Showing posts with label National Park Service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Park Service. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Young At Heart In The Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my blog. Be sure to visit your neighbors on the list as comments make the blog world go round. Here we go- 

From this Side of the Pond
1. Do you feel older or younger than your age? Elaborate. 

Hmmm...depends on the day and what's happening. While I don't feel like a 20-something I also don't feel four decades beyond that either. Physically there are definitely days I feel my age. On the inside I'm still younger than the calendar claims. 

I think about this quite a bit as my mom and my mother-in-law are three decades ahead of me, yet I know they still feel young at heart. It's frustrating to have your thoughts and opinions discounted or unappreciated because of a number when on the inside you are still the girl you always were. I feel this too. 

2. What's one thing you should toss right now, but just can't?

I have several dresses I feel like I should part with, but there they hang...still in my closet. They fit, and are mostly classic in style, but I never wear them because they have been worn and worn and worn and sometimes you just want new. 

3. Have you visited many of the 63 National Parks in the US of A? You'll find a list here. Do you have a favorite? What National Park that you haven't seen do you most want to see? 

We've visited some, but not nearly as many as I'd like to see. A trip out west (Yellowstone and Grand Tetons) is high on my 'to-see' list. My hubs grew up just outside of the Smoky Mountain National Park and we've spent a lot of time there. It's for sure a favorite. 

I had to go in search of a photo because I have literally dozens of us at various ages and stages in the Smoky Mountains, but here's where I landed-

Be still my heart. I think this must be 1992 and y'all those babies on my lap now have babies this very same age. The absolute sweetest days. Then and now. 

Also there's my God given hair color. 
Carry on. 

Acadia is another favorite, definitely one of the prettiest places in America. I've also been to the Rocky Mountains many times as my grandparents lived on a Colorado farm with a view, Shenandoah (ooh, that's another favorite...they're all favorites I guess)...Mt. Rainier, The Everglades, The Redwoods...so many beautiful places. My sister and niece were in Joshua Tree recently and they loved that. I've been to California a few times so not sure I'll get to that one, but never say never. 

4. How often do you get take out? What's your favorite? 

There's basically no take out where I live. I mean there is I suppose, but by the time you get home with take out it's cold so you may as well eat there. We don't even have pizza delivery. We either cook at home or go to a restaurant. There's not a lot of in-between. I keep a frozen pizza here for when we want pizza, but on the whole we don't miss take-out. 

Well okay, occasionally I might pine for pizza delivery, but mostly we have adjusted expectations and it's all good. There is so much to love about living on a lake, and I have a grocery store and all other life 'necessities' within an 8-10 mile radius so I don't pine too much over the no-delivery. 

My favorite would be Thai or Chinese but it's not happening here. We do have a Thai restaurant we enjoy so if we want Thai we just eat there. 

5. Do you have many (or any) subscriptions? Not necessarily magazines, but thinking more along the lines of boxes or products that companies offer, and you can sign up to receive on a regular basis. Could be weekly, monthly, quarterly, even daily. Tell us about them. 

I have several subscription boxes. I've been ordering Home Chef a couple of times a month since the Covid nonsense, but am going to cancel that one at the end of the month. We recently bought a chest freezer so I've started a meat subscription to Good Ranchers and will do that instead. 

Not the same thing, but honestly we're not enjoying the Home Chefs as much as we did in the beginning. If you're looking for lower calorie/lower sodium content the options are few. And I never order any of the steak entrees because we're picky about our steak. 

We've ordered random boxes from Good Ranchers and like their product. It's all American ranchers and farmers and the quality is excellent. I started a subscription that included free Wagyu beef patties in every box for a year, plus a $100 dollar/box savings over the course of four orders. I signed up for a delivery every six weeks, but you can pause or cancel at any time. My box includes ground beef, chicken, sirloin, and flat iron steak, plus the free burgers. They always have specials so check for one before you order. The podcasters Allie Beth Stuckey and Alisa Childers both always have codes you can use too. 

I subscribe to Lovery for my youngest grands, and I get a Stitch Fix box once a quarter which I enjoy. I get a Grove box once a month, although some months I skip depending on what we've been doing. I get trash bags, dishwasher soap, dish soap, dog treats, dog bags, toilet bowl cleaner, and a few other odds and ends from them and it's nice not to have to add those items to my grocery cart when I shop in person. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Well I have a million things to do to get ready for next week, but instead I spent a good part of today (Tuesday) putting together a photo book from a trip we took in 2017. 

I'm on top of things. 

In 2017 we drove up the coast of California from San Francisco all the way to Tacoma Washington, where my daughter1 was living at the time, and every time I look at my photos I think 'I should really make that album.' 

My daughter makes beautiful family yearbooks with Mpix and I had a 40% off coupon sitting in my email that expires today, so I made a book. It was time consuming and I'm so glad I have my blog, because I wrote about the trip in great detail when it happened and that helped me get the album in chronological order, and also remember the names of all the tiny towns we drove through. 

Still a long to-do list, but tomorrow is another day. 

Also, in 2022 we drove up the California coast from San Diego to San Francisco and once I see how this  album turns out I'm determined to get Volume 2 done as well. Before another seven years pass I mean. 

Have a great day everyone! 

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Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 559

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. Do you feel older or younger than your age? Elaborate. 

2. What's one thing you should toss right now, but just can't? 

3. Have you visited many of the 63 National Parks in the US of A? You'll find a list here. Do you have a favorite? What National Park that you haven't seen do you most want to see? 

4. How often do you get take out? What's your favorite? 

5. Do you have many (or any) subscriptions? Not necessarily magazines, but thinking more along the lines of boxes or products that companies offer, and you can sign up to receive on a regular basis. Could be weekly, monthly, quarterly, even daily. Tell us about them. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Thursday, August 9, 2018

My Favorite Mountain

Although most of our time this trip was all about the boy any trip to Washington State is also always a little bit about the rugged beauty of the Pacific Northwest. 


Before Daughter1 and her hubs went out of town we managed a day trip to my favorite mountain. 


I'd never been to the Evergreen State before my daughter got married and moved cross country, but from the very first trip we made here I knew I'd need to see this mountain up close and in person one day.


Mt. Rainier is the highest peak in the Cascade Range and somehow those enormous mountains manage to look dinky when viewed beside THE mountain.


 Even baby boy can't believe its size.


We set out for a hike with daughter1 toting her son on her back. Did I mention the trail here is steep? Very! And he's half her height and nearly a third her weight when you factor in the carrier, but she was a trooper and so was he, all comfy cozy in the pack.


So comfy cozy in fact he dozed off on the way back down.


Everybody stopped for a minute to watch this hoary marmot scamper across the path. Apparently they're found in abundance here but we only saw one.


There's a nice Visitors Center where you catch the trail and you'll find restrooms here along with visitor information and a cafe. We brought our lunch in a cooler and there are plenty of picnic tables too.

There's also a charming inn (Paradise Inn) with a restaurant and lovely gift shop where we browsed and bought Christmas ornaments because we always do when we travel anywhere new. The Inn is currently under renovation but according to their website has some limited availability during the process.


The day was warm and crystal clear which is important if you want to see the mountain. Not so much the warm part, but the clear part definitely matters. Daughter1 had been to the park with her husband in mid-June and the trails were still covered in snow and the skies so hazy they couldn't see the mountain top. Hard to imagine but true.


It feels a bit like you're in Europe here, maybe Austria or Switzerland. Just stunning!


There are a number of stopping points on the drive up through the park, hiking trails, waterfalls, and scenic overlooks (what's not scenic here???) and on the way back down we stopped to see one of the most photographed spots in Rainier-Reflection Lake. Named I think because at certain times of day the mountain is perfectly reflected in the alpine waters of this crystal clear beauty.


We stopped to take a peek at a couple of waterfalls too, but didn't linger long as we had a one year old with us, it was hot, and we'd already had a pretty full day. Hubs would love to go back one day and hike up to the base camp and spend the night. We'll see if maybe he can make that happen.

We could not have asked for a nicer day and if you're in the Seattle area I highly recommend you spend some time here.


 She's a beauty from a distance, but up close is truly spectacular.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

The Hodgepodge Blues

Welcome to another week of Hodgepodge fun. If you've answered the questions add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and leave a comment for the blogger linking before you. Here we go-


1. Are there any men or women in blue on your family tree?

Not that I know of. My sister has a brother-in-law who's a retired Detective and I will claim him as family by marriage. He's a good guy. And we do have a man in blue (retired) in our Hodgepodge family...if you have time today go say hi to Life SPR. We generally have a couple or three men link with the Hodgepodge every week, and I enjoy reading their answers.

2. Are you someone who suffers from the Sunday night blues? What helps you get over it?

Occasionally. There's something a bit wistful about a Sunday evening, particularly in the autumn and I can get a little melancholy if I choose to go there. Which I don't. Not often anyway. Getting up and out for a walk late afternoon helps. Also making a to-do list for the coming week, breaking jobs to be done into manageagble chunks, and putting them into my calendar. A good list and plan of action can help snap me out of a 'mood'. 

3. I read the color blue is an appetite suppressant sincer there are very few naturally blue foods out there. How do you feel about blue cheese? Love it or blech? If you're a fan, what's something you like that's made with blue cheese?

I'm not really a fan of blue cheese cooked into dishes, but I do love a nice blue cheese as part of a cheese tray or cheese course. I normally find blue cheese dressing too heavy, but don't mind blue cheese crumbles on a salad. 

4. We can't head in to the Labor Day weekend without a related question, can we? Complete this thought: I work best when______________________.

I have a set to-do and a plan of attack to see it through (see #2).  If the job is mental as opposed to physical then I work best in a quiet space. If it's physical labor such as house work or gardening then I work best with music in the background.  

5.  'Everything yields to diligence.' Antiphanes Your thoughts? (on this particular quote or on diligence in general)

'Most' everything yields to diligence. A person can be diligent in their pursuit of another, but in the end they may not be successful in gaining that person's affections. When it comes to work, life goals, dreams then yes I do think those sorts of things yield to diligence. 

6. The National Park Service turned 100 years old on August 25th. Have you been to many of America's National Parks? If so share with us a favorite or two.  Which National Park would you most like to visit before the next birthday rolls around?

I love our nation's parks, national, state, and local too. What a treasure to have so much incredible natural beauty accessible and protected. Acadia is probably my favorite (of the parks I've visited), and in my opinion is one of the prettiest places in America. I also love the Shenandoah area of Virigina and of course the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee. 

On my to-see list? Definitely Zion, Yosemite, and Yellowstone. Hubs and I hope to do some sort of car trip out west while Daughter1 is living on that side of the country, but I'm not sure if it will happen before the parks have another birthday. 

7.  Bid farewell to August in seven words or less.

Still not living in my lake house.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'd written a whole big long rant-ish kind of random here today, then grabbed the book I'm reading, soaked in a hot bath, came back and deleted all the words. I have some rants in me, but I don't want to be a ranter. The world has far too many as it is. 

As I was reading I remembered I wanted to share this book title with anyone who feels a bit burned by religion or by 'religious people' or by Christianity or who just needs to know that life isn't as complicated as we make it. 

Love Does by Bob Goff

The book was published several years ago and has been on my to-read list for ages, but I'm just now getting to it. I like opening a book and discovering it feels exactly right for the place in time I'm currently navigating. Love Does is part memoir, part something else and a big message of the book is saying yes to a life that is not ordinary. 

'I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I'm more afraid of succeding at things that don't matter.' Bob Goff

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Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 279

I had a 'mishap' with my phone over the weekend and spent all morning at the Apple Store getting a replacement so I'm going to go ahead and post this week's Hodgepodge questions, and will worry about catching up and this run-on sentence later. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the day after. Technology makes me tired.

Okay, here we go...answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow (Wednesday) to add your link to the party.


1.  Are there any men or women in blue on your family tree?

2. Are you someone who suffers from the Sunday night blues? What helps you get over it?

3. I read the color blue is an appetite suppressant since there are very few naturally blue foods out there. How do you feel about blue cheese? Love it or blech? If you're a fan, what's something you like that's made with blue cheese?

4. We can't head in to the Labor Day weekend without a related question, can we? Complete this thought: I work best when____________________. 

5. 'Everything yields to diligence.' Antiphanes Your thoughts? (on this particular quote or on diligence in general)

6. The National Park Service turned 100 years old on August 25th. Have you been to many of America's National Parks? If so share with us a favorite or two. Which National Park would you most like to visit before the next birthday rolls around?

7.  Bid farewell to August in seven words or less.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.