I Guess the Honeymoon is Over Now

Roughly 42.5 years ago we set off on our honeymoon.  We were heading to Monterey, California, in my parent's station wagon, pulling their pop-up camper.  Yes, it was sooo romantic and the reason I do not like camping to this day!  On that road trip we made it as far as Denver, Colorado and were thrilled to be there.  We drank icy cold Coors beer, when it was only available in Colorado.  I read Franny and Zoe in the sunshine next to the lake at a beautiful campground.  Those were the days my friend!  Fast forward 42.5 years and we have finally made it to Monterey, California!  I guess the honeymoon is over.

Wedding flowers for our honeymoon!

We are in California, biding our time...alone...together, until we can safely unite with our daughter and her husband for Christmas and the birth of their first child.  As we drove down to the cute little town of Pacific Grove in Monterey County, we laughed at the fact that this was our end goal on our honeymoon all those years ago.  I had seen pictures and read about the Pacific Coast highway drive down to Big Sur all those years ago and thought it looked like a place I would love to see.  I was right!  As we passed the rocky coast it took my breath away... and it wasn't even a beautiful day.  I quickly checked the forecast for the next sunny day!

Someone left a poinsettia for a touch of Christmas.
Welcome to the Pacific Coast!

In our "quarantine" we scheduled a few rounds of golf.  A good socially distant activity to pass the time and one of the very few things open in California right now.  There are some amazing golf courses here!  I thought to myself that if we had indeed made it out here 42.5 years ago we would not have been able to afford even a sandwich, much less a round of golf, at the golf courses here and now we can, but they aren't selling food!  If we had made it here back then, we could have eaten out but couldn't have afforded more than a pizza and today we could afford almost any meal but no restaurants are open.  Funny how the world works isn't it?  Through it all one thing remains...the rocky coast, crashing waves and mountains are all breathtakingly beautiful!  You don't need money to see them and a pandemic doesn't close them.  

Point Lobos State Reserve

Today, TJ decided to take the ride of a lifetime.  He rode his bike down the Pacific Coast highway from Monterey to Big Sur.  Another acceptable activity.  He left at 8 a.m. in the chill of the coastal morning air.  Our plan was for me to drive down later and meet him in Big Sur.  I planned to take my time driving down...with my camera for company.  I went to Point Lobos State Reserve, and did a couple of short hikes along the coast.  Yes, my masked breath was taken away!  I knew I would love this place and I was right.  I was brought to tears by the magnificence of it all.

Heading out for the ride of his life!

Keeping a safe distance and enjoying the view!

I share this with you, not to boast, but with the ultimate gratitude, appreciation and hope that someday you will visit this place or another you find as beautiful.  My day was filled with prayers for my family, our world and thankfulness for the beauty of this earth.  It is hard to not feel guilty surrounded by such beauty when there is so much turmoil in our world, but it is also hard to have it outside your door and not go out and appreciate it.  Especially when it took 42.5 years to get here!  

In spite of the pandemic, I think the end of our honeymoon was worth waiting for!  

And because I only took a hundred...some more pictures....of the end of our honeymoon.

Sunset in Pacific Grove

Pinch me!  Golf at the Links at Spanish Bay

Socially distant selfie with my sister-in-law

When the sun direction is working against you...or was it?

  The Bixby Creek Bridge.  TJ said he owned the middle of his lane while crossing this one!
And the sun direction did not cooperate...again!

The view from the other side...much better!

Reminded me a bit of the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia!

Then I got crafty with barbed wire.

The big picture

It was not hard to stay distant here...
the streets and sidewalks officially rolled up at 5 pm

Happy 90th Dad! Thanks!

November 21, 2020, was my Dad's 90th birthday.  Living 90 years is something!  My siblings and I refer to him as the man with 9 lives.  He has definitely lived through some challenges but I would assume anyone who lives 90 years has lived through some challenges.  The last month has been another one of his challenges.  A trip to the hospital due to an infection resulted in minor surgery followed by a move to a rehab care facility.  This week he was moved from rehab to long term care.  Needless to say, he is not a happy camper.  His body may be failing him, but his mind is fully intact.  He knows this is not where he wants to be....especially on his birthday...during a pandemic.  I know....because he told me.  "You want to know what I want for my birthday?", he said.  "What?", I asked.  "Out of here!", he replied.  Sigh.

Happy Birthday!

As I walked this morning on a path I have walked many times, as far back as 2004, listening to some retro tunes, I was thinking of things to be thankful for this year.   Thinking of things to be thankful for and of my Dad's birthday led me to think of things to thank my Dad for.  After all, I am who I am because he is who he is.  

I can attribute my love of sports to my Dad.  From Sundays spent watching the Green Bay Packers coached by Vince Lombardi to betting in the Masters pool at "his" bar, I learned to love sports.  I grew up knowing about football, baseball, golf, and...of all things....bowling.  I may have also inherited my competitive spirit from him.  Although Mom is no pushover either!

I would like to thank my Dad and his Mom and Dad before him for making "the shore" a huge part of my life.  If he had not loved the shore and made the often herculean effort to get our family there in the summer I may not have known heaven on earth in Nova Scotia.  I know and love our large extended family because of him. When a man is willing to pile 5 kids into a van and drive for 5 days to spend the summer with over 50 relatives, you know family is important.

I can thank my Dad for giving me the "Dixon pause".  When asked a question, my Dad would take forever to answer!  There were times we thought he just wasn't going to answer or times we wondered if he had even heard the question.  I would muster up all of my nerve to ask him a question when I was growing up only to sit and squirm anxiously awaiting his answer wondering if he had even heard the question or if I was going to have to bravely ask again.  Inevitably he would give a thoughtful reply.  Dad is a thinker.  While I was sweating and squirming he was considering all the angles to my question before answering.  This would go for questions like, "Who is going to win the World Series?" or to more important questions like, "Can I use the car tonight?".   Pack a lunch if you ask him what he thinks about climate change!   I too have been accused of taking forever to answer a question.  Just ask my husband... or my kids!  They may even give you a timely answer!

I am not intimidated by many people because of my Dad.  If you know him, he can be an intimidating presence.  Growing up and having to hold my own with him gave me the ability to deal with strong personalities.  If I could face my Dad...I could face almost anyone.  I also learned that underneath that rough exterior was someone who cared and maybe thought he was teaching me a lesson by making me "work for it".

I attribute my laid-back personality to my Dad.  His ability to not over react has been passed down to me.  Consider the fact that after countless car breakdowns, on our many road trips to and from Nova Scotia, he always seemed to matter-of-factly deal with the car repair and get us all back on the road safely.  I may not have inherited his matter-of-fact way of dealing with car trouble come to think of it.  I go right into the fetal position if my car breaks down.  PTSD!  Thanks...for my over reaction to car trouble come to think of it!  Most of the time though, I am pretty laid-back, as is he.

I have been told I look like my Dad.  It must be true because I definitely do not look like my Mom!  Like my Dad, I enjoy a good meal and from time to time those good meals show up around my waist...like his did.  I can only hope I also inherited his longevity and his sharp mind.  

So... 

Happy 90th Birthday Dad...Thanks! 

  

Time Outs and Awards

We are still alive and kicking here.  It only took us three weeks of being home to go on another road trip.  We went to Baton Rouge in September for my mother's birthday, which turned out to be a lovely celebration.  She was deservedly treated like a queen for the day.  I had not seen my parents since before our road trip this summer and we did our few weeks of safe isolation before we visited them.  It already seems like ages ago!  

It seems we have been living our life in 2 week increments.  Visit someone, then isolate for 2 weeks.  Visit someone else, isolate for 2 weeks.  I have started to call it "time out".   After our visit to Baton Rouge and our 2 weeks of  "time out" we went to California to see our daughter and her husband.  We also surprised her with a mostly virtual surprise baby shower!  Life in the time of Covid.

Baby's first bank account
and a virtual audience on the screen to the left.

Macarons and flowers....a girl's best friends.

Back home for a bit of  "time out" until the next venture outside of our Groundhog Day routine.  Random thought....have you ever noticed how your laundry is a reflection of how you spend your days?  I noticed this the other day as I washed nothing but golf clothes, exercise clothes and biking clothes.  That is our life....walk, ride, golf....oh, and one of us works.  This is the time of year I am happy I live down south where I can play outside most of the year...especially this year!

All that walking and golfing has kept me from finishing the blog post I started two "time outs" ago!  I was planning to wrap up the road trip with some National Park Awards. (because I am going to milk that trip for all its worth!) The categories are custom made for each park because everyone gets a ribbon in the Mahoney National Park Awards Blog.  Sadly, once this goes out into the blogsphere our trip will finally be put to rest and I will be forced to find something else to talk about and photograph.

Largest National Park (that we visited)

Yellowstone National Park

We probably drove 100 miles...in the park!  We also stopped about 30 times!  

                

Best Bike Ride

Zion National Park

I highly recommend riding your bike through the park instead of taking the shuttle bus.  We saw so much and it was at our own pace, which for one of us was much slower than the other.  An e-bike might be a good idea!

Most Photogenic

This one is a real challenge to choose just one!  Can I say all of them?  I think the one that surprised me the most in my photos was Bryce Canyon but the one I took such great delight in photographing was Teton National Park.  You can choose for yourself!

Bryce Canyon National Park

Teton National Park
It took my breath away!

Most Patriotic

Mount Rushmore
So many flags...so many presidents

Most Iconic

Arches National Park

When your hike ends at the sight featured on the license plate in the state of Utah, that's iconic.  The view was worth the hike.

Most Surprising

Zion National Park

I am not sure what I was expecting.  I had not heard much about Zion and had never seen the landscape of southern Utah before so maybe that is what surprised me the most.  The red desert, the mountains, the way the sun lit the mountains up in the morning, the clear blue water in the streams, or the pure majesty of the park.  I mostly rode my bike with my mouth agape looking up in awe.  

It had it all... mountains, streams, trees and wildlife.

Scariest Drive

Mesa Verde with a close second by Flaming Gorge.

Flaming Gorge
The road was so curvy and high with many drop-offs that I had to relieve my vertigo challenged driver on the way there and also got to do the drive out.

Almost 9000 ft. and the drive was narrow and steep but worth it!
Mesa Verde National Park
We took turns doing this drive....

Hottest National Park

No question in either of our minds on this one....Canyonlands National Park.

Add to the 106 degrees the lingering smoke in the air from the wildfires in the west and this was less than an ideal time to visit this park.  I suggest the spring or fall and a time when there are no fires!

Perfect for a hike....it did go up to 106 believe me!

I imagine in better light this is spectacular!  Not bad as it was.

Best Sunrise

Arches National Park
Best and only sunrise....for me!

Best Sunset

The bar for this category has been set very high because sunsets are my true love.  It may surprise you that in 50 days of traveling to so many spectacular locations, fantastic sunsets seemed to allude me.  I was vigilant in my pursuit though, just ask TJ.

The Badlands
This one keeps coming up on my photo reel and makes me sigh.
I love the dust trail behind the car and the contours of the land.

But honestly, the best sunset was from my friend's deck in Park City.

There you have it, the winners of the Mahoney National Park Awards 2020 edition.  Stay tuned for the next installment....some time in the future when we find ourselves with seven weeks of time to drive around and look at stuff.  I do think once you start with the parks you get the bug and find it hard to stop at just 9...or 10.  Ten down, 52 to go!

Stay safe out there!  

Have I Gone From Lorelai to Emily?

Disclaimer: If you have never watched Gilmore Girls this post may be unrelatable.  Also, if you have never watched it, you have no idea what you are missing, especially if you are a mother...or a daughter.  Maybe this will all be relatable regardless.  Carry on!

Last night after searching the vast wasteland of viewing options on television I sought refuge on my computer and resorted to a long ago and far away happy place.  I started watching Gilmore Girls from episode 1/season 1.  I can't remember the last, or even the first, time I saw the very beginning of Gilmore Girls.  The show began in the year 2000 and I am pretty sure we did not watch it from the beginning as we were far too involved with kids, sports and keeping our heads above water.  It was way too cool for us then.  I can guess that I/we started watching during the fall of 2003, aka the fall of our discontent.  We had two children in college and the youngest just beginning high school, TJ had moved to Houston to start his new job and I stayed behind to sell the house with Kelly who was in her first semester of high school.  It was a year of transitions.  Watching a series about a single mother and a high school aged daughter was right up our alley.  Kelly and I started a tradition that lasted all through her high school years, much to TJ's dismay, of watching Gilmore Girls together.  

While Kelly and I have nowhere near the rapid fire witty speech patterns that Lorelai and Rory shared we, or at least I hoped we, had a relationship that was similarly as close as theirs.  Even though at the time, I was a few years older than Lorelai, I related to her character in many ways.  I had always wanted to have that close relationship with my daughters, and still be able to parent them properly.  It is a fine balance not easily achieved or maintained.  

The relationship between Lorelai and her mother, Emily, was complicated.  I had a much better relationship with my mother, maybe because I did not have a child at 16 (as Lorelai did), or maybe because I was not as independent and rebellious as Lorelai or maybe because I just had a good mother!  I had a bit of trouble relating to Emily when we first began watching the show.  She just seemed to be so inflexible, snobby and manipulative. 

 

Fast forward 17 years.  Unfortunately, I am closer now to the age Emily was when the show filmed than to Lorelai.   Re-watching the show from the other side of 60 is a lot different than it was in my 40's.  While I still love the relationship between Rory and Lorelai, I found myself last night having a bit more of a sympathetic view of Emily.  I did not appreciate her perspective 17 years ago when I had no grandchildren.  Having grandchildren gives you one more layer of perspective in this world.  As a child you can only see through a child's eyes.  As a parent you have a parent's perspective and can also hopefully remember what it was like to be a child.  As a grandparent you get one more layer having parented people who are now parenting.  

No doubt when I was a child I said things like, "When I have kid I will never make them __________."  Inevitably I had to eat some of those words when I had my own children.  There are also things I said as a parent or parent-to-be to the tune of, "My kids will never do that!"  and as we all know those are some of the most frequently eaten words of parents!  Parenting is a humbling job.  I just never gave Emily Gilmore much love all those years ago.  Last night, after 6...episodes, I saw her in a different light.  Let me share one of the "aha" moments.

Rory has to choose a sport at her new fancy private high school.  Emily suggests she go learn to golf with her grandfather at "the club" in an effort to learn a sport and broaden her horizons a bit.  "The Club" is a place Lorelai detests and sees as a place representing her parents rich, snobby existence and a place she never fit in or wanted to fit into.  Rory is open to the activity and so she and her grandfather go on their outing.  They have meaningful conversations, she enjoys the beauty of the outdoors, she eventually manages to hit the golf ball and so begins a very nice relationship between she and her grandfather.  Lorelai just does not "get it", feels a bit left out and also hates to admit that maybe her mother was right about something.  She eventually realizes just because she hated golf and "the club" and all it represented did not mean that her daughter would feel the same way.  

The episode made me think about how when we are younger, we (maybe just me) tend to discount ideas of older people/our parents as passe' or out of step with current thinking and how maybe they knew more than we gave them credit for.  Aside from feeling a bit more sympathetic to Emily (who is still no saint, but who is?), I realized my point of reference has shifted.  Much to my dismay I am no longer the fit, cute, energetic, young, fun mother.  I am the softer, slower, older, hopefully still fun daughter, mother and grandmother with a broader perspective.  Thank you Gilmore Girls!

 

What's That Smell? Oh, It's Yellowstone!

 Yellowstone was the first National Park in the United States.  That alone makes it worthy of a visit.  The fact that the north entrance is about 80 miles from Bozeman, MT and was very much on our way to Park City, UT made it a no-brainer to visit.  We could have easily spent several days exploring the park instead of one long day, I guess we will just have to go back.  Yellowstone is HUGE!  It is a daunting feeling to drive through the gate and have so much to see with so little time!  We had to pick and choose the highlights and even that was a hard job because there are so many highlights! We followed the road and stopped at every curious and beautiful spot we saw!

First stop....Mammoth Hot Springs

Limestone poetry in motion...or actually in solid form.

I read about all of this in the handy newspaper they give out at the gate but I still don't understand how they formed and find it amazing that they exist. Please do not give me a quiz about the science, I am only here to marvel!  They look like they were melting and then suddenly froze or if you are hungry it looks like caramel drizzle.  One other interesting thing about Yellowstone is the ever present smell of rotten eggs from hydrogen sulfide.  If there is steam wafting up into the air or something gurgling....it smells/stinks!  

The cool thing, one of the cool things, about Yellowstone is that you can stop and see something like the Mammoth Hot springs and then down the road you come across a lovely river surrounded by lush green grass and trees.  Unexpected!

One "must stop" was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The sign said the lower falls was 1/4 mile away, I am not sure I believe them.  After viewing the canyon and the water falls from one viewpoint, TJ and I saw a path that lead to the lower viewpoint.  He decided to pass on the hike and go fetch our car, that we had to park quite a ways down the road.  I wanted to hike to the lower falls viewpoint.  We decided to meet at the upper parking lot at an appointed time.  I was about halfway down the path, enjoying my downhill hike when it occurred to me that the hike back up was going to be VERY steep!  I kept walking...and walking...and walking.  There were so many switchbacks!  The deeper I got the more I realized there was no way I was going to be back up to the top at the appointed hour.  Oh well.  The view was lovely!  I enjoyed it, took a few pictures, drank some water and prepared for the uphill climb.  I could look up to my end point and I must say it was a bit daunting!

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

The lovely water fall and if you look at the bottom left,
you can see that boardwalk to the lower falls.
Looks easy enough!

Going down! One switchback at a time.

Still going down and realizing these stairs will be a lot harder going up!

Needless to say, TJ had to wait a bit longer for my little expedition.  By now, we were both hungry!  The National Parks were all open but all of the facilities in them were not open.  This was early in our road trip so we were still novices at the whole Covid National Park touring thing.  We did do a bit of research just to make sure there would be somewhere inside the park where we could get lunch.  Lucky for us there was.  It was EMPTY...we were also very late for lunch.  We sped through, ordered something edible and grabbed a table outside (where most of the meals on this trip were consumed).  I sat and looked around and could imagine in non-Covid times this place would have been buzzing!  There would have been people everywhere, no tables to be found and long lines to get anything!  This made me a bit happy and a lot sad.  Yes, we lucked out wherever we went as far as crowds were concerned. Yellowstone was one of the most crowded parks we visited and even it seemed to be running at 30%.   On the flip side, think about all of the families who did not take that long awaited vacation and the workers who are not working because there is no one to feed or the venders that are not selling anything because there is no one to buy their goods.  For us, this was a blessing.  We were on a trip that we had not planned to take.  We were thrilled to have this park to ourselves and to not have to stand in long lines wasting time that could be spent seeing the beauty around us.  But still, it was a bit sad.

 

The lunch break was much needed, especially since there were "real" bathrooms available.  National park bathrooms are a whole other blog post...suffice it to say indoor plumbing is a luxury.  I had seen pictures of some turquoise pools of water and really wanted to see them.  We found the Porcelain Basin!  The color of the water was unreal and yes, it smells!  This place continued to amaze me with its many colors!

I loved the boardwalks through the basins.

Some of the science if you are into that kinda thing!

Nature's thermometer up close.

Our goal was to be at Old Faithful for the 5:30 ish "show" but soon realized it may have to be the 6:30 show.  The problem getting from one place to another in Yellowstone is that no matter how you try, you cannot resist stopping to see the view or to watch the wildlife because you never know if or when you will pass this way again.  We stopped a lot!  

We stopped for mountains

We stopped for bison

We stopped for steamy springs

We stopped for bubbling pools of stinky mud

We watched the clock and kept driving.  One thing that TJ had considered doing was riding his bike across the continental divide and down to Old Faithful.  It was a good idea...for about a minute.  As we climbed the mountain and arrived at the Continental Divide the thermometer on our car read 48 degrees.  We were not dressed for 48 degrees!  He did insist riding across the divide anyway...even if it was just for the photo op!  So...we took the bike off the rack, he rode across, posed for a few pictures, loaded the bike back onto the rack and carried on.  He had stopped about a thousand times throughout the day for me so turnabout if fair play.  

Proof!

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Old Faithful was close to where we would be exiting the park for the day.  We did not want to miss anything before we left but we also did not want to miss the big show.  As luck would have it, our day began with sunny skies but as we approached the big show it got cloudy, cold and a bit drizzly.  

But first...let's stop and look at this lovely river!

 

Look at those antlers!!

It was time for the grand finale to our day in Yellowstone... Old Faithful.  We gathered with the other people, wearing our masks, holding our umbrella and keeping our distance.  We waited.  There were a few minor eruptions to keep us  interested and on the edge of our bench.  We put on our jackets and have found that a mask also helps keep you warm.  I am very glad we got to see Old Faithful.  I am disappointed to say it does not photograph well against a gray and cloudy sky.  The video will have to do.

As soon as "the show" was over we headed out of the park.  We were only distracted by one more sight.  The Grand Prismatic Springs was on my checklist all day.  We just happened to pass right by it on our way out.  One more stop!  One more stinky walk.  One more miracle of nature.

I only wish I had a drone to see this from above!

 

We finally decided it was time to leave.  Unfortunately, so did almost everyone else in the park.  The road through Yellowstone is a two lane road.  There had been an accident a mile or two ahead and traffic was at a standstill.  It took us an hour to drive two or three miles.  After a day of taking our time, stopping at every overlook and enjoying the leisure pace of our day we were ready to be on the road only to have to sit in traffic.  If the view had been across a field at some beautiful mountains maybe I would have been in a better mood.  Nope....just trees....on both sides of the road...for three miles.  We finally got on the road and drove to Idaho Falls, Idaho.  A quick 2 hour drive.  We totally bit off more than we could chew here.  We were beat and hungry and it was late at night.  Nothing was open!  After a day of sensory overload, our dinner consisted of the complimentary frozen Stauffer's Lasagna the hotel provided and we microwaved in the room.  It left a lovely odor in the room for the night.  The glamour of life on the road was becoming a reality.  At least the wine was good.

So, just like Yellowstone this blog post is full of scenic stops and very long.  At least you can't smell it!