Tuesday 4 - Relax!

Hello!  Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. 

You can join in at this link.

Do you keep busy all the time?  Many people don't take the time to smell the roses. What about you?

1. When was the last time you relaxed and allowed the weight of the world to melt away? 

When my husband and I go on road trips, especially to national parks and other beautiful places in nature, I feel like the cares of the world melt away for me.  I love being out in nature and a hike or even a walk outdoors can really help me relax.  The last time I was really out in nature was during our fall break trip to Yellowstone National Park when the above picture was taken.  

2. What things do you find most relaxing?  How often do you get to do these things?

I partially answered this question in question #1.  I love hiking and being in beautiful natural surroundings. I wish I got to get out and hike a lot more than I do. I also enjoy relaxing with a good book.  I’m not much of a movie or TV watcher, but sometimes, a good movie or TV show can help me relax and forget my problems.  I try to read and relax every night before bed. The picture above are two of the books I am currently reading. I always have multiple books going at once.

3.  What things wind you up and keep you from relaxing?  

Work and family drama get me wound up. I worry and have a lot of anxiety over such things.  Lately, the election and its aftermath, as well as troubling things going on in society in general, have also caused me to worry and have anxiety.  I need now to step away from too many podcasts and Youtube pundits, and focus on my faith, family and friends and the things that I have control over.

4. When was the last time you treated yourself to something, anything that is special?

Just yesterday, I ordered a mystery/suspense book recommended by my long-time blogging friend Billie Jo over at Afternoon Coffee and Evening Tea.  I also ordered a set of colored gel pens to use when I write in my journal.

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by. Please join in if you want to and share some of the things you do to relax.

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Sometimes the most productive

thing you can do is relax."

~Mark Black

Fall Break Getaway to Idaho - Part I Yellowstone

 

I had fall break from school last Thursday and Friday.  After a gruelling first quarter of the school year, I always enjoy a fun and relaxing getaway to unwind. This year, we decided to head north to Idaho.  We drove from Salt Lake City to Rexburg, Idaho, where Josh is going to college at BYU-Idaho.  We met up with Josh Thursday evening for all-you-can-eat pizza at a place the college kids love, but Josh had classes on Friday, so Charly and I went about 90 minutes north of Rexburg to Yellowstone National Park.  We have been to Yellowstone before, but it is always a favorite place of ours.  It was a perfect day to go there.  The weather was mostly sunny but not too warm, and the crowds of summer tourists were gone. While we weren't completely alone in the park, it was nice not to have so many people around.  We got up to the park just about time for a picnic lunch, then we drove through the park and took some pictures of the absolute beauty that is everywhere. Here are some of the photos I took. 

We had a truly lovely day at Yellowstone. We have been there before and I hope we will be able to go to Yellowstone again, but I am very grateful that we were able to spend a day in Yellowstone during this little fall getaway. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be back soon to share some more highlights of our fall getaway to Idaho.

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings."

~John Muir

Yellowstone and Beyond

On the second full day of our trip up north over the Labor Day Weekend, we drove an hour and a half from Rexburg to Yellowstone National Park. We weren't alone, and waited in a long line of cars for over 45 minutes just to get into the park.  Once we got in however, we were very glad we were there, and wasted no time in enjoying this beautiful place.  

It was almost noon by the time we got into the park, so we found a place to set up our picnic lunch. 

Just a few minutes into our lunch, this very large, and very friendly raven decided to join us. 

He jumped right up on the table and decided to share some of Charly's pretzels.

Charly called the bird Poe (after Edgar Allan - author of the famous poem - "The Raven").  He was an unusual, but interesting lunch guest.

After lunch, we went to see the hot spring pools and also enjoyed the scenery as we drove to Old Faithful, our final stop of the day.  Here are some pictures.   

We enjoyed our short stay at Yellowstone National Park.  With it being so close to where Josh is going to college, we are sure we will be able to visit it again soon. 

Some of the other highlights of our Labor Day Trip to Idaho included finding our new favorite New York style pizza place, west of the Mississippi. Believe me when I tell you this was DELICIOUS pizza!

This is the place we got the pizza, a mom and pop place called Righteous Slice.  It is owned (we heard) by a professor at the college Josh attends.  The place is aptly named because the pizza here is heavenly.  

On the way home from Rexburg, Charly wanted to stop at this very large military surplus store.  We browsed for a while.  I'm not exactly sure what we were looking for, but it was kind of a fun place to explore for a few minutes.  We actually ended up buying a few books that had come from an Air Force Base library.  Military surplus books. 

A ways down the road, we stopped in Blackfoot, Idaho to visit the official Idaho Potato Museum.  We were welcomed by this large Marilyn Monroe paper doll, although there was no explanation at all about what her connection to Idaho, potatoes or the museum might be. 

Marilyn and I hit it off immediately and are now BFFs. (Think I should get a potato sack dress like hers?)😉  

After walking through this quirky little museum, with such oddities as a collection of potato peelers, and the World's Largest Pringle, we had a potatoey lunch in the museum cafe. 

It a fun place to visit - once. 

I'm not completely sure it was worth the $6 ($5.50 with our senior discounts) we paid to get in, but at least we can say we've been there. 

That was our visit to Idaho and the two nearby national parks - Grand Teton and Yellowstone.  Of course the best part of our Labor Day trip was seeing our son Josh and finding him happy, healthy and doing well. 

Until Next Time,

😊Deb💖

"There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children's children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred."~Theodore Roosevelt