As April closes ...

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 Thankful Thursday

Linking to Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday #168: A Little Getaway

Dear readers: strap on your seatbelts, we're going for a ride!  Skiing?  Check.  Flying?  Check.  Delectable eats?  Check.  Retail therapy?  Check.  Family time?  Check.  Our getaway in Idaho and Utah was delightful in every way you can imagine.  Come take a look!

We drove to Idaho Falls to visit #1 Son, and the temperature gauge never exceeded 5 degrees F.  He met us at his apartment, and his pride was evident as he showed us the new digs.  We delivered a few more boxes and other possessions, which we could not squeeze into either vehicle during the original move (see January 23 post), and then we headed out for dinner.  He was excited to share one of his favorite restaurants, The Cuban Table.  And he warned Spousal Unit: "Don't even get out your wallet!"

The next day, we continued heading south for three hours, aiming for the Utah mountain home of my oldest brother and his wife.  After unloading the 4Runner, we chatted about the plan for the upcoming week, and quickly came to the conclusion that the afternoon would be one of the best opportunities for my sister-in-law and I to pop into Shepherd's Bush.  If this sounds familiar, it is because I wrote about it in December 2020, recounting our previous Utah road trip.  On that occasion, we were not able to enter this fine needlework store due to the pandemic.  So, just like a kid that is only allowed to look at candy through a shop window, my anticipation was at a fever pitch.  And, I was not disappointed.  I could have bought many more projects, but I limited myself to these four, all fairly small in size.  For some time, I have wanted some "seasonal" cross-stitch that I can hang/swap out with the progression of the year, and these fit the bill perfectly.

Full of a delicious dinner of pulled pork, baked beans and squash boats, we slept like babies until it was time to rise and shine for our first day of skiing.  Snowbasin is the closest ski area, and the "home" resort for my brother and his wife.  Collectively, we decided to travel a little farther, to Park City, reasoning that crowds would be smaller there on a Thursday as compared to a Friday.  The bitterly cold temperatures continued, but that didn't prevent us from enjoying the robin's egg-blue skies and the silky smooth groomed runs.

A hot tub, margaritas and another fine meal, featuring salmon pasta, soothed aching muscles from a day on the slopes!  The next day, a 15-minute drive brought us to Snowbasin, and we were treated to a view of a moose along the way.  AND - Mother Nature had delivered six inches of fresh snow to the mountain overnight.  Could it get any better?

That evening, Taggart's Grill, a favorite local dining establishment, gave our hostess some relief from kitchen duties.  Friday night specials typically include prime rib and pot roast, and we enjoyed both of them.  I felt like I was back in my Mom's dining room as I tucked into the skillet of pot roast!  If you click on the picture at right, you can read about this historic location, which began as a quaint campground with a pet Bobcat, and developed into a restaurant famous for its individual cheesecakes, pies, cookies, coconut macaroons and carrot cake.

The next day, we took a break from skiing.  My sister-in-law went to Salt Lake City airport to collect my niece, and my brother took me flying in his newly acquired airplane!  I have flown with him a number of other times, mostly in a sailplane.  The new plane has the advantage of an engine (!), which allows options such as flying close to interesting land features, including this canyon with red rocks.

In the afternoon, my brother flew with Spousal Unit.  Since my dear hubby has been taking flying lessons and is nearing his solo flight, my brother had him take the left-hand seat - most of the instruments are there and that is typically the seat of the "pilot".  Below is a video of the plane on take-off.  

During the flight, Spousal Unit performed three rolls!  With my brother at the helm, he also experienced a backwards loop, practice stalls and more rolls.  Needless to say, he was over the moon!

A fabulous sunset was the perfect ending to this day.

On Sunday and Monday, we skied at Snowbasin, and our niece joined in.

The temperatures had re-bounded but not enough to spoil the conditions.

Salt Lake City was the site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and Snowbasin was chosen as the venue for the men's and women's downhill, super G and combined races.  The Allen Peak tram takes intrepid skiers to the starting point for the downhill races.  (Fortunately, you can also take the tram back down if you change your mind!)  In the collage below, Spousal Unit and I are standing to one side of the tram with a vista spread behind us.  The hut in the second picture is the starting point for the men's downhill.  My brother told us that he once sped down the course as quickly as he could, finishing in about 5 minutes.  The winning time in the 2002 Olympics was 1:39.13!!!!

We returned on the tram owing to rocky conditions at the summit, but not before catching a glimpse of the (disappearing) Great Salt Lake to the west.

Snowbasin has two gondolas, and something about watching them pass before a massive mountain appeals to the romantic in me.

One of the first dates I had with Spousal Unit (before he was Spousal Unit) was to a ski resort in Scotland - Aviemore.  He had never skied before, and spent most of the time on his bum.  That, together with his strong dislike for ski boots, probably explains why he is now a snowboarder.  But we still enjoy skiing/riding together!

On our final full day in Utah, Spousal Unit and my brother spent another day at Park City.  My sister-in-law took our niece to the airport, and then we engaged in a little more retail therapy.  The first stop was the New World Distillery in Eden.  Unfortunately, the Distillery is not offering tastings and tours at the moment, but the owner took the time to review the products.  I opted for the Apple Brandy - he suggested that it is a perfect base for a Sangria, and referred us to liquor.com for recipes.  I will have to wait until after Lent to try it since I have decided to give up all alcohol until Easter!

Our next destination was the Rainbow Gardens Gift Shop.  It is the ideal place for a unique gift, and delightful for people who like gourmet goodies, kitchen essentials, gardening items, candles, soaps, toys and fashions, not to mention a full line of Vera Bradley handbags and travel accessories.  I can't show you everything I bought because some of the items were gifts, but I can share three of their spectacular window displays, and the new garden flag that is already hanging outside!

After returning to the house, several pleasurable hours were spent cross-stitching and chatting with my sister-in-law.  In fact, quite a bit of progress was made on #1 Daughter's adult Christmas stocking on this trip - in the car, while in conversation and during various TV programs that we watched as a group.  It was one of many blessings of this getaway.  On our way back to Montana, we met up with #1 Son for another meal, this time at an Indian restaurant.  It wasn't too difficult to say good-bye since we will see him again in 78 days - in Grand Cayman.  But that's another getaway and another post!

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.

Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.

The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Tuesday (U.S. Mountain time).

Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.

Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.

As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.

Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.

Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Mosaic Monday #109: Road Trippin', Part V

October 20 - 22: Livin' the High Life

Visiting my brother and his wife comes with several certainties: flying, a garden tour and my sister-in-law's culinary delights.  We scored on all three!  On our first day, Spousal Unit went for the rollercoaster ride of his life -- my brother, along with five of his buddies, went formation flying in experimental aircraft.  (The "experimental" designation has been in place for over 5 decades to denote aircraft built by individuals rather than a commercial company such as Cessna.  Licensed by the FAA, these aircraft are used for non-commercial, recreational purposes.)  Spousal Unit rode with one of the buddies since my brother's plane only accommodates one person.  He said he knew he was in for it when the pilot said "At least we won't be doing negative Gs today."

Below is a video of the plane bearing Spousal Unit.  You can see how it goes practically straight up.  "I was not expecting it.  It feels like your stomach flips over your head!" Spousal Unit explained later.

I was pleased (and not surprised) to see that he was still smiling when he returned.  (And he didn't have to use the barf bag!)

My brother also flies sailplanes, and that is more my speed, so we went up in the afternoon.  In case you are not familiar with this type of aircraft - a sailplane has no engine.  It is towed into the air by another aircraft, and once it reaches an appropriate elevation with promising currents, it is released.  The pilot then must utilize the thermals to keep the sailplane in the air and, preferably, rising to allow for a long ride and to create more options.  On this flight, we ran the ridgeline of the Wasatch Mountains, offering views of Snowbasin Ski Resort and more.

As the passenger, I am sitting in the front of the sailplane, and part of my responsibility is to keep an eye out for other aircraft.  The picture below shows another sailplane, below us. 

The southern end of the ridgeline was anchored by communications towers, which support the nearby Salt Lake City airport.  Don't they look like golf balls?

I am so accustomed to looking UP at mountains, that this perspective was quite refreshing.  As we circled back to the airport, we passed directly over the house - it is to the right of the large green patch you see in the photo.  I imagined waving to Spousal Unit and my sister-in-law, who were busy making a White Chocolate Huckleberry Cheesecake, which has been featured in a past post. 

I regret that I didn't take ANY pictures of the tantalizing food that we ate.  Quite frankly, I was enjoying the meals and the company and it just didn't take priority.  We did copy a couple of the recipes, which you will see at the end of this post.  I am salivating even now as I remember many a tasty morsel!

I did get another sunset photo or two ....

The next morning, before we headed out for a short drive and hike, I climbed the hillside in front of the house - don't they have a marvelous setting?

My brother and his wife share our love of ski resorts; it was delightful to get a short visit of Snowbasin and imagine what it might be like in a month's time.  (Snowbasin typically opens around Thanksgiving.)  From one of the resort parking lots, we embarked on a short hike.  Some of the aspens were still in full color, and the sun was beaming down, encouraging us to shed layers as we strolled along.

In the afternoon, it was Spousal Unit's turn in the sailplane.

Below is a video of the sailplane being towed into the air.  My sister-in-law and I left after this video to do a little shopping in Ogden.  (Little did we know that, when the sailplane reached 2,000 feet, the tow rope broke.  This is a designed feature, called a weak link.  When there is too much turbulence between the tow plane and the sailplane, it is preferable for the weak link to break than to potentially cause problems with the aircraft.  This allows both planes to safely return to the ground.)  This is precisely what they did, and tried again, in an area with less turbulence.  

Our prime destination was the Shepherd's Bush Fine Needlework store.  Back in 2018, when a bunch of my family visited us for the first time in our new home, my sister-in-law gave me this cross-stitch design (among many other goodies). Other projects have taken priority, but now I was ready to "get ready" - I needed fabric!  And if it turned out I fell in love with a couple of other designs, how bad could that be?

Unfortunately, as we discovered when we arrived at the door, the shop is not "open" in the conventional sense.  But the two sisters who run this treasure chest of a store are committed to their customers, and they proceeded to bring fabric samples out to the front step.  Over the next few minutes, they helped me select a fabric and an alternate floss color, not to mention a needle threader (no more licking my floss!) The shop is known for specialty "buttons" as part of cross-stitch designs, and I also purchased the buttons that augment this design.   

(As an aside, I began this project on Thanksgiving weekend.  I am loving the look of it!)

When we returned to the house, I utilized my sister-in-law's sewing studio to put the finishing touches on this pillow for #1 Daughter and The Boyfriend.  (see posts here and here about this project)  I am so grateful for the use of the zipper foot!!!!

By this time, Spousal Unit and my brother had returned from the sailplane ride, and I was delighted to accept my brother's invitation for a more extensive garden tour.  All of my fellow gardeners out there will appreciate the joy of wandering a garden, talking plants and shrubs, pruning, fertilizing, suggestions for alternate plants, challenges and potential solutions.  Oh my!  It was fun.  

We gnoshed on another lovely meal, and there might have been some wine consumed as well.  Lots of laughs - my sister-in-law has a delightful sense of humor, as ably demonstrated by her kitchen cloths!

I was happy to leave them a hand-drawn thank you card, but not happy to leave.  We know we will be back!  A heart-felt thanks to both of them for making this part of our road trip so special.  Until next time!

 Two recipes: Zesty Pumpkin Soup and Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.  Thanks to my SIL for the delicious food!

***I may be slow to comment this week since #1 Daughter and her boyfriend arrived yesterday.

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.

Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.

The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Tuesday (U.S. Mountain time). 

Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog. 

Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back. 

As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by. 

Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully. 

Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter