First Stop: ZION

Day one of our road trip was a travel day, with a stay-over in Cedar City before heading into Zion National Park.  Cedar City is several miles past the turnoff we needed, but it was a necessary diversion in order to eat at Rusty's Ranch House.  [What we do for food!]

The following morning we arrived at Zion. Vehicles are no longer allowed to travel freely throughout the park, so we headed to the Visitor's Center and took the 90 minute shuttle ride.  You're able to get off several times, anytime, and enjoy the amenities and hiking trails.  We stayed put for the round trip, then enjoyed a picnic lunch before getting back on the road.

 

These pictures were taken through the front window of the truck, 

and the extreme blue at the very top of the first two is from window tinting.

The cliffs of Zion are made of sandstone; 

sand that's been compressed by the pressure of overlying deposits.

Did you know that Zion was named by Brigham Young?  

He originally called it Little Zion, but when it became a National Park in 1918, 

it became simply Zion.

Oh boy!

This is the Zion - Mt.Carmel tunnel, completed in 1930, and over a mile long 

~ always a favorite part of the trip.

 

The breaks allow for light and ventilation. 

 

 

Sadly the national parks are temporarily closed, 

and even their websites have been shut down.

I'm so grateful we had good timing and perfect weather.

Next stop:  Provo, Utah

Counting My Blessings,

xo Susy

Changes

Fall is upon us.  For my beach community, the changes to the new season are always subtle.  First it's an increasing nip in the air, morning and evening, until finally it's necessary to close the windows that have stood open all summer.  Then the leaves of the maples and sycamores lining the neighborhood streets are no longer green.  They don't move gracefully from yellow to amber to red, however ~ they simply go brown and eventually fall off. 

As with the new season, some subtle changes have taken place for me too.  It's all good, and I'm so happy to have  time again to blog and visit!

One of the changes is (after much consideration), I've decided to make some adjustments in my time commitments to the charities and boards I serve, and already I'm feeling relieved and  refocused.  Sadly, I'll be saying goodbye to a board I've been on for ten years - but I know it's the right decision.

Also, hubby and I recently returned from a 6-day road trip to Sundance, Utah, that was possibly one of the sweetest we've had in years.  The drive was beautiful, our accommodations were wonderful, and we spent most of the time in the company of our son and daughter-in-law, and their friends.  I came back extremely refreshed, and inspired to start this new season of my life.

I'll tell you all about it, a little at a time.

Here's where we stayed.  It's a vacation home of friends of our son and DIL, 

in an area just above the Sundance resort, called Brickerhaven.

No internet, no wifi, no TV, no cell phone reception.

And no coffee maker. Oh my!

Counting My Blessings,

xo Susy

Checkin' Out ~

The house is tidy, leftovers are in the cooler, my bag is packed with warm clothes, hiking boots, and good books.  I'm checked out from work for the rest of the week year.

Yup, I'm ready to go.  Giddyup!



Counting My Blessings

xo Susy

A Favorite Thing: Pink Sunsets

Our four day get-away to The River was perfect; great weather and enough time to relax.  The trip takes about 4 hours through familiar landmarks and I knew our timing was going to put us at our destination just before sunset.

Once we get out of the city, we pass by Palm Springs

and on to open spaces with no billboards,

and only the occasional offramp sign

Just before Palm Springs is an area called Whitewater.  

It's one of the windiest places in the country

 and its home to hundreds, if not thousands,

 of giant turbines that spin wind into electricity

It was a location considered by the Wright Bros. 

After that it's open highway for

a couple of hundred miles 

before our turnoff

As expected, we arrived at our camp just before sunset
and I snapped these from our porch

 The next afternoon, to his delight

 and the delight of 1000 mosquitos,

I went fishing with Pizza Man

The water was so still I couldn't resist taking pictures of the reflections

 this is where the fish hide

I didn't know until later that

these were decoys and duck season

had opened that day

 this was a muskrat cutting across the lake

not far from the boat just before

we "pulled up anchor"

Speaking of that, I'll save the rest

for another time

Counting My Blessings

xo Susy

p.s.   say "thank you" to a Veteran this weekend

I'm joining Claudia

 at Mockingbird Hill Cottage for

A Favorite Thing Saturday

A Favorite Thing ~ and Merci Beaucoup

I'm slooowly easing back into blog life since returning from vacation.

We took a road trip to our fishing cabin on the
Old Colorado River, then drove to Williams AZ and took the train into the Grand Canyon and stayed overnight. The next day we hiked and shopped and lunched, then returned to Williams on the afternoon train.

Before leaving Williams the following morning, we went to Bearizona,

 a wildlife animal park that opened in 2010 and was loads of fun.

After driving through and seeing the animals in habitat,

 I spent a lot of time in the barnyard

with the chickens and pigs, peacocks and goats. 

For several reasons I've yet to upload the hundreds of pictures I took. But soon!

(the photos above are all from the internet)

* * * * *

One of the things I've been working on since our return

 is getting things in the garage sorted through. 

 I just took a big load of collectables into my consignment space,

 and have lots more ready to go.

  In the midst of all the culling, I came across some things

 I'd completely forgotten about.

And that's where A Favorite Thing comes in ~ I love surprises!

Look at this beautiful stack of  little Bavarian dessert plates

in four different patterns of hand-painted pansies and roses
in purple and pink and yellow

  I brought them in, gave them a gentle wash,

 and added them to my sideboard in the dining room.

I'm ready for company ~ let's eat cake!

  I love happening upon lovely things like this.  

* * * * *

Another fun find was this 1936 falling-apart-copy of  The Housekeepers Daughter

  It was silly and humorous, and a quick read.

  A movie adaptation of the storyline was made in 1939,

 with Joan Bennett, Adolphe Menjou, and John Hubbard.

  I'll have to watch for it on TCM.

Something interesting I'd never seen before

was on the copyright page of the book:

"Because of the acute shortage of regular book cloths under

war-time rationing, this book is bound in "leatherette", a

sturdy paper fabric especially designed for this purpose."

 * * * * *

And the final surprise was a very special win from Marcia at

The Shop Around the Corner

  These handmade gift tags were waiting for me when I returned from our trip

 

   6 tags of two different designs, strung with black satin ribbon,

 with gilded edges and black feathers.

  They're really quite beautiful!

  I'm going to have to do some fancy shopping and wrapping

 to match the quality of these tags!
Something French perhaps...

 Merci beaucoup Marcia!

* * * * *

 And on a weather note, Fall has finally come to SoCal.

Our days are still warm, but mornings and evenings are getting chilly.

I'm sad to have to close the windows soon.

Last night I enjoyed the crickets and distant train whistles while reading.

Counting My Blessings

xo Susy

I'm linking up with Claudia at

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

for 

He Had To Ask?

Our recent road trip took us on a side trip to Tombstone, Arizona. No surprise, as my hubby is a Cowboy at heart. He's the rugged, outdoorsie type, loves the desert and camping, and is known to belly-up-to-the-bar for a beer every now and then. He drives a pickup truck, but loves it like a horse.

 

This was a fun stop, with lots of the original buildings still in place.

 

 

 As I recall, this was one of the original Wells Fargo Stagecoaches

they were all available for hire

 

Everyone was in character, shopkeepers and stuntmen

This guy saw me taking pictures, 

and came out to casually pose at the doorway.

When I was done, he went back inside.

  Nice touch.

But the big bonus of the day came 

when Hubby met the Old Timer.

I think he thought he finally found someone

 that  would be able to answer The Big Question.  

I busied byself taking pictures, while they talked it over.

I already knew the answer to that.

Counting My Blessings,

xo Susy

~ Happy Father's Day Daddy ~