Jackson, Wyoming ~ October 2012 ~ Day 2

We slept in Thursday morning and meandered over to The Bunnery for breakfast. They have a great bakery and restaurant. One of their specialties is their OSM products (Oatmeal, Sunflower, Millet). I had their OSM oatmeal, and Ray had some of their granola with greek yogurt. All very good. Then we walked around town and in and out of several stores. The only purchase we made was a stuff sack for Ray's down jacket. It was so warm we didn't even need a coat.

There was a quilt show going on. The quilts were all displayed in various store windows. There were some stunning quilts and I enjoyed seeing as many as I did. 

About noon we left to go on a drive through Grand Teton National Park. I'd like to come back another time when we have longer to stay. One beauty of being there off season is that we saw very few cars or people the whole time. We drove to Wilson, then through Moose. There was a moose out in the water, it looked just like a postcard. We went into the park and rode up to Jenny Lake where we stopped and walked around a bit. There is a pretty waterfall not too far from there I was told (Ray's been there). But I was also told to take bear spray if we walked to the waterfall. I opted out of that one. 

From Jenny Lake we rode up to Jackson Lake, taking the Signal Mountain Road scenic drive along the way.  I loved it. Then we took our time coming back to Jackson. We didn't make it up to Yellowstone this time. We'll do that on another trip.

We had dinner at Mountain High Pizza Pie. The pizza was fine, and filling. We gave half our pizza to some other people eating there. They were happy to take it, and we would have had to throw it away otherwise. 

Day Two route through Grand Teton National Park. Actually we did not go over to Moran. I could not get the map app to take us back from Jackson Lake to the park gates then down Hwy 89. 

Diane and Ray - classic Jackson photo shot.

Diane

Ray

Diane and Ray with Jenny Lake in the background

The view from the top of Signal Mountain Road looking over the Snake River

Jackson, Wyoming ~ October 2012 ~ Day 1

Ray and I decided to take a short trip to Jackson, Wyoming. I've never been there before. Ray's been there with the scouts on a river trip. We got a groupon for a hotel that had to be used between October 1 and January 31. We opted for this week, hoping for good weather so we could take the motorcycle. If the weather was bad we would have driven the car.

We left on Wednesday. We checked weather reports for the towns along our route, and all looked clear so we took the motorcycle. We had several layers of clothing to add and subtract, depending on how cold it got. Wednesday was beautiful. The skies were clear, and I loved the entire drive. Bear Lake was as lovely as usual. I've never been through Star Valley Wyoming--it was so pretty. And I never met a view of the Snake River that I didn't like. 

We drove through a lot of open range. There were cattle in the road (couldn't get the camera in time) and sheep (same camera issue). One sheep kept us guessing which direction he would go right up until we passed him. I could have almost touched him as we went by.

We arrived in Jackson at dinner time. We changed into regular clothes and went to dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant called Nani's Cucina Italiana. I had a linguine dish with a cream sauce that had lemon and figs. So good! After that we walked around the main square and looked in a few store windows. Then to bed. We were tired.

Following are several pictures. All the shots from the road are taken with my little point and shoot digital camera. I wear it around my neck and can take pictures when I see something fun. Of course, it's always a gamble whether the picture will be in focus or not. I can now operate the camera wearing gloves or mittens. It's great. The only drawback are there are no people in the pictures--a cardinal rule for me that has to be broken when taking pictures from the motorcycle.

Our route

I loved seeing these few red trees on the hills outside of Huntsville, UT

We could see this fire just over the hill from Bear Lake.

Bear Lake

Montpelier, ID. Ray's grandpa grew up on Bear Lake and wintered in Montpelier so he could go to school. 

Here is an unusual church building in Montpelier. The street side half of it is round. 

Ray, at a rest stop in Wyoming. I had to get off and stretch my legs. We have a picture of all our children at a similar sign in another rest stop in Wyoming taken about 11 years ago.

The Snake River, on our last leg to Jackson. The scenery here was breath taking. 

Fall Foliage

 Most nights this summer we've gone for a ride on the motorcycle up one of the nearby canyons. I learned my lesson after missing a shot at taking a picture of the moose we saw and now I take my little point and shoot digital camera with me. I should call it my hit and miss digital camera, because I have no idea while we're riding if I really got a decent picture or not.

Here are a few shots of fall color I managed to capture:

This is one of the Cottonwood Canyons. Big or Little, taken one evening about two weeks ago.

 

This picture is one of the misses - it's more like a bad van Gogh painting. Really bad.

Another miss - more like a Monet. At least you can tell what it's supposed to be a picture of.

Here are some fun shots I took the last weekend in September. We took an early morning ride through the Alpine Loop from Highland to Aspen Grove and Provo Canyon. Most of these are of what I consider the back side of Mt. Timpanogos. I guess it depends on which side you usually see, whether it would be the back or front. For me it's the back. 

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

Sigh. Oh, I liked this book! It's a nice, long tale that you almost hate to see end.

This story of Ciro and Enza, and how their lives intertwine over the years is a delight. I loved learning about Italy, and New York City at the turn of the century. It was interesting to get a glimpse of what it was like to be an immigrant to the United States.

I enjoy Trigiani's works, and this ranks right up there as one of the best. I highly recommend it.

Just what I needed.

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

Caleb's Crossing takes place on what is now known as Martha's Vineyard around 1660. It is the story of Bethia Mayfield and Caleb,a Wampanoag native who eventually attends Harvard College. Bethia is a very intelligent young woman, and fights against the prejudice of that time of educated women. Caleb is torn between his native culture and that of the white people, who have taken over much of the land.

It's an intriguing story. Brooks writes very well. She knows her stuff, and it was great to learn so much about that era in our country's development.

I should leave the review right there. It's accurate, and I think fair. But I can't help myself. I have a bias against Geraldine Brooks. It may be petty to the real world, but it's a reality to me. I couldn't stand her book March. It too was well written, but I felt it was a desecration of my favorite book, Little Women. Sorry, but that's how I feel. It has tainted my view of her books.

Also, what is Brooks' obsession with throwing in a gratuitous sex scene (not at all graphic) in each of these books that is inconsistent with the characters and setting?

The Island by Victoria Hislop

I was madly trying to choose a book to review/share with my book group. In over 20 years of being in book groups, I have never had this problem. I'm not getting as much reading in these days, and that has contributed to the issue.

I received several suggestions, and read some of them. This one seemed like a good candidate, so I gave it a try also. The Island is about a leper colony on a small island off the coast of Crete, and the village just across from it on Crete itself.  The story highlights one family in particular, although you get to know many people in the community.

I liked the story, and found it interesting to learn a little more about the disease of leprosy.

The author, Victoria Hislop, is a journalist. I think it shows in this novel. It's hard to describe but mostly the story skims the surface, and doesn't really delve into the heart of the characters. There are glimpses that I would have liked a deeper look into. Ultimately that's why I didn't choose to do this book for book group. Although I liked it, the writing didn't make my heart sing.

September in Seattle

Yes. It's been a month since we were there. We had such a good time! We ate at some of our old favorite haunts, which I already wrote about, and spent time with our friends. But best of all we had time with Debra and her family.

We stayed at home and played. We went to the park and played. We went for drives. It was all great.

We took a lot of pictures. Here is the gallery, all in one post:

The most stunning view of Mt. Rainier we've ever had flying in. I took this through the plane window.

Jonathan and Debra

Ray, Madeleine, and Diane. Ray is carefully taking care of Diane's blankie. In his rear pocket.

The girls drew pictures of all of us with sidewalk chalk on their backyard fence. This is Diane concentrating hard.

Madeleine, drawing a picture of all of us. You can see Randy on the left, then Debra, then Madeleine, the Diane and Jonathan. She added me and Ray afterward.

Diane

Madeleine. The girl rides around that cul de sac like a demon. 

Sweet Jonathan

Madeleine and Diane

Madeleine at St. Edward's State Park. They've added this play area since we moved. It's terrific.

Ray, giving the girls a big push on the swings. Still at St. Ed's

Madeleine and Diane. The weather was glorious while we were there. The park was a perfect place to be.

Diane at St. Ed's.

Sunday we went for a drive to Sand Point and got out for a walk. It was chilly. Jonathan's all bundled up.

Throwing rocks into Lake Washington at Sand Point

I could not get enough time holding this boy. He is growing so fast.

Diane, me, Ray, Madeleine. Pure heaven.

The weekend flew by much too fast.

September Report

I have been diligent in writing these reports, at least. Although not much has changed from month to month, I've promised myself I would be accountable all year long. It will be interesting for me to compare them at the end of the year.

I have been so crazy busy that it's ridiculous. Only four blog posts in September! Almost no quilting done, and it should have been a big month for getting at least two quilts done. Nope. Didn't happen. But I've managed to take things day by day, and enjoy (mostly) what's come my way and just been happy with what I've done. That's a big improvement for me personally. Then I'm more in the moment, and enjoying life, rather than being bothered by the "extras" that don't get done.

So,with those thoughts, here is my report on September:

1.  First things first: much the same. Plugging along, doing fairly well.
2.  One shelf/drawer per day: I think about which shelf I want to do every day. Do I get it done? Not that often. But my sister-in-law and I are trading two days a month helping each other organize some area in our home. That's about even with one shelf or drawer per day. Actually the real bonus is that I'm ready for her help, because I've cleaned out and organized so much already.
3. 30-30-30: by far my most effective method of keeping on task. I'm like a little kid--so responsive to the challenge of beating a timer. I like the days that I have time to employ this system.
4. Skype/webcam: I've been doing more FaceTime with the grands. My goal for September was to sign up for Skype. Let's just say that that particular goal will be carried over into October.
5. Digital Photo Storage: I'm still plugging away at the class I'm doing. I got slightly derailed by a different project but will be back on track now.