Taking a Chunk Out of Winter

A few weeks ago we decided that we were tired of this...

 

 

So we hooked up our trailer and went in search of this...

 

  We enjoyed three weeks of warm and sunny weather in southern California.

 

We stayed on the Rincon Parkway just north of Ventura and just south of Santa Barbara.

 

Max enjoyed it too.

 

Just look at that view!

 

We met some friends and camped in a cow pasture on her cousin's ranch.

 

Just look at that view!

 

An out of order picture (thank you blogger) 

 

While on the parkway we saw this cute little trailer called

'The Egg and I'  one of the Sister's on the Fly.

 

See, I told you it was a cow pasture.

 

The cows came and visited us every morning. 

 

 

Last Friday we came home to three feet of snow on our patio table.

 

Well, three feet of snow on everything!



 

Bye bye flip flops, hello wool socks.

 

 

Greetings from Kansas

At least I think we're in Kansas...

We've had a great trip so far.  The US of A is an awesome place.  

We've been so impressed by the natural beauty.

  

The monuments to daring deeds.

The history.

(Independence Rock)

Of course, we've had some mishaps.

And some donkeys in the road. :)

Some peaceful glens.

(South Dakota, you're so beautiful! I had no idea.)

Custer State Park

Some amber waves of grain.

(And corn, and soybeans, and sorghum.)

Some pioneer cabins.

 (I was sooo tempted to put those redwork shams in my purse on the way out of that museum!!)

But I was good...

Some great old houses.

Some interesting modes of transportation.

Some beautiful rivers.

(The Des Moines River in Iowa.  This was the view from our campsite.)

A  Harvest Festival.

A barge on the Mississippi carrying corn down river.

A Folkart Festival in Hannibal, Missouri.

Mark Twain's boyhood home. 

A few adorable shops that I couldn't pass up.  

(Thank you for stopping sweetie!)

Some gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.

(Over a Home Depot parking lot in Nebraska.)

We tried to stop along the way at farm stands and small hometown

cafes whenever we could.  So fun!

We really do live in a wonderful country. We've flown over it a few times.  I'm so glad we've had this opportunity to go and

see some of it for ourselves.  We're headed toward home and should be there in a few days.

I'm looking forward to playing with a few grandbabies when I get there.

As Dorothy would say "There's no place like home."

Wonderful Wyoming

This has been our view for the past few days.

We're traveling with some friends that we've known since 1977.

We've been on many adventures with them and their family.

When our kids were little we camped all over

California from Yosemite to the coast.  Now we're

kidless and traveling is just a little bit more relaxing.

We've seen deer and antelope playing  so you know

we must be out on the range. 

These are wagon

ruts made by covered wagons and handcarts by

pioneers who were looking for a new life in the west.

Wyoming graffiti.

More to come.  If at all possible.

Thank You and a Road Trip

Thank you all so much for wishing me a speedy recovery from my hideous cold/flu bug. You guys are the best.

Last Tuesday when Mimi started feeling better, the Mister decided we needed a little break from our chores and projects here at Mimi's Cottage so we got in the car and drove to Los Angeles. The Mister had a lovely time at Westec. It's a huge convention/expo with all kinds of manly things like machines, tools, and lots of testosterone. He loved every minute.

While the Mister was at the convention, Mimi had a wonderful time here...

And here...

I was having such a good time at places like Anthropology and cute little shops I forgot to take pictures. But you get the idea...

That evening we went to Santa Monica for dinner.

We walked out on the Santa Monica Pier.

Mimi wanted to go to this school but it was closed. Darn it!

One of the things Mimi misses most about California is the ocean. I lived my entire life until 2002 just a few miles from the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

The next day we visited with some very important people. Our adorable grandgirls! Oh, and their parents. We went to an Open House at the sweetpeas's school and saw this. Move over Vincent Van Gogh!
Such a nice Kindergarten teacher...

We enjoyed a beautiful sunny day watching a tennis lesson...

And a warm Saturday morning watching a soccer game...

This cute girl scored a goal for her Mimi...

Now we're back in chilly Utah. We have carpet for the basement coming today. I have a lot of catching up to do. We had lots of fun in California but it's so good to be home.

Oh, Canada

The first stop we made on our wonderful cruise was Victoria, BC. We got off the ship and went directly to Butchart Gardens. GORGEOUS!

We were lucky enough to be their when the tulips were blooming. In June the roses will be at their peak.

Camelias...

It was just a little rainy, really a light mist.

They employ 650 gardeners in the summer. They planted the tops of the trash cans...

The next day, Vancouver...

An angel taking a railroad worker to heaven...

Cute shops in the Gastown district...

A steam operated clock. This fascinated the mister...

The canadians are very kind to their four legged friends...

We had a wonderful time with our friends. Now back to working on the house.