Smoky August Weekend

It was another busy weekend.  It was also a smoky and hazy weekend. 

This picture was taken this morning at 10:22 am Friday morning from my front yard. That orange circle in the sky is what I could see of the sun. I have a gorgeous view of Mt. Olympus (no, I don't live in Greece - that's really the name of the mountain) from my front yard, but this was that view on Friday. The smell of smoke was pungent. I had to go back inside because my eyes were burning. My throat felt raw after just a few minutes outside. People were wearing masks outside, not because of Covid, but because of the horrible air quality. Apparently this was all smoke from wildfires in California burning at least 1,000 miles away. There was an almost apocalyptic feel in the air Friday morning.

Because of the terribly smoky air on Friday, I decided to stay indoors and do some reading. I finished this book.

I am now reading this mystery/thriller.

Friday afternoon, I went for my "back-to-school" hair cut and style. I got a recommendation from a friend for a new salon and stylist, so I made an appointment and ended up with the best haircut I have had in several years. I think the long drive to and extra cost of this new salon was worth it for me.

Saturday, Josh asked me to take a drive with him so he could see where a place he wants to go is located. On the way back, we decided to stop for lunch at this place, which touts that it serves the "Best Burger in Utah."

It's definitely a "mom and pop" place, or maybe just a mom place because there was just one little lady working by herself, taking all the order, making all the food and ringing up the checks.

Was it really "Utah's Best Burger"? I'm not sure about that, but the cheese burger I had was very tasty. The bun, tomatoes, lettuce and onions were fresh and the meat patty was cooked just the way I like it. It was a pretty good burger. The fries not so much. They look good in this picture, but they were not crisp at all, and were actually soggy. This place might serve Utah's Best Burger, but NOT Utah's Best Fries.

When Josh and I got home, I finished my the "Get out the vote" postcards I have been working on, and Charly and I took them to the post office. We stopped at a couple of thrift stores after that, but didn't get much. Charly found and bought a Preston and Childs book he has been looking for, so he was happy with that.

I made meatloaf and baked potatoes for dinner Saturday night. We had spinach salad and baked zucchini along with it. It was good meatloaf.

Saturday night, Charly and I watched the movie, The Woman in the Window, on Netflix. We both thought it was pretty good - an overall excellent adaptation of the book.

Sunday morning, Charly and I went for our morning walk. The sky was still smoky and hazy but a little better than it was on Friday.

Before we went to church, I put a pot roast, along with potatoes and onions, in the slow cooker. They made an excellent Sunday dinner later in the afternoon. Slow cooker pot roast is one of my favorites.

After church, while I was doing some indexing, my doorbell, rang and when I answered it, there stood a woman I didn't know. Turns out she was my very elderly neighbor's daughter, who had come to tell me that her father had suddenly, and very unexpectedly, gone completely blind. He is now in the hospital. His wife and he are in their 90s and his wife is deaf and bed-ridden and has been completely dependent on her husband for his care. The daughter, who lives about two and a half hours away, had come to asked me to look in on her mother from time to time over the next few days until other family members arrive. She also asked me to take her parents plants since they will both be moving into an assisted living center in the next couple of weeks and selling their condominium. The whole thing was very sudden, and while I may or may not have referred to this neighbor as a "curmudgeon," I am always happy to help someone who needs help.

Coming up this week:

It is going to be another busy one .

Monday - Back to school for teachers in my district. My alarm will go off at 5:30 a.m.. Here we go again. Students come back next week.

Monday - Dishwasher repair tech coming. The dishwasher control panel keeps beeping. We had this fixed about three months ago. Beeping again.

Monday - Contractors coming back to finish the demolition of the old tile in the bathroom.

Tuesday - Plumber coming to get the shower ready for the new tile.

Wednesday - Electrician coming to redo the lighting in the bathroom.

Friday - I may or may not have a new bathroom. The way things have been going, I'm not holding my breath, but I will be pleased with some progress.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a good week.

😊Deb💙

"Life's most urgent question is what are you doing for others?"

~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

End of Summer Getaway - Part II - Cedar Breaks

Our final stop on this short end of summer break getaway was Cedar Breaks National Monument.  Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this amazing place:

Cedar Breaks National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the U.S. state of Utah near Cedar City. Cedar Breaks is a natural amphitheater, stretching across 3 miles (4.8 km), with a depth of over 2,000 feet (610 m). The elevation of the rim of the amphitheater is over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level.

The rock of the amphitheater is more eroded than, but otherwise similar to, formations at nearby Bryce Canyon National Park, Red Canyon in Dixie National Forest, and select areas of Cedar Mountain (SR-14). Because of its elevation, snow often makes parts of the park inaccessible to vehicles from October through May. Its rim visitor center is open from June through October. Several hundred thousand people visit the monument annually. The monument area is the headwaters of Mammoth Creek, a tributary of the Sevier River.^[3]

Before we left our hotel room to drive to Cedar Breaks, I was looking in a Utah hiking book, and noticed an interesting looking trail called Alpine Pond Trail. I only saw it on a map and could not find a description anywhere in the hiking book.  It looked like about the right length and location for a nice afternoon hike, however, so I decided to look for it as we drove.  I never saw a sign for it, until we turned into what we thought was a park information center (with what I hoped was a restroom - it wasn't).  There was a sign and when we got close enough to read it - it was the trail head for the Alpine Pond Trail!

This awesome little trail had it all.  I think it would rate in my top five all-time favorite trails. 

The trail was well-marked and easy to follow.

We finally got some rain here in Utah, so the growth on the trail was lush and green. 

There were plenty of tall pines.

There were also a lot of  other trees including quaking aspens.  I bet this trail is amazing in the fall when leaves change. 

There were also wildflowers along the trail.

I really liked these little lavender flowers. 

There was some altitude change along the trail as you can see from the these stair-stepped switch backs.  At an altitude of 10,000 feet, it was easy to get winded, but we all did OK.

You could see views of the red rocks of the Cedar Breaks "amphitheaters" between the trees.

Of course, true to the name of the trail, there was a shallow alpine pond, filled with tiny little fish and tadpoles.

Charly liked watching the little fish and tadpoles. 

It really was a great place.

We all enjoyed it. 

After the hike, we stopped at some view areas. Cedar Breaks has some amazing vistas. These are some of my favorites. 

You can see the ominous dark clouds in all of these pictures. Those dark clouds caused some damaging rains and flooding about 20-30 miles west of where we were when these pictures were taken. We were unaffected by the rain, and didn't even get wet until later that evening when we were back in Panguitch getting our take-out dinner from a restaurant.  

As we were leaving Cedar Breaks, these little fellow came right up to us as we were getting in our car.  It was as if he had come to say goodbye.  

Our end of summer family getaway was a fun and enjoyable couple of days.  We love family vacations, and only wish more of the family could have been with us - but we will take whoever we can get. Thanks for stopping by and sharing the beauty of our visit to Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks.  

😊Deb💜

"The best things in life are the people we love, the places we've been, and the memories we've made along the way."

~Anonymous

 

July Reading

As July ends, I have finished 31 books so far this year.  This is a record for me, because I am not an especially fast reader. My husband and I also started listening to audiobooks while we walk or drive, after discovering the great audiobook app (Hoopla) that our local city library has.  With reading and listening, I am completing, on average, a book a week, and I am loving it.  Here is what I read this past month. 

For my Bible reading in July, I read more of the so-called "minor" prophets. I finished the book of Amos, and then read Haggai and Zechariah.  I have just started the book of Malachi. 

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore was a well researched and written book. The story is horrific, tragic, sad and anger producing - a little known part of U.S. history that everyone should know about it. We listened to the 15 hour and 54 minute audiobook which was well read by Angela Brazil.

This book, The Secrets We Keep,  is billed as a "gripping emotional page-turner," and it absolutely is.  The story of two mothers and their children who meet when they end up with summer rental houses that are next door to each other.  As the lives of the women and their children, total strangers at the beginning of the book, become intertwined, it becomes apparent that not all is as it appears and each family has deep secrets that will change all of their lives forever. This book  can best be summed up with this passage: "Mothering, marriage, life itself - none of it is easy or simple. It's hard, so hard and yet it's also so worth it; to keep struggling on, fighting against the brokenness. Letting ourselves be healed."

This book, Alienated America,  is well researched and has a lot of information from statistics and studies about why American Civil Society seems to be collapsing in some parts of our nations.  This collapse, according to the author, Timothy P. Carney, a Conservative writer and fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, let to the rise of Donald Trump, who promised to "Make America Great Again."  Carney rightly points out that no politician can fix what truly ails our nation - the collapse of our institutions of community and civil society - beginning with our churches.  Carney cites study after study showing why our religious institutions - churches, mosques and synagogues - are vital to not only to thriving as individual human beings, but also thriving as communities, and as a society and nation. He also addresses the seeming collapse of the institution of the American family with low marriage and high divorce rates, as well as falling birth rate.  Carney shows that the collapse of the family and religion in America, along with so many other problems of our society, are all intertwined.  This book is quite fascinating, and the author makes his case.  The book is not a quick or easy read and it takes some time and effort to digest the information presented.  Overall, this is a book that anyone interested in why our country is so divided, why some places in our country seem to thrive while others have collapsed, and why some Americans are without hope and are putting so much trust in one political personality who promises he can "make America great again" when in reality, it is only we ourselves that can do that.

The main character of The Woman in the Window, Dr. Anna Fox was a well-respected NYC child psychologist. Now she lives alone in an expensive but unmaintained brownstone, which she rarely leaves.  She is severely depressed, and on multiple antipsychotic meds which doesn't take correctly.  She also drinks too much and spends her days and nights in a haze, watching old black and white thrillers, playing chess online, counseling others in a chat room for agoraphobics and watching her neighbors - especially the Russell family - a mother, father and teenage son who live across the park from her.  The plot of this psychological thrilled revolves around Anna Fox, witnessing the murder of a woman she believes to be her neighbor - but did she really witness a murder?  Who was the woman in the window?  Are the Russells really who she believes them to be and what happened to Dr. Fox's family - her husband and daughter?  Author A.J. Finn's first novel, The Woman in the Window, is an excellent psychological mystery/thriller with vivid descriptions, and well-developed characters.  The book may be a bit slow at the start, but the plot twists and turns carry it through to a terrifying climax.  For those who prefer not to read books with objectionable language and sex, be aware that this book has both, although the there is only one sex scene and it adds nothing to the plot, is over quickly and is not explicit. I listened to this book  in audiobook form.

Going into August, I am reading a nonfiction - Wildly Optimistic by Al Carraway.  It has a good Christian message, but isn't very well written. Still, I will persevere and finish it. I checked a brand new mystery/thriller fiction book out of the library to read yesterday, but I started it last night, and so far, I am pretty unimpressed.  I am not sure if I will continue with that one.  

That, in a nutshell, is what I've been reading during the month of July and plan to start August with. Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon. 

 

Summer Vacation in Sedona

Our family has had a long standing tradition of family vacations to fun places every summer.  Our family vacation this summer was supposed to a trip to Washington D.C. to see the historic sites, and museums.  When we were finalizing our plans, we found that many things in D.C. were/are still closed due to Covid. We could only get into three museums. Some of the things we really wanted to see were still closed or had restricted entrances.  Also, Josh was going to come with us, but couldn't get the entire week off work.  We decided to reschedule our trip to next spring (during my spring break from school) which will hopefully also coincide with Cherry Blossom Time in D.C. .  

For our summer vacation this year, we were able to schedule at week at our Wyndham timeshare in Sedona, Arizona.  Josh wasn't going to be able to come with us any way, so this was another getaway for just Charly and I. Charly and I bought the equivalent of two weeks in our timeshare about fifteen years ago.  I know that timeshares are controversial and many people think they are a waste of money, but it has worked well for us.   One reason it has worked for us, it that we bought our timeshare on the secondary market for a fraction of the price that the company sells vacation weeks for.  Our ownership is in Flagstaff, Arizona - but we have stayed many different places. This was only the second time, however, that we had stayed in Sedona. We like having a bigger place to stay rather than a small motel or hotel room.  We also like having a kitchen so we can fix our own meals and avoid the cost of eating in restaurants for every meal.  

We made the nine hour drive from Salt Lake City to Sedona on Monday, July 19.  The drive was long, but went well and we arrived in Sedona about dinner time.  We spent that evening eating and relaxing in the condo.  The next morning, we went for a hike.  Hiking is one of our favorite things to do on vacation.  We started with a trail called The Coffee Pot Trail.  The right hand side of the rock formation in the picture resembles an old school coffee pot.  

This was a fairly easy trail with awesome views.  

The desert can be hot and harsh, but also beautiful.  

One of the trails that branched off of the Coffee Pot Trail was the Sugarloaf Summit trail, which went to the top of Sugarloaf Summit. Charly decided he wanted to hike that trail so we did. This was the view of Sedona from the top. 

This is the view of Coffee Pot from the top of Sugarloaf Summit.  You can see that I was already at the top and Charly was making his way up. 

This is Thunder Mountain as seen from Sugarloaf Summit.  Coffee Pot would be just to the right of it. 

We look a bit hot and tired in this picture a fellow hiker took of Charly and I at the top of Sugarloaf Summit, but we really did enjoy this great hike.  

After the hike, we went back to the condo to eat lunch, then we headed up to Flagstaff through Oak Creek Canyon - about 20 miles of narrow, winding mountain road that has some of the best some of best views in the state of Arizona.  We stopped at one viewpoint to take some pictures, and found a Native American marketplace.  After looking at the views, we looked at the Native American jewelry and crafts and we bought a Christmas ornament crafted like pottery for our Christmas tree, and a copper bracelet for me.  We continued on to Flagstaff where we went to Bookmans - Charly's all time favorite used bookstore (I like it too).  We got our dinner at Charly's favorite fast-food place the Dog Haus.  

The next morning, we hiked along Oak Creek. It was a gorgeous morning, the scenery was beautiful and there were fresh blackberries planted along the trail, which we sampled.   This was our favorite hike in Sedona.  After a morning of hiking and lunch in our condo, we were off to see a little more of the city of Sedona and even do a little shopping. 

The next day, we hiked the Little Horse trail - another beautiful hike.

The sky was smokey from wildfires in California and Oregon,

but the scenery was still beautiful.  

The rock formations in and around Sedona are all interesting and unique. 

We felt fortunate that there weren't too many other hikers. 

We enjoyed all the hikes we did in Sedona.  

After our hike on the Little Horse Trail, we went to the nearby Chapel of the Holy Cross - an amazing Catholic Church that was built right into the red rocks of Sedona.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a really cool place.  I am glad we got to see it.  

We left Sedona the next day, Friday, July 23.  After another quick stop at a favorite store in Flagstaff, we headed home, breaking the long nine-hour drive up into two days.  We stopped at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We were there less than an hour, when the storm clouds you see in some of the pictures, opened up into a downpour. We got in our car and continued on our way to Kanab, Utah, where we spent the night.   We browsed a few thrift, consignment and antique stores in Kanab before leaving the next morning. Charly visited his favorite "Levi store" (as he calls it) and yes, he did get a much needed new pair of jeans.  

We were home by about 5 p.m. on Saturday, and then the unpacking began. Charly got Chinese take-out so I wouldn't have to cook dinner when we got home and the Mongolian Beef really hit the spot. 

All-in-all, we had a great summer getaway in Sedona.  I feel grateful we were able to go.  I still have almost two weeks left of summer vacation so stay tuned for more adventures... 

😊Deb💙

"When all else fails, take a vacation."

~Betty Williams