Idaho City Days celebrates our small community and is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. My best friend on the mountain and I voluntarily co-chair the event which is held the first weekend of October annually. I swear we need our heads examined but we get to do something successful together and although we bitch and moan a bit all year long as we put in a serious amount of hours to plan, prepare and execute the two day event, we love the time together as well. But. Seriously. Between that and a decent amount of accomplishment in this summer season for our own goals, fall just feels like…time to travel! Especially because travel is our biggest goal in life!
MSP via our daughter’s Rav 4 was the first order of business after we attended our youngest grandsons 7th (!!??!!) birthday party in mid October. Our daughter is a new graduate to the SkyWest flight attendant line…which means as parents we fly mostly for free. (I hope they’ve had parents b4 who could live on standby in order to attend to their newfound homelessness.)
The drive to the upper Midwest was stupid. My hubster chose the northern route as his itinerary had us keeping a good pace. We planned to spend our daughters days off being together and hooking up with family in the area. That didn’t leave much cushion to the drive time as we were also booked for a San Diego trip to ease our way out of the USA. We hit snow in Island Park, Montana, driving rain across North Dakota and high winds into Minnesota. We’re accustomed to the ease of road trip style travel in our Ford F-150. Thank the lord we do not have to own a Rav 4. We do not recommend it for comfort or a feeling of safety when driving northern and Midwest road conditions!
We enjoyed time with our newly stationed Minnesotan daughter at the Mall of America theatre, getting neighborhood manicures, dinner out three nights in three different parts of the city, and a drive to Minnehaha Falls. The falls were raging and autumn’s hues surrounding it leant a sedate feeling to this area. The stand out dinner of the three was the evening we were joined by my brother who was in the city from Wisconsin on business. We started with craft cocktails at The Hewing Hotel downtown followed by a truly authentic Italian dinner highlighted by excellent service at Bar LaGrassa. We highly recommend both.
I hated the feeling of leaving our daughter who is less than comfortable in this new environment. I wish for her that she enjoy a life where she embraces her good fortune and looks at all experiences in her life as something to be thankful for. This is a life lesson we all struggle with from time to time but one I think is staggeringly important in a world of growing “anxiety”. I suppose philosophies are most likely easier to assume we have a grasp of the more years we have in this realm. It does however seem like the grateful concept is one that previous generations have taken for granted and now current ones only grasp for at awkward levels. Don’t ever underestimate the gratitude you can truly have for what life deals you. Finding the most positive piece in even the worst situations is key to calm survival. Expressing gratitude really does lead to more life to be appreciative of! #powerofpositivity Important life lessons we master we must pass along. If we all #makeadifference we make this existence better for everyone. High on my reading list to reinforce this are The Secret books by Rhonda Byrne. If you’re not a reader check out the video!
San Diego was HOT. I do not think I’ve ever sweat in this city until these late Oct days. It was 97 the day we landed. I soaked up the sun on the rooftop deck at a modest spot that has reasonable pricing, the Porto Vista. We stay here often when wanting some sunshine in this city. We wandered the streets of Little Italy, the Gas Lamp and the harbor. We enjoyed great Italian food and wine at our favorite spot Mona Lisa and watched football and the World Series while we sipped local brews at Ballast Point brewery, all within great exercise distance of our hotel.
As I finish penning this post I believe you are basically up to date, join us as we discover Seoul for a few days then move further south to Cebu, Phillippines. To round out the Asia travel we’ll return to Jomtien Beach, Thailand whose laid back environment has us coming back for more with a short car ride from the city of Bangkok out to the coast. We’ll return stateside via an overnight return to Seoul, just in time to embrace a festive holiday season in the good ol’ USA. First gathering our family at my son’s for Thanksgiving and then joining our daughter’s family for Christmas . I’ll make a quick trip home to Iowa at the beginning of December to embrace my family, my true roots, while the hubby dials in the winter stage of this set of seasons.
Come spend this Fall 2019 with us as we discover new cultures and renew with locations we are cozy in! Enjoy. Be grateful. #cometravelwithme
