Back in Texas

OK - here's a correction to an earlier post:  My least favorite part of life in two states is the drive back and forth! :/

This is the fourth season that Harry and I have been making the 1377-mile journey and our experience has been that although the drive takes two long days, it is uneventful.  Except his year.  The.drive.was.horrible.   

Day 1 is normally an 11-hour day and we drive about 770 miles, a little more than half way.  This year we drove for 12 hours, 7 of which were in relentless, driving rain, along with crazy drivers (including truckers!) on the interstates who don't seem to understand that when it's raining so hard you can barely see the car in front of you, slowing down is prudent.  

Day 2 was even worse.  Usually Day 2 is a little easer.  We usually leave a little later in the morning and after driving for about nine hours, we are home.  This year on Day 2 we drove for over 12 hours, ALL of which were in relentless, driving rain.  And the traffic was beyond awful (note to self:  we will NEVER again drive back to Texas the weekend after Thanksgiving!).  As we approached Dallas, the traffic slowed to a crawl and was bumper to bumper as we crept around Dallas toward Waco for the final stretch.

The traffic was so bad that Harry and I decided to detour further west, outside of Interstate 35, then head south.  Well that prompted Harry and I to argue about which was the best route to take, which is significant because Harry and I just don't argue...about anything.  Well his route prevailed and although the detour added an additional 3 hours to the trip (instead of the likely 5+ hour delay had we stayed on IH35), it was the best decision to go around IH 35 and pick up Texas Highway 281 and head south (although my detour would have gotten us to Highway 281 much quicker).  As bad as the weather was, we did not run into any snow or ice and for that we were very grateful.  

Having said ALL of that, we arrived home safely last night about 7:45 pm and although we were exhausted (and had kissed and made up), we were very happy and thankful to be home.

Now to unload the cars :/

Autumn Light

...there's really nothing quite like it.  In fact, the way the light changes in the fall is one of the reasons autumn is my favorite season.  It's hard to explain exactly how the light is different.  It seems longer, lower in the sky and more gentle.

I took a lot of pictures of the lake and surrounding areas in November before we left for Texas, and the colors of the lake and the sky ranged from orange to red to lavender to pink to blue to purple.  All stunning.  Here's a peak at what I was blessed to witness...

and my favorite

And this is one thing among many that I will miss about our lake house in Michigan.  

Packing Up!

 This is my least favorite part of life in two states--packing up the house and heading south for the winter.

But I must admit, it gets easier every year.  I think it's because we've done it often enough that I'm more in tune with what I use here in Michigan and what I use in Texas and what clothes I wear in each place.  And it's not like I'm packing up and moving my entire house.  Mostly pantry stuff, food and clothes.

Also, the life we lead in each state is very different.   In Michigan, our lifestyle is much more casual and family oriented.  It's summertime, we live on a lake and we eat & live very seasonally (which I love!)   In Texas, where all our friends live, we do much more entertaining at home and we go out to dinner more often.  Neither is better than the other; just different.

But the one thing I do pack up and truck to Texas in its entirety are all the jams, preserves and other goodies I've made over course of this year.  Here's a peak at what I'm taking back to Texas with us ;)

NOTE:  I wasn't done canning or preserving when I took this picture of my cupboard

This is all I've done this season.  

There are over 80 jars of jams, preserves and conserves (and this does not include the nearly two dozen jars I've already given away); 30+ quarts of Pure Michigan tomatoes; 25 pints of various tomato sauces; 1/2 dozen pint jars of Pickled Beets with Star Anise; 8 quarts + 8 pints of Green Tea Chai Spiced Peaches, 8 pints of Pickled Corn with Pinto Beans and Peppers and some other stuff that I can't recall.  Not bad for a season's work, eh?

And every year it's the same struggle for me - I love Michigan and our life here with our family and I am not happy about leaving; but I really do miss my friends in Texas and look forward to spending time with them.  And that's a good problem to have.

So I am thankful for the life I have and am ever so grateful to have friends, family and a wonderful life in two states.

Recent Trip to Europe

Harry and I recently returned from a trip to Europe where we brought my mom as our special guest.  The main purpose of the trip was to pick up my new car (an M3) from the BMW factory in Munich and show mom a real good time flitting about Germany, Salzburg Austria and Luzern Switzerland.  I'm happy to report we accomplished our objectives.

My car is beautiful and performs like the finely tuned machine she is and we all had a great time seeing the sites of Northern Europe in the fall.  I think my mom had a wonderful time too.

After picking up my car, we (I!) drove the 100+ miles to Salzburg to our home for the next four nights, the lovely Hotel Rosenvilla.  It was a small boutiquey hotel in a charming old home with only 18 rooms, each remodeled and updated.  It was comfortable, quiet, on a direct bus route into Salzburg and surrounding areas, and the staff was gracious and accommodating.   

Of course, our first dinner in Salzburg had to be authentic and Austrian so we walked the two blocks to the Steinlechner Inn and had some "Wirstshaus Classics" such as:

 pancake carpaccio with egg

 locally caught lake trout with boiled parsleyed potatoes

 classic Weiner schnitzel

 organic beef goulash with homemade dumplings 

 topped off of course with Austrian beer!  

A delicious dinner for all!

And we spent the next several days wandering the streets of Salzburg, in and out of Mirabella Gardens, many churches and town squares, of course the Mozart house and museum, and enjoying wonderful lunches and dinners.  

venison carpaccio

 delicious green salad

beef consommé with duck dumplings

calve's liver with dumplings for hubby

We took a bus one day to a distant town and took the cable car straight up the side of Untersberg, a 6000+ foot summit that normally offers breathtaking views of Salzburg.  Although it was sunny down below, it was cloudy and COLD up top.  My mom isn't crazy about heights, but she did great on the ride up and was really glad she made the trip up the mountain.  It was beautiful.

The next day we headed to Luzern!  I was nice and let Harry drive ;)  Harry and I have been to Luzern a couple of times so we kind of knew what we were doing and where we were going. We stayed at the Hotel Hermitage and it was first class.  It offered a lovely view of the lake and mountains from our rooms, had a fantastic European breakfast served in the dining room every day, and offered local, beautifully prepared and delicious dinners in the elegant dining room in evening. This is the hotel viewed from a boat ride we took on Lake Luzern.  

We took the bus into town on Saturday morning to begin exploring only to discover there was a local farmer's market along the lake! Anyone who knows me knows that local farmers' markets are one of my favorite things, no matter where I am.  So we wandered around with me lusting after the local produce, homemade pasta and sausages, and lamenting the fact that I had no kitchen to go to to fix dinner :/  But it was fun just walking around taking it all in.  

There are chestnut trees everywhere in Luzern and we found some at the market that we bought to bring home.  We also bought a bag of hot, roasted chestnuts, something I've never had before, and they were really good!

We happened upon a group of yoddlers and that was fun to watch and listen to.

This was our view of the lake and Mt Pilatus from our hotel rooms.  

After exploring the local sites for a couple of days, we decided it was time for a road trip.  I do after all have a new car to break in :)  So we looked at the map and decided we were close enough to Lago Maggiore in Southern Switzerland to make the trip.  So off we went.  The scenery as we drove through the Alps was spectacular.  My mom had not realized we were that close to the Italian border and she was thrilled to be able to say she went to Italy (well, almost) as well on this trip.  We parked the car, walked around and found this little authentic Italian restaurant and had a lovely lunch on the shores of Lago Maggiore.

I had one other event planned for us on our itinerary and that was a cog train ride up Mt Pilatus, all the way to the top--elevation 6,982 feet.  The cog train was pretty cool.  The train stays on the ground and it basically just pulls itself along this chain/tract up the mountain.  At least that's how I understand it.  I'm sure Harry could explain it much better.  Anyway, it was a cool ride up the mountain.  But the coolest part was how the weather was so different down on the ground than it was on the nearly 7,000 foot peak.  It was cloudy and drizzly when we left the base, but as we climbed, all of a sudden, poof...we were above the cloud line and it was sunny and gorgeous!  I took a ton of pictures (too many) but it was just so neat.

About 1/2 way up the mountain, there was this little shack that is still being used to make cheese from the sheep that graze in the meadows.  Our guide said they sell it in the local markets.  I looked but was unable to find any :/

You can see the cloud line in these next few pictures.  Just like on an airplane.  Very cool.

There's even a hotel and a restaurant at the top of Mt Pilates.  Harry told me if we ever come back here, we are staying in this place at least one night :)

Love this guy and his Cheshire cat grin

Some locals playing this odd instrument.  

I walked to nearly the top of this walkway which offered breathtaking views of Luzern.  It was over 8,000 feet so I was breathless by the time I got up there.  

 So that was a fabulous day and one none of us will likely forget.  

Harry was wonderful driving us all over Europe so I gave him a day off so he could get some work done.  So mom and I spent the next day exploring more of Luzern, going in and out of a number of beautiful old churches where she lit a candle and prayed for my dad.  Although he's been gone 16 years and she's built a good life for herself after his death, she really felt his absence on this trip.

On the day before we left to drive back to Munich, we took a boat ride on Lake Luzern.  And it was absolutely lovely!  It offered a completely different perspective to see the city from the center of the lake.  It was a beautiful day and the Northern Europeans do things first class.

We had an absolutely wonderful trip exploring two beautiful European countries.  But the best part of the trip was the time we spent together; particularly the time I spent with my mom.  She kept apologizing for "holding me back", but she did not.  I told her how good it was to just spend time with her, walking arm in arm around the streets of Luzern and Salzburg, sharing dinners and conversations, talking about her life and mine, sharing memories of my dad.  It is wonderful to still be able to do these things with her.  Many of my friends do not have their moms anymore and I still do.  And for that, I am so thankful.  I love you Mom!  And thank you Harry for making this trip possible for all of us.  I love you too :)