We are heading to Europe! An epic journey, originally planned for 2020 until the pandemic shut down the world. (Of course, we have been to the UK since then to visit my in-laws, and we will start and end our visit with them!) A sneak peek: several days with one of our former au pairs in France, then a driving tour through Switzerland, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. In Poland, we will visit another one of our former au pairs. The list of sights and activities is too long to mention here! And it also worked out that we will experience Bruce Springsteen in concert in Prague!
So, I just wanted to post a few highlights from April, and wish you much joy in the month of May!
Below - back side of Snowbird Resort, which is east of Salt Lake City, Utah. I was in the area for a climate conference, and several fellow volunteers gave me a fabulous skiing tour of the mountain.
While in Utah, I stayed with my brother and my sister-in-law, so of course it was the perfect excuse to go skiing at Snowbasin again!
And Idaho Falls is a perfect stopping spot on the way home - such a blessing to get to see #1 Son, and wish him an early birthday! He took me to Reed's Dairy, which began its family-owned milk delivery business in 1955 in Idaho Falls. Larry Reed, in the collage below, started and operated the dairy while his two brothers managed the farming side of their business. And yes, I managed to eat these two massive scoops of ice cream!
And wouldn't you know that Spousal Unit had flowers for me when I got home? I should go away for six days more often!
April is highway clean-up time in Montana - the snow is gone and all the ugliness of winter trash is revealed ... and you have to get in there before the grass gets too high! Don't my neighbors and friends look so happy? This is before they picked up 130 bags of garbage along a 6-mile stretch! I got reports later of swollen knees and aching backs ... we need some younger recruits! (Please note that not everyone is in the picture ... a shout-out to all the pickers!) And do you see the little Grouse to the left of the crew - oddest thing - that grouse followed me around for at least an hour in that area!
Most of you know that April 22 was Earth Day. I volunteer with Citizens' Climate Lobby, and our local chapter hosted an ambitious Earth Day event at the local community college on April 20. As part of our pre-event publicity, I was on the radio with my friend Denny, Flathead Audubon Conservation Educator. I am so grateful to all the people who made this event possible - over 100 community members contributed to financial sponsorship, panel discussions, workshops, tabling and our Electric Vehicle Showcase. And our volunteers - so many hours of work to put this together, not to mention support from 8 - 5 on the day itself. I am ready for a vacation, and I am retired!!!
I mentioned that I was in Utah for a climate conference. One of the presenters shared this quote:
"When any environmental issue is pursued to its origins, it reveals an inescapable truth - that the root cause of the crisis is not to be found in how men interact with nature, but in how they interact with each other - that, to solve the environmental crisis we must solve the problems of poverty, racial injustice and war." Barry Commoner, 1973
The more things change, the more they stay the same! If you can and if you dare, be part of the change.
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Joining LeeAnna's I Like Thursday - Prompt for May 2 - What does your name mean? Are you named for someone? Do you like your name? Have you ever changed your name? Would you like a different name? A Google of Angela yields "messenger, messenger of God." I am not aware of anyone else in my family with my name, and my Dad always said they named me Angela because I was his "angel". He certainly did not appreciate it when I adopted Angie - I can still hear him calling me Angela! I am very happy with my name (Angie) and cannot imagine being called anything else.
Linking to Mosaic Monday
...have a fabulous trip.
ReplyDeleteWOW, I know you will have an amazingly fun time in Europe and we're looking forward to the photo evidence!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful trip, Angie! It sounds like you'll be seeing and doing amazing things. We are headed to Amsterdam for 10 days before a cruise around Iceland. Just three weeks away. I'm looking forward to being home for the rest of the summer since we were on long road trips the two previous years.
ReplyDeleteWhat terrific looking snow. And such pretty flowers. Quite the Earth Day event!
ReplyDeleteDear Angie, it sounds like you are keeping very busy. And are about to embark on a great journey. Have a wonderful time. We will be going to Albania mid-June so I need to start doing my research and planning for that. Thank you for your past emails to check in on me. I've not blogged since September for many, many reasons. And haven't responded to many emails either. Hopefully I'm back now. Take care.
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for joining Angel Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
ReplyDeleteHi Angie, what a lovely post. I enjoyed reading every word! I love that quote, the cleanup efforts, the trip, the welcome back home. Terrific! Enjoy every minute of your holiday.
ReplyDeleteHooray for a rescheduled trip. My recent trip to Scotland was first scheduled for September 2020. Thanks for visiting my blog. I am bookmarking yours so I can return
ReplyDeleteOh ~ Happy Birthday belatedly to your son and what a wonderful post and photos here and traveling plus ~ happy for you ~ hugs,
ReplyDeleteWishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Great job to you and all your trash-picker friends!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting your trip to Europe sounds, Angie. Fabulous you'll be going to a Bruce Springsteen concert in Prague. Have a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteHave fun. Sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeletewww.rsrue.blogspot.com
130 bags of garbage collected - major props to you and your neighbors for the clean-up effort! Safe travels and enjoy your well-deserved vacation!
ReplyDeleteDear Angie –Your April looks fulfilling in various activities. I respect cleaning up and collecting the trash left or thrown on the road. Being responsible for one’s own trash is not only etiquette but also the start of environmental issues. Your travel plan made me excited, too. I’ve visited only Austria among those countries. Have a wonderful trip.
ReplyDeleteYoko
Sounds like a great trip! Kudos to you and the crew for cleaning up the trash! Take care, have a great day!
ReplyDeleteSo glad I found your blog! Your travels throughout the month of April look wonderful! 130 bags of trash??? I can't even imagine it. I'm sure your trip to Europe will be amazing!!
ReplyDeleteOh, you have Winter in April...dear Angie. I wish you a wonderful trip to Europe. I read that you are visiting my country- Austria. Very nice. Have a good time here.
ReplyDeleteThe quote at the climate conference - I think that are true words.
All the best
Violetta,
and thanks for visiting my blog...
I hope you are enjoying a fabulous trip.
ReplyDeleteSafe and happy travels.
All the best Jan
LOVE the snow photos!! Well done with the Earth Day event. Happy travels in Europe. That sounds really exciting!!
ReplyDelete-Soma
Good for you Angie for all you do for our Earth. And you certainly do deserve a vacation. I know you are enjoying every bit of your trip which sounds wonderful and I look forward to reading more about it.
ReplyDeletelove snow.... it makes nature looks beautiful....
ReplyDeleteHappy earth day
Dear Angie, after you wrote to me that you were going on the big trip, I read your blog post, but it was important to me to write you my email first. Now I'm here again, I've read your post for the second time and I'm finally writing you a comment :-)
ReplyDeleteI haven't written to you yet that we were in Salt Lake City, too - during our world trip in 2024 we also went to Arizona / Utah in March, where we visited a few parks and ended this tour on Antelope Island in SLC. And well, we saw snow there but we weren't skiing. Looks like you had a fun time in the snow! (We then flew to NYC, where we met up with a couple we had met in New Zealand on the same trip.)
I think it's great that you're also committed to the environment and climate. Unfortunately, it happens to me again and again that I am attacked for, on the one hand, protecting the environment and writing about how important it is, and on the other hand, "flying around the world". (I think this is an even stronger issue in Europe than anywhere else in the world..., right?) Since you are also an environmentalist and a traveler, I would be interested to know what answers you have in this case. Maybe you'll find the time to write me an answer to this at some point, because I'm very interested in your point of view.
For now, I really hope that you enjoy your journey with your husband through Europe and to your in-laws!
All the best, Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2024/05/weltreise-2024-4-station-tasmanien-teil.html
Ski pictures look great. It's been a lot of years since we've gone skiing, but always enjoyed it when we went. We have skied that particularly resort, as well as others in Utah. Sounds like you had a good time. And such pretty flowers on your return, very nice. Picking up the trash along the road is a wonderful volunteer thing to do.
ReplyDeleteAngie what a wonderful post! You've left me dreaming of Reed's Dairy ice cream....
ReplyDeleteThank you also for sharing the important and fulfilling work we're doing together to advance climate change solutions.
We miss you my friend!
Sending love and ENJOY xx L