Things and Stuff: October 2014

The next leg of my September journey started when I left Utah and headed to meet my husband and several of his family members in South Carolina.

They had all attended the wedding of our nephew at the Biltmore Estate while I was out west. It was one of those times when I truly wished I could have been two places at once.

Once we all arrived we had so much fun just hanging out together and catching up with each other. We ate some very tasty meals, and enjoyed shopping and checking out some of the local scenery.

The trees are my favorite part of this area of South Carolina. The strong and graceful boughs of the ancient oaks reaching up toward heaven, and outward as if in welcome just draw me. Those laced with ghostly wisps of moss are hauntingly beautiful. The moss sways to and fro in the gentle breezes like paper fans in warm southern church services a few years back.

I really loved Edisto Island!

It was like nothing I've ever seen. The beach was blanketed inches deep with shells, and the trees grew right up to the edge of the beach, so unlike any other beach I've visited.

The trees along the water's edge were barren and weathered which added to the beauty in radical contrast to the lush greenery just a few feet inland. The water was so calm on the day we visited, and everything had such a peaceful feeling about it.

Our next outing was a little surprise to us. Our niece's boss took us all out on his sail boat for the afternoon.

It was a beautiful day for it!

We sailed along the Battery in Charleston looking at the beautiful historical homes and churches, and the fort. It was amazing. It's hard to be in a place so full of history and not get pulled back deep in your mind to another time.

Sailing was so much fun, and a really great way to experience Charleston. However, it is certainly not a leisurely pastime! The guys and our niece were constantly moving from one duty to another. My sisters-in-law and myself mainly just enjoyed the ride.

We all really hated it when our time together came to an end, but now we can begin planning for next time.

So, for me, September was a whirlwind of a month! It started with an amazing gift from a friend that I had never actually met until Labor Day weekend. Angelina, from JoJo and Eloise took me along for a fun-filled, action-packed, intensely scenic, and incredibly beautiful, as well as a very enlightening trip to Lake Powell with the Redmond Trading Company.

Should you ever get the chance to do anything with the people of this company by all means JUMP at the chance. They were some of the most genuine, engaging, kind and co-operative people I have ever met. I was especially blown away by their humility and the way they worked so well together. The trip was full of Redmond employees, many of whom work together on a regular basis, and never, once did I sense any tension between them.

Getting to meet Angelina was such a delight. She is just as sweet and inspiring in person as she has been online and in all of our correspondence and phone conversations. She is easily one of the most creative people I know, and so generous with her knowledge and her ideas! If you follow her blog and have seen her many tutorials you will know just what I mean!

We arrived in Salt Lake City, and toured the Redmond facility in Herber, ate a wonderful dinner, and had such a nice time getting acquainted with some of the people we would be spending the week with.

Kim, who works with Redmond, and her husband, Guy, were our guides from Herber to Lake Powell. They were so much fun and made the trip just delightful. They kept us informed, entertained, and anticipated our every whim.

The next day was filled with a really exciting game of redneck golf, which consisted of shooting at dynamites with live ammunition. Obviously, I had never done that before, but I enjoyed it immensely.

We toured one of the salt mines and were encouraged to take some of the salt rocks home with us. The different colors in the rocks are different mineral contents in the salt. I learned so much about salt. You can read about the Redmond's Real Salt here.

The rest of the day we spent traveling to Lake Powell. It was a beautiful ride with breath taking scenery and interesting conversations.

We took a gorgeous little side trip to Bryce Canyon.

The next day we took another to Horseshoe Bend. Oh, the scenery! I wanted to just sit for hours and soak it all up, but we had to move on in order to get to our destination.

There just aren't enough words to describe the wonders of Lake Powell, the luxurious boats where we stayed, the enlightening lessons we learned, the amazing food we were served, the caliber of people we hung out with, nor the fabulous excursions and adventures we experienced!