On a Jet Plane

Day 1 of my Alaska trip was mostly spent in the air. Our flight out of Denver was at 6:10 a.m. It usually takes about 40 minutes to get to the airport, so allowing time to get through security and such, we left home at 3:45 a.m. Ugh!

The first leg of our trip took us to Salt Lake City. Our layover there was relatively short, and of course you can't tell much about an area just from the airport, but we did enjoy seeing the mountains.

 As we flew out from there, I was interested to see what appeared to be bright purple water below. I don't know if that was the Great Salt Lake and the purple was minerals in the water, or if it was something else entirely.

 Our next stop was at SeaTac. In a switch-around of typical weather, it was raining when we left Denver, and sunny in Seattle. And so the "mountain was out." (Mount Rainier is often hidden by cloud cover.)

 I enjoyed the clear view of Puget Sound as we headed north from there.

When we arrived in Anchorage, Judy and I decided we should snap a picture of the stuffed moose in the airport lobby in case it was the only one we would see.

Tomorrow we will be driving to Kenai. I am hopeful the weather will be nice so we can get some good pictures of the scenery.

Washington Trip

The second weekend of June was my last convention trip of the season, and this time Lyle got to go with me! I really missed him traveling with me (and doing the loading/unloading and driving) on my other trips this year. This trip was to Seattle, one of our favorite cities.

We were even able to sneak away for a couple of hours to take a spin in the Great Wheel which is new since we were in Seattle for our 25th anniversary in 2010.

My team in Seattle was made up of some long-time friends, two of whom are Sonlight graduates! We had a good time working together and enjoyed hanging out with the team for Sonlight's sister company, BookShark, as well. Then on Saturday evening some friends from Idaho drove over to spend a little time with us. 

The trip was much too short for everything we would have liked to do... but to be honest I was happy to get home and put my feet up after 9 conventions this season! This was my 15th year as a Sonlight Curriculum Consultant and quite possibly my most challenging one yet.

Upcoming Travels

This past week was our annual training conference at Sonlight. It's a time when the convention consultants get together to learn about any changes for the new catalog and prepare for the upcoming convention season. It's something I look forward to every year, but it's always an intense week.

This year was a little different since I now go into work at Sonlight every day. It was still a lot of fun, though. I learned a lot and enjoyed the fellowship, as usual.

I'm very excited about all the traveling I will be doing this year. Last year I flew to two of my events. This year I will be flying to all of them except one... and I will be going to a total of 9 within 3 months' time!

Here's what my schedule looks like:

• March 14-15. Loveland, Colorado. 
• April 11-12. Duluth, Minnesota. 
• April 16. Soldotna, Alaska. 
• April 17-18. Anchorage, Alaska. 
• April 21-22. Fairbanks, Alaska. 
• April 24-26. Redmond, Washington. 
• May 15-17. Des Moines, Iowa. 
• June 5-7. Richmond, Virginia. 
• June 12-14. Puyallup, Washington.

I would love to drive to all these events. Well, actually, I would love for Lyle to drive to all these events, and I would be the enthusiastic passenger and picture-taker-along-the-way... but that's not the way it will work out this year. Flying in doesn't allow time for much sight-seeing or visiting friends, but in spite of that, I am still looking forward to it.

Life is always an adventure!

Car Show

Besides looking at cars at the Seattle Auto Show last Saturday, Lyle enjoyed getting to drive a one-lap race car simulation in the Mazda display area. It seemed funny for him to have to buckle in for a simulation, but as it turned out the seat moved around quite a bit during the course of the drive, so it made sense.

Lyle's an avid auto-racing fan, and he used to participate in an on-line racing league years ago, with a steering wheel attached to his computer. I can't remember what race track he said was the one featured in the simulation, but it was one he was familiar with... and in fact, was his favorite track to race. He actually scored quite well (not surprisingly to me), in spite of "spinning out" once. 

 After that, we walked around and looked at cars. This sparkling blue beauty was Lyle's "pick of the show." I think it's an Audi something. (You remember how much I know about cars?) Turns out the blue paint job was a $1,000 option. I'm not sure what it would look like without it.

He was especially impressed with the brakes, which he declared "a work of art!"

 Not being much interested in automotive pursuits myself, I served as Lyle's photographer, snapping pictures as he pointed things out to me...

 ...such as the hand-built engine personally autographed by the builder...

 ...or the lack of leg room in the back seat of this sports car.

 I liked noticing colors. Most cars are black, white, or gray... with an occasional red or blue... and then rarely other colors such as green, yellow, or brown. I wondered what they called this particular shade of yellow. Perhaps "School Bus Yellow?" No. Turns out that's "Tangerine Scream." Regardless, I wouldn't want a car that color. Would you?

My favorite part of the show was the hallway where they displayed the vintage cars from the new LeMay Museum. Lyle had visited the museum one weekend earlier this year while I was at one of my homeschool conventions, and had told me how impressive it was.

Maybe we can make another trip to Seattle for that.

Trip to Seattle

This past Saturday Lyle and I took off on a little day trip to Seattle. It was the weekend of the Seattle Auto Show which Lyle always enjoys. Some years it has been on our anniversary weekend, but this year it was a little earlier. We just decided to go for the day.

 It's about a 4-hour drive so we left about 6:30 a.m., just as it was getting light. The drive over and back is half the fun. We like to talk, listen to music (and Car Talk), and watch for interesting things along the way...

...such as this abandoned love seat which was strategically placed on the edge of a cliff along the Columbia River. We weren't brave enough to actually sit on it, but we did speculate about who might have carried it out there and why.

 I took a picture of our car while we were stopped there. It seemed like a nice backdrop for it. Interestingly, we saw a car just exactly like it (only two model years newer) at the car show.

 The autumn colors made the always-beautiful drive even more spectacular.

We had sunshine almost all the way to the city, but as is typical for Seattle, it was damp and foggy when we actually got there.

We spent about 3 hours at the car show, and even though I'm not the car enthusiast in the family, it was still a lot of fun. I'll share fragments of that experience with you tomorrow.

I'm sure you can't wait!

Pumpkin Patch

 One of our favorite fall family activities is visiting the Green Bluff area near Spokane, and making a tour of the orchards and farms. We like to get pumpkins... and apples... and kettle corn... and cider... and harvest-y things like that.

 This past Saturday was the day we had decided to go. Turns out that was a good choice. The day was sunny and just cool enough to really feel like fall. The kind of weather you want for an outing in the country.

Mostly I had fun taking pictures of all the pumpkins. The ones in the pumpkin patch as well as the "sweet li'l punkins" that came along with us.

It was a good day!

Writer's Retreat

 This week a friend and I went "off the grid" for a mini writer's retreat. We stayed in one of these cute little lakeside cabins.

It was a productive time. We both worked on our books, brainstormed with each other, and enjoyed probably just a tad too much off-topic chit-chat.

The weather was pretty blustery, though the sun was out for part of the time, but we had a lovely view of the lake from inside our cabin.  We pretty much had the entire place to ourselves, since it's the off-season.

So... I am making [very slow] progress on my novel. I'm still not sure that it will ever be anything anyone will want to read, but I feel compelled to write it anyway. This week helped me figure out what to work on next, and what research still needs to be done at this stage.

It reminds me of working a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. You dump that thing out of the box and you wonder how you're ever going to get it to make a picture. You start turning pieces over one by one, separating out the edges, sorting like colors together, and slowly it begins to come together. The more you get done, the faster it goes.

Maybe someday it will be finished.

Parmesan Crisps

Two weeks ago, on our trip to the coast, we stopped at Whole Foods on our way through Portland. There's not a Whole Foods store in Spokane (our local "big city"), so I wanted to see what they might have in the way of crackers or snacks that fit in with the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle.

My favorite find was a container of Parmesan Crisps. Lyle wasn't sure he would like them, but I was pretty sure I would. They were pretty spendy at $6.00 for a 3.5-ounce package, but I went ahead and got them. We tried them as soon as we got back in the car. I love them because they are crisp and salty like a chip, but high protein instead of carbs. And they have a very rich flavor so I usually only want 1 or 2 at a time. It turned out that Lyle likes them, too, but we didn't go back and get more because they were so expensive.

Guess what? I figured out how to make them myself! 

This may be the easiest "recipe" ever... and they taste just like the ones we bought. I promise.

Here's how to do it:

1. Put a square of parchment paper on a plate.
2. Make four little piles of parmesan on the paper (about a tablespoonful in each pile).
3. Microwave on high for 1 minute.
4. Let cool.

 Can you believe how easy that is?

And a huge savings!

This container that cost $6.00? I was able to refill it with the same amount of product for 80 cents.

Unbelievable.

I should go into business.

Mount St. Helens

After our thwarted attempt to visit Mount St. Helens last fall, we decided she would be more likely to be receiving visitors in August. We took a detour yesterday on our way home from the coast to see. (Understand, Mount St. Helens is a destination. It's not "on the way" to anywhere else. Approximately 50 miles in, and then 50 miles back out.)

The clouds cast a shade on her during our visit, so pristine pictures were not possible, but at least we could see the mountain this time. We could have taken a 14-mile hike to get a little closer, but we didn't have that kind of time.

Pictures and stories in the visitors' center were fascinating. One interesting tidbit we learned was that on the day the volcano erupted, people 20 miles away heard nothing, but people 500 miles away heard the eruption.

Even 30+ years later it's obvious that "something" happened to the landscape.

Scrubby bushes, young trees, and wildflowers grew up through the ash around the remains of the ancient trees that lived there previously.

Do you remember when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980? I was in 8th grade and we lived in Louisiana at the time. Friends who lived in this area at the time tell me that ash covered the ground around here (300+ miles away) for weeks or months afterwards.

Big City Shopping

Frankly, I'm happy to be a Small Town girl. I've never had a desire to live in the Big City. However, every time we go to Seattle and vicinity, there are certain places we like to shop... mainly because we don't have these stores in the Spokane area...

IKEA

 Observation: Swedish names for things are hilarious. Especially when one has not the first inkling about the Swedish rules of pronunciation and tries to read all the words in a normal, slightly-southern American English accent. Because I'm a reader, and I have to read all the signs. It's an obsession with me. I can't help myself.

Fry's Electronics

One of us usually enjoys this super store more than the other one of us. However, this time I was specifically "needing" a stylus 3-pack. You see, I have a tendency to literally wear out styluses playing Griddlers Plus on our tablet. Fry's has a 3-pack for $10. Can't beat that.

Panera Bread

Great sandwiches and salads! I also like the cozy feel of their dining area.

Half-Price Books

I'm sure you can guess that this is my favorite destination. I don't always buy something, but I am always tempted... and I love to just browse!

Ring Around the Sun

Unusual phenomenon in the Seattle area this afternoon.

Mountain View

The Mountain (aka Mount Rainier) is out this evening. View from our hotel room.

Busy Day

...at the Washington homeschool conference! (I took this picture this morning before it opened.) Talked to lots of friendly people today.

Road Trip!

Big surprise, huh? Headed to Nampa, Idaho today (about 8 hours). First episode of Car Talk in progress.

Sunrise...

...at the Spokane airport. Headed to Omaha.

Pike Place Tulips

We didn't make it to the tulip farms this year, but I have to say, Pike Place Market in the spring is the next-best thing!

One morning last weekend Lyle and I met my cousin in downtown Seattle for coffee at Starbucks on the waterfront. It was a misty spring morning... typical for Seattle... perfect coffee-drinking weather... which is probably why coffee is so popular in Seattle, come to think of it.

After we finished our coffee I asked my cousin if the tulips were still in season at Pike Place Market. She lives and works near the Market, and had posted a picture of the tulips a few weeks ago. I was afraid the season might be over, as we've had an early spring. Much to my delight, she said they were still there.

I decided right then that I needed to see them for myself, so we walked over to the Market. Oh, my goodness! Such a feast for the eyes... masses of brilliant colors and delicate petals.

I wanted to take a bouquet home, but every pre-arranged bouquet was prettier than the last, and I could not make up my mind.

I watched one of the workers assembling an arrangement that included red tulips and gorgeous ruffled daffodils. "That's the one!" I decided. But even as Lyle paid for it, I was second guessing my choice. Maybe I should have taken the pink arrangement? Or the yellow and purple one? I think I could have stood there all day deliberating over the options.

Hot coffee. Pleasant conversation. Gorgeous flowers. Is there a better way to enjoy a springtime morning?