Category Archives: Travel

Joys and Woes Hodgepodge

Speaking of Kentucky this photo is of the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel in Berea, Kentucky. We stayed there on a roadtrip to North Carolina in September of 2021.

Time for this weeks questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Jo!

1. Did you watch the Kentucky Derby this past weekend?  No

Have you ever been to a horse race? No

Ever ridden a horse? Did you enjoy it?

I just barely remember riding a horse once in my early adult years and it was intimidating.

Have you ever been to Kentucky?

Yes, in 2021 on our road trip to a wedding in North Carolina we drove through Kentucky making stops in Louisville, Shelbyville, Williamstown for The Ark Encounter and on our way out we stayed in Berea at the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel on a college campus.

Do you like Bourbon? 

The bourbon aficionado in the family is Dear and he enjoys it in all it’s forms. Straight or on the rocks or an Old Fashioned, a Black Manhattan, or with a touch of Amaretto. He is not a big fan of the mint julep.

While we were in Kentucky we did schedule one tour at the Bulleit Distillery and enjoyed it and we got the best recommendation for barbecue at the Red State Barbecue in Lexington.

2.  What’s something you wish you’d placed in a time capsule fifteen years ago? 

My very first little white flip phone that was kind of smart.

3. Are you adventurous? Elaborate. 

I am adventurous with conditions. Although I’ve managed to get around on my own in Milan, Italy, while Greg was there for business, foreign countries that are not English speaking are not in my comfort zone. When and if we are able to travel for pleasure, we will always choose the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S.A. I can comfortably travel to places I’ve never been to before in those countries.

I can be adventurous in the kitchen with trying new things.

Truth be told, the older I get the less adventurous I’m becoming.

4. Something you want to make this year? It can be a new recipe, craft, diy project, a milestone you’ve set for yourself…anything at all. 

I’d like to make more of our Russian heritage recipes and pass them along to the next generation.

5. Cinco de Mayo was also celebrated this past weekend…do you like Mexican food? If so what’s your favorite dish?

Mexican food is comfort food for me. I have lots of favorites starting with good salsa. I enjoy street tacos, burritos, chimichangas, carne asada, chile colorado, and other dishes. My favorite is whatever I’m in the mood for that day.

Have you ever been to Mexico? 

Yes. I’ve only been to Tijuana and Tecate along the border with the U.S.A. and there is a long story as to why and what we did there.

Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles we enjoyed Mexican culture and friendships. My elementary school celebrated Mexican cultural days and one of our field trips was to Olvera Street. I can also remember the smell of pinto beans being cooked on the burner in our Mexican neighbor’s kitchen.

Olvera Street, commonly known by its Spanish name Calle Olvera, is a historic pedestrian street in El Pueblo de Los Ángeles, the historic center of Los Angeles.

In California we studied the California Missions in fourth grade. The elementary school that our sons attended in Ventura, California was named after Father Junipero Serra. He is credited with being the founder of the California missions.

Margarita-yes or no?

On the rocks, no salt, please.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I’m slowly going through my blog posts and weeding out photos so that I can to get down below my photo limit. OYE! If that wasn’t enough, now my blogroll on my sidebar has disappeared from view.  I get a failed to load plug-ins message. This is very inconvenient and takes a lot of time to try to remedy.

Hope all is well in your corners!

 

Planning with the Hodgepodge

The photo above is of me on an old bridge in Scotland in 1973 or 1974. It is too bad that I do not know where in Scotland this was taken. This was during one of the summers we toured with our Christian ‘Rock’ Music Group.

Thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. When did you last have cancelled plans? Were you happy about that or disappointed? 

Nothing recently that I can think of. Our 2020 trip to England was the big trip where our airfare and housing was purchased and we had to cancel because of Covid. We were disappointed and were happier about the cancelled plans when we got totally reimbursed for all we had put out in advance.

2. On a scale of 1-10 how much of a planner are you? 

1= I go where the wind takes me  
10=I’ve got a power point on it, no matter what it is
I can let the wind take me on small whim day trips. When we look out the window at a beautiful day and have nothing on our calendar, we are free to pick a direction to drive to and just drive stopping when we feel like it.
~
For other trips where either airfare is involved or we drive several days to a destination via car, I’m a obsessed planner! There have been so many things we missed because we just didn’t know it was there. On trips to the United Kingdom there will always be things we miss because of time and energy but I want to know as much as I can to pick and choose what we should not miss.
~
For the day to day stuff, I use a calendar and list of things I need to accomplish in any given week and I love to cross things off on that list.

3. Do you have a menu plan for the week? If so tell us one or two things that are on it. If not, what’s your plan for not having a plan lol? 

Shocking that a Home Economics major has never had a menu plan! I plan a meal as to what is in the fridge and cupboard or head to the store to buy what I need to make an inspired meal or head to somewhere to do a take-out meal. I might have planned better when our kids were little but that was over 30 years ago!

4. The Hodgepodge lands on National Bucket List Day. Do you have a bucket list?

Kind of…

Is it written down or just in your head?

Mostly in my head…

What is one thing on your bucket list? If you don’t have a list, what is one thing you’d add to a list if you did? Yes I’m going to make you think about it. 

Spending some time in the north east part of the U.S. and crossing into Canada going as far as Prince Edward Island.

At present I’m in the detailed gathering of information stage as to where to go and what to see in Scotland. Lord willing, we will be traveling with Josh and Laura to Scotland in September. Once we nail down our dates and flights the real planning can begin with bookings, etc.  Part of my gathering of information is reading a book about John Knox.

5. Rain buckets, a drop in the bucket, couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, sweat buckets, cry buckets…which ‘bucket’ idiom applies to your life in some way currently? 

Currently, a drop in the bucket seems appropriate as we are entering weeding season and my efforts are always just a drop of what could be done!

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

A couple photos from 2004 when we were in Scotland with our daughter Katie.

We were also in Scotland in 2006. Both of these times were before we had digital cameras.

Happy Hodgepodge to all of you!

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.

Traveling

Lets talk about Travel…

1. How far have you gone from home and where did you go?

The farthest I’ve been from home is Milan, Italy. I traveled there in 2013 with my husband who was sent there by his company for a medical conference. While he worked I explored Milan. Before the conference began the two of us were able to travel by train to Lake Como to the city of Varenna and enjoyed a very windy cold few hours there.

On my own I did a hop on hop off tour and I went by myself to an Inter Milan soccer game at San Siro stadium.

While getting on a subway a group of pick pocketers tried to grab my purse. They work in teams to distract you. Thankfully I was on to them and smacked the hand of the one who reached for my purse and they jumped off the subway just as the doors were closing.

2. Do you think the hassle of travel is worth the trouble?

Most of the time, yes.

3. Are there places you would like to visit or have plans for visiting?

We would like to visit some areas of the United States like the Northeast and National Parks in Utah. In Canada, it would be fun to visit Prince Edward Island. We always enjoy planning our next trip to the U.K. Lord willing we will be able to visit again.

4. What trip was the best you’ve ever had?

The best trips we ever had have been our trips to the United Kingdom. Greg and I met in a Christian band that toured England in the early 70’s.

After we got married we always dreamed about going back. In 2003 we were able to take a trip to London for a week with a few day trips out of London.

In 2004 we returned with our daughter for her graduation trip visiting many of the haunts of her favorite British authors.

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In 2006 we traveled with good friends to Wales, England and Scotland.

In 2013 we were able to return to England with our oldest son and our daughter-in-law. On that trip we traversed a lot of miles and our son got his dream of going to two premier league soccer games.

In 2014 Dear and I returned for a 40th year wedding anniversary trip. If it sounds like we can’t get enough of Great Britain, that’s correct!

We made plans to return to England in 2020 but we all know how travel came to a standstill then. We re-planned that trip for September of 2022 and spent a week in Oxford with extra days in Woodstock.

We arrived in England just after the Queen died.

We returned home and just 6 weeks later Greg had his stroke on November 5th of 2022. We wondered if our traveling days might be over.

We were thankful for yet another trip with our kids to Dublin and England in September of 2023.

Time will tell if it is God’s will that we take another trip this coming September.

What’s the furthest distance from home that you traveled to? What’s your favorite place to travel to? Any travel plans for this year?

What’s Your View Hodgepodge

Joyce, From This Side of the Pond has new questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge to inspire the Thinker in us.

I love this view from August of 2019 when a few of our MGCC (Mennonite Girls Can Cook) friends came to camp in our front acre for a few days. Such a fun time of eating and fellowship together.

1. What kind of thinker are you-doer concrete thinking) analyst (analytical and abstract thinking), orator (logical thinking) inventor (imaginative thinking) or original thinker (creative)? What makes you say so? You can try this little quiz (link here) to help with your answer. 

I scored the highest in Doer/Original Thinker. Get er done people! 🙂

2. Do you own a crock pot, air fryer, and/or instapot? Do you leave said small appliance sitting out? How often do you use it/them? Favorite thing to make in one of these? 

Just a Crock pot. We had an instapot for awhile but I gave it to our kids because it mostly sat in the cupboard. Crock pot is in my pantry. I use it infrequently. I like to use it for a roast or for Carnitas.

3. What’s something you hold a strong opinion on that matters not at all in the grand scheme of things? 

Coffee should be black and unadulterated. No flavored coffee for me, please. Freshly ground, too, please. And strong, please. Make it strong. Is that a strong enough opinion?

4. Describe the view from your window. 

When we were looking for our retirement home in 2018, one of the desires I expressed was to have views out my windows that did not include a neighbor’s carport or any building in close proximity. I’m so grateful for our views. This is our kitchen sink window view. We see trees and mountains and horses and barns in the distance. Sometimes we see haystacks or rolls of hay. Frequently we are visited by deer, turkeys, quail, barn swallows and occasionally we smell a skunk. Just to keep it real we also get that foul smell in the air sometimes because there are lots of cows around us. It reminds us that we live in the country.

5. Do you have a favorite brand? Explain.

Toyota. We love our Toyotas. Our Toyotas have served us well and lasted a long time. Our Toyota Van was the first brand new Toyota we bought in 1985 just before Katie was born. Our 1992 Toyota Corolla all track was such a great car in the snow. We gifted our used Toyotas to our kids and they served them well, too.  Our 1999 Camry was gifted to Katie and Andrew. Katie and I drove it across the U.S. from the Seattle area to Camp LeJeune, Jacksonville N.C. in 2014 to set up an apartment for K & A upon Andrew’s return from Afghanistan. That car made it back from Jacksonville with Katie and Andrew after Andrew’s service was completed and they used it until 2020ish.  That Toyota was then gifted to our Grand Nephew who lives in Southern California. Unfortunately it was totaled in an accident last year. Our Grand Nephew was not injured in that accident and it was not his fault. In total we’ve purchased 5 new Toyotas. We also purchased 4 used Toyotas. Currently we still have our 2007 Camry and we have a 2019 Toyota Highlander.

On our cross country trip in 2014, our first stop from our home in Kenmore for the night was in Bozeman, Montana. When we woke up and looked out the window we saw the car covered with snow. That was not something we anticipated. We put our big girl pants on and soldiered on with God’s help to our next stop in Rapid City, South Dakota.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Seajack 6 pentax-001

This is the rear view mirror of that 1999 Camry looking back on the highway during our epic journey across the USA in 2014. It was fun to look back and remember this trip with my daughter with all it’s twists and turns.

Cousins

Our youngest brother and sister got together with our oldest cousin and his daughter who also live in Texas a couple Saturdays ago. I wanted to document that here. Cousins, the oldest to the youngest on our Father’s side of the family. Our cousin Alex is a widower. He is our oldest cousin. Alex is 91. Leonard and Lana, the youngest, are 60.

Our cousin Alex is seated in the chair on the right. His mother, our pop’s sister Oxahnya, is standing behind our paternal grandparents. This photo was taken in Persia. Our Aunt remarried the man to the left of her in Persia. Her first husband didn’t leave Russia with her. After marrying Ivan Voloshin she had 3 more children. She died from complications during the birth of her third child with Ivan. Her son by her first husband, our cousin Alex, was then raised by our grandparents. Alex was 11 years younger than our Pop. They remained close after immigrating to the USA and settling in the Los Angeles area. Alex found his bride, Vera, in the Los Angeles area and our parents were their ‘best man and matron of honor’. We all shared many family times with them. After their girls were raised and married with their own families, Alex and Vera moved to Texas close to their younger daughter. Vera unexpectedly died from an aneurysm in 2007. Alex faithfully kept in touch with our mom and pop after moving to Texas with a weekly phone call. When he traveled back to the Southern California area he always visited our parents.

President’s Day

I found this book at Goodwill in 2007, Lincoln’s Devotional.

The newly-found book of daily Scriptural messages and inspirational verse in which Abraham Lincoln signed his name – a book he used and cherished, revealing a faith you can share.

This copy was copyrighted in 1957.

This book has short devotionals for every day of the year. February has devotionals called, ‘Believer’s Evidences’.

Here is #8

Confession of Christ

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 1 John 4:15

I’ll tell to all poor sinners round,
How great a Savior I have found;
I’ll point to his redeeming blood,
And say, “Behold the way to God.”

And one more

The True Believer;

The Believer the Object of Divine Love

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 1 John iv. 9.

Pause, my soul, adore and wonder,
Ask, Oh, why such love to me?
Grace hath put me in the number
Of the Saviour’s family:
Hallelujah!
Thanks, eternal thanks to thee.

The photo above is a collage of two photos from the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. The statue of George Washington gets such great light reflection from the stained glass window during certain times of the day. I was happy to be able to capture it when we were there in May of 2011.

If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. 

~George Washington

So my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.

~Abraham Lincoln

 

If you hail from the United States of America, I wish you a Happy President’s Day from the State of Washington!

Advent Begins 2023

We traveled to the West side of the Cascade mountain range last Wednesday and spent some time with our kids and then traveled north from their home into Canada to attend the annual MGCC Christmas party. I’ll be sharing more about that when I gather all the photos. Our travel was slow and interesting because of the weather.

On the way last Wednesday we encountered Hoarfrost and freezing fog which was very treacherous. We stopped at a couple stores in Spokane and the parking lots were ice skating rinks. We decided against going into Costco because of the danger walking posed and just hit the road to the Seattle side of the mountains. Along the way there were crews cleaning up after accidents with semis who spun out of control because of the slick roads.

We made it safely to Kirkland to our favorite Mexican restaurant and met up with our good friends for a couple hours of catching up. After that on to our kids’ home for the night.

On Thursday we traveled up to Abbotsford, B.C. for our Mennonite Girls Can Cook Christmas party. (A post will be coming soon) We had great interactions with the Border agents on both sides of the line!

On Saturday we had safe travels back to Bothell and had a meal out to celebrate our daughter-in-law’s birthday.

It was so good to be with our ‘westside’ kids to celebrate Auntie LoLo!

On Sunday we packed up the car bright and early and went to the 8am church service with Josh and Laura before hitting the road back to Colville at 9:15 am.

On Sunday Addy sent this message to Auntie Lolo from church in Colville where she would be performing with the children’s choir to start off the season of Advent. I was able to watch the performance on our church’s livestream while on the road heading back to Colville on Sunday since Greg was driving. Addy did an exceptional job with singing and hand motions.

Snoqualmie Pass had accumulated some snow and the driving was treacherous with 35 mile an hour reduced speed limits. Chains were required for cars without 4wd and for the large trucks.

Once over the pass the roads improved and the plows were doing their job nicely.

We made it off the freeway in Spokane with a sigh of relief and only 75 more miles to go.

Colville had a good drop of snow while we were gone and our grands were taking advantage of it.

We finally made it home after 5pm.

Our stars on our deck with our small outdoor manger scene greeted us in some fresh fluffy snow. It was a nice ending to our trip and the first Sunday of Advent. We had so many praying for us on our hard journey and we thank God for his care and for our prayer warriors, too.

Dublin Finale

Our travel journal will come to an end with this post, our last several hours in Dublin on Monday, September 25th.

 

Our tour guide was great and the tour at Jameson was well done and we all enjoyed it.

After our Jameson Tour it was a straight shot along Mary’s Lane to the Church Cafe. We had a great table for the 6 of us right up front in the balcony with the Irish music and dancing right below us.

We had a lovely view of the Stained glass window.

Saint Mary’s (former) Church of Ireland was begun c.1700 to the design of Sir William Robinson and was completed by his successor, Thomas Burgh. It was the first classical parish church in the city and was the site of Arthur Guinness’s marriage in 1761. Wolfe Tone was baptized here and the church also witnessed John Wesley’s first Irish sermon.

The triumphal east window was designed at least in part by Robinson and has a grace and vivacity unusual in a city largely bypassed by Baroque influences. The style is supported by the tracery windows and represents the only extant exterior Baroque flourish in Dublin city. The plan form adds further to the site’s unique identity, with the convex quadrants being a departure from the usual rectilinear shapes found in similar churches, contributing a distinctive design and striking presence.

Lord how I love the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord

Holiness becometh thy house O Lord forever.

I felt torn that this church didn’t survive for whatever reason but am pleased that it wasn’t torn down. The Stained glass window still echoes some of God’s truth for those with eyes to see.

We all enjoyed our dinner here and when it came to dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding was on our minds. The Church Cafe did not have it on the menu so Andrew googled and found a restaurant in the Temple Bar area of Dublin that had it on the menu. We decided we would enjoy that to top off our last full day in Dublin so we walked across the river to the Temple Bar area.

How great it was to see this particular bar that was one of the jigsaw puzzles I completed before we traveled to Dublin.

The restaurant that was serving Sticky Toffee Pudding was packed and getting a seat for six didn’t look promising. With some gentlemanly coaxing, Andrew convinced the staff to fix up two servings for us to enjoy outside around a bench along the way with promises that we would certainly return the plates and utensils. It was a nice way to end our time before we ordered the last Uber of the day to take us back to our hotel for the night. Slainte!

This wraps up my travel journal for our time in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Dublin and England. On Tuesday the 26th of September we had our buffet breakfast in the hotel, checked out and traveled by Uber to the Dublin Airport for our 9-10 hour flight home. We went through customs in Dublin so we did not have to be delayed at all after landing in Seattle. Andrew and Katie drove straight home from the airport in Seattle and we drove back to Josh and Laura’s for the night with a stop for dinner at their local Mexican Restaurant. We settled in for the night to try to sleep before our next day departure by car over the mountains to our home.  When we woke up earlier than expected due to Jet Lag we loaded up and drove home. Thankful for God’s providence in reaching our driveway safe and sound or half sound. Jet Lag is real!

Thank you for coming along on our journey.