Road Trip-25 years

 We have been together for 25 years.  We wanted to do something to recognize the occasion.  What do you do?  The world is still in the middle of a global pandemic (there are still a lot of travel restrictions) and you have a new car.  We decided to take a road trip up to Yellowstone.  Curtis originally wanted to get me all the way to Mount Rushmore in SD because I have always wanted to see it.   That was a bit ambitious considering the distance and time frame we had.  I was happy to go up to Yellowstone, I had never been there either  We had a great trip, just enjoying the experience of being on the road. It was also a new experience of driving in an electric car and having to charge for a few hours rather than just "fill er up with gas".

We did our first recharge in Flagstaff, my home town.  It has grown so much since I left, the people and politics are a bit odd, but it is always nice to visit especially in the summer. We did a Tesla recharge and had a meal at Olive Garden while the car did its thing.  Olive Garden was conveniently located next to the charge station.  Then we were on to our next stop, which we were not for certain where we would end up on our adventure.

We started heading north, along the way we had planned to stay in Tuba City, according to our charging app they had a nice hotel with a charge station.  As we were getting closer and closer to Tuba City, we could see smoke, but we were not sure what it from.  Then we realized a structure was on fire. I snapped a picture as we drove by. Nobody seemed concerned, there was a fire truck there. I searched the news around Tuba City for a few days, but nothing was ever mentioned of the fire.  I guess it wasn't a big deal.

It turned out we couldn't stay in Tuba City, all the hotels were closed because of COVID.  We were told we needed to drive about an hour and drive to Kayenta where hotels were open.  We charged the car for a few minutes then we went on our way to Kayenta where there were hotels. I was kind of familiar with Kayenta because I knew my Dad used to drive through there to get to his fishing spot, Paiute Farms on Lake Powell.   It was late, we found a hotel but the guy was cranky acting like we personally brought COVID into the reservation. He thought the whole thing should be closed down.  He didn't appreciate that we were spending money and giving him a job.  

While we were enjoying our very short stay in  Kayenta, We noticed that Kayenta was right next to Monument Valley.  We decided to take a different route and drive through Monument Valley.  I don't think I have ever been thought Monument Valley.  It was totally worth it.  This was one of my favorite detours on our trip.  I don't know why Google said it was closed due to COVID.  There was nothing to close.  It was just a scenic drive.  Maybe we were not supposed to get out and take picks considering there was nobody around.  We even took a few from the middle of the road because there was literally nobody around.

 This was the most nerve-wracking part of the trip.  We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere and the options for charging stations were none.  Curtis felt confident we could make it to the next charging station in Blanding UT.  We would be good as long as... you know the unforeseeable didn't happen.

Fortunately, we made it and we even had a few miles to spare.  We grabbed some food in Blanding while the car charged.

Blanding, UT a little tiny town that still had a payphone outside the town visitor center where we charged the car.

Our next stop was Arches, National Park near Moab, UT.  This was well worth the stop as well.   Many things to see just driving through.  

Next on our adventure was Midway, UT.  A few years back Curtis discovered this place had a Geothermal spring.  We didn't actually take any photos here, but fortunately, someone else did and shared them on the internet.  This was a very cool crater with beautiful blue water at bathtub temperatures.  People use this place to learn to scuba dive.  It was pretty amazing to see.

Interior of Homestead Crater- Very warm and humid on the inside.

It looks like a big dome on the outside.

While in Midway We stayed at the Zermatt Resort.  Midway is about 30 minutes from Park city  I had heard of this resort but I didn't actually know what it was about.  It is based on a European city in Switzerland.  Actually Midway itself felt European with the architecture of the homes and buildings.

The Zermatt was very nice.

We stopped in Honeyville, UT.  This is where Curtis' cousins from the Johnson side of the family live and he spent some summers here.  His Uncle Steve used to be the Mayor.  Curtis thought that was a big deal when he was a kid, but his uncle explained it was a tiny town and it was his turn. 

Curtis took me to "Crystal Hot Springs" another natural thermal spring.  I had never been to anything like this before so it was pretty cool to experience.  Curtis said this place has grown and been developed a lot since the last time he was here.  This place was much different than the other thermal spring.  This was outdoors and the water was a reddish-orange from the minerals.  There were 3 different pools, Each one a different temp.  Cool, warm, and hot.

We continued north on our adventure.  We stopped in Pocatello, ID to for a quick visit with my friend Stephanie Carter and her family.

Next was Idaho Falls.  We found this cool Hotel that was very similar to the one we stayed in when we first got married.  Each room is decorated with a unique destination theme.  Actually, I think the hotel was called "Destinations Inn".  We stayed in the Morocco room.  We were lucky to find this place.  We had wanted to stay at the one in Salt Lake but it was booked up.  We just happened to find this place at the last minute.  It is a unique experience for a hotel.  They treat you right.  We didn't feel like we were in Idaho Falls.

Curtis has a lot of Family in Idaho Falls, there was no way we could see them all, but we did stop at Manwaring Cheese where one of his Manwaring Cousins bought it from another Cousin and was redeveloping it.  We picked up some tasty cheese to snack on during our trip.

Second Job

 After a long painful process of miscommunication and inexperience, Derek started working at McDonald's.  I really wanted Derek to get a summer job, at first COVID was a bit of a set back, but there are so many reasons why I think a kid needs to get a job. 

Back in June, I stopped at the McDonald's drive-through with the kids and we noticed a "Now Hiring" sign.  I asked the drive-through girl if it was better to apply in person online or in person.  She said in person was probably better because things get lost when you apply online.  Which confirmed my suspicions of Derek sending in several applications online and never getting any calls for interviews.  He applied back in June, they called him for an interview the next day.  I would think Derek would be a good candidate for this job because he has a little experience working in the school cafeteria during lunch, and he has his food handlers license.

After the interview I asked Derek how it went he gave me his typical "I don't know, but they gave me these forms to fill out and she said there is one more for my bank info"  I said, "then they hired you if they are asking for employment forms and direct deposit info."  Derek turned the forms in, then he heard nothing.  He would stop by and check-in and they would say I we want to get you on the schedule for Saturday, then he would hear nothing.  After a few weeks, he would stop in (they don't always answer the phone) and they would say "oh we lost your phone number"  these shenanigans went on for way too long, losing his number several times, Derek being inexperienced and uncertain of how to handle these situations.  Finally on August 29th, 2020 he officially started.  He has only been working a two-hour shift one day a week.  We're hoping it picks up. It is hardly worth the effort at this point.  I keep telling him he almost needs a second job.  He made more working a half hour each day during school lunch than this gig.

Changes and more changes

 We have now been in our house for 17 years.  About 16 years too long for Curtis.  He would love to more and have something different, just because he likes change.  I keep telling him there is no reason to move.  He wants to move just to move and I can't think of a bigger pain in the butt inconvenience than moving because it sounds fun.  We settled on doing some much-needed improvements.

We started with the back door.  The glass sliding door was getting too hard to open.  We have already had it fixed once, it was needing another fix.  I could tell we could keep fixing it every few years or it was time to replace it.  We did that and then a little extra.

This is what the room looked like the majority of the past 17 years

Last October I changed out the window treatments.  The windows and doors at different levels always bothered me.

This is the After

The Kitchen got a facelift as well.

Before

After

A few more changes

We had been talking about Curtis getting a new car for a while.  His little convertible BMW was fun, but it wasn't that comfortable to ride in.  It was really low to the ground, it hurt my back driving long distance, I couldn't imagine what it was doing to Curtis' already compromised back.  The back seat was tiny.  It was ok for short trips when the kids were smaller.  Now they are almost all adult size and it is not comfortable back there, nor did we all fit.  The engine still ran well, the issues were the tires and rims.  They were some special fancy-schmancy thing and it wasn't easy or cheap to repair.  We had to keep throwing more money and the rims were due for another $1000ish repair.  I said I'm done we're not putting any more money into that car, especially since we just had it fixed for the same thing back in May.  It was time to take the plunge.  Curtis finally decided on the Tesla S.  He thought he wanted the X, but when he drove it a few months ago, he wasn't getting excited about it.  Test driving the S sealed the deal.  Curtis' Dad happened to be in town, so he went down and picked up the car with him.

Curtis loves his new car.  It is super fast.

First day of School 2020

 School started two weeks later than usual because of COVID.  In order to make up the time a week will be taken off Fall break and a week off Spring Break. School is still online for at least the first quarter.

Trey has decided to return to Jacobson and go back to the Gifted program.  When he met his teacher she said there are only 7 kids in his class for now.  The rest have opted to do true "online school" rather than distance learning which is what my kids are doing.  Distance learning is like a video chat/Zoom call.  Everyone logs into Google Classroom at the designated start time and the teacher can see all the kids and they see her, she teaches as if she were face to face with everyone.  Online school is login, read material, do assignments at your own pace.

Trey and I went to meet the teacher.  It was different than usual.  We had to schedule the 15 minutes time slot, we had to wear masks and only one parent was allowed to come.  Trey was a little uneasy about the returning to school situation. Knowing there were only 7 kids in his class and plenty of room to "social distance" made him feel better about face to face to school when the time is right.

I snapped this picture of Trey hanging out as we were waiting for our turn to enter his classroom.  I figured this was my shot at this years "first day of school photo"  After I snapped it Trey said, "that was awesome I didn't even have to smile for that picture."  COVID has been much easier on the introverts.

And this is our school for now.  Derek and Trey login and talk to their teachers/classmates through headphones and video chat.

That was fast.

Dax turned 20 today.  It really does not seem that long ago that I was in the hospital getting ready to deliver him.  The TV was on in the room and it was playing the first season of the show Survivor   That show is still on, so it couldn't have been that long ago?? I still remember who got kicked off in that episode it was a memorable day for us.  Dax didn't want to much for his birthday, he just wanted to go to Culvers with the family on Saturday night, then we had donuts for breakfast on Sunday and I made his favorite Copy Cat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup for dinner.  We also gave him gift cards to Cane's one of his favorite restaurants and gift cards for a few car washes.  He may also sign up for some classes to take improve his 3D modeling skills.

He got the VIP treatment .

Cool Weather Reprieve

I had this mostly written then something happened and it all disappeared twice.  Here goes round three.

We just got back from a few days In San Diego.  Curtis' Real Estate Friends Kevin K and Fred W invited us to join them with their families again this year.  Kevin and Fred had planned to be in San Diego from July 11-25.  When I originally made the arrangements I knew that wasn't possible since our Derek and Trey were scheduled to go back to school on July 22. I also knew our kids would revolt if they were away from home for more than 5 days.  They are homebodies.
Since June the COVID numbers in Arizona started to spike. The first day of school was pushed back to August 5, a week after that announcement they said school will be online for the first few weeks.  As of now, they are pushing school to be online until October.  It is a very fluid situation and nothing is certain.  Reminds me of this meme.

Some states are not allowing visitors from Arizona because of our COVID numbers.  Luckily Californa also has high COVID numbers so they let us in.  They actually have more restrictions on business and wearing masks.  As long as the beach was open we were happy to go to San Diego for a few days and get out of the heat. We stayed for five nights.

I took very few pictures because I wanted my kids to enjoy this trip.  Right now they don't enjoy photos.

We stayed in the same condo as last year. Just steps from the beach and right next door to where Kevin and his family stayed, and two doors down from Fred and his family. It is a great location and a nice little beach house.  We even took our dog Oreo this year.

Just as we were getting ready to do smores on the beach with our friends Derek and Trey hobbled back from the beach.  Derek had been stung by a stingray.  This is his second incident, he handled it much better this time.   The first time that happened in Mexico a few years ago in addition to a scorpion sting before that. That kid's foot has taken a few beatings.

Trey cleaning up after the beach

Derek after getting stung on his foot by a stingray

recovering after the stingray incident

We went on a Kayak adventure with Kevin, Fried, and Nick T. (one of Curtis' Real Estate friends who now lives in San Diego)  Derek stayed home recovering from his wounds.  Dax, Trey, and I joined the adventure.
We saw some cool things on the Kayak adventure.  I did not take my camera because the tour company said there was a good chance it would get lost or wet.  As much as I wish I had taken some pictures of us on this adventure, I'm glad I didn't take my phone/camera.  We watched a guy lose his phone in the ocean.  He was devastated.  I took these pictures from the internet.

The owner wanted his house to look like a sandcastle.  I was already ginormous, then he added on the left side. The house sold for $20 million

This is the Rose Canyon Fault Line.  

Leopard sharks, they say they are harmless.  I didn't see any, but others on our tour did.

We saw the Rose Canyon Fault Line, the fault itself was not that interesting, but the homes right above it were amazing.  They were beautiful and expensive with an incredible view of the bay.  The only problem is the homes are moving because of the fault line. Some homes even fall into the ocean, and the owner is responsible for the cleanup.  One guy paid to move his home further back 5 times.  The city has said no more.  You are as far back as you can possibly be.  Very expensive and risky price to pay for the view.

We saw Sea Lions and Seals   They were kind of cool, barking at us and climbing up rocks.

The Lorax Tree inspiration.

 Dr. Seuss used to hang at his friends house that looked out to the bay to get inspiration for his books. The friend's house was right next to the Sand Castle house.  These orange fish, Garibaldi Fish, are the CA state fish.  This was his inspiration for One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, nothing rhymed with orange so he changed it to red.  We also saw trees that reminded me of Dr. Seuss Trees.  I am not really a fan of Dr. Seuss.  Some of his illustrations remind me of a bad dream.  After seeing these fish, trees, and the area where he found the inspiration I feel like I understand him a little better.  Kudos to Dr. Suess for writing books that get kids to read.  I know HOP on POP was the book that got my kids reading. For some reason my kids like Fox in Socks.  Trey was attempting to memorize it. 

Giribaldi fish, the inspiration for Dr. Seuss.

We were able to go into these sea caves.  This was the first time in several months they were able to take a tour in because the conditions were not safe.

This is not our actual guide, but he did something similar.

One of our guides said that if he could get four people to try to stand in the kayak for 10 seconds without tipping over he would do a headstand. Trey raised his hand and volunteered to stand in the Kayak.   He stood up for 7 seconds without falling in.  I don't think Dax was impressed since they were sharing a kayak and Dax did not want to end up in the water.  Trey was feeling pretty confident so he stood up again.  That attempt didn't go as well, he went straight into the water fully clothed, tennis shoes and all.   Then our friend, Nick, attempted.  He was not very successful and went straight in and lost his sunglasses.  Then Trey did a little trash talking that Nick was outdone by an 11-year-old.  I was proud of Trey for trying and it made the adventure a little more fun and memorable.  We warned Dax and Trey to wear clothes and shoes that would get wet.  They didn't want to take the advice of the tour company.  After we were done Trey said "I know why you should wear clothes that can get wet"

Nick snapped this picture of Curtis and I.  It took everything in my to crack this smile, I was feeling very seasick during this adventure.

Overall we had a good trip.  I promised my kids no posing for pics, so this is the family picture I got of our family on the beach.

Festivus 2020

 

Trey Johnson, Henry Jones, Soren Andersen, Jack Lueck

Trey was invited to go boating with his friends for Soren's 11th Birthday.  Trey had a great time, but he was pretty sore the next day.  

June is always a fun month.  We have a double whammy of celebrations for Curtis.  We have his birthday back to back with Father's Day.  Depending on how the calendar falls sometimes his Birthday is first sometimes Father's day is first.  This year it was the Birthday that came first.

Happy Birthday VIP Breakfast- The gift was a whipped cream dispenser.  Now Curtis can make his own whipped cream and squirt it into his mouth.

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Happy Father's Day.  His gift was a countertop water boiler for his hot drinks.

Independence day celebrations were canceled due to COVID.  We were on our own to do our own fireworks.  I went to the firework stand and bought a good supply.  I told her I don't want a bunch of loud noise makers.  I want fountains and things that look pretty.  I later discovered that was a mistake.



I was trying to make a festive watermelon that looked something like this.

I was in the process of making this spectacular creation when Trey woke up he saw what I was doing and the first thing he said was "Can I blow that up?"  I was reminded that I live with boys and I should have gotten more fireworks that go boom and let my boys be boys and do their thing of "blowing crap up" instead of creating fluff and pretty stuff.

Happy 4th of July

Trey-trying to blowup a watermelon without the proper equipment.

We lit off some fireworks in the backyard.  It was fun-ish.  Dax didn't want to participate and the kids got bored after a while.  We have some fireworks left over for New Years.  This time I will buy supplies so they can blow stuff up.