Category Archives: Travel

Coeur D’Alene Resort

When we checked into the resort we were informed that they had given us an upgrade to a room with a partial lake view. This was our partial view and we enjoyed it. Our room was on the 17th floor with only the Penthouse above us. Sunday was a beautiful day.

As the sun was setting…

We enjoyed our restaurant experience at Beverly’s on the 7th floor of the resort. We started with Calamari. I ordered a salad and French Onion Soup and Dear ordered the Rib-Eye and shared some of the meat with me.

 

This over the top ice cream surrounded by cotton candy arrived at our table with Happy Anniversary wishes.

After my dessert drink arrived our server informed us that our meal had been paid for by our children. They had called the restaurant ahead of time to arrange that. We were so surprised and grateful for their thoughtfulness. Brought tears to my eyes.

After dinner we got our coats and gloves on to go out and walk along the docks to enjoy the extensive Christmas lights that the Resort puts up. It was well below freezing so we kept walking with few pauses.

The following collages will give you an idea of what we saw.

The interior of the hotel was nicely decorated as well.

This could be a good alternative for a Santa photo in this year of no sitting on Santa’s lap.

On Tuesday morning we watched the sun come up or tried to see the sunrise but soon the fog rolled in and socked us in. These two shots of the water taxi and looking east toward Montana were the clearest shots of the morning.

The hotel staff and restaurant staff all wore masks. Overall our Anniversary was wonderful and it was refreshing to get a night away and to be served a delicious meal in a fine restaurant.

On our drive home we made a few stops at HomeGoods, Harbor Freight, and TJMaxx.

Thank you to everyone for all your kind Anniversary wishes.

Ever Lovin Saturday…

Looking back to some photos dating back to 2009. Our daughter at Forest Lawn in Glendale. Hoping we all can travel to the end of the maze we are on and come out better than we were before. If you find yourself in Southern California sometime in the future a trip to Glendale Forest Lawn will afford you lots of great art.

The statue of David with a little perspective on just how huge it is.

Indeed!

These 5 photos are just a taste of what you can see.

Hope you all have a great Saturday.

Over the Columbia and Through the Cascades…

…to fa-mi-lies homes we go.

We arrived at sister Lana’s and BIL Steve’s house about 5:30 in the afternoon on Monday the 5th of October where dinner would be delivered by the family crew staying at our son Josh and DIL Laura’s.  My sister Kathy’s family was staying at Josh and Laura’s home. My brother Leonard’s family would be staying at Steve and Lana’s for their time on that side of the mountains. I would be staying with our daughter Katie and her hubby Andrew.

Our crew that drove the 400 miles brought a special cabbage salsa our Daughter in law Jamie made for our meal together. We all enjoyed it with chips as an appetizer. Sadly our Colville kids could not make the trip this time around. Addy was disappointed that I would be seeing Auntie LoLo but she could not. Everyone found a spot to sit and enjoy their chili, cornbread, honey butter, and fruit salad.

This was the beginning of several days packed with activities, meals together and many good conversations.

Regrouping

Back home after spending a few days on the “Coast” with all these loved ones. It took me seven hours to get home on Thursday with a couple stops at Home Depot and Costco in Spokane. I’m a bit slow in the brain but I hope to be refreshed soon to share some of the joy that has been experienced this past week.

At the RV Park

Last Thursday we met up with my brother’s family at the Tamarack RV Park in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for an overnight before we guided them up to our home. It was so good to finally see them in person. The last time we were together was at our Pop’s funeral in 2018.

We were impressed with all the steps that need to be taken to settle a RV in.

Andrew was excited to show me his skateboarding skills.

We made a quick trip to Costco and brought in a meal of Rotisserie Chicken, Mac n Cheese, Caesar salad and fresh baked bread. We had the meal together in the cabin that Dear and I rented in the same RV park.

Me and my brother.  I’m #4 in our sibling order and my brother Leonard is #8. There’s a twelve year difference in our ages.

We all made it safely to Colville and the Reflection will be parked in our front acres for a few weeks before my brother’s family leaves for their journey south through Oregon and California.

While they are in Washington they will travel without the RV to a couple of our National Parks and of course get their obligatory family selfie photo in front of the Capital building in Olympia. They are trying to see as many National Parks as they can and they are also trying to make it to the capital of each state they visit. While on the West side of the Cascades they are staying with our sister Lana and her husband. Leonard and Lana are twins.

More to come from our time in Colville and the Western part of Washington.

I’m on the road again today so I won’t be participating in the Wednesday Hodgepodge.

Belated Birthday Celebration

We enjoyed a belated birthday dinner and overnight in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on Wednesday September 30th. We strolled along Sherman Ave. before our dinner reservation at 4:00.

Our kids gifted us a certificate to eat at Tony’s on the Lake, an Italian restaurant across from Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Filet for Dear and Osso Buco for me and it was oh so good.

We stayed the night at Blackwell Hotel, An old grand house turned into a Boutique Hotel. It is right on Sherman Ave. It has all the creaks and wood banisters to prove it’s old.

When we checked out of this hotel we headed north just a bit to stay in an RV park that my brother’s family rolled into on October 1st. We spent the night and then all of us headed to our country bungalow on Friday. More tales to come.

Where in the World…

…is our traveling family?

My youngest brother and his family are having an RV adventure around the USA (Wholly-Rollin) for who knows how long. My sister Lana and her hubby Steve met up with them in South Dakota the 16th through the 19th of September and here are a couple photos I “borrowed” from them. Leonard, Mandy, Hope and Andrew will soon make it to our neck of the woods the beginning of October. Hope and Andrew are being RV schooled enjoying God’s amazing creations around the USA. They have just left the Yellowstone Area and the Grand Tetons heading to Montana.

Leonard and Lana, the babies of our family. They are twins. The Black Hills of South Dakota.

Meanwhile back in our neck of the woods,  Jaymison and Addyson enjoying the beginning of Autumn.

Addy is enjoying a carrot fresh out of the garden and JJ is always pleased to be seated on any piece of machinery!

After I got the framework of the puzzle done and a lot of the interior done, Dear helped me finish up this Matryoshka Doll puzzle. He did leave the final pieces for me. It was a tough one but satisfying to see it completed. This is our 7th COVID-19 puzzle in the books!

Have you taken up puzzles lately? Do you grow carrots in your garden? Are you part of the RVing world? What’s the favorite place you’ve traveled to in the USA?

9/11 Spirit of America Memorial

God Bless America, Land that I love, Stand beside her and guide her thru the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam. God bless America, My home, sweet home.

This to date has been the most elaborate memorial we have seen in remembrance of all the lives lost on that tragic day in 2001, a day we all remember as 9/11. The Official County of Chelan Memorial of 9/11 called 9/11 Spirit of America Memorial and The Cashmere Veterans War Memorial are both on this site.

“We Must Never Forget”

9/11 Memorial

The 9/11 Memorial is dedicated to the first responders and victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania that killed 2,996 and brought down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

The HB 9/11 Memorial has a pentagon shaped base with two slabs of black granite representing the twin towers set in a cement wall. The words “We Will Never Forget” are set in brass letters contained on the cement wall between the two towers. The monument includes a plate and a section of steel beam from the World Trade Center. The base of the memorial has the names of the four airline flights lost in the attacks engraved on its sides.

I took these photos at the Huntington Beach Civic Center back in March while visiting family in Southern California. Vera and I stopped at the center so she could purchase her annual beach parking pass. While she was busy in the building I walked around and took photos.

Sharing this early on 9/8/2020. We stopped at another memorial on our way back from the Coast in June and I’ll share those photos on Friday.

Plead the Fifth Hodgepodge

Time for Wednesday Hodgepodge with a big thank you to Joyce for coming up with the questions!

1. Five years ago this month hubs and I relocated from New Jersey to the Palmetto State. What were you doing five years ago this month?

We were still recovering from Dan and Jamie’s wedding and festivities. The weather was not typical for that time of year and a record was set at their wedding. It was 104 degrees at their outdoor wedding. After we recovered we continued on house projects with no hint that we would be selling and re-locating to the northeastern part of our state from the Seattle area. We were concerned about fires close to Dan and Jamie that destroyed the out buildings and some vehicles on one of the groomsmen’s property. The fire came right up to his home without burning his home down but the heat was so intense it melted the mini blinds. Lots of smoke damage.

This was the fire heading up to the home. This section of hillside is still recovering from the fire.

2. What was the last 9-5 job you worked? Tell us about it.

Well I can’t call teaching a 9 to 5 job and other jobs I had after since my teaching job don’t fall into a 9 to 5 category so my last “punch in punch out” job was at Certified Grocers in Commerce, California. (1973-1975) I started as a temp in filing and they hired me full-time and I wasn’t able to get my full salary until the temp agency was paid a finders fee. Ugh. Even though I had my teaching credential at this time it was hard to come by a teaching job. I finally got a teaching position and resigned from Certified Grocers. Oh and my first teaching assignment at Garfield Elementary (Montebello Unified School District) was 2nd grade and my classroom was on the stage of the cafeteria. So one of the walls of my classroom was a stage curtain. Yep…that happened. They finally brought a portable classroom on campus and my class was able to move into the portable.

3. Plead the fifth, high five, take five, it’s five o’clock somewhere, or the big 5-0…which number five phrase relates to your life in some way currently? Tell us how.

I’m going to have to go with Plead the Fifth. It seems that my opinions and convictions right now would land me in hot water with the political and social justice elite. My lips are sealed with the general public but it’s nice to have some lively discussions with people who are like minded and won’t condemn me for my thoughts.

4. During this season of spending so much time at home, what distractions get in the way of being your most productive? Or have you been extra productive since this whole thing started?

Plans make me the most productive and since it’s hard to make plans to do anything in these uncertain times I’ve been very unproductive. Mowing the lawn is the most regular and productive thing I do.

5. Give us a list here of your top five anything.

The Top Five places I would visit over and over again:

  1. Most anywhere in Great Britain like the Cotswolds, Oxford, York, Wales just to name a few.
  2. Family and friends wherever they may be.
  3. Lavender Festival in Sequim Washington
  4. Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley Washington
  5. Pacific Coast Beaches in the Winter

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I thank our sovereign God for allowing us to enjoy these two grandchildren in our older years!

Thank you to our kids for sending texts with these photos!

August is ticking away and thankfully we are cooling down a little after a few blistering hot days!