Monday, June 1, 2020

Tales of the Traveling Totes #23 and A Giveaway


Welcome to our June 2020 edition of 
Tales of the Traveling Totes, where a group
of MacKenzie-Childs loving women share where 
our totes have been off to. 

What adventures have we had during the last 
quarter with Covid-19?  Miss Madi K and I surprisingly
ended up having quite a bit of fun!!!

At first I thought I would be sharing pictures of:
La Bored Room
Le Decluteria
Costa De Balcony
Porto Gardenas
Ste. Toilette
La Rotunda de Sofa

But as time passed and Utah went from 
an orange emergency status to a yellow status,
we had the opportunities to do a few things.

It all started with this little cutie-pie!  Her parents 
had headed down south to St. George, Utah for 
my son's birthday at the end of March.  The weather was 
so pleasant and the view out of the condo window 
was of a pool and palm trees, so they ended up 
staying for five weeks!  Towards the end of their 
time they needed help watching this little one 
while they studied for and took their finals.  


We had stayed away from everyone, so we were 
a little nervous, but they had isolated too, so 
we decided to go down and help!  As of today, we 
have isolated down here for six weeks!  We have 
children at home who can check on our home 
and hubby can do all of his work and his church 
work on the phone and internet, so we decided it 
was the perfect place to isolate.


We actually have a lot down here, and have thought 
of building and moving here, but were unsure about 
being so far away from all of the grandkids, who 
all live close.  This has given us a taste of what 
living down here would be like. 


We hadn't done any take-out, but the cases of the virus 
were so much less down here in the heat, that the kids 
talked us into getting some food from restaurants and 
heading to parks to eat.  Our parks had remained open 
and weren't busy.


By May 1st the pools became open and by the next 
weekend we could go over to Lake Powell, 
which is three hours away, so Miss Madi K 
got packed up and we headed to our houseboat.  


We invited some friends to Lake Powell with us 
who were also isolating down in St. George.  


We just went for three nights, and decided 
it was safe and fun so we invited two of my 
kids to come down for the next weekend.



We boated up the lake to see Rainbow Bridge. 
This DIL had never seen it.


The water is way too cold for me this time of year, but 
the kids enjoyed it.



We ended up being there for our 41st Anniversary. 
We had planned on going to Hawaii, and that 
had been cancelled early in April, so it was 
fun to have somewhere to go.


My daughter whipped up a beautiful batch 
of macarons for our anniversary!  I would 
never have thought of making them at Lake Powell. 


We ended up heading over for a third 
weekend in a row.  Miss Pansy got to come along
this time.


Our youngest daughter and her husband came this 
weekend.  He had just graduated from college, 
and of course they weren't having convocation, so I 
ordered a cap and gown for him, and we went just 
down the highway to Horseshow Bend.  It is 
less than a mile down the road, but we had never been.  


It is quite spectacular.  Miss Madi K got to take 
the short hike out to the view point.  


I can't believe we had never come here before.  I 
guess we have always been in a rush coming 
and going, and we had no idea how close it was.

I have been journaling this Covid-19 experience, and 
these 16 picture pages tell a lot of the story.  I have made 
these for the last few years and at the end of the year 
I publish them in a book, to tell the year's story.  It 
makes for a really easy way to document the year. 


With the money we got back from the Hawaii trip,
we purchased ebikes.  We have been taking bike rides 
on the wonderful bike trails in and around St. George.  
Again, this is something we have never done, even 
though we have been coming to St. George for 
over 30 years.  This is up Snow Canyon.


Miss Madi K carried hand sanitizer, sunglasses, 
sunscreen and other necessaries in the car.


Just a little humor! 
Hasn't humor helped with Covid-19?


Pictures don't do justice to the size, scale and color of 
these mountains up Snow Canyon.  This 
mountain is called Island in the Sky and it is massive.




We had scaled this mountain a few years ago with 
a friend who is a professional guide. Yes, you have to squeeze through that tiny crack and spider walk crevices!


 It was a lot easier riding up 
the canyon on an ebike!  
 I have to say we are addicted to the ebikes - 
it is almost like cheating - as you can ride up any steep 
hill as the bike assists you.


We finished the morning by going to 
breakfast at Tifany's!  Miss Madi K 
really liked this.  


Cinnamon Roll crepe and a Breakfast Crepe!  It was 
the second restaurant we have sat in.  We were the only 
ones there.  We were glad to see it was up and running.


And last week the TJ Maxx opened in St. George.  Only 
85 people are allowed in the store.  
We had to wait outside just 
for five minutes. 
Of course our treasure hunting here 
paid off!  


My sister Joni said she had stopped in theirs and 
the shelves had been emptied by pent up shoppers!

Because of our age, we still are social distancing, 
 wearing our masks and limiting our grocery 
shopping.  We feel blessed that our family has stayed 
employed and healthy and some can work from home.  

Who would have ever thought we would be posting 
about living through a pandemic, but we are glad 
we were able to loosen up a bit this last month. 

Hope you are all doing well.


Now for the giveaway - what you have been waiting for!

Join our other travelers and leave a comment on Linda's blog to enter the giveaway!  See where 
and what they have been up to during the pandemic.

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 
Emily with Miss Courtney ChildsThe French Hutch
Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron
Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda
Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  You are here!
Rita with Miss Luna C Panoply 
Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul
Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader
Cherry Kay and Carrie Ann Hall @ Entertaining Women  


Here's a peek at my MC friends as we had 
a Zoom meeting and I saw their faces and 
heard their voices for the first time.  Thanks 
Patti for putting this photo together.

Join us in September and see where our adventures take us.

11 comments:

  1. Wow, Jackie! What a fantastic quarter you've had! One would hardly even know there was a quarantine given all your adventures. How fortunate you've been to be able to enjoy your time with family and help them out too. What a fun surprise to see Horseshoe Bend! We've been to Glen Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and kyaked on the Colorado River on one of our trips out West. Sounds to me like you guys would enjoy taking advantage of that lot you own in St George too. The ebikes sound amazing. One of our neighbors has one. With all the hills we have here in WV, they would be quite nice instead of having to traverse the hillside climbs!

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  2. Wow...I need to visit your neck of the woods - the beauty in nature is amazing! Your tote was lucky to be able to do some travel, but sorry to hear your Hawaii trip was canceled (so was our 40th anniversary trip to Bermuda). And good for you buying the bikes to stay in shape - I can barely ride mine 2 miles in our neighborhood before tiring out! Enjoy the summer and hopefully you can sneak in a few more travels!

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  3. Jackie, your quarantine looks like fun! Sorry about your Hawaii trip being cancelled, however it looks like you still had fun celebrating. Wonderful trails and hiking near you. The bikes are good investments. Having your gorgeous houseboat is great ans you can share with family. A fun time while being in quarantine. Looking forward to seeing you real soon on Zoom.

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  4. I am so glad you got to do so many fun things Jackie! It doesn't seem like you missed a beat! Sorry about your Hawaiian anniversary trip, but ebikes sound very fun! I don't think I could do those crevices, yikes, that would freak me out! I know the weeks spent with your family and new baby will be memories you will always remember, and your travel and discoveries right in your own area made you really appreciate your home surroundings! I have no doubt it won't be long until you are jetting around the world again!
    Jenna

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  5. I would take your sheltering any day! What an amazing way to spend your time. Such a sweet baby to enjoy while you are helping kids who need to study. After all this is over you can always rebook your anniversary trip to Hawaii. But, you sure weren't home all sad but instead had a blast with family and friends and goodness, what a beautiful place. The bikes sound like a lot of fun. Sure enjoyed your photos, see you soon in Zoom......

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  6. Jackie, I marvel at the scenic vistas of Utah. I fondly remember our time in the Canyon Lands on our road trip to the west coast in 1985. It was a spectacular trip and one of my favorite travel memories. You and your family have a lovely way to enjoy it all with your gorgeous house boat on Lake Powell. Thanks for sharing. I'll see you soon on Zoom!

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  7. Jackie, I've always heard of Horse Shoe Bay, but I've never been there either. It's a beautiful formation. How did you find your Cabo house when you last went down to check on it? I think of you often as we plow along with our renovation. I love seeing the pics of your kids and grands. They are all beautiful! Thanks for inviting us for a peek...or maybe I should say peak because of the gorgeous mountains you shared. Oh, and great job on the climbing. CherryKay

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  8. YAY! Another lake girl. I love the lake, as you well know. I can tell y'all were having so much fun! I hate that your SIL couldn't walk at his graduation. One of the trips I missed out on was our niece's doctoral graduation in St. Augustine. So sad for these seniors! I hate it for them all.

    Those crepes look delish! Now I have a craving for some savory crepes. :D

    xo,
    RJ

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  9. Jackie, I love the lake as much as you do! Your scenic vistas are amazing, and I was thrilled to hear you got Ebikes. Several of our hiking club members have Ebikes and love them. Happy 41st anniversary to you lovebirds, and before long you will be jet setting once again! Love all your family photos.

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  10. Oh Jackie, you sure made the most of your quarantine situation!! I loved seeing all your glorious pictures of the areas that you visited. The Ebikes sound amazing, and a great way to spend the money from your trip that you couldn't take. I always love to see the food that you share. Those crepes look out of this world fantastic! Happy 41 st Anniversary to you and your sweetie. xo

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  11. I feel like I went on vacation in your photos. Thank you for sharing.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

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