Since my last post just after Mother's Day, a few things have happened. At the end of the school year I had six substitute teaching jobs. Fortunately, most of them were half days which I liked--usually so moms could attend field trips, graduation, or end of year activities. To avoid doing even more jobs, Quinn and I took an overnight golf trip with the Johnsons to Twin Falls. MaryAnn and I got some good shopping in, and we went to see the light show at Shoshone Falls after dark which looked better in the video than in person. This is a picture I took from the video playing on my computer because I couldn't figure out how to get one frame of the video saved.
I also attended two graduations. McCrae graduated from pre-school and he was very well prepared and involved in all the songs with their actions. He said his part beautifully. Next, I went to watch Dax graduate kindergarten where I found out he wanted to be scuba diver when he grows up. Kate says he also adds farmer to that--two occupations that seem miles apart.
Below McCrae is walking in and above he is standing by his display after the ceremony is over.
Before June arrived I got my taxes filed! On time! We owed a fair amount to the Federal Government, but we received a refund from the state! A whole $16!
On June 5 I traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska. Leading up to the trip, I proceeded to get sick for the first time since this whole COVID mess started--and even pre-mission. I steadily got worse until June 3 when I had a horrible day with runny nose, fever, aches, and a constant cough. I had Quinn give me a blessing to hopefully recover enough to go on my trip. The next day I felt better and was able to pack and get ready. I had a great five days in NE and then I think the blessing expiration time was up because when I got home I felt crappy again. I coughed the entire trip and for at least a week afterward, but I am pretty much over it now. When I visited the dentist last week, I found out one of my molars was in need of a root canal and I was prescribed amoxicillin. I am wondering if the infected root and my sickness are related--maybe it had something to do with all the congestion in my head? Root canal scheduled for tomorrow first thing--YUCK. Don't want to think about that; so--back to my fun trip:
Above are flowers we saw on our walk to the nearby park. Below are pictures of the capitol building that we toured my last day. I can't ever seem to get the pictures in the order I want, so they are all over the place. On the 14th floor is an observation deck and the first three pictures were taken from it.
Below is one of many of the pillars in the rotunda. I liked the buffalo carved around the top.
Above is the outside view of the capitol building. The statue on the top is called "The Sower" and is 19 feet high with the pedestal 11 feet high. Below is a chandelier from one of the rotundas.
Above is looking down the hallway toward the front doors. Below is one of many grates once used for air circulation. I couldn't believe the attention to detail in just a grate.
Above is looking our from a balcony into one of the plazas. Below is another chandelier and the amazing tile work all over the domes in the ceiling.
Hard to see, but inside the dome below is depicted eight 'goddesses?' each with a different representation of agriculture.
Above is a tribute to Willa Cather because she wrote about life on the prairies. I loved her books: Oh Pioneers! and My Antonia.
The doors above were huge and I loved the detail. They entered into one of legislative chambers. Below are our traveling companions: Annie and Syd Kaminska.
Before I leave Nebraska, I want to mention this unique toilet cover I saw in their airport. You push the red button on the side and the plastic cover rotates to a brand new one. What an invention!
Above is a feature near the neighborhood where Tammy and Leslie live. The waterfall is also nearby on the way to Adi's dance studio. I thought these were nice features built along the roadside. I found Nebraska to be green with lots of trees and flowers. I enjoyed watching the birds in Tammy's backyard. I didn't get good pictures because they were moving too fast, but below is a cardinal and blue jay. With nine children, we couldn't do a lot of things, but we did go to a lake one day that reminded me of Bear Lake because it is shallow for a long time and the kids can go out and play. Most of the kids went to the zoo one day, but Kristine and I stayed to pick up Adi from her dance camp and then did a little shopping. I was spoiled with too much good food. We all got to do a lot of visiting and I got to know Timarie very well as she took a liking to me--though I had to tell her what my name was everyday. They also introduced me to the show 'Ted Lasso' which I quite enjoyed and need to finish.
Next, we went to a place called the Sunken Garden. It was just an oasis in the city near the university. It had beautiful flowers and a waterfall and lily pond. The following pictures all came from there.
Above was a section of the roof of a gazebo. I focused on this section because it shows the capitol building.
Leslie took me on a tour of where she use to live and showed me the campus. We went to a student cafeteria and got some ice cream cones. This was on the wall nearby and I took the picture because it resembles the art of Keith Haring and my 3rd grade students use to do an art project that ended up looking similar. Of course, we only focused on his G-rated art.
Not long after returning from Nebraska, I took a trip to the cabin which turned out to be by myself. It was nice to have some quiet time. Mostly, I worked on a puzzle and read. One morning I looked out and saw first one deer and soon these two. This was out the small side window. When I looked out the front I saw the mother. I also celebrated my 44 year anniversary at the cabin alone. I ordered take out from Juan's for the occasion.
I decided on the way home to get a hike done. I joined a trail runner group on Facebook--mostly because I wanted their list of hikes nearby, but I get a shirt if I do 10 hikes in 100 days. This was my first hike. It was at Falls Canyon and apparently I am not a good map reader because I thought my hike would be 4 miles and it turned out to be 7.5 miles--4 of those uphill! It was mostly in the forest, so I had plenty of shade, but it was a hot day and I only took one bottle of water because it was only going to be 4 miles. Once I started though, I was determined to get to the top and see the view of Swan Valley with the Grand Teton peeking over the far mountain. I also encountered many beautiful wildflowers.
At one point in the trail, I came to a dead end. When I got back from my mistake (which cost me half a mile), I ran into a dirt biker who was marking the trail for a poker run that was happening the next day. I asked him about the trail and he is the one that told me which way to go at the next fork and what I would see at the top. I figured if I collapsed on the trail, I would certainly be found the next day, so I ventured on. I told myself I would keep going until I hit mile four--at which point I would turn around because let's face it--I still had to walk down. At mile four I saw this trail to a ridge that looked like a good place to get a view--so that was the final destination of my uphill journey.
Above is my view of Swan Valley from the top and I've circled the Teton because I'm sure you can't see it. When I got home, this is how my legs and feet looked before getting in the shower. I don't understand how they could get so dirty inside shoes and socks.
A few more things of note: we celebrated Father's Day with a nice dinner. I met with my cousins again as we are planning the next Capson Family Reunion. It just so happened our cousin Darla from California was in Idaho Falls to visit her granddaughter--so they both came too. It was probably the first time in well over ten years we had seen each other. The two of them are in the center.
We made one more fast overnight trip to the cabin with Sandra to take up our old Camp Chef and haul the two broken barbeques to the dump. We enjoyed a game of golf and got sprinkled on intermittently. I went to Yellowstone with Chad and Peachy, but I will devote another blog post to that trip. Jacob and Amber came for a visit with Sandra and Quinn and maybe later this summer they will come to the cabin.
AND, last night was great for watching the sunset from my front bench.
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