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Welcome to my weekly update for February 26, 2023!
I’ve had to work on some background security stuff on the blog, so if you have trouble commenting or notice anything amiss, please contact me.
I took another long unintentional blogging break but hopefully I can get back into a groove for the next few months. Hopefully.
My husband, Luis, wrapped up his contract as a healthcare traveler in Lodi, CA on December 23 and we flew home to NC for a couple of weeks at Christmas. Yay!
Because we live in our RV while he’s working, we head south for the winter, along with seemingly all the other RVers and retirees in the country. So long story short, between having difficulty finding a long-term campground to stay in and his job market going a bit wonky, Luis was between jobs for two months. Ugh.
We didn’t do much exploring because we needed good cell service for the job search. Almost every job he applied for was in Texas or further east so we drove that direction. We visited my brother-in-law and his family while we were in San Antonio. We haven’t seen them since Christmas 2019 so that was fun. Luis finally got a job sorted out and realized that we had extra time. So we booked flights to visit my husband’s parents in Naples, FL. It was heavenly to soak up all that south Florida sun.
We flew back to our camper in San Antonio and drove to my husband’s next job assignment… back in California! Life rarely works out the way you plan, does it? We’re in Escondido. We’ve been in southern California two other times with Luis’s job, both times in 2020. Because of all the pandemic closures during those stays, there are still a lot of things we want to do. We’ll also spend time with Luis’s cousin and his little family. We look forward to getting out and about!
I’m sharing pictures from our trip to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument during a weekend stopover in Arizona on our way to Texas. We loved it and wish we’d had more time to spend there. Nearby Saguaro National Park is one of my husband’s favorite parks (I do appreciate it but I like green too much to call it one of my favorites). When we got to Organ Pipe, Luis immediately announced, “This is even better than Saguaro! Why haven’t they made this a national park yet?” I have to agree with him. Civilization is encroaching on Saguaro but Organ Pipe is very remote and feels more national park-ish. You should visit if you’re ever in the area.
Slideshow:
All images © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader 2023
- Landscape dotted with saguaro cacti
- Organ pipe cactus. It’s easy to see where the name comes from, isn’t it?
- Arch Canyon
- Cristate, or crested, saguaro cactus
Posted:
Since my last update on Christmas Day, I’ve shared
2023 Reading Challenges I’ve Joined
Recent Additions to My Book Collection
Read:
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
Since my last update on December 25, I’ve read
Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Dark is Rising (The Dark is Rising #2) by Susan Cooper 🌟🌟🌟
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing 🌟🌟🌟🌟
A Lot Like Christmas by Connie Willis, read by multiple narrators 🌟🌟🌟🌟
One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Daughter of Time (Inspector Alan Grant #5) by Josephine Tey, read by Derek Jacobi 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie 🌟🌟
The Rosie Result (Don Tillman #3) by Graeme Simsion, read by Dan O’Grady 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson 🌟🌟🌟
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1) by Becky Chambers 🌟🌟🌟🌟
It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History by Jennifer Wright 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4) by Martha Wells, read by Kevin R. Free 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Currently Reading:
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke, read by J. D. Jackson
Up Next:
We’re still settling in and Stamped is really slowing down my reading pace. I probably won’t finish anything this week.
What did your week look like?
Hosts:
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
18 Comments
You’ve read some interesting ones recently. Shackleton’s story is such a fascinating one.
Shackleton really was fascinating. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to stories of Arctic/Antarctic exploration. I guess because it’s something I can’t fathom even wanting to do. I relate more to a cat curled up by a fire! I knew very little about Shackleton as I started the book but if someone had given me the bare outline of what happened, I would have expected the book to be dull as dirt. And yet it was a page turner! Did you see that they found his ship last spring? Crazy!
Stamped is very good, but I think it takes time to read as you soak it all up (I read the YA version). Welcome to California! I hope you have a good time in Escondido and that our weather warms up for you.
I love seeing and hearing about all the places you visit. I remember growing up in Scottsdale, Arizona and we would drive for miles and miles and see nothing but desert and all the cacti. Now it’s all houses and stuff.
Sprawl is definitely becoming a thing in the populated areas of Arizona. Well, it seems like it’s everywhere nowadays.
Welcome back! I do like the sound of travelling around but I am sure it has it’s moments
Have a great week!
Great to see a new post from you! Glad Luis found a new assignment in Escondido. I know the area well! My brother and sister-in-law live there. I remember visiting a friend in Palomar hospital many years ago (1977?). The area has certainly grown since we lived in Vista in the early 90s. And, you guys got a ton of rain this past week, didn’t you?
I would love to visit Organ Pipe Cactus NM, and we were very close on one of our road trip. We were coming back to Oregon from Texas, but wound up in an RV park in Ajo. We didn’t camp in Saguaro NP, but did visit the Desert Museum, which is fabulous.
Take care and enjoy a Rubio’s fish taco for me, please! 🙂
Welcome back to California! I hope you can enjoy some of the stuff you missed in 2020. Those organ pines are really neat looking plants. There’s some amazing stuff out in the desert, and I haven’t seen nearly enough of it in person yet.
I loved Christmas Days when I read it a few years ago.
Have fun in California! Sometimes the National Parks are so crowded now I like the monuments and state parks better.
Jill
http://www.allthebooksihaventread.com/blog-1/2023/2/4/on-my-nightstand-february-5-2023-7nxcz-m95fn-bd7et
Good to see you back and find out how where you are in your travels! I’m late doing my blog visits tonight, so will have to come back to check out your top ten of 2022. I never got mine posted. 🙁
P.S. I had to switch browsers (from Firefox to Chrome) for the comment box to show up!
Sounds like you’ve been pretty busy. I love all your pictures. 🙂
Life has been busy for you guys lately! Glad you’re settled in CA again and I hope you have plenty of opportunities to explore and enjoy this time.
When I picked up Stamped From the Beginning, it felt like I was going to be reading forever, so switched to the YA version, Stamped. It gave me the basics, but I’d still like to go back to the original one day. Good luck.
Glad all is well with you and the family. What beautiful pictures. Hope you have fun getting settled in.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2023/02/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and_01795427531.html
I’m glad your husband’s job situation worked out. It is nice to have you back posting. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
I would love to travel across country in a RV. Like the pictures of the desert.
Have a great week.
Welcome to my part of California. You arrived just in time for are second bad winter storm of the year. Actually worse than the first.
You’ve been traveling! Love those pictures of the desert, by the way. Beautiful there. You’ve reminded me too I have to get back to Murderbot.
Good to have you back