I have affiliate relationships with Bookshop.org and Malaprop's Bookstore 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. Read more on my affiliate page.
Welcome to my weekly update for November 20, 2022!
Well hello there! Long time, no see! My last update was on August 28. I wrote in that post that my husband and I were coming out of a quiet few weeks just hanging around Billings, Montana and we had a couple of busy weekends planned. I did not intend to disappear for almost three months!
We finished up our time in Billings on September 10 and took a couple of weeks to sightsee and get to my husband’s next work assignment in Lodi, California. (If you’re new here, he’s a traveling healthcare professional and works about three months at a time at different hospitals around the country) Lodi isn’t the most exciting location, though it is actually more beautiful than we expected with all the wineries and roses still blooming everywhere. But what drew us here is all the national parks and other scenic areas within about a three-hour drive. And you know we love our national parks!
Since I last posted, we visited these national parks: Glacier, Theodore Roosevelt, Yellowstone (yes, again), Grand Teton, Crater Lake, Lassen Volcanic, Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon. We also visited Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho, Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada, and just spent a weekend exploring Mendocino and Point Reyes National Seashore here in California. We’ve been super busy and super blessed to see so many amazing places!
Our internet connection is not good at our current location so it’s been hard for me to post and read blogs. I try to only indulge my blog habit while my husband is at work. At this job, his days off completely overlap with my usual days to visit your blogs. So here we are. I should be able to make the rounds this week, internet service gods willing, but I probably still won’t consistently be back until sometime in January.
Slideshow:
All images © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader 2022
I could share literally hundreds of pictures from the past few months but I decided to limit myself to one photo from each new national park we visited (so no Yellowstone or national monuments). Tough choices!
- Sunrise from Logan’s Pass in Glacier National Park in Montana. We just lucked into this picture. We knew we needed to get to this parking area early for the hike we had planned and this view was waiting on us when we got there.
- Sunset over Wind Canyon in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota
- Mountains rising behind a horse pasture in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming
- Bright rainbow over Crater Lake and Wizard Island at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. My camera didn’t pick it up, but there was actually a very faint double rainbow too.
- Mount Lassen reflected in Manzanita Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park in California. The road through the park was closed because of snow the day before we arrived. Luckily the road was open the day we visited and we still got the beauty of the snow on the mountaintops.
- El Capitan and Half Dome from Tunnel View Overlook in Yosemite National Park in California
- This was taken near Zumwalt Meadow in Kings Canyon National Park in California.
- The General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park in California. It’s the largest tree by volume (calculations involving width and height) in the world. The second largest by volume is the General Grant tree in Kings Canyon.
Posted:
I had a handful of posts scheduled before I disappeared.
Ten Books that Continued My Education
The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, edited by Caroline Kennedy: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟 ½
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: Book Review 🌟🌟
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟
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.
I finished 23 books on my break but I won’t make you wade through them here. I’ll just mention a few standouts. You can find the complete list on my “read” shelf on GoodReads if you’re interested.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
March: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles, read by Peter Kenny 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Dread Nation (Dread Nation #1) by Justina Ireland 🌟🌟🌟🌟
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Currently Reading:
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie–Oh, boy, am I ever on the struggle bus with this one. I started it on September 1. It’s just so long and dense (to me)! I don’t even understand what’s happening. I’ll keep plugging along until I finish though.
Shadow Princess (Taj Mahal #3) by Indu Sundaresan, read by Sneha Mathan
The Yosemite by John Muir
Up Next:
I won’t even hazard a guess.
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?
Welcome back! You sound like you’ve been having a fantastic time and the photos are stunning. I used to spend a couple weeks each summer in Point Reyes and love it up there.
Your reading looks good too with lots of 4 and 5 stars. I hope you are doing well.
Welcome back! And welcome to my coast again. 🙂 I’ve been to Crater Lake, Lake Tahoe, and Mendocino, and enjoyed them. I’ve also been camping at Lassen and Yosemite, and loved those experiences. Your photos brought back some great memories.
Happy reading! I’m glad to hear that the blog silence has to do with internet and scheduling issues, and that all is well with you.
I’m happy to bring back some good memories for you! We seem to be slowly (and sometimes not-so-slowly) bouncing between the coasts. There are things we love about both of them. We are shamelessly neglecting the middle of the country though. I should probably read more about the Midwest and find things to get us excited to visit. Neither of us has spent any time in Kansas and Nebraska, for example.
I have also mostly neglected the middle of the country when I plan vacations. I have a hard time imagining being so far away from the ocean. I’ve always lived within a reasonable driving distance of the Pacific, and so being landlocked doesn’t really appeal to me.
I’m good with mountains or the ocean but that still means I neglect the middle of the country.
Welcome back! Love the pictures. You remind me that I have Dread Nation on my Kindle and really should read it one of these days. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
One of my best friends recommended Dread Nation to me. She said, “It’s like The Walking Dead. It’s not about the zombies; it’s about the people!” She was right. I hope you like it when/if you read it.
Welcome back! It’s awesome that you get to travel and see such pretty places. I’d love to visit more National Parks. Have a great week!
National parks truly are special places.
Welcome back! Love your photos. Lots of great books on your list. I’ve been meaning to read The Screwtape Letters.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your time. Happy holidays!
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2022/11/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and_0987958250.html
Thank you!
Love your photos. It is great that your husband’s job takes you around the USA. Amazing opportunity really. I loved Sarah Addison Allen’s book and I see you did too.
Thanks! I love all of Sarah Addison Allen’s books.
Welcome back! Thank you so much for sharing all your pictures…we weren’t able to take a big trip this year (where we planned to see many of these parks), so it was great to see these!
I remember that you mentioned you had a big trip in the works. I’m sorry it didn’t work out this year. Hopefully you’ll make it next year!
I love your pictures. It’s a dream of mine to road trip around the US visiting national parks. What an amazing experience! I enjoyed The Silent Companions – creepy!
I always read a lot of horror and Gothic novels in October. I expected The Silent Companions to only be an atmospheric Gothic novel but it was the creepiest book I read this season!
I hope you get to visit and see our national parks one day. They truly are amazing.
Your photos are gorgeous!
Have a great week and a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Thank you!
Those are all stunning scenes, but Crater Lake is close to my heart. I went there on a family vacation years ago. I love that you captured a rainbow over it! 🙂
The first day we spent at Crater Lake, it was drizzly and cloudy but we saw a faint rainbow from the visitor’s center. The second day was mostly sunny and gorgeous but a shower passed through just in time to give us this spectacular rainbow. We were so excited! It’s a beautiful place, isn’t it?
Welcome back! I’ve enjoyed seeing you on IG, but am glad you got a chance to share a blog post with us.
Outstanding photos, as always. I especially love the sunrise at Logan Pass and am glad I got a chance to see it (not quite as early as you!) this year in our travels. I hope to get to the Tetons next year! You got a great shot of Crater Lake. Sadly, when we were there a few years ago, it was nearly impossible to see the water due to the smoke from nearby fires. We live close enough that we should be able to get back over there for another visit. Ah, and Lassen/Manzanita Lake. We froze our butts off camping there. 🙂
I hope you get internet access when you need it, but sometimes it’s nice to be unplugged, isn’t it? Have a good week and Happy Thanksgiving!
We tried to do the Hidden Lake hike from Logan’s Pass (which I believe you did), but by the time we got back up there on our second day, there was no parking to be had. Everyone was just endlessly circling. I’m not an early riser by nature but that sunrise made it worth it for our Highline Trail hike!
It was so cloudy when we first arrived in the Tetons! My husband had to laugh at my crestfallen face. We couldn’t see any mountains at all. But the skies slowly cleared throughout the day until we had unobstructed views. The next morning was clear for quite a while but then we got rained on for the last 5 or 6 miles of our 9-mile hike. Luckily, we’ve learned to always hike with our full raingear in our backpacks. Traveling in the fall can be dicey. Snow? Smoke? Rain? Glorious blue skies? You never know.
The parking at Hidden Lake was terrible when I was there, but I had taken the shuttle, so I didn’t need to worry about finding a spot; just had to be careful not to miss the last shuttle back down to Apgar!
I probably had the same crestfallen face when we arrived in Glacier. I had expected crystal blue skies, but instead we were greated with hazy, smoky views. I was happy it cleared up when we moved over to the east side of the park. Yep, traveling in the fall is very unpredictable, but that doesn’t stop us! 🙂
Welcome back. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Those photo’s are gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing.. I’m totally enjoying visiting those sites through your eyes!!
I hope you will keep enjoying your travels. Happy reading.
Thank you!
I have been wondering where you have been, Jen. I’m glad that you have simply been busy with a bad Internet connection.
All those fantastic pictures! That rainbow at Crater. Wow. And the photo from Kings Canyon. I envy your traveling. I’d love to go to all the national parks.
You have been reading a lot. I’ve never tried The Satanic Verses, and I respect you for giving it a read. I’m eager to hear more.
And I hope you will continue to share more photos and more books, even if it’s just a little each week.
Since we travel so much, we rely on our jetpack for service. We’ve had an abysmal connection since we arrived in Lodi. But the past couple of weeks, things have mysteriously improved. Hopefully Verizon fixed something and our connectivity woes are behind us.
We have vague hopes of seeing all the national parks but aren’t sure that we’ll make it to the very remote Alaskan parks or American Samoa. I don’t mind hopping on tiny planes to get around Alaska, but the cost sure adds up quickly. And that’s the only way to get to most of the Alaskan parks. Oh well. We will see what we can! We’re up to 36 visited parks out of 63!
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy welcome back and thanks for treating us to more AMAZING pictures! Sunrise and rainbow photos are just stunning! Trying to imagine how even more beautiful they were in person.
You are absolutely correct that they were indescribably beautiful in person!
Jen!!! Halllooooo!! So good to see you around again. Although, I have also been a bit absent lately. Jeez, life can get hectic and the last thing on our minds is blogging. Sad, I know.
Love your photos, especially the rainbow one! Wow!
At least you were still reading and reviewing a lot. I’ve tried my best as well. I see a few on your list that I now want to take a closer look at for sure.
Have a great week and I hope your internet is more stable!
Elza Reads
Blogging does seem to be cyclical for me as I have more time or less. Thanks for the enthusiastic welcome back ! 🙂
Hi! I have long pauses in my updates as well. I totally understand. Happy Thanksgiving!
Blogging pauses seem almost inevitable given our busy lifestyles.
Gorgeous scenery, thanks for sharing it.
I’m glad you are enjoying your new location, despite sucky internet.
Wishing you a great reading week
Thanks!
I would 100% always trade the internet for those views. 🙂 I am glad that you are loving this journey you are both on – it looks like an amazing time together.
I loved Other Birds too!
I obviously would too! I’m glad you agree with my priorities 🙂
I just adore Sarah Addison Allen’s books.
Your photos are gorgeous! The first one and the Crater Lake rainbow particularly, but all of them are beautiful. What a joy to be able to visit so many lovely places!
Thanks! We are very fortunate to visit so many amazing locations.
Beautiful photos. How exciting that you get to travel around – you must see so many amazing places!
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/11/20/sunday-salon-30/
Thank you!
Stunning photography! I love the rainbow and that gorgeous reflection shot. I did notice you weren’t around recently and hope you find time to check in now and then with updates & more beautiful pics. I really enjoyed The Hate U Give – I was surprised by how authentic it felt. Have a great week.
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/sunday-post-25
Thank you! The Hate U Give was an amazing book. It saddens me that it’s perennially on the list of most challenged books of the year.
I will wave when I drive through Lodi on the way to my family. That’s actually where I turned onto Highway 12, although I will be taking I5 instead of I99 to drive up from Southern California this week. I have a friend who lives in Fresno I often visit with, but that won’t work out this time.
So you know where we are very well! We’re bopping around on 12 and I-5 all the time. I swear this section of I-5 must have more truckers than any other section of interstate in the country. I feel insecure in my little car 🙂
Oh wow! I like locations that end up being surprising and Lodi sounds lovely – especially with it’s proximity to parks. Gorgeous pictures and wonderful books! Have a great week!
I was not very excited to stay in Lodi but it’s really a lovely little town!
Hey welcome back! And thanks for the awesome pics! I love that fourth one- beautiful- and the last one too with the tree. It’s amazing. Hope you’re having a nice weekend. It’s snowing here 🙂
We do our best to avoid the white stuff in our travels 🙂 Alaska caught us a couple of times and we barely missed it at a few other locations. I’m not a fan of cold weather and the longer I’m away from it, the less I like it. Stay warm!
Thanks! It’s really pretty but the temps… yikes!!