September 4, 2022

A Month in Summary - August 2022

 
Elk Country RV Park
Trinidad, California
August 2022

We spent the first half of the month traveling to Santa Rosa, California to spend some time with my aunt. We got very lucky and had great weather--not too hot, but sunny and warm. We visited our usual campgrounds, and since we've done the trip several times over the past few years, we only explored one new town (Eureka). I plan to blog about the trip later next month, but if you enjoy reading my travel posts, click here to check out our spring trip to central Oregon (La Pine, Bend, Sisters, etc.).

As usual, I didn't get much time to read while we were traveling, only finishing two books (in almost four weeks!). However, once we got home, I zipped through four more. As you can see from my ratings, three of the books were excellent, and I highly recommended each of those. 


Books Read (click on the title for my review):

No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie (3.5/5)

New Girl in Little Cove by Damhnait Monaghan (3.5/5)

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (3.5/5)

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson (4.5/5)

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (4.5/5)

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (5/5)

Movies & TV Series:


Deadwood
 - Rewatching this outstanding series while we travel in the RV. Love it!


Vienna Blood
 - We gave up on this after the first episode.


The Gray Man - I'm surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did! Typical action thriller with lots of explosions, car chases, and gunfire. Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Billy Bob Thornton are great.


Annika - We love Nicola Walker and will watch her in pretty much anything. This isn't a serious crime drama, but the literary tales, broken fourth wall, and dry wit (as well as the family dynamics), make it well worthwhile.


Modus - We've only watched a few episodes and so far, so good. Suspenseful and a bit creepy!

Road Trip!

As I mentioned, we spent the first three weeks of August traveling to Santa Rosa to visit family. We've driven this route several times over the years and camped at our favorite campgrounds along the way. We spent an afternoon exploring Eureka (we usually just drive through or grab a burger at In-N-Out), had several elk show up in our campsite in Trinidad, and enjoyed spending time with my aunt and cousins.




We are currently getting all our ducks in a row for our big adventure to Glacier National Park. We've never been to Montana, so get ready for a lot of photos. We're driving through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, so I hope to see a lot of wildlife!

18 comments:

  1. You are really on a retirement adventure - good for you. The elk are magnificent, I love them as much as when we get to see moose. Great month reading with your travels. I loved Four Winds, A Town Called Solace and Olive, Again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Diane, we love traveling in our RV and are super excited about this upcoming trip to Glacier. Maybe we'll see some moose this time! Yep, those three books are fabulous, aren't they?!

      Delete
  2. I love seeing your travels and look forward to the Montana photos. You got some good reading in; I also didn't love the Tattooist of Auschwitz though it's getting good reviews mostly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Helen. It's so much fun to travel in our rv and see all sorts of wildlife and nature.

      Delete
  3. Would you believe I've never been to Oregon, or Montana either. Enjoy that trip to Glacier National Park. The views would be fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oregon is such a beautiful state, Harvee. We've been visiting this area since 1997 and were able to move here a little over five years ago. We're excited to explore Montana and are hoping for good weather and smoke-free skies.

      Delete
  4. A Town called Solace has been getting some mention on various sites and it sounds interesting. Oh we loved Deadwood and Justified as well. Its funny how many folks from Deadwood ended up making appearances with Timthy Oliphant in Justified.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tina, I highly recommend A Town Called Solace. The characters are unforgettable. Yes, we loved Deadwood and Justified. I could watch Justified again now, too. I'm looking forward to our upcoming road trip so we can get back to re-watching Deadwood.

      Delete
  5. Another great month of retirement adventures! I always enjoy the photos and reading about your travels. You sure finished the month strong with some great reads... on to September.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, JoAnn! We love where we live, but also love our RV adventures. And, yes, it was nice to finish out the month with such great books. We'll see how I do in September since we'll be traveling the entire month.

      Delete
  6. I love seeing your photos here and on IG. Can't wait to hear all about your upcoming trip. Haven't been in that area so really excited to see some pics! And, I'm taking note of the recommended shows. I think Modus is going to be high up on my list! Love all that scandi noir.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I so appreciate your comment, Iliana. It's fun to put together these month-end summaries and I enjoy sharing my photos here and on IG. We are about to finish season one of Modus. It's really good, but the villain is pretty creepy.

      Delete
  7. We leave for Montana tomorrow - Will be in Glacier over the weekend! Looking forward to your pictures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you have a great time in Glacier! I can't wait to get there. Southeastern Washington leaves a lot to be desired. We'll be in Idaho tomorrow.

      I don't recognize your name and don't see a blog to peek in on. Have we met?

      Delete
  8. Those elk are gorgeous! That being said, I just went and counted and there are 12 deer relaxing in my yard right now. Even a couple of bucks. Your trip to Eureka sounds like fun and I bet that bookstore was a treat. We don't have Netflix anymore, but we might get it again at some point. We kind of come and go with some of the way to watch shows. My husband reads The Gray Man book series and really likes them. Hope you guys have a wonderful time in Montana, etc. Take care!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aren't they amazing, Kay?! I enjoy seeing deer, too. :) Yes, the bookstore was fun. We'll definitely return. Now to do a little research on bookstores in Idaho and Montana...

      Delete
  9. Great post! And I hope you have a wonderful trip to Glacier, which is one of the very best parks in the US & Canada. We've been a few times. And I'm quite intrigued with Eureka and would like to visit sometime. Looks like a neat place. The bookstore looks cute and the elk look amazing. Who knew they're there?! We have them in Banff here but they're always cool to see. I guess we need to watch Deadwood .... we have not tried that show.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Susan. We'll be in Glacier tomorrow afternoon! Eureka is a funky little town. Sadly, there are a lot of people living on the streets and the drug problems (meth) have been a problem for many years. I'm glad we finally decided to stop and explore the older downtown area, which was worthwhile. Ah, you are in for a treat with Deadwood, but be forewarned. The language is pretty colorful, to say the least!

      Delete

I may not answer your comments in a timely fashion, but I always answer. Check back soon!