Trip to Prescott

A couple weeks ago I took a trip to Prescott, AZ with my hubby, Paul.  We're looking at possibly retiring eventually in that area.  It is so beautiful - the weather is great - wonderful small town atmosphere - and some of the friendliest people around.  Here is a view from the balcony of our hotel room - look at all the green!

Here is the courthouse in the center of town - it is truly the hub!  Almost every evening and summer; and weekend evenings the rest of the year - there is some sort or program or concert going on.  It is so nice - families everywhere playing, relaxing and just enjoying the evening.

 Here's another view of the courtyard area.

We had an amazing dinner at Prescott Brewery - I opted for two appetizers and they were huge - Nachos on the left and fried dill pickles on the right - yum!!

Had to wash it down with some of the best beer I have ever had. I am not a beer lover at all - but this is their "pale ale" and it is mild, smooth and leaves and amazing taste of hops on your taste buds.  I really enjoyed it.

And here's what hubby got - their blue cheese, peppercorn burger.  It was huge and tastes soooo good.  I had one last year and LOVED it.  If you ever get a chance to go to Prescott, check it out - I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Bye for now!  ~Maureen

Close to Heaven.....

One of my favorite places on this earth is Cambria, CA - when we're there I feel a little closer to God than just about anywhere else.  It is the beauty, the majesty of his creation all around us.  Recently we were able to get away for a couple days and head up there and today I just want to share some of the beauty with you..

Blue skies and wispy clouds!

More clouds over the ocean at sunset - note the seagulls flying by.

View of countryside just south of Cambria.

Another view - this one faces out to the ocean.

Waves crashing on the rocks - this is just across the street from where we stay.

 Hope you enjoyed!!  May your Sunday be peaceful and restful - and may you feel close to God!  ~Maureen

Foods of the midwest!

So you all know that part of the fun of vacation is eating out - at least it is for us - because I cook almost all of our meals at home. So we really look forward to eating local cuisine when we travel. This trip was so much fun, and I wanted to share a few of the foods of Michigan and Wisconsin. We started shortly after landing in Minneapolis. We found a nice little local pizza place, and could not resist their sauerkraut pizza. Yes, you heard correctly - I thought it would be awful - but Paul insisted. It was regular pizza with italian sausage, sauerkraut and lots of cheese - and it was AMAZING. We at half there and the rest later, cold in the hotel room - yum!Next, when we were up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan we had to try Pasties. Pronounced "past - ee" not to be confused with "paste - ees" that women stick on their breasts. It's important to pronounce correctly :) The are pastry pockets filled with many different things - these were beef, potatoes and rutabages. They were good - a little mild for my tastes, but good. I'm told they serve many different kinds and you just have to keep trying till you find the one you love - so next time - I'll try another. Finally, I had to share a picture of Cheese Curds - these are a Wisconsin delicacy and we never, ever visit there without stopping by a local cheese factory to get some bright and early in the morning. They are the cheese in an earlier stage of production before being separated from the liquids and pressed into blocks. They are odd shapes, slightly soft, very salty, and they SQUEEK! Honestly, they are so good. We ate a pound of them on the trip over to Michigan and another on the trip back to the airport at the end; as well as we brought four pounds back in our luggage - some for us and some for our daughters. I don't know why these are not popular in California as they are amazing.
Two other must haves - we had to get a bag of Old Dutch Dill Pickle flavored potato chips - they are sooooo0 good. I know there are other brands out there - but Old Dutch is definitely the best. My brother is driving back and bringing two bags back for each of our girls. Paul also had to buy a huge stick (3 lbs I think) of Wisconsin Summer Sausage. It is also sooooo good. We did have a little problem with him being pulled aside at the airport for a luggage check. After he was given the all clear they told us the sausage looked like a big stick of dynomite on the scanner. Yikes!!

Lake Tahoe Vacation

Hi All - this last week has been so busy - I'll be catching you up with personal posts and some Stamping posts over the next few days. First of all Paul and I took a week off work to take a vacation to celebrate our 35th anniversary. I can hardly believe that we have been married that long - lots of good times - some not so good - but through everything we have grown closer and happier and more secure in each other's love. What could be better. God has richly blessed us. So we headed off to Lake Tahoe for a few days - what amazing beauty! Here is what greeted us behind our hotel room.We spent a day driving around the Lake and taking in all the beautiful sites, while learning a little of the history of the area. We spent part of the day in the Olympic Village at Squaw Valley - here's my sweetie posing on the giant chair there. Reminds me of the skits with Lilly Tomlin on Laugh-in. I know - I'm dating myself there.One evening we took a dinner cruise around the Lake. It was amazingly beautiful. Storms were rolling in, and the sky was gray. Here is the sun peeking through and sending down beautiful rays of light. It was absolutely lovely. There was live music, and the food was delish.Then we were coming around the corner from our hotel room when I got a whiff on the wind of my favorite smell in all the world - LILACS!! And here they are in all their glory. Besides my family, I think they are the one this I miss the most from living in the mid-west. We've been thinking about retiring in Prescott, AZ some day, and hubby told me we can grow lilacs there - SOLD :)

A Much Needed Get-Away

Hi all - Hubby and I took off for three days for a much needed get-away up the coast to my all time FAVORITE spot in the world - Cambria, CA. This little artsy village is the perfect place to go and forget about all your woes. We spent the days mostly walking along the beach and boardwalk admiring the flowers - The wildlife -

and the amazing coastline -

God's beauty is so abundant there - that you can't help but be thankful. We also ate at some great restaurants, and had a wonderful time wine-tasting. Today was back to reality - but it's okay - I feel refreshed and ready to go forward. I'm so thankful for this special time with my honey and look forward to our next get-away.

Cambria, CA

God has given us soooo much beauty - Recently my honey and I got away for a long weekend to one of our very favorite places. We try to go a couple times a year if we can. We stay in Cambria, CA a quaint little village along the coast of California - just an amazing place - we've been going up there for about 12 years now. We go wine tasting, stroll along the boardwalk by the ocean, drive up the beautiful coast, visit the Hearst Castle, see the sea lions and calves, check out the tide pools and eat at amazing restaurants. Here's a picture of the coastline right across the street from the little hotel we stay at on Moonstone Drive. Here is a view of the wildflowers along the boardwalk that goes along Moonstone Drive. Then we drove up the coast to Ragged Point and got out to walk their trails - here's a view from the trail we were on -

We always stay at the Whitewater Inn - it is so cute and quaint. Everyone is very friendly. They bring you coffee, fruit and muffins in the morning to your room included in the cost. They wash your car windows each morning to remove the sea spray, and it is always perfectly clean. It has become our home away from home. They also have a great mid-week special that includes gift certficates to local restaurants - one of them is the Sow's Ear Cafe - which is absolutely amazing.
This is the other reason we stay there - as I mentioned before the ocean is right across the street. It's hard to leave there and come back home.If you happen to visit the White Water Inn or the Sow's Ear Restaurant-tell them Paul and Maureen sent you!

Mammoth

Fun in the Snow -

Now that we finally got our computer back I can catch up on some of my posting - so hopefully you'll be getting things on a regular basis again. So the beginning of January we spent a weekend in Mammoth with the entire family - Here's Paisley sledding down the hill - and here's Prince taking a run down the hill -Here are Paul and Kamili getting ready for a push off - and Aaron giving Kai a ride down - Heidi was up at the top waiting for the kiddos -

and Jenee and Robert were at the bottom so Robert could stop them - it was pretty cold - but a lot of fun.

Here are the guys putting chains on Heidi and Aaron's vehicle just before we left to come home. It was snowing really hard and cars were everywhere putting on their chains. We didn't have to go far though before they were able to take them off. But it was cold, rainy and windy all the way home.