After the first week we were back in Salt Lake City for a few days. On Monday Wally and I went downtown. First we toured The Cathedral of the Madeleine. When I was in college I attended LDS Business College which was located on South Temple. Whenever we walked downtown we always walked past this beautiful Cathedral. I had been in it before and I knew Wally would enjoy seeing it. From there we went to City Creek for lunch and for some free passes to Red Butte Gardens. If you show your out of state drivers license at the customer service counter you get a booklet of discounts for the shopping center and you can ask for free admission tickets to some of the area attractions. That's a really good tip to know. Then we went to Temple Square and Wally sat in the shade so I could take some photos of the beautiful flower beds. It was the perfect time of year to catch the tulips.
It was such beautiful weather and was great to be outdoors. That evening Natalie and Scott took us to dinner at Chili Tepin. Wally ordered his own plate and the three of us split the molcajete dish which was quite amazing. Full of chicken, steak, shrimp, nopales, green sauce, onions and jalepeno's. We even had some leftover.
Seriously, as good as it looks! We spent Sunday through Wednesday night at Natalie and Scott's house. On Tuesday morning Wally and I had breakfast at Blue Plate Diner. In the afternoon we drove to Loretta's house and then with her Mom went out to her daughter Jackie's home to visit and have a barbecue. It was fun to see everyone and meet the youngest little girl that we hadn't met before. My notes for the trip ended with Tuesday! So now I'll be going on my memory. Wednesday afternoon Sue and Becky arrived in Salt Lake. We picked Natalie up at work and we all went to Red Butte Gardens and walked around. What a beautiful place. We parked Wally in a nice shaded area while we explored the various gardens. This is a place that would be fun to see in all seasons as the plants in bloom change.
Another beautiful sunny day in the city. After Red Butte we met picked up Scott and met Russell for dinner at Mimi's for dinner and a visit. Becky and Sue then drove to Springville. Wally and I drove to Springville on Thursday morning. The next few days was our sister's weekend with my plus one of Wally. We cleaned, we ate, we watched movies, we went to a craft boutique, we had a super fun time together.
Caramel covered marshmallows with chocolate and peppermint, why ask why? They were delicious.
Sunday we drove to Boise. Wally and I stopped in Heyburn, Idaho to visit my Dad's cousin, Frank and his family.
Sunday night was spent with Sue and Dennis and then we were home on Monday, May 8th.
We got home to nice mowed lawns thanks to great neighbors. I have to say I love retirement. And I love my family and I'm happy we were able to go visit everyone.
Do you know what the best thing is about going on vacation when you are retired? That dreaded feeling of vacation ending and having to go back to work is gone! Completely gone, it's awesome. This may end up in two separate posts. Wally and I went on a two week road trip. We ate a lot of good stuff, saw a lot of family and friends and literally spent 15 days together pretty much non stop. And we survived! I had this idea many months ago and was able to convince Wally how "fun" it would be. We coordinated dates with everyone and put the plan in place. We drove from home to Boise on Monday, April 24th. We loaded the car with some items going to Wayne's house and Wally's really cool Skilsaw bag that he thought made a great overnight bag. Seriously, do you see the size of that thing?
Monday night was spent at Sue and Dennis' home in Boise. The next morning on our way to Salt Lake City we went to Logan, Utah to visit my great nephew Nathan. He just returned from a mission in Poland recently. It was surprising to realize how two years had gone by since we last saw him. He was working so we picked him up at work and went out to lunch. It was a short visit but so fun to spend some time with him.
After taking him back to work, we went to see the Logan temple and were treated to beautiful tulips and the sun peeking out from a rainy day.
Wally had been joking earlier about cupcakes so I dazzled him with my smart phone skills and found a cupcake shop before heading out of Logan.
We then drove to Natalie and Scott's home in Millcreek where we would spend the next two nights. We visited with one of my old college room mates who I stay in touch with. Wally and I went out to dinner while Natalie and Scott went to a concert.
Wednesday night we went to Sicilia Mia's for dinner. I love Italian food and I love cheese. Drool over this video. That was my dinner, and also Natalie's lunch the next day.
On Thursday morning we visited my friend Loretta and her mother at their home, then went to IHOP and visited over breakfast. It was so good to see them. We then visited my sister Nancy in Springville, then we headed to Hurricane, Utah where my son lives with his wife and three daughters. We rented a condo in Sports Village in St. George. Wally hadn't seen Wayne's family since last summer in June, so it was a lot of fun.
The condo was a pretty nice place. We had a full kitchen and lots of space. It was nice having a living room. Only problem was the bed was too tall for Wally! So we slept in one of the other beds.
On Friday afternoon Wally and I picked up the two older grand daughters and went up to Zion National Park. I finally got to go there! And it was beautiful. It's such a short drive from Wayne's house. The weather was perfect. There were lots of tourists there. Annelise took a lot of pictures with my camera and Avea took some photos with my cell phone. It was really fun. We rode the bus up to another stop and walked around just a little bit. You can see a lot from the bus ride.
After the park we went into the small town of Springdale to Zion Pizza & Noodle for some super yummy pizza. I probably should have warned you that this is as much about the food we ate as it is about everything else we did.
Those were so delicious filled with cream, strawberries and bananas. On Saturday, Wayne and Andrea brought the girls over to the condo. We played games in the club house for a little bit. Air hockey with Avea was a blast, as was watching Annelise play pool. They had to leave for a little bit, so Wally napped on the couch in the condo and I relaxed by the pool.
Now, that's something I could really get used to. After so much rain in Kent, having two weeks of pure sunshine was incredible! Later that day Wayne and family came back over and the girls and I went swimming. They all loved the water and we had a blast. Then we went out for Italian food nearby and then a quick stop at Wayne's to pick up some things that we were taking home. Sunday morning we left St. George and headed north. We stopped at Cove Fort, Utah and toured the grounds with an older sister missionary. I had never stopped there before and it was pretty fun to see.
On our way back to Salt Lake we stopped and visited with Emily and Nancy for a little while. Back in Salt Lake Sunday night we went to Ruth's Diner with Natalie and Scott for dinner. That pretty much sums up the first week of our trip.
That's what the title was supposed to be. But somehow it's almost 8 weeks already! I have no idea what happened to all the time. I wanted to report in tell you how great retirement has been. I retired on a Tuesday (end of the month) and then went right into the activity of the annual Sewing Expo at the fairgrounds. Even had a friend from out of town come stay with us for a couple of nights. Then the next full week home with Wally was interesting. But we made it work. I think six weeks was the magic number for us to get into a good routine. With both of us keeping our own daily schedules and running errands together and eating out. It took me about 6 weeks before I could wake up without my alarm. I started setting my alarm for 7:30, then 7;15 and now I get up 5 days a week at 7 am and go to the gym. Eight hours of sleep is perfect for me. In the nearly 8 weeks since I stopped working I've had a few lunches out with office friends, have quilted two large quilts and one baby quilt, have started another baby quilt project. I've taken a class on how to use my serger, have sewn three pairs of work out pants and one cute top. I've cooked, baked, made caramels and started volunteer training at our Senior Activity Center. I'm going to love working the front desk there half a day a week. Wally and I did one road trip to Boise for a long weekend and tomorrow we embark on a big two week adventure. We'll drive to Boise, SLC, St. George, SLC, Springville, Boise and then home. I'll see all three of my sisters, both my kids, their spouses and 3 grand daughters. And not to leave out my brother who is in town visiting his son, we saw him and his wife this afternoon. As an added bonus we are leaving the rain behind and hopefully getting some sunshine in Southern Utah. Stay tuned for trip pictures in a couple of weeks.
I use the word "being" as an emotion, a feeling of being somewhere that conjures up so many memories. Of feeling where you are and where you came from. Our family moved to Boise in 1965 right after my 8th birthday. I graduated high school in 1975 and left for college in August, only 17 years old. Although I only lived in Boise for 10 years, they were my formative years. The years of schooling, making friends, Saturday night dances, summer girls camp, first job, first kiss, learning to drive at 14, road trips in the family station wagon to Grandma's house in Manti, and summer trips to Henry's Lake.
No matter how many years I've lived in other places, I will always call Boise home. I've been back many times over the years. This last weekend Wally and I took our first post-retirement road trip to Boise. We stayed three nights at my sister's home. The main purpose of this trip was to see my friend Gail, whom I met in grade school that first year we moved to Boise when I was 8 years old. Gail currently lives in North Carolina and was flying to Boise to her older brother Bryan's Memorial service. Although it was a sad occasion, I was grateful for having some time to visit with her.
Wally and I left home on Thursday, lunched at our yearly summer road trip restaurant, Smokehouse Restaurant in La Grande, Oregon. Wally loves ordering breakfast there for lunch. We arrived at Sue's just before 7:00 p.m. and had dinner.
Friday we drove up to Sweet, Idaho for the Memorial service. It was a nice outdoor service with friends and family, a little wind and a little rain. It was fun to hear stories about Bryan from his son. And to hear that he had spent his last few months growing closer to his family and making peace with his life. He was 77 years old.
Late Friday afternoon Wally and I went to the Village at Meridian where we enjoyed pizza at Grimaldi's. It's so good there. The flowers at the Village were all in bloom and it was such a pretty spring day. Friday night Sue, Dennis and I played Rummikub and Yahtzee.
Saturday morning, Sue and I left Wally with Jack when we picked up our sister Becky and headed to a craft boutique. It was held in a model show home in a new subdivision in Eagle. The entire house was full of cute, fun and beautiful craft items, from outdoor stuff, to signs, to Easter items. Plus the house was absolutely gorgeous. Before we left we walked through the model home across the street.
Saturday evening Gail and I went out to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. We had an hour wait for a table but it was time well spent visiting and reminiscing. We hadn't seen each other since our high school reunion in 2015 so it was fun catching up. And I'm always grateful that we can just pick up where we left off as if no time had passed.
It was bittersweet thinking about our friend Brenda who passed away in 2015. She was a part of our trio growing up and we had many fun memories..
Sunday morning we woke up to frost on the car window! We hit the road for home. Found a cute diner outside Yakima for lunch (where they serve breakfast all day). Snoqualmie Pass was beautiful with all the snow. We had a pleasant drive home. Road tripping in April weather is actually pretty nice. It was a great weekend.
