Our Trip to Washington D.C. Part I

We have returned home from our trip to Washington D.C.  We had a very nice time seeing the sites. We returned to some of the same places we saw last summer and saw some new things too.  We made some good memories with our youngest son Josh who came with us.  

I have said before that I do not enjoy flying.  I do not like the entire process from ticketing and baggage check to going through the TSA to waiting endlessly in crowded terminals for flights that get delayed.  Fortunately on this trip, all of the flights went pretty well.  We took an Uber to the airport in Salt Lake City very early (3 a.m.) on the Monday morning we left.  From there, the process went pretty smoothly.  Our plane was on time and the flight was smooth.  Our first flight was from Salt Lake City to Dallas, then we had a quick connection from Dallas to Ronald Reagan Airport in Alexandria, Virginia, right new Washington D.C..  Both flights were on time and we were in Virginia by about 2:30 p.m. EST.  Here are some pictures from the window of the plane as we were coming in to land.  This is the Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia area.  

This is a view of  Alexandria not far from the airport. 

This is the plane flying along the Potomac River.  The big gray area in the middle is actually the Pentagon, although it is hard to make out.  

We decided to rent a car this trip, something we haven't done before because the time-share condo where we stay is near the Metro train, but this time we wanted to see some things farther away and not in the city.  We ended up renting this Toyota Corolla which was fine and got us where we wanted to go. 

We stayed at the Wyndham in Old Town Alexandria, which is the same place we stayed last year.  It is basically a very nice two bedroom, two bath apartment, with all the amenities.  We bought our Wyndham timeshares many years ago on the aftermarket for a small fraction of what the timeshare sales people wanted.  I know some people say that timeshares are terrible, but we got our weeks super cheap (literally about 10%  - or 90% off of the retail price) and the places that we stay are comfortable work well for us and we don't regret buying them.  

I had purchased tickets for a "Big Bus" tour of Washington D.C. through Groupon.  I thought I was getting a great deal and that this would be the perfect way to go around the mall and see everything without having to walk.  I would not get "Big Bus" tickets again (that's the name of the tour company). The buses were old double decker buses with no air conditioning on the top level and spotty air conditioning on the bottom level.  The "tour" was a pre-recorded text that you had to wear earbuds to hear. The buses did take us around to the different monuments on the mall and we got out and walked, then we could catch at later bus to go to the next monument, but the buses on the tour didn't really run on time and we waited a long time for the next bus to come. I also found out that there were also city buses that did basically the same thing for MUCH less.  Oh well, live and learn.  

Here are some more pictures of the monuments and memorials we saw on the mall.  We did not visit all of the monuments.  It was too hot and the "Big Bus tour" last bus did not run very late, so we just got off at a few monuments, Jefferson, Washington and Lincoln.  Wish we could have seen more.  Charly also had a little mishap when he fell off of a wall near the Washington Monument. Long Story.  He was OK, but sore and slower than usual after that, and it was too hot to walk the entire mall.  It was very crowded there that day as well, and a number of the monuments were undergoing construction and renovations.  

We made it over to Arlington National Cemetery with the tour, but by that time it was late afternoon and unbelievably hot and humid.  Charly decided to stay in the visitor's center because he and I had spent an entire afternoon at the cemetery last year.  Josh and I walked through the cemetery and saw the graves of the Kennedys, Arlington House (home of Robert E. Lee) and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Arlington National Cemetery is a very special and sacred place.

Later we went to our favorite D.C. area eatery for dinner.  Bob and Edna's is a 24-hour, 1950s era diner that has some of the best all American food I have ever had.  Here is the cheeseburger and fries I had.  It was absolutely delicious! 

We even got dessert, something we rarely do when eating out.  Charly and I split a piece of walnut pie and had ice cream on the side.  No joke, it was the absolute best walnut pie I had ever had, and the ice cream was excellent as well.  

Although not perfect, our first full day in D.C. was a good one with some great memories.  We had planned to go out with the rental car in the evening, but walking around in the heat wore us all down, so we went back to the condo, read and turned in early so we could have a good start on the next day.  I will share pictures and memories from that day in my next post. 

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"One's destination is never a place,

but a new way of seeing things."

~Henry Miller

 

July Reading Roundup

Happy HOT July!  It seems to be super hot everywhere right now, and when it's hot outside, being inside where it's cooler, with a good book, is a great place to be. This month I read or listened to six books (I read three and listened to three).  Four were nonfiction, and all four were memoirs. Two were novels.  I gave two of my July reads 5/5 stars on Goodreads which means they were excellent and I highly recommend them.  Here is a brief review and my thoughts about each of the six books I finished during July. 

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing ****

by Matthew Perry

I don't usually read celebrity memoirs or biographies, but this one came up on my Libby app from the local library that I use for audiobooks, and I thought I'd give it a try. Another blogger I follow recently read it, and I remember watching Friends and being a fan during the first couple of seasons it was on.  This book is exactly what the title says it is, Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing on Friends) recounting his life story, with an emphasis on his time on the #1 TV show in the 90s and early 2000s.  He also writes, in detail about all the women he dated and had sex with, and of course, the "Big Terrible Thing" in his life which is his addiction to drugs and alcohol.  Perry doesn't seem to hold back much in this memoir.  Although Perry seems whiny and entitled at times in the book, he also comes across as being very honest in telling his story.  I found the book quite interesting, although I didn't like all of the name dropping because I don't follow celebrities and didn't know who many of the people he wrote about were.  Another thing I didn't like was the language.  There are LOTS of unnecessary F***-bombs in the book. I did like that Perry relates his experiences with a higher power, who he calls God, and who he credits with saving his life multiple times.  He unabashedly talks about praying, receiving answers, and feeling the presence of God.  I respect that when most celebrities and  people in Hollywood don't seem to believe and are even avowed atheists.  In the end, I think the book was worth listening to and I wish Matthew (who will always be Chandler to me) much success with his life-long battle with his "Big Terrible Thing".  I gave the book 4/5 stars on Goodreads and listened to the audiobook checked out from the library via the Libby app. 

At the Edge of the Orchard *****

by Tracy Chevalier

This is a decent historical fiction novel about the Goodenough family who settles in Ohio after leaving Connecticut in the 1830s. The family, with a highly dysfunctional, alcoholic mother and a farmer father who loves growing apple trees and does his best to support and keep his family together.  John Chapman (historic Johnny Appleseed) is a character in the first part of the novel and was actually the reason I was attracted to the book.  Johnny Appleseed is not the main character however, and the story focuses on the youngest son in the family Robert, and how he strikes out on his own when violence takes the lives of his parents.  Robert ends up in California in the 1850s, where he pans for gold for a while and then discovers Giant Sequoias and a beautiful place now known as Big Tree State Park in the Sierra Nevadas.  This is a lovely story of nature, love and family that is different from anything I have ever read. The story gracefully meanders through three decades and across the continent as a young man searches for and eventually finds what he did not know he even wanted.  I read and own a hard copy version of this book, which I plan to hang onto because it is an excellent book.  I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads.  

Hand to Mouth ***

by Linda Tirado

This is a memoir of sorts about being poor in America.  The author tells of her experiences as a working class mother of two who had a series of low paying jobs. While the author writes about problems and pitfalls that lower income people face (presumably based on her own experiences) but she does not reveal exactly how she got into poverty after growing up with so much privilege that she went to elite boarding schools. She doesn't give any hope or encouragement that people who are part of the "working poor" might eventually be able to have better jobs or get out of poverty.  The book itself was interesting, and it gave me empathy for the low paid service workers that we all encounter on a daily basis, but I would also like to hear the rest of the story where Tirado tells about her left leaning political activism, and her rise to become an author and award-winning journalist before she was 40.  In short, the audiobook was interesting to listen to on a long drive, but upon further reflection, is it seems that the author had a political agenda in writing about her experiences in poverty.  There was also A LOT of F***-bombs in the book and the author very openly gives her opinions about sex, so this is isn't the best audiobook to listen to with small children.  I listened to the audiobook which I got on the library Libby App and I gave the book 3/5 stars on Goodreads. 

Searching for Sunday ***

by Rachel Held Evans

I didn't know anything about Rachel Held Evans when this book come up as "suggested for me" on my library Libby App. The audiobook was available for checkout so I decided to give it a try.  This book is supposed to be a memoir of the author growing up in a Southern Baptist church congregation which she later became disillusioned with mostly because her church believed and supported marriage between one man and one woman.  Evans and her husband then left their Southern Baptist roots and, along with some other disillusioned progressive Christian friends tried to start another church, with worship services that sounded more like a wine and cheese tasting group than an actual church.  Although the church they started tried to do some good in the world, or at least in their neighborhood, ultimately, the church folded and the small group of members went their separate ways.  Evans was in and out of churches as she looked for "the one" that she felt most agreed with her not-necessarily-Biblical opinions on theology and politics.  At the end of the book, she revealed that she was attending, but not joining,  an Episcopal Church.  

While the book is interesting and it was an easy book to listen to (the author read her own audiobook), it also seemed like a collections of somewhat disjointed experiences that only reinforced her opinions and led her to believe what she already believed.  It reminded me of the psychological phenomenon that our brains look for evidence to reinforce what we already believe.  That is exactly what the author does in this book.  She does not look to scripture for answers to her questions.  She looks only to reinforce her already held beliefs.  I like listening to the author reading her own prose. She uses A TON of metaphors in the book, which, in some places becomes tiring.  When she thanked Glennon Doyle and Jen Hatmaker in the acknowledgements for their guiding influence, I realized that like Doyle and Hatmaker, it is not Christianity or Jesus that Evans is seeking, but the reinforcement of her own ideas and political beliefs. I did like the writing in the book. Rachel Held Evans (who sadly died in 2019 at the age of 37) was a talented writer and for this reason, I gave the book 3/5 stars on Goodreads. I listened to the audiobook, and I own a paperback version of this book.

Fall From Pride ****

by Karen Harper

Every now and then, I enjoy reading an Amish mystery because they can be interesting and enjoyable, and I don't have to worry about reading gratuitous sex, violence or obscenities.  It has been quite a while since the last Amish book I read, so when a blogging friend, Kathy at Looking at Life Through My Bifocals recommended this book, I found a copy and started reading. This book had some mystery and romance, and generally wasn't as completely predictable as most Amish books.  The plotline deals with a young Amish woman, Sarah,  with an artistic gift that she is not allowed to fully use by the Amish religious hierarchy. She is allowed, however, to design and paint quilt squares on Amish barns to attract outside visitors to the area. When one of the barns she has painted a design on is burned by arson, a young fire investigator, Nate, comes to try and solve the crime.  Of course, Sarah and Nate fall hard for each other even though Nate is not Amish and Sarah would never be allowed to be with him. As more Amish barns are burned to the ground by a mysterious arsonist, the fire between Sarah and Nate also grows. How will the book end?  Will the Amish arsonist ever be caught?  Will Sarah leave her family and Amish community and follow her heart? Will Nate decide to join the Amish community to be with Sarah?  I won't say it was the best book I ever read, but the plot kept moving along and it was enjoyable so I gave it 4/5 stars on Goodreads.  Goodreads doesn't allow for 1/2 stars, but this book is actually closer to 3.5/5 stars  I read a paperback copy of the book which I own.   

The Love You Save: A Memoir *****

by Goldie Taylor

This book is a memoir by journalist and civil-rights activist Goldie Taylor, is about her childhood and teenage years growing up in St. Ann, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois.  I was intrigued when my blog friend Faith over at Gold in the Clouds read and reviewed this book, because my family lived in the St. Louis area for five years back in the 1990s.  So many of the places that the author mentions in this memoir were familiar to me.  East St. Louis, Illinois, where Goldie spent most of the time she writes about, is over 96% black.  Once the 4th largest city in Illinois with a population of over 82,000, the population has now fallen to just over 18,000.  When we lived in the area (east of East St. Louis by Scott  Air Force Base), we were told that East St. Louis was a high-crime "no man's land" that we should avoid at all costs and Goldie Taylor confirms this in her book.  She tells the story of growing up with a widowed mother (her father was murdered) who sent Goldie away to live with her aunt and uncle in East St. Louis after Goldie was raped at just 11 years old. She was later raped again by a cousin while living with her aunt and uncle.  Despite the trauma of the sexual assaults, some physical and emotional abuse by the adults in her life, and the trauma of constantly feeling abandoned by her mother, Goldie goes on to achieve academic success in one of the poorest and most underachieving school districts in the nation.  Her aunt and uncle, as well as maternal grandmother and paternal grandparents, step in as sort of surrogate parents to her, and though they are all imperfect and flawed, they seem to do their best and give Goldie the love, discipline and structure she needs to achieve great things and be successful in life.  This memoir is raw and real and comes across as honest in the picture it gives of growing up black in a area filled with blight, crime and poverty.  Although there were things in the the book that were hard to read about, it was a book that I wanted to keep going back to and I read it in only a few days.  There were a few places where it seemed that something had been left out but that may have been the result of some errors in editing, but I still gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads.  I read the book on the Kindle App on my phone, and checked the text out through my Libby Library App. 

That's it for my July Reading Roundup.  Are you reading anything good this summer?  I am always looking for recommendations!  

Until next time, 

😊📚Deb📚💖

 

Best of the Week - Friday Favorites

It's always good to look back on the good that transpires each week.  To do just that, I am joining once again with Susanne and friends over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five.

😊 On Monday, I met up with a friend for lunch and after our meal, we went to this antique/thrift store together.  My friend loves antique and thrift stores and she always knows the best ones to visit. This place was jam-packed with fun things and treasures, and their prices weren't bad! I am grateful that I could get together with my friend for lunch and visit a fun store with her as well.  We always enjoy our time together. 

😊 I found these very cool treasures at the antique store - a book by one of my favorite authors, Clarence Day.  He wrote Life With Father, which I read and immediately fell in love with over 30 years ago.  The delightful book was also made into a movie and a play.  This volume which I found at the antique shop has Life With Father and several other books by Clarence Day all in one book.  The pillow cases I found are hand embroidered with tatting (almost a lot art) on the edges.  My adopted grandmother used to make pillow cases like these, so I could resist getting them.  I actually returned the next day to get several more pair which I will give as gifts.  I am always grateful to find lovely treasures that bring back good memories. 

😊 We now have the internet at our house, and that means that our Ring Doorbell and garage security cameras are working.  I am thankful to have the Wifi at our house and also the added layer of security afforded by the cameras. 

😊 We had another hot week, but also a couple of cooler days with some rain, that made things a little more bearable.  I am always thankful for rain and a summer cool-off.  

😊 Progress is being made in the upstairs bathroom at our house.  Our tile contractor had a death in the family and was gone for a couple of days, but he promises that this bathroom will be finished by the time the moving van brings the rest of our furniture to the house.  I am thankful for that. 

😊 This is the shower in our downstairs bathroom now, which also represents progress because before the new can go up, the old must go down.  I am thankful that our renovations continue to move forward.  as Mark Twain said, "The secret of making progress is to get started."

That's it for this week and for a while.  I am finally going to take that blog break until we get moved into the house. Have a good weekend.  

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: 

It must be produced and discharged and 

used up in order to exist at all.”

—William Faulkner

Currently this Sunday

It's been another busy and sometimes frustrating week of renovations and moving.  Here is what going on here in my world right now. 

The weather is HOT.  We were over 100 today and more of the same is expected this week.  We are under an "excessive heat warning" here in Utah.  

We drove over to our house this afternoon after lunch, and it was 102.  On the nightly new weather forecast, it was announced that in this area is was 106 today.  That's a record for this day here in Salt Lake City. I don't do well in the heat, so these kind of temperatures are not my favorite. 

I'm reading my various scripture study books and an Amish mystery, Fall from Pride by Karen Harper.  Honestly, I am too exhausted at the end of every day to read much before bed, so unfortunately, I am really not getting much reading done this summer.  

I've been listening to an audiobook, Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans and a couple of podcasts, Fireside Chat with Dennis Prager and Follow Him, which is a scripture study podcast.   I am almost finished with the audiobook and will include it in my July Reading Roundup. 

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and frustrated. We still have so much to do before our move-in date of August 2.  The remodeling of the upstairs bathroom has slowed because our tile contractor had a death in his family last week.  We are hoping that he can catch things up and finish the tile this coming week.  We are having trouble getting the internet connected at the house, which means that our Ring security cameras aren't working yet.  We made four trips to the Xfinity (Comcast) store to try and work out the problem.  Turning on the internet through the Xfinity app is not working the way it is supposed to, so finally, they agreed to send a tech out to our house on Monday to see what is going on.  I know these things will all be resolved eventually, but right now, I just feel overwhelmed with it all. 

I'm loving that our new church congregation is much more diverse than our old one - in race, ethnicity and age.  We have a good mix of young families and older people, as well as single, widowed, divorced and married.  I love it when a church congregation is composed of people from many different backgrounds and circumstances, brought together by faith and love for Jesus. 

(source)

I'm thinking about our end of the summer trip to Washington D.C..  In some ways, I'm looking forward to it, and in some ways, I stressing about it because we have so much going on right now.  We have had the trip planned and paid for since last year, so we are going to go ahead with it, and I think that in many ways it will be good to get away from the renovation stress and construction mess at the house.  I am unabashedly patriotic about the United States of America and it has been my goal to ensure that all of my children see and experience Washington D.C..  Josh is the last one who has not seen Washington D.C. and he is coming with us on this trip.   I am hoping and praying that the trip goes well and that we can still meet all of our renovation and moving deadlines. 

In the kitchen I made a potato/ham/cheese casserole for Sunday dinner and had spring mix salad and steamed broccoli with it. 

I'm grateful for being able to renew my drivers license online.  The state of Utah actually charges more if a person renews in person at one of the DMV offices.  Renewing online was quicker and more convenient that I expected it to be.  

I'm also thankful for good working central air conditioners at both our house and condo.  I don't know what I would do in this heat without air conditioning. 

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by.  Stay cool and safe and have a good week. 

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, 

always bring your own sunshine."

~Anthony J. D'Angelo

Hot July Week Favorites and Gratitude

 

I haven't joined in on Friday's Fave Five with Susanne and friends who link over at Living to Tell the Story or with Stacy at A Miles in My Shoes, for a few weeks due to our move and a couple of road trips, but I had a few minutes this afternoon and decided to take time to remember the good things about this past week with gratitude.  

😊 As we continue to go through our possessions with a critical eye,  we have found more things we can do without.  One morning this past week, I posted several things we had in our yard for sale on Facebook Marketplace. We had sold them all by the end of the day.  They included ceramic pots, a pet door (that was here when we bought this place), a ladder (which our neighbor's daughter gave to us when he died), and a yard tool organizer.  I am grateful that we got a little extra $$ and were able to pass along items we didn't need to people who could use them.  

😊  Things we aren't selling, we are donating.  This past week, we found even more things we could take to the our favorite church-run thrift store to donate.  The thrift store we usually donate to does a lot to help those in need including refugees and others who can't afford the basic necessities of life, including providing clothing and household items free of charge and even giving jobs to those in need.  I am thankful to have more than enough so we can get rid of things that might help others. 

😊 Progress continues on our house renovation.  Tile is now going up on the main floor bathroom (the red stuff above the tile is waterproofing in the shower.  There won't be any red paint on the walls).  New window coverings are being delivered and installed on Friday and the electrician is coming back to install security cameras and more plugs in the garage.  All of the contractors we are working with are skilled professionals who are honest and just nice guys. I am grateful that things are progressing with the renovation and that we have good people helping us with it. 

😊 Speaking of security cameras, we were able to get our Ring Doorbell and Ring Floodlight Security Cam at a significant savings (almost 40%) on Amazon Prime Day.  I also got some vitamins and supplements I use and saved a lot on Prime Day. I am always thankful for an opportunity to save some $$$. 

😊 My fig tree loves its new home in the sunny backyard of our house.  It has more little figs developing than it has ever had before.  The plum tree I transplanted from a large planter into the ground in our backyard is also doing well and has quite a bit of new growth.  As person who loves plants, I am grateful that these plants are thriving in our new yard.

😊 I'm also grateful for quick, easy and delicious summer meals.  These chicken street tacos were a yummy meal for Charly and I on a hot night. I got the complete kit for these tacos at Costco. 

Those are some of my favorite things about this past week. There are always good things to be grateful for. Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good weekend.  

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"Gratitude is the sign of noble souls."

~Aesop

 

Sunday Update

It's  been an eventful week here in my world.  Here's a Currently update about what's been going on. 

The weather is hot and sunny.  Right now, it is 97 degrees and sunny where I am.  The forecast is for temperatures in the mid to high 90s all week until next weekend when we will be in triple digits.  The heat of summer has arrived. 

I'm reading Fall from Pride, an Amish mystery by Karen Harper.  I just started it last week after finishing At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier.  In my Bible reading, I just started 1 Kings in the Old Testament, and I am about mid-way through the book of Acts in the New Testament. 

I've been listening to the audiobook Hand to Mouth by Linda Tirado. Charly and I went on a road trip last week, and this audiobook was interesting to listen to as we drove.  I'll include a review of it in my July Reading Roundup.  

I'm watching The Chosen.  That and a few minutes of the the nightly news is about all I have watched all week. 

I'm loving that we were able to meet up with good friends of our from Arizona last week when they were in Utah for a visit. We met up for lunch and enjoyed catching up for a couple of hours.  They are a lovely couple that were in our church congregation in Arizona. It was sure good to see them.  

I'm thinking about our great trip to Southern Utah last week.  We attended the Utah Shakespeare Festival at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. We attended two excellent Shakespeare performances - Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet.  We went to the Shakespeare Festival in 2021 and I am so glad we could go again.  I think we need to make this an annual trip.  We also went to St. George for a day and that was fun.  We browsed some of our favorite thrift stores down there and looked at a couple of houses because we are still thinking of moving there when I retire.  It was hot - about 104, so we didn't get to do any hiking, although that is one of my favorite things to do in Southern Utah. 

I'm celebrating all of the progress on renovating our house.  The 5th bedroom downstairs (the old basement family room) is now finished, complete with a new closet, paint and flooring.  It looks great!  Progress is also being made on the upstairs bathroom now that the needed materials have all arrived.  The contractor said that tile will be going in this week.  

I'm grateful for many things as this weekend ends.  Here are a few:

• I'm grateful safe travels to and from Southern Utah.
• I'm grateful for our "new" church congregation and the friends and lovely welcoming people there. 
• I'm grateful that things are progressing on all fronts with our home renovations and move.  
• I am also grateful for a yard to work in.  I have been enjoying planting flowers, trimming the bushes and even mowing the lawn.  

That's all for this weekend catch-up Currently post. Have a good week! 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Keep living with peace, joy and hope 

as you focus on God's promises to you."

~Pastor Rick Warren