National Slow Looking Day At Museums - It Was A Great Day With Princess Two

I had to take a road trip through Princess Two's hometown this week. I called and asked if I could spend either the morning, or the evening with her. 

She said she had plans in the afternoon and may have plans in the evening, so I asked if I could take her to breakfast or lunch on my way through. I offered to go shopping for an hour or two as well as anything else she wanted to do. She sent me a link to an article about a national "slow look" museum day! 

I LOVE art and often stand in front of a painting studying the symbolism, strokes, painters mindset, and all the little details of the art. Here is a link to me visiting the Norman Rockwell exhibit. I have enjoyed the Carl Bloch exhibits they have had over the years there as well. 

I went to look at that link above and laughed when I saw that we had almost the exact photos and that when I got into the car to head on my road-trip, the odometer in the car was at 111.1 and didn't remember that it was the same when I drove up to the Normal Rockwell exhibit. There were so many similarities on this trip! What are the chances of that? Also we had the rainbow above us made out of string and it made me feel like my mother was with us as she LOVED Art, there was one painting in particular I know she would have loved. Also, I was able to visit her grave on this trip and was able to put some flowers on her grave, so I did feel her with me much of the day!

We loved the visit to the museum and since it was "Slow Looking Museum Day" they gave you a gift at the end of the day. We got a print of one of my favorite paintings ever! It is by Carl Bloch and is Christ Healing at the waters of Bethesda! I love that it shows Christ going to the absolute most pitiful person who is unable to do anything to help himself and Christ was not overlooking the least. Princess Two picked a card of another amazing print they had of an artwork there. They also gave out mini magnifying glasses.

I think the grandchildren are going to love the mini magnifying glass as I have a few "I-Spy" and "Wheres Waldo" books they can use it with! 

We then went to one of our favorite Thai food places for lunch. We visited as we haven't in a very long time. I haven't traveled much at all during Covid and have missed connecting with my girls. It was such a lovely day! I got a fortune that said, "A day without a smile is a day wasted." I believe that! 

I am forever laughing at myself as I do silly things at home and find things that others don't funny. Last week, we were playing a game around the campfire and my nephews wife was so funny in her hints to him and was overly obvious and I just started laughing until I was crying and no one else thought it was funny. I laughed and laughed and went into my trailer and kept laughing for a few more minutes by myself. I love to laugh and smile! 

I wish I had more time to spend with Princess Two, but feel that we used our time together well! I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful person in my family! She is a one of a kind person! I would have a huge hole in my life if she weren't in it! 

I hope you are so blessed to have someone in your life that brings God's light into it!! She really is a light to the world and I am grateful I can call her mine! 

Have a Blessed Day!

Road Trip Destination 3 Photo Shoot

On our Thanksgiving road trip, I have shared several of the spots where we stopped. I shared photos we took and now I want to share another stop. 

There was a place with pictographs and petroglyphs on our path. There were several walks / hikes to caves that had hand prints, and there was another with big horn sheep carved in the cave wall as well as other depictions and there was black from fires having been in the cave for hundreds of years. 

It was interesting that they put bars on the caves so you can't go in and touch them which has preserved them, which is a great idea, but what was cleaver, was that they placed a round mirror in the cave so that when you look at the mirror, you can see what was carved on the roof and opening wall of the cave. That would be the only way you could see those carvings and drawings. 

It was interesting that while hiking when we passed other groups, everyone was really aware of keeping a distance and a few were even wearing masks. Since it was outside, we didn't wear any but I thought it was nice that everyone was conscientious of others while hiking even. 

There was a huge pictograph of a blanket on the wall of the canyon opposite one of the sleeping caves. It is large enough that you can see it clearly on the canyon wall. Whoever painted it back in the day had to have some serious moves as it isn't in an easy place to get to. 

It looks like we may be doing Christmas early as well this year to accommodate Princess Three's new friend. We enjoy his company so we are glad he can come to visit on his school break. 

Have a Blessed Day!

Thanksgiving Road Trip - Destination Closed

Since Princess Three had her friend join her for their visit, we decided that we would take a road trip for part of their stay. It has been so many years since we visited this place together that we thought it would be fun to go on a little road trip.

We checked online to make sure that the spots we wanted to visit were open and off we went. We were very sad after making the effort to visit places only to find that they were closed. I was just for leaving, but the girls wanted to get out and walk around. 

I shared as much as I remember from times I have visited. My father took us to the Fort over 20 years ago when it was an empty building missing doors. 

Now 20 years or so later, it is a bustling spot with a barn, many out buildings, gardens, and homes for the workers along with a cabin, blacksmith, ice house and more. 

Since we couldn't go in, we just had a fun time walking around and taking some pictures. I will share some today and some tomorrow as we had some great photos. 

It was just one stop on our trip, and even though we couldn't go in, we had fun. I wish they had updated the website due to Covid, but at least we got to spend time together! 

Have a Blessed day!

Taking a Family Hike - First in Years

It has been a few years since my family and I have taken a hike. A few years back, we took a hike to a cave and had a good time going through the toured path through the cave.

Here is a link to a post about our hike to that cave.

Here is a link to a hike at a national park.

Here is another link to several hikes. 

Here is a hike to a repelling arch.   

There are many other hikes posted about which are of me with some of the girls. It is a past time that my father has enjoyed his entire life. He hiked every week for most of his adult life. I didn't get his ability to hike weekly but I do enjoy hiking and hiked Machu Picchu two years in a row without my children. 

Here is my first post about hiking Machu Picchu, but written the second year. 

Here is my post about hiking the second year. 

My daughters and I talked to a friend who suggested a hike on our way somewhere, so we stopped just off the highway where they had a trail head and a little jail from late in the 1800's. 

We then took a short hike on a VERY hot day. I think it was the hottest day of the years so far. We were able to see three or four different desert flowers. There were pink and red cactus, white daisy type cluster flowers and I saw some beautiful rocks and wood pieces on the hike. 

Princess Four is so like me in so many ways. I saw a cup someone threw in the dirt on the way up, and planned on picking it up on the way back. Princess four beat me to it by picking it up as I was taking pictures of the girls hiking from behind. I picked up a bag and some other trash which she ended hiking out and throwing away once we arrived home. 

The girls were so cute visiting and joking with each other while we hiked and I really enjoyed taking time with them. It was so hot and I don't do well with the heat so I wished we had been able to take the hike earlier in the day. Other than the heat, it was so enjoyable to spend the time with the girls. 

I hope that we can always enjoy doing things together no matter where or what we are doing. I am truly grateful for my family! I can only wish the same for you! 

Have a blessed day! 

Glass Blowing - Stained Glass - Pulling Glass Classes - Part 2 My Candy Dish

I shared last blog post about my sweet Princess One giving me a wonderful gift of Glass Blowing. 

I wasn't really thinking when I went in or when I called that the first two options weren't actually "glass blowing" but it was wonderful just the same. 

I would at some point like to try the glass blowing session but it does take longer and cost more money. 

There is an age limit for glass blowing classes at this studio, gladly, I am over the limit! ;-) I think it takes a bit more skill and time to create something using the glass blowing techniques.

Even thought my experience was short and doesn't take much "skill" I LOVED it and think my weird shaped candy dish is adorable and unique so I LOVE IT! It also represents that someone took the time to think about something I enjoy and wanted to give me an experience to do something I enjoy or make something I enjoy. I think it was a SUPER thoughtful gift on her part. 

Any project you make takes 24 hours to "cure" and bring the temperature of the glass down slowly so the item doesn't crack in cooling quickly. I had decided to spend a few days in the area since the drive is long and I can see family while there so it wasn't a problem for me to drive to pick it up the next day. 

I made a video about the place and the experience and shared some of the other items you can make and the other classes they offer as I really think it would be a fun family activity for each person to get to make their own glass item. It helps allow the creative juices to flow as they get to pick out the colors and the item they want to make and then see the final product and use it. 

I think for the value, it is well worth it. Dinner and a movie is about the same price as this opportunity and this will give them something to keep and cherish as well as a fun memory. Maybe it would be a good incentive "prize" for the child to earn and get "one on one" time with a parent as well. I can't imagine any child wouldn't enjoy this experience. 

I highly recommend this experience and think that you would be able to find places in any state that offer this even if you do have to drive over a state line or a few hours, make a day or weekend out of the experience as I did. It was well worth it! 

I thought this platter they had at the studio was cool as it looks like a jellyfish. Enjoy! Have a Blessed Day! 

Latest Missionary Email - Princess Five Working Ellis at Island and Bye Bye Birdy

This has been once again, a wild week! We had New Years, Exchanges, Service at Ellis Island, Zone Conference, and a crazy two hour block on Sunday.

New years was chill, there were a lot of sirens, but besides that a normal day. I went on exchanges with sister (not my companion), she is from a tiny town in Idaho, and is so sweet, and is much more talkative than my companion. We helped out at a food bank for a couple of hours, then we got two return appointments for her and ended the night with some apple pie ice cream!

At Ellis island we helped people look for their ancestors who immigrated through Ellis island, it was really cool, but we weren't allowed to talk about the gospel unless they asked which was sad, but the members who were there, easily found us. 

On the way home from Ellis, a bird decided to land right in front of our car, and didn't feel the need to fly away, and with all the cars around, there was nothing I cod do but hit it. After the hour drive home, my companion was helping me park, and she started freaking out, I thought I got the car in front of me or something but it turns out the BIRD GOT STUCK IN OUR CAR. Hermana companion grabbed a stick from the ground and hit it out, and a nice man from across the street helped up put it in a trash can. Really sad really gross, I'm sorry.

Zone Conference was great, it was in up state New York, and the drive there was beautiful. I miss the wilderness. I led the music, and met a lot of great people.

On a more spiritual note, we had 3 of our friends come to church! Deysi, who is practically a member, but she wasn't able to come last week so we were happy to have her, and Margarita and her son. She said it was very different and had lots of questions I say by her in sacrament meeting and I wanted to explain it to her but I didn't have the words to help her understand, which was really hard. And then Daniel! We met him Saturday night at a dunkin donuts, and we shared a little bit of our message about the book of Mormon with him. He said, "can you teach me?" And we were a little speechless and said of course! We invited him to church and there we found out that he is in the elders area and he will be missed.

Sister Princess Five

Photos:

Our poor bird friend

And Ellis island

My Review of Best Bus From Washington DC to New York for $30

Before we went to DC and New York, I spent several hours researching ways to get from DC to NY. We looked at flights, trains, renting a car, taking a bus and when I contacted my cousin who lives in NY and whos brother lives in DC, she suggested taking a "Bolt Bus" for $30. 

I was very excited about this as my only public long distance bus experiences were on a greyhound bus when I was about 10. I started doing research and spent hours looking at the reviews of many different bus lines that drive routs between DC and NY. We had thought about visiting family in Pennsylvania but it just added so much on the cost and time that we opted out and just did DC and NY. 

In my research, I found that Bolt Bus had many horrible reviews. They often have issues with no air conditioning and I don't do well with heat so that would have been an issue at the end of July. I also found many reviews of broken down busses on road sides for hours waiting for rescue or waiting in the rain on the side of the road for a bus that never came and no email or notifications of them not coming or being canceled. 

I read about clogged toilets, smells, Wi-Fi never working on any of the trips etc. The only good thing that was consistent with Bolt Busses was that they give out $1 trips last minute and you can go to NY or back etc for $1. I met people who actually had paid $1 for trips on their busses. If you don't have a time limit or don't care about Wi-Fi or air conditioning at cooler times of the year, this may be the bus for you getting a ticket for cheap. 

I also looked at Mega Bus and they had better reviews. All the busses had the same price points of about $30 to $35 for the trip. So, if money is considered, it is all the same. 

The best reviews on many sites went to "Best Bus" and so I felt confident in purchasing out tickets a month ahead of time because I had done so much research. They had four trips a day each direction. The reviews said that one time they had a breakdown and they hired one out from another company and due to the late start, the person was given a refund as the trip wasn't on time. She didn't ask for the refund and understood that breakdowns happen but they just automatically refunded her. 

I was worried about my luggage getting taken from the under compartment but that issue was quickly resolved. I realized they have a wonderful system in place. Each pickup has a driver and a host. Neither is ever alone with the luggage. The host and the driver put the luggage in and lock the compartment and it isn't opened again until you read the drop off. There are a few pick up stops in the same city before leaving and they count the passengers together to verify the numbers so a driver can't say someone didn't show. 

Pick up is just on a street corner so take an umbrella or rain poncho in your luggage as you may need it. All of the busses are this way. However, they did have a parking garage pick up so we could have taken a Lyft or uber to that site to stay out of the rain but seats may be more picked over at the second stop. You have to give the stop of your pick up when you buy the tickets so you can't change pick up spots last minute. 

Your name is the ticket and you just give them your name when entering. The bus was spotless. The seats were clean and spacious. There were spring loaded foot rests for short people but for people with long legs like mine, there was adequate leg room so I didn't have my knees in my chest. 

The toilet was clean and big enough to fit me and I am not small. There were several plugs under the seats both plugs and usb plugs. They handed you a bottle of cold water as you got onto the bus. They had cup holders and put a trash bag on each seat so you could collect your trash keeping the bus clean. I appreciated that the bus had seat belts as well. I was on a trip and one of our busses crashed and people died from our group so that is an issue for me.  

Getting on the bus, the driver handed those of us in the front row or two free sun glasses. Princess Two was all over those. The air conditioner worked great and I appreciate that announcement that the driver gave before leaving asking everyone to be considerate of the others not talking on the phone loudly, not using the toilet if not feeling well as he would pull over asap if there were "stinky" issues so that we didn't all have to smell it. He let us know there would be a food and bathroom break half way for 20 minutes and said if people were cold or hot, to let him know. It was wonderful! 

We arrived when they said, they left on time. We had overhead storage on the bus so you didn't have bags around your feet. I had an empty seat next to me which was great. It was mostly full though so that was great. I arrived early at the pick up so I could get a seat near the front as I get car sick sometimes but since most of the driving was highway, it was not bad. Because we had the tickets early, we could have arrived late but maybe just not sat together. As it was, we sat across from each other and could visit but we were tired so the girls slept. 

I would for sure use the bus again. I think the value of the price was really good. I enjoyed watching SNL skits while driving as I watched a movie and didn't want to start another so the WI-FI was great for watching youtube. Trains cost us twice the price for all of us depending and since Pen station (Pennsylvania station) is under construction, we ended up taking a Lyft to our destination as I didn't want to haul luggage through the smelly NY streets. We left from Dupont Circle in Washington DC to Pen Station stop in New York. It really was a great trip and I suggest it highly. 

I'll be writing about our Lyft / Uber soon.... Have a Blessed Day!

Princess Five is Going To Serve a Mission in Spanish

I woke to someone knocking on my front door. By the time I reached the door, a man was about to get back into a red truck. 

I opened the door and he ran excitedly to the door with a white package in his hand. He said, "I think someone was waiting for this?" He explained that when they got white packages from a certain address, they will call the family and offer for them to pick it up early in the morning rather than waiting for the regular mail delivery system.... 

This happened once before with one of the girls when they got a mission assignment in the mail. The other two just came in the mail regularly but today's was hand delivered to the door bright and early! 

I went and woke up Princess Five asking if she wanted to sleep longer.... She said she did. I then said, "Even if you mission call came this morning?" She bolted up in bed wide awake! I wish now that I had recorded that moment as it was so cute. She took a minute to get her thinking working as she wasn't sure how she wanted to handle the entire thing as I was the only one home and that wouldn't be very exciting to open with just me there so she called her sister who is working in another town and has the next few days off and asked if she would come home tonight as she opened it. 

Princess Four agreed, so we planned a family video chat at 7 p.m. and invited a few family members over to be here as well as a good friend who has been like a father to the girls over the years supporting them in so many things. He and his wife came to support Princess Five. It was wonderful to have people around as well as some friends and she did a live opening on Instagram.

When she first filled her papers out, she said she wasn't super excited to learn a language, and then said that she thought it would be cool to serve foreign after her papers were in, but who can guess these things...… She is going to serve in New Jersey Spanish speaking! She will fly out in November to the Mexico area to learn to speak Spanish for six weeks or so before flying to New Jersey where she will serve until May 2020~ 

I am going to miss this girl so much. I won't have a girl within many hours travel for the first time in 30 years! It is going to be so weird.... I have always had something going on with one or more of them and have been able to visit within a few hours but those miles are getting further and further from "home" as they spread their wings..... 

I am so excited for her to learn a new language and I know she will pick it up quickly as she took a few years Spanish in school so it will be good for her to jump right in and learn Spanish. We have Prince 1 who speaks Spanish and I thought maybe we would have another island call as all three girls were on islands in "Asia" but nope, city central in the USA. 

I am sure she will be amazing wherever she serves as she always excels. We need to get on the passport, visa, and clothes she will need. We have been blessed to be able to find some of what she needed this past week while visiting Princess Two. I worked on a few things last night as some of the items we bought needed to be taken in etc. I finished those up and now need to iron them and we have luggage from Princess Four returning recently so that is a blessing. 

What a day… We thought it would come on Wednesday when she was back working in another town and I would have to drive it to her so I am VERY grateful that it came today as I have lots going on as I am headed out of town on a two week trip so it was wonderful timing that it came today and I won't have to head out of town to take it to her. 

I will need to touch up my Spanish as I took it in Jr. High..... Buenos Noches Mi Amigos~ Have a Blessed Day!