1. Being able to reunite with a dear friend. At the beginning of the week I received a phone call from a friend who has moved back to the area where I first met her. She has been living in another state for a long time, so I can't wait to get together with her again. She taught me so much about doing family history research and inspired me with her enthusiasm, to name just one of the many ways she influenced my life.
2. A good samaritan who changed my flat tire. Somehow I managed to drive over a nail early in the week. A flat tire wasn't on my list of expectations when I walked out of the fitness center. Fortunately a man walking into the center noticed my flat and pointed it out to me. (I was looking at the beautiful sky instead of looking at my tires.) He kindly offered to change my tire for me, even though I said I could call AAA. Mike is a true samaritan and wouldn't accept any compensation for his time and effort on what was a warmer than usual day.
3. Being able to purchase my first smartphone. After years of using a very old version of a cell phone that was about 3/4" thick, I decided to make the plunge. I figured that since I am familiar with using an iPad, it wouldn't be as huge of a leap as it might have been without that knowledge.
4. Being able to travel for a couple of days to an area where we hadn't been for a while. My mother had lived in the area for a summer after she graduated from high school. Her brother had gone there to work. His future wife descended from some of the early settlers in the area.
5. Spotting other animals that we don't see as often. During our trip my husband and I saw an elk, a badger, and a pronghorn antelope. Although we have seen elk on occasion in our neck of the woods, the other two are mostly see on the other side of the mountains.
7. Old automobiles that remind us of different eras. We saw a couple of old autos in front of a restaurant one morning. One of them reminded my husband of the 1928 Model A Ford he had restored when he was growing up.
8. Museums that bring to mind items from my past and things used by my grandparents. We visited the Fort Rock Homestead Village Museum which consisted of several original buildings which had been moved to the site.
10. A restaurant worth trying at least once. Although we learned that there are lots of repeat customers at this restaurant, we wanted to go there just once for the experience. We knew ahead of time, that it would be impossible for us to eat all the meal as shown in the pictures, but we planned ahead so we could take the leftovers home. We had been forewarned about the size of the steaks. Our leftover steak was sliced up and put in the freezer overnight, and then put in the cooler with ice the next day so it wouldn't spoil on the trip home. We aren't huge meat eaters, so this will last a while and add protein to our vegetables or be used in sandwiches.
2. A good samaritan who changed my flat tire. Somehow I managed to drive over a nail early in the week. A flat tire wasn't on my list of expectations when I walked out of the fitness center. Fortunately a man walking into the center noticed my flat and pointed it out to me. (I was looking at the beautiful sky instead of looking at my tires.) He kindly offered to change my tire for me, even though I said I could call AAA. Mike is a true samaritan and wouldn't accept any compensation for his time and effort on what was a warmer than usual day.
3. Being able to purchase my first smartphone. After years of using a very old version of a cell phone that was about 3/4" thick, I decided to make the plunge. I figured that since I am familiar with using an iPad, it wouldn't be as huge of a leap as it might have been without that knowledge.
4. Being able to travel for a couple of days to an area where we hadn't been for a while. My mother had lived in the area for a summer after she graduated from high school. Her brother had gone there to work. His future wife descended from some of the early settlers in the area.
5. Spotting other animals that we don't see as often. During our trip my husband and I saw an elk, a badger, and a pronghorn antelope. Although we have seen elk on occasion in our neck of the woods, the other two are mostly see on the other side of the mountains.
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| Cow elk |
6. Quotations that are meaningful to me. Although this quotation has been incorrectly quoted many times, the correct version (shown below) still speaks to me.
"The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward." Winston Churchill
7. Old automobiles that remind us of different eras. We saw a couple of old autos in front of a restaurant one morning. One of them reminded my husband of the 1928 Model A Ford he had restored when he was growing up.
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| 1929 Model A Ford |
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| This is a closeup of a section of one of the old quilts covering a bed in one of the homesteads. |
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| Fort Rock as seen from the Fort Rock Homestead Village |
9. Conversations and stories about the lives of people. I asked a waitress about a huge painting hanging on the wall in the restaurant where we ate breakfast. Paintings that size are usually found in art museums. Since we were her only customers at the moment, she shared the story behind the painting. An artist who was on the set of the filming of the movie The Way West (1967) decided to paint a picture of a man and woman taking a break. The couple were part of the crew of cooks who prepared meals for the cast, etc. It must have made that couple feel very special to have someone paint such a beautiful massive painting of them, especially when there were many famous movie stars who could have been the models.
10. A restaurant worth trying at least once. Although we learned that there are lots of repeat customers at this restaurant, we wanted to go there just once for the experience. We knew ahead of time, that it would be impossible for us to eat all the meal as shown in the pictures, but we planned ahead so we could take the leftovers home. We had been forewarned about the size of the steaks. Our leftover steak was sliced up and put in the freezer overnight, and then put in the cooler with ice the next day so it wouldn't spoil on the trip home. We aren't huge meat eaters, so this will last a while and add protein to our vegetables or be used in sandwiches.
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| Cowboy Dinner Tree |
An extra thankful item, is just being able to spend time with my husband doing something we both enjoy.
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| Male Red crossbill |
Your photos are always spectacular. Did you use your new phone to take them? You live in an interesting area, filled with beauty and wildlife. I'm glad you get to visit interesting places. That quilt is lovely and you can imagine a prairie mother collecting scraps of this and that calico to produce a warm covering for her family. Sewing has become a lost art in a way. Have a good week. Hope to link up on Thursday at SSS.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Val. No I didn't use the phone to take the pictures. I'm learning a little about the phone each day, but I haven't tried taking photos with it yet. With my little Nikon Coolpix camera I am able to do some continuous shots which I like to use when taking wildlife photos. My husband gave me his photo of the elk, since it was a ways off and he had the better camera for taking that photo. . .plus it was on his side of the road. :-) I missed linking up to the last SSS.
DeleteThis state has a very diverse landscape. A lot of the central and eastern side of the state is high desert, unlike where I live.
This may be the year for the new and interesting wildlife to show up. We've had the usual deer and, unlike previous years a solid rabbit population. New (and not necessarily welcome) was a fisher cat that ran across the front lawn earlier in the week. Fortunately we have always gone out (first) with Una so we're not as concerned as we might have been.
ReplyDeleteThe roadtrip sounds like fun.
Photos are outstanding as usual.
Oh, I don''t think I'd like to encounter a fisher cat, but I suppose unless they felt threatened they would probably scurry away. I would be watching out for any pets, like you apparently do with Una.
DeleteHalf of the phone of road trips for us is taking photos. Glad you enjoyed them.
How special. We never know when we make friends in our younger years how or when our paths will cross again.
ReplyDeleteYour good Samaritan got a bit a workout before his workout :)
Hurray! Now that you've gotten a smart phone, it won't be long before you wonder why you waited so long :D
The photos are great, per usual! I really like the picture of Fort Rock. Very cool looking. Just looked at some google images of Fort Rock. Amazing!!
Sounds like an all around great trip :)
Yes, I was feeling a little guilty about the workout the good samaritan endured on my behalf.
DeleteThere is so much history about Fort Rock!
Glad you had a nice trip. I'm curious as to who your friend is--would I remember her? I'm also glad your flat tire got taken care of so easily (and that it didn't happen during your vacation!)
ReplyDeleteYou know her very well. We didn't get to visit her when you and I were last together. She had been one of your YW advisors. :-)
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