Jenna Lou Loves You

On The North Shore

A couple weekends ago we took off early and spend the time on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The timing was perfect with colors abound from the fall foilage and we enjoyed the mini-vaction with hikes, downtown Duluth, and relaxation in our comfortable hotel along scenic highway 61.

One of my favorite parts was gazing at the breathtaking stars on our late night walk. The air was so cold and crisp with fall and I've never seen the stars shine so brilliantly. It is something that we just don't get down in Southern Minnesota. We still can see lots of stars at home, but nothing like when your hours from large cities in the Northern woods. It was a moment I hope to remember forever.

 

Summer Getaway and Giveaway Winner

One of my favorite summer stops is located conveniently along a roadside frequently traveled. Inside you can find every pleasure of sweet, sour, and salty treat. Somethings are quite odd and other charming. It never fails to surprise me what I can find inside this yellow barn.

 

 

 

Questionable!!

 

This place just says "it's really summer to me". And to a girl who doesn't remember August because it went by too fast this is a very valuable thing.

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The winner of this weeks $60 CSN Giveaway was number 18. Lea who wishes for "for no more snakes at my house!!!!!!" AND I hope too that you don't have any more snakes are yous house because that just don't sound like much fun.

Thanks again to the lovely people at CSN Stores for sponsoring this giveaway.

The Honeymoon

I'm still waiting to get our wedding photos back, but until then here are some of my favorite shots from the honeymoon. We went to Orlando for the majority of the trip, but did small day trips to both the ocean and the coast. I was really surprised how much I loved the coast. the water was clearer and the color just beautiful... not really what I expected, but exactly what I wanted to see.

Although we have been together for 5 years the honeymoon was our first vacation sans parents, family, or friends. It was amazing and romantic and we got to spend a good amount of time just acting like the children we are at heart. It made us both realize that we don't travel enough and plan to remedy that in the coming years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2009 Road Trip - Day Eleven - The Grand Finale

In the morning after packing the rest of our belongings into the camper we drove North to Williams, Arizona. We made it in perfect time to pick up our tickets for the train ride we had scheduled that day and to catch a "western show". The show was just a quick play to occupy some time before the trains loaded. It was cute... but really nothing special.

Our destination was just a couple hours train ride from Williams: The Grand Canyon.

When we arrived we surrounded by hoards of other tourist unloading from the train. It was at a slow pace, but we eventually got away from the crowds and up to the rim of the canyon. My first thoughts were: "this is not real". It's so big, there is so much color, and the views are just so vast that my head wanted to say no way. We spent about an hour hiking a trial that followed the rim. We hiked so long, but the scene hardly changed. Overall it is so big that we were only able to see a sliver of it before the cold and wind made us turn around.

Being at the Grand Canyon made me think about how large the world is. How much I haven't see yet. And especially how magnificent the Creators plans are. 

 

 

2009 Road Trip - Day Ten - Sedona Arizona

I got some more driving practice as I drove across the Mingus Mountains to Sedona where we had eaten breakfast the day before. The mountain pass was steep and there were many hairpin turns. I think I should get "most improved" driver of the year from all the experience I got on this trip. 

{Jerome, AZ}

{Mingus Mountains}

On the way down the mountains we drove through the city of Jerome. Jerome is a little city originally built as a mining community now occupied mostly by artist types. It was so adorable to drive through, I had a hard time keeping my eyes on the road because there were tons of enticing shops lining the streets. I've always wanted to visit Europe to see it's little historic villages, and I think seeing Jerome was the closest I've seen to that. After breezing by Jerome, we arrived in Sedona. We went to the Red rock Crossing State Park where we took a short hike to view the beautiful red rock formations. 

{Red Rock Crossing}

 

 

 

The day before we had only stopped for breakfast, so this time we drove through the town and picked a place to eat lunch. We had some authentic Mexican food, shopped in some high-class (WAY out of budget - but fun to look at) boutiques, and called it a day. I think I could spend a whole week in Sedona if I had the chance. It definitely had the feel of a tourist town, but putting that aside there were lots of cool places to check out and if the weather was good I think there are even more outdoor adventures to be had.

Some day I really must go back to Arizona. I want more time to explore and take it all in. I feel like we just saw the tip of the iceberg and while that was fun, it left me feeling like I wanted more.

2009 Road Trip - Day Eight - Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

No folks... the trip did not end on day six. I'm just really bad at following through with things. But now I'm going to sit down and finish this trip up so we can move onto what's going on NOW and not December. When I started writing about this trip I had no idea it was going to take so long or become a short novel, but I guess there were so many experiences that I just felt like they deserved a little more than I originally intended. So onto day eight.

The morning after Christmas we packed up and headed out of Tucson with our end of day destination being Prescott Arizona. On the North West side of Tucson we stopped at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We walked the paths, saw the famous javelinas (wild pigs with hair and tusks), and saw some more amazing cacti. My favorite part of stopping here was seeing the agave plants. They sort of reminded me of the desert version of hosta plants. They come is so many varieties. Some we learned only flower once in their lifetime which is pretty amazing in itself. The flowers on some of these giants grow around 12 feet tall. It's like they wait their whole life storing up energy for this one amazing show. 

{Agave - spent flowers}

{Agave plants}

 

 

We were hoping to see more wildlife, but disappointingly most of the cages were empty. If you are like me and were inches away from going to school for horticulture then it was still a fun experience just to see the variety of desert plants. The rest of the day was spent driving to Prescott where were had supper with my great uncle Joe and then resided in a sweet little family owned motel just two blocks from Joe's place. It was so nice to sleep in a real bed again!

2009 Road Trip - Day Six - Saguaro National Park

After day 5 at the White Sands National Monument and crossing some scary high mountains just before dark, we pulled into a truck stop for showers. I never thought I'd find myself that desperate for a shower, but because we took our time seeing and driving, we were still a day away from hot running water. I think it was a Flying J, but there were quite a few truck stops along the way so I can't really remember. We paid $9 each for a shower, but after 5 days without we all felt it was money wisely spent. We each got our own room so when done we compared notes. Maria got lucky with the best one. Her water was hot and flowed fast. Mine was decent, pretty clean, hotish water, but nothing I'd want anyone to know about. Back in the comfort of our camper mom said her water was just warm, the shower head dripped and she decided that wearing her socks in the shower was the best way to prevent touching the tiles. haha... I guess she had the worst one. Still it was worth it and I think we all slept much better that night. 

{Our neighbors in the morning}

The next day we headed to Tucson, Arizona. We made it there by late afternoon and after finding our way to my mother's friend's home, down what the locals called a road and we considered a "path" or "clearing" through the desert, we headed out to Saguaro National Park to see the famous saguaro cacti and catch another sunset. 

It was great fun to see the saguaros... they are so iconic to me of dessert terrain, yet they are only found in this small part of the world. I was surprised by both their number and their size. When I called home to tell John about them, I had to repeat myself several times before he believed me they were so tall, but now I have the photos to prove it.

We finished the night by being welcomed into a friendly home and sharing a Christmas eve supper. They served us homemade tamales which are a traditionally share labor of love, and a feast of other homemade dishes, and relaxed with a bottle of wine from the pistachio grove. 

Another successful day marking our halfway point of the trip.

 

{Cacti of the desert}

{Don't get too close to that CACTUS!! }

{Dead wood in a desert wash}

{Jenna, Maria, Mom}

2009 Road Trip - Day Four

On day four we made it to New Mexico and things started to green up a little. We got our first look at cacti and by noon had arrived at what I considered our first destination of the trip: Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Because of my experience in the past with dark. dingy, and drippy wet caves I opted to leave my camera in the truck. BIG mistake. The cave was huge and stunning... like no other cave I've been in and did I mention HUGE. The rooms were so big and they had it illuminated just beautifully. I could have spent days in there trying to capture the formations, but like most things in life the true beauty in front of you can never quite be replicated in a photograph.Still though I wish I could have tried and it was the last time I didn't bring my camera along for the remainder of the trip.

{Mom and Maria}

{Green fields}

{Carlsbad, New Mexico Caverns}

After walking the trails at the Carlsbad Caverns we loaded up in our truck and headed towards Alamogordo by crossing a mountain pass at 9260 ft just as the sun was setting. On the way out it had turned dark and I sure was glad we made it through. Driving a truck/camper combo + mountain hairpin turns + snow + dark = not so much fun. We camped in Alamogordo and headed back up the mountains for a few photos the next day when we had the sun on our side.

 

2009 Road Trip - Days One, Two, and Three

I've spent the past week sorting photos in my spare time. I'm not counting, but I'd say there were around 1000 to 1500 photos taken between my mom's camera and my own. Most of the shots are not noteworthy... There is us. Three days (sometimes four days!!!) unshowered, travel tired, honorary  truckers. There are hundreds of photos taken from within the truck as the landscapes moving by. They are not beautiful... they aren't even very clear half the time, but they are snap shots of where we where and what that day had in store for us.

Because I have SO many photos I want to share I'm just going to jump in and break it up a little. Today's photos are from days 1 through 3. The first three were spent pretty much driving and shopping. We shopped in Wichita Kansas while the truck got a new alternator (fix #1). We shopped in Texas at funky western wear stores, and somewhere along the way we found my mom the perfect mother of the bride dress. 

In Texas we visited a community called Horseman's Ranch were my mom was interested in learning about the lifestyle for retirement options. It's a pretty cool concept, but I think we all agreed that the summers would probably be unbearably hot for us Minnesotan natives.

Probably the most dramatic thing about driving across the state of Texas was seeing trash almost everywhere. Old rusted-out vehicles and machinery, loose plastic bags, and overgrown yards where common in just about every town we passed. We didn't make it to any large cities, but the ones we passed looked almost abandoned they were in such disorder and ruin. I don't mean to say that Texas is a trashy place to live, I'm sure in other areas and larger cities things are better maintained, but from my perspective it was a bit depressing.

My favorite part of driving through Texas was seeing the cotton fields and red sandy earth. After spending most of my life surrounded by rich-dark-brown-earthy-Minnesota soil it just amazing that anything can be harvested from ground that looks so unnaturally red, but that's the beauty of travel.... it opens your eyes to things unknown and unnatural to you.

{Iowa Roads}

{Abandoned in Nebraska}

{Taking turns sleeping. I spent the first 5 days of the trip with a pretty bad sinus cold. John said he can tell by this photo I was sick. THANKS John.}

{Truck stop in Nebraska. I still cannot believe I drove that mammoth truck!}

{Grazing ground in Texas}

{Harvesting Cotton in Texas}

{Lines of huge cotton bails in Texas}

{Cotton}

{Lake sunset}

About Returning

{Needs sorting}

{Needs Photographing}

{Needs kisses}

The thing about leaving on vacation for two weeks and being self employed is that when you return you have five hundred emails to answer, four hundred blog posts in your reader, one hundred already made items you told yourself you would photograph and list in your shop asap, twelve loads of laundry (mine + his), cleaning to do, groceries to get, puppies to give extra special attention to, and on top of that you are BROKE. Two weeks of practically no income + two weeks of shopping, eating, and having fun while your regular monthly bills continue to roll on in, leaves your wallet pretty empty if you have a budget as tight as mine is right now. Not to mention that I got to return to the last quarter of my 2009 taxes due AND our furnace decided to break down. Let's just say that returning to all this is more than a little stressful and I'm having a hard time dealing with it and getting back to my regular work routine.

I'm trying to fight it with baby steps. Today I photographed a few products for the shop, sent out all current orders, spent 1.5 hours answering as many emails as I could, did another load of laundry, and am planning to make creamy spinach penne for supper. I might not be superwoman, but I sure am trying my hardest. If you are waiting for a reply from me please see that to prevent pulling my own hair out I need a couple more days to get back on my feet. 

I'm trying not to complain. (My trip was a wonderful blessing and I enjoyed every minute of it!!) But sometimes you just gotta let off some steam. 

Deep breath in.... and exhale. See, I feel better already.