is in Washington State.

Hope you Hodgepodgers are enjoying the heat of summer but staying cool.

 

Since You Asked…Hodgepodge

 

Getting my Hodgepodge done early on Tuesday. We’ll be busy Tuesday evening with some company around our table.

Welcome again to Wednesday Hodgepodge. Jo From This Side of the Pond asks the questions and we answer them.

1. February is coming to a close. Give us a two-word phrase that tells us something about how yours went.

Slow & Easy

2. If you had to describe how you’re feeling right now as an amusement park ride, what ride are you on? Explain. 

Merry-Go-Round or Carousel. Slow and steady with some ups and downs but mostly calm and content.

3. What’s something on your desk or a nearby wall that cheers you up when you see it or walk past? 

My happy space.

4.  Are you a salad eater? How many salads do you typically eat in a week? Your favorite kind of salad? 

The salad police just caught me and they are taking me in for questioning!  We have moved into the habit of not eating salad. Maybe one salad a week. I like crisp salad greens with cucumber and tomato and a simple Persian dressing. 

5. Without telling us the category give us your top five ______________. 

  1. Tolkien
  2. C.S. Lewis
  3. MacDonald
  4. Montgomery
  5. Beatrix Potter

1, MacArthur 2. Spurgeon 3. Sproul 4. Ryle 5. Piper

  1. Johnson Brothers
  2. Royal Albert
  3. Spode
  4. Tudor
  5. Churchill

1. Cotswolds 2. Oxford 3. York/Yorkshire 4. Windsor 5. Cambridge

  1. Yellowstone
  2. Badlands
  3. Mt. Rushmore
  4. Yosemite
  5. Grand Canyon

I bent the rules and went with 5 fives. I’m sure you can name my category titles.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Tomorrow is our sister Vera’s 19th real birthday day. She was born on Leap Year! Happy 19th Birthday Vera. We’ll have to have a big ‘do’ for your 20th! (Hope we are all alive, then) I’ll be singing ’76 Trombones’ for you tomorrow.

These photos were from her 18th birthday party! Sisters in order of birth and then Vera with her son and daughter.

The Badlands at Dawn

On Friday September 24th we were up before dawn for our 39 mile tour of the Badlands. This would be day 4 on our Land That We Love Tour. On this day besides taking in the Badlands our drive would be a total of 469 miles and approximately 6-1/2 hours to our destination for the night in Omaha, Nebraska.

We saw some Big Horned Sheep at our first stop and along the way.

The 39 mile loop is easy to access off of Interstate 90. We started on the west end of the loop and returned to Interstate 90 on the eastern entrance. The loop has convenient parking areas along the way to stop and enjoy the vistas. We took advantage of each one. Several of the parking areas also have restrooms.

That little black smudge in this photo is a buffalo. I zoomed in as far as I could to get this shot.

We were so thrilled to have started our tour before it got light and we would recommend dawn in the Badlands. Sunset would probably be another lovely time of day to be here, too.

Our first stop along the way and we were already blown away by the amazing landscape. I will be posting several days worth of photos from the Badlands.

We found ourselves reciting part of Psalm 19 and praising the Creator of it all as we began our day here…

The Law of the Lord is Perfect

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be acceptable in your sight,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Y is for Yellowstone!

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Smarter than the average Bear! Smart or not we planned a last minute trip to Yellowstone National Park making reservations on Monday and heading out on Wednesday last week. We drove from Washington State to Missoula, Montana our first day.

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On our second day we drove to the North entrance of Yellowstone through Gardiner, Montana where the original entrance to the park stands as a monument.

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We didn’t see any bears much to my delight and Dear’s disappointment.  We started our visit at the Mammoth Hot Springs and continued south stopping along the way to see some beautiful sights before checking in at the Old Faithful Inn. Many of our stops will deserve a post of their own. Stay tuned for Old Faithful and other geysers and waterfalls and Bison and lakes, oh my.

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We just got home Monday afternoon and I will edit my photos and decide which to post in the near future. This was both my and Dear’s first visit to Yellowstone National Park and we were amazed at the variety of sights with easy access and easy parking along the roadways. The geyser basins, the waterfalls, the steam and mud pools and the animals grazing were all a sight to see. Yellowstone is a national treasure.

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I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and administered by the ABC Team.

Also linking up to Tuesday’s Treasures with Tom The Backroads Traveler.