We had a nice trip to California, to visit our son and his family.
A bright, red California Poppy.
We took walks along the ocean and to parks, the grandkids rode their bikes, we went to the harbor, and enjoyed the ocean scenes.
Pacific Ocean
We made home-made cards and lemonade (from the lemons off their tree) with the grandkids. Later the grandkids had fun setting up a lemonade stand on their driveway in front of their house.
A lemon tree.
And, we took the grandchildren to a carnival. That’s where we watched the pig races. At the carnival we went on a few rides (including a pony ride) looked at animals in the animal barn, ate a picnic lunch and finished just in time for the Pig Races.
I am on the roller coaster with our granddaughter.
There was a race track set up for the pig race, and the show began. Eight adorable pigs (I don’t know what kind they were) were trained to run this horseshoe-shaped track. Four pigs at a time were let out to run from one end to the other where their reward of food awaited them. Spectators, young and old, gather all along the racetrack to watch and “squeal” with delight! There is a second race with four more pigs. The first-place winner and runner-up of the two races competed in the final race for the championship title. The spectators were broken into four cheering sections for the final race. I’m sad to say our pig, Strawberry, did not win.
Children loved to watch and cheer the pigs on, but I think adults enjoyed it too. Just maybe…we might enjoy the races most because we’re with the grandkids.
(Unfortunately, I was not in a good spot to take photos of the pig races.)
I have never been to the National Cathedral, but have always wanted to see it. Since we were going to be in the Washington D.C. area during holy week, I checked out the cathedral’s schedule. There was a lot going on. I settled on buying tickets to see the Cathedral in Bloom.
Washington National Cathedral
The magnificent cathedral is lavishly decorated with flowers for Easter and they keep the bouquets fresh throughout the following week for people to enjoy, adding more beauty to the already impressive architecture.
Spectacular!
So once again, we took off with the grandchildren to go exploring.
Grandma & Grandpa with the kiddos.
Such beauty.
The Episcopal cathedral was chartered by congress in 1893 and established on Mount St. Alban (the highest point in the city). In 1907 the cornerstone was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt. The construction slowed during periods of economic hardship, so the building wasn’t completed until 1990.
The High Altar.
“Our” National Cathedral is for all people. “This Cathedral holds a unique place at the intersection of sacred and civic life. …we strive to serve God and our neighbors as agents of reconciliation; as a trusted voice of moral leadership; and as a sacred space where the country gathers during moments of national significance.”*
Looking up to the rose window on the outside.
Looking out the rose window from the inside.
“In a city of monuments and memorials, this Cathedral stands apart as a vibrant community of people called together to serve and renew the world around us. Our founders envisioned this Cathedral as a sacred space where the nation could gather in good times and in bad.”*
This amazing Easter Lily bouquet had a matching bouquet flanked on the other side of this entryway.
Stunning beauty.
We used a self-guided tour brochure to find our way around the massive building.
I enjoyed this space stained-glass window so I took a photo. I learned later that the small eye in the large red circle is a piece of moon rock brought back by the astronauts of Apollo 11 and given to the Cathedral by NASA
I enjoyed the gothic architecture, stained-glass windows and myriads of flowers.
The Pilgrim Observation Gallery on the 7th floor.
There was a striking observation gallery on the 7th floor, offering great views of the city.
The Children’s Chapel.
There were several smaller chapels throughout the cathedral.
Resurrection Chapel: the walls were floor to ceiling Mosaics depicting stories of Jesus.
I have noticed the choir section on television, when I’ve watched special events at the cathedral. Although there were no flowers on the choir seats, the dark, rich, carved wooden benches were stunning.
The Great Choir area.
This Cathedral took on much more meaning after seeing it and touring it. I want to think of it as our National Cathedral from now on.
On the High Altar.
A candelabra.
My enjoyment of flowers along with my enjoyment of exploring churches made this a special outing for me.
The Canterbury Pulpit is made from stone from Canterbury and was carved in England in 1929.
I had a hard time choosing which photos to include on this blog post.
Beauty invites you to enter under the arch.
Enjoy.
A baptismal fount.
Up close.
This lovely arrangement was tucked in the corner of a stairwell!
A very sweet piece on a window sill.
*Both quotes taken from the Washington National Cathedral brochure.
We took a second trip down to the Mall a few days later to complete the circle…to see the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
Thomas Jefferson Memorial, April 2025.
All were impressive. The last time Gary and I were in Washington D.C., in 2019, we saw the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jefferson memorials.
Side view of Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, April 2025.
I was happy to see them again. And, we were glad we could see the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial this time. We decided it was our favorite.
Among many wise, sensible, and profound FDR quotes etched into the granite (that I wish our current administration would read, believe, and act on) the monument itself was well designed with four series of waterfalls representing different periods of FDR’s life and presidency.
One of the falls created for the FDR Memorial, April 2025.
Apparently, water was a major part of FDR’s life…from his childhood upbringing on the Hudson River to using water as a therapy during his illnesses (polio). Franklin Delano Roosevelt was 32nd president of the US and served from 1933 to 1945. In 1921 he was paralyzed at 39 years old.
The bronze statues of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (in a wheelchair) and his dog, Fala. April 2025.
The first waterfall is a simple waterfall symbolizing the fresh energy FDR brought to the presidency. The second falls are a series of steps to represent the Tennessee Valley Authority project FDR founded. The TVA Act was part of Roosevelt’s broader “new Deal” initiative to address the Great Depression. The third falls has chaotic falls to represent the destruction from World War II. The fourth falls includes a still pool that symbolizes his death.
The bronze statue of Eleanor Roosevelt, April 2025.
The FDR memorial is the largest memorial on the Mall. A couple more unique features include it’s the only memorial that includes a sculpture of a First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the only one to include a sculpture of a dog, FDR’s dog named Fala. Because of FDR’s disabilities, the memorial was intentionally designed to be accessible to people of all abilities.
The Washington Monument, April 2025.
Once again we walked back to the Metro station and past the Washington Monument, which I remember climbing steps to the top, as a kid, when I was in Washington D.C. with my parents.
This was another fun day with the grandkids, walking several miles everyday, for each of our adventures.
We visited the exciting city of Washington, D.C. where there is an unlimited number of interesting things to see. We saw a fraction of them, yet we saw a lot.
First, we were visiting our son and his wife and their two children. That was the best part, and the reason for our visit to the area. They moved in January for our son’s training to become a Foreign Service Officer. It was great to see all of them. The kids were on spring break from school so, while the parents went to work during the week, we took the kids exploring.
The U. S. Capitol, April 2025.
We took two days to walk around the National Mall; the area with the reflecting pool surrounded by the domed U.S. Capital, the Whitehouse and many monuments and Smithsonian museums. We missed the peak of the famous cherry blossoms which were in full bloom one week prior to our visit. However, there were a few lingering trees in bloom near our son’s apartment.
Cherry Blossoms, April 2025.
Our first day on the Mall we began our walk past the Whitehouse.
The Whitehouse, April 2025.
The reflecting pool and the Washington Monument, April 2025.
Next, we walked towards the reflecting pool and the World War II Memorial, and on to the Vietnam War memorial.
Walking towards the long black marble Vietnam War Memorial, April 2025.
The Vietnam War memorial is an impressive, black marble wall with the names carved into it of all who died in the war, or from causes directly related to the war.
The Vietnam Women’s Memorial, April 2025.
Next to this memorial was the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, created to commemorate the 265,000 women that served in the Vietnam War, many of whom worked as nurses. It was significant to see because I had just finished reading Kristin Hannah’s book, The Women, a story about three nurses who served in Vietnam (a recommended read).
The Lincoln Memorial, April 2025.
After a snack lunch, we walked up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. This is a very impressive monument that brought tears to my eyes. We stood in awe at the looming sculpture of Abraham Lincoln, with some of his quotes carved in the marble walls that surrounded his figure. And though there were many people crowding the area, it was a very poignant moment.
The Korean War Memorial, April 2025.
We made a quick stop at the Korean War Memorial, but by now, we were tired and started our walk back to the metro station. We passed the Washington monument on our way, which we could see throughout the day, towering above us from every angle on the Mall.
These monuments and memorials are a tribute to great men and women who served in leadership positions and the United States military service. It was good to see them.
When our boys were young, we went several times to the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History on the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis campus. It was a fun outing, and it was free back then.
The name has been shortened to Bell Museum.
In 2018 they built a new, beautiful building and moved from the Minneapolis campus to the St. Paul campus. And, they added a planetarium.
A much larger and modern building houses the Bell Museum and planetarium.
I was excited to see the planetarium. I remember going to the planetarium in the downtown Minneapolis library when I was in elementary school. I really enjoyed it.
A scene in the planetarium.
I looked up the Minneapolis Public Library‘s history and discovered it opened in 1889 along 10th street and Hennepin Avenue. But that’s not where I remembered it.
That library became overcrowded and out of date. In 1961 a new Minneapolis Public Library opened at 4thstreet and Nicollet Ave. That’s where I remembered it. It too, has since been rebuilt (replacing the old stone castle-like building with a four-story glass and steel building , but no planetarium.) The one I went to as a child included a planetarium, and a small museum of Egyptian mummies, in its basement (which I had forgotten about until my memory was triggered when reading about it.)
Our massive, wonderful galaxy of stars shown in the planetarium.
All that to say, we went to visit the new Bell Museum last week. We paid extra to see the planetarium show…which was titled Minnesota Skies. This was a narrated program by a staff member interacting with the audience. I was disappointed because I was expecting to see more dark sky and starry, starry night scenes.
There were a few other choices for planetarium shows…so I suspect there are ones similar to the ones I remembered seeing as a child. I’ll have to try again.
Many of the dioramas in the natural history part of the building were the same ones in the old Bell Museum space.
Birds and waterfowl dioramas.
When they moved to the new building, they didn’t take the scenes apart…they moved the entire displays. They were well-done when they were created, so it made sense to keep them intact.
A beautiful fawn in one of the dioramas.
A Wooly Mammoth, in tact.
The new Bell Museum has so much more to offer, with a hands-on area and many more displays about outer space and other natural history.
Apparently there are gardens to explore in the summer.
The Bell Museum is a great resource for the Twin Cities…although now they charge a fee to get in. And you have to pay for parking. That’s disappointing, because that can be restrictive for young families. However, I’m sure it’s a great destination for school field trips so many children can experience this great place.
The writing assignment was to write a joyful memory of night. Joyful is not the right word for my story, but it is an unforgettable night memory…
It was a dark and stormy night (in 2014)…
We had a delayed start to our day, as we headed north to our vacation destination: Zongoene Lodge, a beautiful resort on the Indian Ocean in Mozambique, Africa. The hired drivers of a 15-passenger van were late to arrive at our apartment.
Our 2 1/2 month old granddaughter, in 2014.
When the driver’s arrived, seven family members filed into the rented van, with everyone’s luggage. Our son, his wife and 2 1/2 month old daughter, and Gary and I, piled into our son’s car. Finally, we were on our way. We drove out of the city on a good four-lane highway. After a couple of hours, we turned off the highway and started driving down a muddy, dirt road that had been washed out by all the rain from the previous night.
Our resort was still 35 kilometers away (22 miles). As we drove further into the countryside, the road got muddier, the puddles got deeper, and the ride got bumpier. The road was rugged, full of ruts and major pot holes, with large standing mini-lakes and water flowing over the road. You couldn’t see the potholes through the mud puddles.
By now the sun was setting, and it had started to rain.
Looking out over a few flooded areas towards our resort and the Indian Ocean. (2014)
Tim and Gary were in the front seat of our son’s car, Baby Zoey was strapped in her car seat in back with Andrea and me. The van, with the two hired drivers, and seven others from our party were behind us. The road kept getting worse. At one point, about 14 km in, our car slid down a steep hill and almost toppled over, but we made it to the bottom and stopped along side the road. We waited for the van, and watched it slide down the hill. I was praying it would reach the bottom without tipping over.
Once the van stopped, the angry drivers got out and said they would go no further. One said he had not been told the road would be so undriveable. But how could we have known the rains would cause such a mess?
Now that we were all stopped, it was obvious nobody was going to go any farther without help. But how? We were in the middle of nowhere, at night, in Mozambique Africa – a dark sky, made darker with clouds, and no traffic or traffic lights or city lights within miles and miles of where we were stranded…with a 2 ½ month old baby! Hmmm…I said to Andrea…”it will be interesting to see how God gets us out of this mess.”
Well, unbelievably, Tim’s cell phone worked. He was able to call the lodge. The manager rounded up twofour-wheel drive vehicles (one belonged to a guest of the lodge) and they came to rescue us.
We waited over an hour when we finally saw headlights coming our way. The manager of the resort was in one of the vehicles. We transferred our luggage and rearranged the twelve of us into three vehicles. Once everyone and our luggage was out of the van, the van drivers stepped on the accelerator, spun their tires in the mud, turned the van around and sped away…madder than a hornet’s nest (after demanding more money.) They drove back up the hill (unbelievably they made it) and headed back to the city, while we headed to the resort, another ten miles down the dark, flooded, washed-out dirt road. We had all been dispersed into different vehicles with strangers, in the middle of nowhere, trusting we would all end up in the same place in a short while.
Grandma, Avó (Portuguese for grandma) and baby Zoey in 2014.
The resort owner drove Tim’s car, since he knew the road and could maneuver the dangerous spots. He led the way. Dan, Tim’s friend, was a good sport. He ended up in the bed of a pickup truck bouncing all the way back… in the rain! Finally, we all made it to the resort at midnight, after a very scary ride. We all let out a sigh of relief and a praise to God.
The staff had been waiting for us to arrive and had prepared a special drink to toast us as we walked into the lobby of Zongoene Lodge. A toast to our safe arrival, a toast to welcome us, and a toast to a night none of us would ever forget!
After we left Kasson and our mini-history tour, we continued on our day trip to Oxbow Park in Olmstead County, near Byron, Minnesota. It is a surprisingly special place with a picnic area, a nature center, a zoo, a discovery playground, and camping facilities.
One relaxed cat!
The small, but amazing, Zollman Zoo is aligned with Oxbow Park and houses over 30 species of wild animals native to Minnesota. Many of the animals at this zoo have physical injuries so they cannot be released back into nature, and some other animals come from other zoo facilities that have surplus animals.
I told this guy I was going to take his picture…
My favorite was seeing the cougar looking very relaxed in a tree trunk, watching us from his perch. When I told him I was going to take his picture, he moved his big paw under his chin and posed for us!
I forgot to tell him to smile!
The nature center, also a part of Oxbow Park, is only a year old. It is spacious, modern and well done. A few more small critters are inside, as well as a lot of displays and information on nature.
Gobble, gobble.
There was a bird watching station too. We sat for a few minutes and saw multiple hummingbirds drinking from a couple of feeders hanging outside the large windows.
This hidden gem is a place we hope to take our grandkids to, sometime this summer. Did I mention it is free? Donations accepted.
The Depot, Goodhue, MN.
And what day trip is complete without ice cream? Surprisingly, we had to search many small towns to find some. But we didn’t give up, and found The Depot, a renovated train station, in the small town of Goodhue. The new owner served delicious ice cream cones in a refurbished, old railway station, with friendly folk willing to give us a tour of the station’s renovation.
Old railway sign at The Depot.
Fun adventures and discovery awaits when you take the back roads of Minnesota.
A writing assignment was to answer this question… Has a stranger ever helped you at a difficult time? The answer is yes, and here’s the story.
Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. photo vb
In 2015 we visited our son and his wife and our first grand-baby, Zoey, in Mozambique, Africa. We planned a side trip to Cape Town, South Africa as a chance to see another part of the continent. One of our most exciting, but challenging adventures there was to climb Table Mountain.
Photo by Robert Huczek on Unsplash (free internet photos)
Table Mountain is a beautiful sight overlooking Cape Town, and from a distance it looks like a table, thus the name.
A view of Cape Town off one side of Table Mountain. photo vb
Gary and I are used to hiking and have done a lot over the years. We’ve hiked some difficult terrains. Table Mountain ended up being one of the harder hikes I’ve done, but I didn’t know that when we started out. We donned our hiking boots and hats, and filled our water bottles and started up the steep path. There were several other hikers on this trail. It was hot, it was rocky, and it was pretty much straight up.
On our way up the rocky trail to the top of Table Mountain. photo gb
We were struggling. About two-thirds the way up there was an outcropping that provided a shady area, so we stopped to rest. A fit, young man came from behind us and noticed I was overheated. He asked if we had water. Yes, we did, thank you. Then he said to me, hold out your hat. I did as he said, and he poured HIS water into my hat and told me to tip it over my head. I did, and it felt so incredibly good to drench my hot self with the cool water.
After that, the young man continued on his merry way, and I was so grateful for his random act of kindness, and soon we continued our trek upward.
Note the cable car coming down from the station at the top of Table Mountain. photo vb
We rejoiced when we arrived at the top. We joined many folks enjoying the stunning vistas on this beautiful, sunny day (reaching the top by cable car or on foot). Then, as was our plan, we took the cable car down the mountain.
From the window of the rotating cable car, going down Table Mountain. photo vb
I was grateful for this young man’s random act of kindness that day on Table Mountain. What a delight to be treated so kindly… on a mountain trail… in a foreign country.
Outside of Santa Barbara, up the San Marcos Pass, there is a former stagecoach stop. The Cold Spring Tavern, built in 1868, brings one back in time to the Old West.
Cold Spring Tavern, opened in 1868.
A scenic drive led to this now popular restaurant where reservations are needed. We had lunch reservations set for 11:30 a.m., as soon as it opened.
The Cold Spring Tavern, a Wells Fargo stagecoach stop.
It sits all by itself on this old stagecoach route, on Stagecoach Road. We found parking in the rocky, rutty unpaved parking lot that held about ten cars. After the lot is full, cars line the streets for a long way…which was the case by the time we left.
The bar portion of Cold Spring Tavern.
I love eating outdoors, and this restaurant offered outdoor seating, but I thought it would be more of a unique experience to eat inside this original tavern. It had multiple, small rooms.
There are several rooms inside this tavern. We were seated in the room with the fireplace.
We were led to a room with a stone fireplace, and the fire was blazing. It was windy and cool outside so the fire felt good, and added much to the ambiance. We had the room to ourselves for a short while. We placed our order and sat back to relax in this unique and quiet setting. The food was tasty.
This outdoor space, in the back of the tavern, is used for receptions etc. The building in this picture is a road gang house, built for the Chinese road gang who built the toll road through the San Marcos Pass.
The sign for the Road Gang House.
We know friends from Northfield who were married at the Cold Spring Tavern, back in 1973. We thought of them while we were there.
The Cold Spring Tavern.
After lunch we drove another route home, through wine country and then back to Santa Barbara, along the Pacific Ocean.
