Happy Monday! As I mentioned in my last post, August was a full month! I definitely saw a lot of great things, connected with some great people and logged a lot of miles. I also took over 4,000 photos and that does not even include ones that other people took for me on their phones and shared! Buckle up and stick around to find out more!
As always, I'd love to hear what you're up to! Please copy and paste the questions at the end and add your answers to the mix!
Where was I? Montana, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska & Iowa (phew, that was a mouthful!)
What country related books or documentaries did I watch?
Read: NONE! My reading in August was basically non-existent
Watched: NONE! Woof.
Did I complete any other items on this year's looking forward list?
✅New food <-- Huckleberry bear claw, which is a big thing in the Glacier NP area (my take? Despite loving bear claws and huckleberries, I found it a bit overrated!)
✅New beer (*new category) <-- too many to count! However, my favorite was Mustaches and Man Buns! How's that for a name?
✅ New States <-- Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota (which leaves me with only three more to finish all 50!)
✅ New National Parks <-- Cuyahoga Valley, Indiana Dunes, Theodore Roosevelt, Yellowstone & Badlands (+ Mt. Rushmore, which is not an NP)
✅ New thing <-- So many! Here is one: Floating on the Flathead River, which reminded me of my childhood (we did A LOT of rafting and tubing)
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1. What is the name of last month's chapter?
January: Devouring the Sweet Potato
February: Back in the Groove
March: Serenity Before the Storm
April: Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot
May: The Ring of Fire and Ice
June: On The Road Again
July: A River Rides Through It
August: That's What Friends Are For
August was the month of visiting and hanging out with friends, both new and old. My oldest friend I visited was from high school and I had not seen her in about six years!
2. What did I learn last month?
I learned a lot about capitals and capitols! We visited four state capitol buildings, Bismarck, Helena, Pierre and Lincoln, and in that I learned a lot about the buildings themselves, the towns and the states as a whole. For example, I did not know a lot about the Montana gold rush, or the fact that North and South Dakota are the 39th and 40th state, but this was not deliberately chosen; the papers for statehood were shuffled around, making it fair that one would be first and the other second but not actually choosing one over the other to be ahead in line.
My quick take on capitols: there are lots of circles!
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| Various things found in ND, MT, SD, NE (Check out Birchie's blog for more detail coming soon!) |
3. What was the weather like?
It varied. The weather in Montana was great, but very smoky. Then Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota were humid and hottish. North Dakota, Montana (again), Wyoming were good temperatures (50s- 80s for the most part) and not humid. South Dakota was hot (90s) but not humid, then as we headed back east, the humidity came back! I am not sure I am cut out to live in the Midwest, more due to humidity than the extreme cold (I lived in Iowa over a winter and it got down to -30 f, but I still think that's better than super humid!!!)
4. What event last month was my favorite?
This is too hard to choose, so I will do some quick bullets.
- Staying with my HS friend and going tubing with her, having great catch ups and hanging out.
- Hiking in the Bob Marshall Wilderness with Bugsy
- Seeing many bison in the wild
- Visiting five national parks, including some sleepers
- Many small exploratory hikes and runs
- Meeting Doggo
- Meeting several bloggers IRL for the first time
- Meeting up with several bloggers for a second (or more) time
....and too many more to list!
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| A taste of the national parks. (stay tuned for more) |
5. What was the best thing read, listened to or watched last month?
Book: On the Banks of Plum Creek (one of only TWO books I read this month! 😒)
Movie/Show: Traitors UK (I had seen an episode or two before, but Birchie and I started watching it from the beginning)
Podcast: Elisabeth's two interviews on BOBW and The Reframe
6. Tell us one funny recent story.
I liked the story about how Helena actually cheated in order to get the capital status, and this was not found out until much later when restoration work was being done on some of the officials old houses and they found a bunch of hidden votes (for the other city of Anaconda)!
7. What am I looking forward to this month?
Catching up on admin, having a routine, and seeing another old friend or two!
Your turn! To copy/paste, highlight the text below and click CTRL-C, then put the cursor in the comment box and click CTRL-V.
AUGUST:
1. What is the name of your last month's chapter or the theme of your last month if you prefer that?
2. What did you learn last month?
3. What was the weather like where you are?
4. What event last month was your favorite?
5. What was the best thing you read, listened to or watched last month?
6. Tell us one funny recent story.
SEPTEMBER:
7. What are you looking forward to this month?
Bonus question! Tell me about your oldest friend! When was the last time you saw them?
