La Conner, Washington and the Surrounding Area

I’m back for two weeks of spring break in the state of Washington!!! Up to this point in my mini-vacation, I’d been cuddling with grandchildren and enjoying the time with my kids and their spouses. The weather was to be spectacular, so I decided to go wandering off by myself on a short road trip for a day; destination La Conner and the surrounding area. With crystal clear skies, bright warm sunshine, a view of the snow-capped mountains that was beyond spectacular, and my fluffy puppy riding shotgun, the drive up to La Conner was quite delightful. Not long after I turned off I-5 at exit 221 onto Fir Island, I came across a picturesque, century-old, little, country church, Fir-Conway Lutheran Church. It was so beautiful in a full beam of sunlight streaming down from the “heavens”. I only stopped for a second as I had a definite purpose for the day; to capture the blooming daffodil fields with the sugar-white, snow-draped, mountains as a backdrop. Plus, I also wanted to explore and learn more about La Conner — a quaint little seaside fishing and artistic town that I had stopped briefly at in my explorations during last year’s spring break.

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Quinoa Black Bean Mango Salad (Gluten Free)

Even though spring isn’t officially here yet, the weather is giving us warm hints of what is to come. Remember, the groundhog did not see his shadow – spring is right around the corner. You know another hint that spring is on it’s way? Potted petunias and colorful, tantalizing seed packets of a variety of vegetables are showing up in the garden stores. I can’t wait to pick fresh, healthy tomatoes, peppers, radishes, and other yummy vegetables. Because I’m longing for “fresh garden produce food,” I decided to visit my local organic coop store and buy the ingredients since my fresh veggies aren’t ready (or even planted yet, except for the spinach). What better way to revel in a healthy, veggie rich, protein packed salad than by making Quinoa Black Bean Mango Salad. (Say that five times really fast!)1

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Cross-country Skiing in the Timber

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After being sick with a nasty bug for what seemed an eternity, I finally made it out to enjoy one of my favorite sports –  cross-country skiing! Of course, Charlie wanted to come along too.  At first, she was so excited with anticipation, all she would do was pounce at the skis. That makes it a bit hard to “slide and glide,” but she finally settled down and set off bounding towards the timber!

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The Most Awesome Valentine’s Day Present Ever!!!

I have the most fabulous idea for the best, absolutely most awesome gift for you to give to your special Valentine. Plus, this part is a secret. It is also a gift for you, too! And it will last all year long!!! Wow! It can’t get any better than that! And no, it isn’t going to cost a year’s salary. In fact, it is less than $100.  And no, it isn’t a puppy, although that would be pretty amazing. Have I peaked your curiosity?

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Happy Groundhog Day! Make an Edible Groundhog!

Yippee! The Groundhog did NOT see his shadow today! Did you know that the origin of Groundhog Day goes back to Germany?  In that country, the badger was the one thought to predict whether there would be more winter or if spring was right around the corner. They celebrated it on February 2nd, 40 days after Christmas. When the immigrants came to America, the groundhog became the predictor. If the groundhog sees his shadow, it scares him and he scoots back into his borrow to sleep for 6 more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, he leaves his borrow to frolic around celebrating the coming of spring. In celebration of no shadow seeing today, here is a fast, cute, edible groundhog to make with your kids,  grandkids, or students. 15

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Snow Day for the Dogs

Abby is a chocolate American Cocker Spaniel who is badly in need of a trim right now. She is the bossy girl of the bunch. Her favorite toy in the whole world is a squeaky tennis ball.

Abby

Heidi is a Shih Tzu and was a rescue from a horrible puppy mill. She is the sweetest little girl in the world who has gradually learned to trust. She tends to be a bit of a diva in the snow. It’s cold! The snow sticks to her fur and makes her wet! And the worst part, if it is very deep, she gets stuck with her short little legs and has to be rescued! 

Heidi

Charlie is part Golden Retriever. She is a real lover who wouldn’t hurt a fly. She is also a rescue. Even though she is a senior, she is very smart, playful, and LOVES the snow. 

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The following is child’s dog’s play.

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New Brakes, Washington, Christmas, and Homeward Bound

Yesterday, as we were going down the mountain around numerous hairpin curves leaving Sequoia, our brakes went out! Hubby had pressed on the brakes and they went right to the floor, no resistance and no braking at all. As I was quietly suggesting,   calmly encouraging,  frantically yelling to Hubby to turn into the upward side of the mountain to avoid careening off the drop-off side, he started pumping the brakes and was able to slow our descent. We coasted up to the main entrance/exit gate to the park. There was a ranger checking passes, so we told him our dilemma. He said it would be hard to get a service/tow truck up where we were especially being as it was so late in the afternoon. He suggested driving slowly down the road about 15 miles to a small town, Three Rivers. I remembered driving through it on our way up. It was a cute little town, but I remembered it being at the bottom of   a l-o-n-g curvy road. Hubby said, “Ok” and started driving down the road.

“What! Hold on here. Have we considered all options? What about the National Guard or the fire jumpers or maybe the ski patrol? Would they be able to help?” Hubby gave me that “look” and I knew we were going for it, end of discussion! We drove slowly and coasted into the hairpin curves instead of using the brakes. We didn’t go careening off any edges and I even realized after awhile, that holding my breath until I turned purple, didn’t slow us down.

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Sequoia National Park

“When I entered this sublime wilderness, the day was nearly done, the trees with rosy, glowing countenances seemed to be hushed and thoughtful, as if waiting in conscious religious dependence on the sun, and one naturally walked softly, awestricken among them. ~John Muir

 

For me, Sequoia National Park was the highlight of our travels so far. This area has immense beauty and grandeur. It is located in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range which contains the tallest mountain in the “Lower 48,” Mount Whitney (maybe that was the one we climbed last night!) as well as the largest tree on earth, the General Sherman tree. 

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Death Valley National Park

This is the hottest, driest, lowest and largest national park in the contiguous United States. In fact, there were 43 consecutive days in 1917 where the temperature was over 120 degrees! The record high was 134 degrees on July 10, 1913! In 2001, a record 154 consecutive days reached 100 degrees. Ground temperatures have reached 200 degrees! You guessed it.  This is also the hottest place in the WHOLE world. There was a time between 1931 and 1934, that for 40 months, the only precipitation was 1.64 inches of rain! Wowzers!  That’s a lot of records!

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