Christmas---I'm ready!!!

I am almost ready for Christmas. It's hard to believe because I've been sick for the past month with some sort of cold thing that zaps all my energy and makes me cough constantly. But with Phil's help I am almost ready for Christmas. He brought all the Christmas boxes up from the basement and set them in the dining room and I slowly unpacked them, put the tree up one day, decorated it the next, decorated the house a little at a time over the past week. Slowly picked up stuff that had been cluttering the place and got everything ready for Phil to come through on Saturday with the Dyson and suck two cannisters (!) of dirt and Pandy hair up. Dusted feathers from my feather comforter (bought at half price but not quite the deal I thought it was since the feathers leaked through the duvet case) off all the furniture. I baked stuff for a little party we had Saturday evening, I felt good, it was nice to be up and doing stuff. Then when our company was here and we were sitting around singing---I couldn't help myself---I sang with my raspy voice and Saturday night I paid for my singing by coughing all night long. Today I am feeling better, I have mounds of laundry to do today, I paid my bills, tomorrow if I can reschedule a Cook of the Week interview Phil and I will go shopping in Ankenny, Wednesday I will clean and make beds up for the girls, wrap the gifts we buy on Tuesday, Thursday I will go shopping and bake and bake and bake. The girls start arriving Thursday night!!!! I believe I will be ready, I hope I hold up.

View in Yosemite

Bodega Bay

Yosemite

We are back!!!

We started our trip on November 18, Phil and I both driving our own little Born Free, taking them to Nevada. We used Mapquest---driving the zig zag route from Ft. Dodge to route 80, through some beautiful Iowa countryside. Finally on route 80 we drove across the rest of Iowa, then on to Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and finally Nevada. Nebraska was pretty---a never ending state. Wyoming was beautiful and Utah even more beautiful with mountains and snow, we stayed the night in Park City, home of the Olympics. Then on to Nevada, not so pretty, down into Carson City which looks to be an up and coming growing town. When we got to Carson City we stayed in a brand new Hampton Inn, the nicest ever, then went to dinner at a lovely restaurant, had Cobb salad and wine, a nice ending to a long day. The next day we handed over the two Born Frees and rented a little white car for the rest of our trip. We headed over the mountains to Lake Taho a beautiful drive to a beautiful place---until you get to the little town south of the lake. It was full of up-scale shops and restaurants, some casinos. I was surprised they allowed so much building next to the lake. After Taho we headed out to California in order for Phil to interview a new employee. Then on to Northern California in order for Phil to check out a new dealer's lot. We headed up to Bodega Bay for an evening, ate at the Lucas Warf and stayed at the Bodega Bay Inn and Spa. Oh, it was a lovely time. I had the best dinner at Lucas Warf, a seafood stew filled with shrimp, scallops, and fish. The stew came in the pot it was cooked in, I then ladled the stew into my bowl, I ate every drop (to Phil's dismay because he said I had garlic breath three days after the meal) and I thought about this wonderful stew several times during our trip home. We started our visit to Bodega Bay at the visitors center---checked out all the hotels, decided on the one we wanted, pressed a button which connected us directly to the hotel and made the reservation. The hotel was the Bodega Bay Spa and it was gorgeous, our room was huge, had a fireplace and a deck that looked out over the bay. Phil and I had (and needed) a relaxing time there. The next day we drove down to Yosemite National Park where we had a reservation at Yosemite Lodge. The drive took longer than anticipated since we took the "dotted" roads instead of the faster ones. It was a pretty drive that included stops for a bit of wine tasting and buying, but the sun set before we got into the park so we were driving through this magnificent park in the dark---wondering what sights we were missing. We got to the Lodge and into our room and fell asleep on our bed, the next morning we got up and Phil went out to the car and came in and said "Connie, you have to go outside, you are not going to believe the view." So, out I went and saw an unbelievable sight, our Lodge was right next to a huge rock/mountain and waterfall. It was---well-----unbelievable!!! Later, during our stay, we had to watch out that we didn't run into tourist getting off buses and just standing and staring in awe. We talked to the people at the lodge trying to find out the best way to see the park in the short amount of time that we had there (Wednesday night to Friday morning.) They suggested taking a sight seeing bus, which we did. We found that the employees at the park were always trying to get people to take trams and buses instead of driving themselves---I guess they are trying to cut down on the individual cars going through the park. So, we took a four hour tour and we were glad we did, the driver knew where he was going, he knew all the best places, he knew the history of the park, plus Phil could look rather than drive the dangerous roads through the park. Every place you looked was a photo op, and a beautiful photo at that!! I have bunches of them! We stopped at the Ansel Adams museum and the visitors center on our way back to the lodge. Our last visit in the park was to the big sequoia trees, huge standing and some fallen trees. It was raining that last day so our hike was cut short but we got to see them and they were impressive! So, after the wonderful time at Yosemite we headed back to San Francisco Airport, a drive that also took us through some lovely places, groves and groves of almond and other kinds of trees, Gilroy which is the garlic capitol of the world (I bought a bunch and made the mistake of putting it into my suitcase!) We were suppose to meet cousin Craigy at Benehanas but he backed out because of a cold, we were tired so we stayed at the hotel and relaxed. We had to get up at 4 am (California time) in order to catch our plane at six. I wasn't looking forward to flying, but I did it. . . . .that's all I have to say. We got to Denver and had a three hour layover, then headed to Omaha in a tiny little jet, (again--no comment.) Once in Omaha we rented a car and headed home. Ahhhhhh it was good to be back, our Fall Pumpkins lay rotted on the porch steps but Pandy was glad to see us, Brenda had left u s some little scones as a welcome home. I can't believe we were only gone nine days, it seemed like a month with all that we did and saw. I would recommend Bodega Bay to anyone, it was a stunning place. I would also recomment Yosemite too, I believe the most picturesque of national parks. I understand we were very lucky to get reservations at such a late date (two days before our visit) most people make theirs a YEAR in advance!!!! They have a lovely restaurant there at the Lodge that looks out at the falls, but they also have a cafeteria too. We liked the cafeteria, we could get eating over with and not waste time getting out into the park. It was a trip of a lifetime!!

Snow Came Early to Iowa

It started last weekend with the wind. It was still warm then. By Tuesday the temperature had dropped and it was raining. I went to Weight Watchers and one of the women there said the rain drops were "fat" and would turn to snow soon. I had never heard that before, and thought it was funny that the first time I heard about fat rain was at Weight Watchers! Five minutes later it was snowing, the fat rain drops had indeed turned to snow. By evening the snow was coming down hard and the wind had picked up even more, it was official, we had our first blizzard. I was in and out of sleep the whole night, listening to some kind of thumping outside the house as the wind blew and blew. Phil was in Des Moines and I couldn't help but think ahead to when whatever it was actually blew through the window, what would I use to block the wind from coming through the broken window. I decided I would stuff the feather comforter into the broken window and keep it in place by moving the dresser in front of the window. All my plans were for naught and when I woke up the next day the wind had stopped and the snow had turned into a crystal coating. You know what I mean, the Dr. Zhivago kind of snow. I spent the day cuddled in my den reading and cleaning out drawers and desks. Last night it was 13 degrees. I may be wavering on my semi-boycott of gas---keeping my heat downstairs at 63 and keeping the upstairs heat off entirely. It was cold, so cold I had to wrap my head with a blanket. When your head gets cold in bed you KNOW it's cold. Even Pandy is wearing a sweater, one I bought her at Walmart last weekend. Red is her color.