Sequim, Washington
July 2018
July was another fun-filled month in the Pacific Northwest. We celebrated the 4th a few days early at our annual neighborhood picnic, which was a lot of fun. Later in the week, I got to spend time with two blogging friends, Kay (of Kay's Reading Life) and Robin (of A Fondness For Reading). Another friend and her husband came to visit from Wyoming while Kay and her husband were in town and I had a great time catching up with them, as well as showing them around our neighborhood. It wasn't long before Rod and I were back on the road for a 11-day road trip to Washington. We returned to some of our favorite places to camp, in addition to discovering a few new spots. I'm still not reading nearly as much as I used to, but I'm very happy that I managed to finish three books!
Books Read in July:
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
My Life in France by Julia Child
Travels With Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck
First Lines:
On the night of October 4th, 1966, Val and I, both in late middle age, attended the opening of Many Are Called at the Museum of Modern Art--the first exhibit of the portraits taken by Walker Evans in the late 1930s on the New York City subways with a hidden camera. (Rules of Civility)
This is a book about some of the things I have loved most in life: my husband, Paul Child; la belle France; and the many pleasures of cooking and eating. It is also something new for me. Rather than a collection of recipes, I've put together a series of linked autobiographical stories, mostly focused on the years 1948 through 1954, when we lived in Paris and Marseille, and also a few of our later adventures in Provence. Those early years in France were among the best of my life. They marked a crucial period of transformation in which I found my true calling, experienced an awakening of the senses, and had such fun that I hardly stopped moving long enough to catch my breath. (My Life In France)
When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet to tapping. The sound of a jet, an engine warming up, even the clopping of shod hooves on pavement brings on the ancient shudder, the dry mouth and vacant eye, the hot palms and the churn of stomach high up under the rib case. In other words, I don't improve; in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear the disease is incurable. I set this matter down not to instruct others but to inform myself. (Travels With Charley in Search of America)
Movies & TV Series:
Jessica Jones - Season Two - I really enjoyed the first season of Jessica Jones and couldn't wait to watch the new season. It was good, but not nearly as good (or tense) as the first. As much as I hated David Tennant's character, the show really needs both Jessica and Kilgrave.
Luke Cage - Season One - Just one episode and that was enough for me to say no more.
The Bridge - Season Three - Not as good as the first two seasons, but I won't explain why due to spoilers.
The Greatest Showman - After hearing so many great comments about this movie, I couldn't wait to see it. Sadly, I'm in the minority. I really didn't care for it at all. La La Land is a much better modern musical.
A Wrinkle In Time - So disappointing! I read the book many years ago and was eager to see the movie, but it was far too sappy. I watched it with my mom and husband and none of us liked it.
Outings & Trips:
Boondocking in Tillamook, Oregon
Brinnon, Washington
Boondocking in Sequim, Washington
Lunch break.
Visitors:
Kay and Teri
Internet friends since 1996
Kay and Robin
Blogging Friends
You can read more about this visit with these great friends here.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Our weather continues to be mild, but we do get a few days of sunshine in between the overcast and drizzle. We're busy planning a big (two-month-long!) adventure for September and are hoping to bring some of our cooler weather to California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas!
Click on images for larger view.
What a month you had Les! I love seeing all the blogger pics and well the ocean one and purple lavender with the deer are awesome as well.
ReplyDeleteDiane, it was a very full month! I'm so glad you enjoyed all the photos. The lavender farm was my favorite location for camping and we hope to return again next year. Thanks for all your great comments on these posts. Much appreciated!
DeleteI guess you can't read while you're riding. I can't and am jealous of people who can. The views in your photos are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteKathy, my reading has really dwindled this past year, but I'm having so much fun with other things, so I shouldn't complain, right? I certainly can't read while we're traveling since I'm the one driving the motorhome! :) Thanks for your nice comment about my photos.
DeleteThis was a nice post, Les! Loved seeing all the places you've been this month. We did have a good time, didn't we? I'm reading a lot, but I'm listening even more. After finally figuring out how to do audiobooks from my library, I'm grabbing this one and that one that I've heard about and want to try. Then if they don't suit - back they go and I move on. It's great. Hope your August is just as much fun!
ReplyDeleteKay, I'm glad you enjoyed this post! It's been a fun-filled month, to say the least. Yes, we had a great time together! I'm so glad you and I were able to spend so much time chatting about books and life in general. It was wonderful.
DeleteAh, I'm hardly listening to anything these days. I downloaded Crime on the Fens (thanks for the recommendation!), but haven't gotten very far into it. I need to take more walks alone. :)
I do so want to read My Life in France. I have three other books concerning Julia, and I look forward to all of them. What is boondocking? I know the somewhat derogatory term of bookdocks, but haven't heard of your word. Do you have a tv in your camper, or do you watch some other way? Now that I have Acorn and Britbox I rarely watch anything but British television! Even on Amazon Prime, I'm watching Mr Selfridge. You really are having a wonderful life, and I love to see you enjoying every minute. Did Shaylyn not come this year? Did I miss pictures? I probably did. I just don't get to visit blogs as often as I want.
ReplyDeleteNan, do you have a copy of My Life in France? I would love to send you mine, if you don't already own a copy. I don't think I'll read it again and I have two others about Julia that I hope to read in the near future. Let me know and I'll get it off to you shortly.
DeleteBoondocking is when we camp with our RV and are in a spot that doesn't have any hookups. This means we don't have water, electricity or sewer. It's also called "dry camping." Sometimes, I'll refer to boondocking when we're staying at someone's house (parked in their driveway or on the street in front of their house), but we usually can run an extension cord to their power, so it's not truly "boondocking." We have a large propane tank and a generator that we can use, if we don't have electricity. We also have a large water tank, so that's not usually a problem for several days. We can usually go for about 3-5 days without any hookups.
Get this, we have two TVs in our motorhome! However, we've only used one once to watch a dvd. We're usually too tired or reading at the end of the day and don't feel like watching anything.
It really does feel like we're living a wonderful life. We love where we live, but we also love all our travels. No, you didn't miss pics of Shaylyn. She arrives later this month and will be here for a little over a week. We're taking her camping with us! :)