The Stockyards

The plan for our Monday in Texas was to visit the Fort Worth Stockyards. Steve dropped us off close to Exchange Avenue where the cattle drive would take place at 11:30 A.M. While he looked for a parking spot we moseyed over to find our spot in the crowds waiting to see the cattle drive. This happens twice a day.

The crowds dispersed and we poked into a few shops to see the western ware.

Everything a tourist might need to take home for a souvenir.

We started looking for a likely spot for our lunch rendezvous with our brother Leonard. He was driving out after a couple of meetings to enjoy lunch with us.

We made reservations at Hotel Drover’s 97 West Kitchen and Bar.

We had time to walk and do a little more shopping before Leonard met up with us at the restaurant.

We enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant and had great service.

Full and satisfied with plans to eat again at dinnertime we made our way to our cars and headed back into Dallas and Flower Mound.

If you have never been we recommend the Historic Stockyards at Forth Worth for a visit. I’m glad we were able to visit on a cool day that started misty and improved for our visit.

Saturday September 14th Postcards

Breakfast at The Ivy

Glasgow Cathedral

The Necropolis

Celtic Park for the Celtic v. Hearts Game

Dinner at the Ox and Finch to close out our day.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we travel to Stirling.

In the future I will share more photos from this busy and satisfying day. God is good to us!

Sunday in Walla Walla

On Sunday the 30th of June we had breakfast and lunch at the airbnb. Dan and Jamie provided these 2 meals for us all. For breakfast, Dan used Jamie’s sourdough bread to make French Toast to order and an egg on the side if we wanted.

After breakfast we had a glorious time at the pool as Greg baptized Dan. Greg gave a great background on what baptism is and Dan explained to all of us why he was taking this step of obedience.

After Dan’s baptism there was lots of splashing and fun in the pool before and after lunch!

For lunch we had a Charcuterie spread that was over the top.

More pool time after lunch.

Such delight!

For dinner on Sunday night we tried a Mexican Restaurant and it was okay. Some of us thought we should have gone back to the Greek restaurant. We were fed and we came back to our airbnb. Baba and Gramps offered to watch a movie with Addy and JJ while the married siblings went into downtown Walla Walla for some fun. We watched Greyfriar’s Bobby and it was a little slow for the Grands but we persevered to the end just as everyone came back home and it was time for bed for the littles.

Some photos from downtown Walla Walla…

Bright’s was a fun candy, ice cream, novelty store that they found and that we would all enjoy on Monday after our lunch downtown.

So thankful to God for these souls!

Dan and Jamie had just celebrated their 9th Anniversary on the 27th of June!

It was a good and glorious day from beginning to end!

Thanking God for his lovingkindness to all of us!

Lake Washington Celebration

We arrived in Western Washington on Thursday the 16th of May. When we make it to that side of the mountains we like to stop at our old faithful, La Corona in Kirkland. It was was our weekly Tuesday hangout when we lived on that side. The owners still remember us and it is nice to be recognized by them. Our good friends met us for a meal and catch-up before we made a few more miles to Josh and Laura’s for the weekend.

On Friday the 17th of May our Westside kids took us out for dinner at El Encanto in Kirkland for a belated Mother’s Day celebration. It was a good time to be together. It was a cool evening with moody skies. This is a relatively new restaurant in Kirkland. I enjoyed an upscale Chile Relleno that was delicious. Kirkland is on the shores of Lake Washington in Washington State.

Before our dinner gathering Laura, Greg and I shopped at a few spots for mostly shoes. We had an appetizer lunch so we wouldn’t be too full for our main event on Friday night. We had those appetizers at another Westside hangout of ours and it was fun to be there again, Gratzie in Bothell.

Our Time in Northern Idaho

Most of our time in our neighboring state was spent shopping and eating. We heard about Le Peep from my sister and her hubby. We decided to try it for breakfast on Tuesday. The food and staff were great. Greg had the Stuffed Poblano and I had their Eggs Bene special made with corned beef.

We walked along the boardwalk next to the restaurant and enjoyed the clear views and sunshine. It was early and still on the cool side.

Fortified from our breakfast we tackled several thrift stores, the Chef’s Cash and Carry, At Home, Tractor Supply and Costco. Idaho gasoline is fifty cents less a gallon than Washington. We go to the cash and carry regularly for supplies for our church kitchen. Sales tax is less in Idaho, too, so we took advantage of that for some of our regular purchases.

I did not take any photos at our early dinner at the Blue Bird in Uptown Coeur d’Alene. We both enjoyed the Halibut and Chips (French fries, Hoagies) with the in house tartar sauce and zesty ketchup. One more stop before we called it a night at Seasons where we split a slice of Huckleberry Cheesecake. Back to the hotel for a relaxing evening.

Before we packed up the car (which wasn’t an easy task), we had breakfast again at Le Peep. I had the stuffed french toast and Greg had a Mexican Skillet. Both dishes were delicious! After checking out of the hotel we started our trek back home with stops in Post Falls, Spokane and Deer Park.

Our stop in Post Falls happened to be right next store to another Tea Room I was not aware of and it really had all the tea vibes. It is called La Tea Da. It will be a treat to make some plans to return for tea.

On Thursday at our last session of Winter Bible Study I was informed of another Tea Room in Spokane. This one would be the closest for us to travel to so there might be a tea adventures in the near future at Brambleberry Cottage .

Today, Friday, is a baking day here at our country bungalow with our daughter-in-laws. Tomorrow is Addy’s birthday party. Katie and Andrew are traveling over today. I am and will be very busy with all our kids through the weekend.

Enjoy the weekend and I’ll catch early next week.

Tea in Coeur d’Alene

We are having a little getaway to our neighboring state of Idaho. We traveled on Monday morning and our first stop was at the Inland Café & Tea in Coeur d’Alene.

I enjoyed the High Tea. The scone was so fresh and warm and delicious.

My favorites of the little sandwich bites were the chicken salad and ham with pepper jelly.

I was able to choose my teacup from all of these and chose one with the daffodils.

Greg chose a hot sandwich for lunch. A turkey brie sandwich with a cup of the soup of the day.

We enjoyed and would recommend this spot in Coeur d’Alene for their fresh and good tasting food.

We left the cafe and shopped at a few spots before we checked into our hotel. After we checked in we tried Happy Hour at Bardenay Restaurant and Distillery close to our hotel. It was good and we enjoyed conversation with a couple who moved to Idaho from Alaska fourteen years ago.

Today we hope to walk along the Centennial Trail, shop, and enjoy two more new to us restaurants for lunch and dinner.

Grateful to God for all the abundance that we enjoy with peace and joy.

Orange Hill Celebration

On our last full day in our rental home during our DisneyCaliFam Vacation, we spent some time relaxing in the spa in the morning.

When the Minneolas were hanging over the fence onto the property we were staying at, was it okay to pick them? Asking for a friend.

These two shared a muffin treat that was purchased at Disneyland the day before.

During naptime Josh drove some of the gals to Downtown Disney for a little shopping venture. He dropped us off at the Disneyland hotel and then picked us up a couple hours later. We enjoyed walking through the lobby of the hotel to get to the entrance of the shopping area. We had to go through extensive security to get into the area.

The Lego structures at the Lego store were impressive! No Lego purchases on this trip. Everyone made purchases at a couple of the other stores but me.

Josh picked us up where he dropped us off and we went back to get ready for our fancy dinner out at the Orange Hill Restaurant. Did I mention we only had the one vehicle for the twelve of us during our time in Southern California and that Josh was our trusty chauffer back and forth to everywhere?!

The skies were putting on a show of God’s Creation and Glory. The twelve of us arrived in our van at the door of the restaurant in time to further enjoy the sunset and views.

Cheers to our extended family and our three birthday kids, Josh, Dan and Jamie! The Twelve of us enjoyed our food and our time here.

Our grands’ Granny and Granny Great. Granny Great picked up the tab for our drinks. Thank you, Florence!

We’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy! Or in Colville. 🙂 Crispy Whole Snapper above and Half-chicken below.

I had the Short Ribs, and most of the rest of us had the Prime Rib.

The Sticky Toffee Pudding was so good. And the restaurant brought out 3 complimentary desserts for the three birthday kids we were celebrating.

I would have said this was the grand finale of our trip but we ended up having another full day of fun our last day before we flew home.

Fast Forward to the present here in Colville, Washington.

We had another light dusting of snow here on Friday and Saturday. Starting Sunday our highs have been below freezing. So far the predictions say we won’t make it above freezing until Thursday, February 2nd.

These are some of our views from our windows!

We finally enjoyed a full day of sunshine on Sunday with clear skies. Hope your week moving into February is a good one.

Walk on the Pier

On Sunday my sister Vera and I were happy to see that June Gloom was nonexistent. We dropped our brother off at the Orange County airport for his trip back to Dallas and decided another trip to the beach was warranted. We had a good meal at Dukes at the Huntington Beach Pier with this view from our table…

After our meal we headed to the pier to walk it and enjoy the views.

I’ll have a full post with this pelican as the star later.

The crashing waves looked like snow from above.

This post is being published on Tuesday June 14th, Flag day. I will be in the air for a few hours and then on the road home.

Happy Flag Day from Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.

Cali Day One

On Thursday we got up at O’dark’thirty and drove south to the Spokane airport for my trip to Southern California. It was a two leg journey for me. First leg from Spokane to Seattle which is a quick hour up and down trip with not much in the world of perks. The second leg was from Seattle to Orange County (John Wayne Airport also known as Santa Ana Airport). The airport is in the city of Santa Ana which is in the county of Orange.

I’m now in the land of Palm Trees but the sun and blue skies are not breaking through the June Gloom here.

My youngest sister works in a high rise that’s close enough to the airport to see the planes landing and she captured my plane as it came in for a landing. She was looking out for it since she would be picking me up from the airport.

Thankful for another safe landing.

Three of us ‘sisters’ enjoyed dinner out at the Black Trumpet in Huntington Beach before retiring for the evening.

The French Onion Soup was delicious and I’m sorry I didn’t take a photo before I destroyed the top of it!

Today (Friday) my sister Vera and I will have a walk along the Pacific Ocean. June Gloom is still happening here so I’m not sure what photos I’ll be snapping.

Our brother from Texas arrives tonight.

Saturday will be a day filled with many reunions with friends and family as we celebrate the life of our friend Alice.

Our daughter Katie with Alice at Katie’s bridal shower.

Our mom and our life long friend Alice. They are both in heaven now.

Rex Hotel

On our last night of our Land That We Love Tour we had our favorite meal at the Buffalo Block Prime Steakhouse at the Rex in Billings, Montana. The barbecue we had in Kentucky was real good, too, but Buffalo Block won out with the ambiance.

We chose this spot to eat because the Historic Rex Hotel caught our eye. Dear’s dad’s name is Rex and he was born in Montana and we enjoyed paying homage to him while in the Treasure State of Montana. Montana is also known as Big Sky Country.