Five Simple Things (April 19)

 Hello.

Here are five things this week.

1. This bench.

I love how much my dad loves(ed) my grandmother. She was the last of my grandparents and passed away in 2011 suddenly. It was very hard on all of us, especially my dad. They were close and I remember how much it changed him after her passing. He has gotten better with accepting the loss, but as an empath I still sense his pain. This bench was more for him than anyone else. He walked us down the trail he rides on his bike, so that he could show it to us while we were visiting. I felt my dad's happiness and pain all in one moment as we sat on the bench together. I don't know if my Nana was present, but I would like to think so. As I sit typing this out, I still feel how much he misses her and loves her still. My Nana wasn't perfect, and of course she had her faults, but she was a big part of all of our lives on my dad's side. I hope she knows how much we all miss her every day and how much of an impact she had on all of us Hardages. She was one of a kind, and a wonderful woman. As I get older I see a lot of her in myself. No matter how many times she frustrated me, I am happy to say that I am my Nana's granddaughter and having her qualities makes me proud.❤

2. These souvenirs.

We have been going through out souvenirs from our recent road trip in the bus and these are Skylar's. He and I were able to get moccasins in New Mexico and I am so happy I finally have a pair to wear, but even more happy that Skylar was able to get a pair, too.

3. This ketchup.

This was another Influenster product to try to give my honest opinion on. I love ketchup and I love pickles even more, but I never imagined having pickle-flavored ketchup before. It was definitely pickle-flavored, but with a twist of ketchup flavor. When you are eating a hamburger and the pickle and ketchup mix together, it tastes great with the burger, but this ketchup flavor was great on everything, French fries, hot dogs, and even fried potatoes. It was definitely one that surprised me a lot.

I was sent this product for free for testing purposes. All opinions are my own.

4. These kits.

I found these embroidery kits on our recent road trip in the bus and I got the ladybug for me and the mushroom for Skylar. I am looking forward to learning how to embroider more, or possibly caring a similar kit in the future at the shop.

5. These products.

I was so pleased to get a shipment of Nécessaire this week. I definitely can't wait to try the new sandalwood bodywash scent. My favorite is the eucalyptus scent, but every shipment I am trying the new scents they are carrying now.

One last thing:

I have been finding natural ways to relax more and help my anxiety, especially at night. I found that lavender essential oil and tenting over my face to help a lot in calming my nerves. I also drop a few drops on my pillow on both sides at night. It has helped a great deal. I have been using Plant Therapy's Organic Lavender in the 1oz. size.

Positive affirmations this week:

Have a nice weekend.

Day Nineteen, Twenty (Eclipse Road Trip)

  Albuquerque, New Mexico 🠊 Sanders, Arizona

We took off from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and stopped at the Continental Divide. This was one place I was looking forward to, so I could get another bracelet similar to what I purchased in 2004 when Jeff and I moved to Oregon. I ended up purchasing a few more items to remember this trip by, as well. We spent about an hour at the Continental Divide and got back in the road towards Arizona.

Once we left the Continental Divide we realized that our dirty clothes situation was getting out of hand. We sorted the laundry and made plans to wash a few loads once we got into Arizona.

Eleven started to finally come out of her hiding places more and explore the bus. She ended up getting more comfortable with the trip as we went along. Hopefully, she can get more comfortable the more trips we take in it with her.

We made it to the Arizona State Line around 6:30 p.m. Skylar wanted a picture of him next to the state sign to honor his future at ASU soon.

We stopped at a rest stop right at the Arizona and New Mexico state line and let the ducks get out and splash around in some water for a bit. It was nice to let them get out of their pens and explore around a bit. All three of them were happy to get some fresh air and water.

We ended up staying the night at the rest stop where we stopped for a bit. We decided to boondock it at the rest area and get a few solid hours of sleep. We ate a quick dinner and went to bed shortly after these pictures were taken. It was about 7:00 p.m. when we got all settled and comfortable enough to close our eyes. There was another converted bus behind us at the rest stop, so we felt comfortable enough to open a few windows and allow the Arizona breeze to come through.

  Sanders, Arizona 🠊 Williams, Arizona

We slept for several hours at the rest stop at the Arizona State Line and headed on to Williams, Arizona, and ended up staying the rest of the night in Williams. The other converted bus had left around 9:45 p.m., so we decided to get moving. We don't like to stay places where we are the only ones around, especially a busy rest area. We trust people, but only so far. We lock our doors and windows, and keep to ourselves mostly. It's always nice to run into other converted buses and vans. Being with like-minded people always makes us feel better about our surroundings.

We made it to Petrified Forest National Park around 10:00 a.m. and spent the day driving through the entire park. We loved that there weren't many people there, too. It was quiet, peaceful, and we enjoyed every bit of it.

We found a Bark Ranger tag, and bandana for Hardy in the gift shop. Now he is a certified Bark Ranger for the National Park Service in the United States. Paint us proud.🐾

He looks so handsome and official. Hardy had a wonderful time with us, and being how old he is we were worried the heat might get to him, but he had a blast. Everywhere we stopped he got out and explored right along with us. He was living his best life, that's for sure.

The views here are incredible!

We stopped at a Route 66 plaque and display to eat lunch. There were only two other families that stopped for a few moments to take pictures, but otherwise it was quiet and peaceful. We could hear wind, and a few animals in the distance, but the calm is what we all needed.

We got back on the road after eating lunch and crossed over the Santa Fe Railroad. Skylar wanted to wait and see if a train would pass by, and sure enough, after about 10 minutes here comes a train.

The first train passed and then not far behind that was another train. It was perfect timing. The best part, the train engineer in the second train saw Skylar taking a picture and blew his horn and waved. Skylar being a train lover, it made his day. We never got a chance to thank that train engineer, but I hope he knows how much we appreciate him doing that for us.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the bus against the backdrop of the park. The day was beautiful and the bus just looked so cool in the scenery.

We decided, since it wasn't too hot of a day, to hike around different areas of the park. We climbed to the top of hills for better views of the landscape. At first we were hesitant, but we were so glad we got out and looked around. We enjoy hiking a lot, so this was perfect for us.

After exploring through the National Park we headed back on the road towards Williams, Arizona, for the night. There are so many great things to see and hikes to take in Petrified Forest National Park. It was on the parks that has been on our bucket list for awhile. We highly recommend it if you're traveling through like we are. There's so many places to explore around the are, and interesting things to learn about.