Baking bread has become my weekly indulgence.
When I get flour, it comes in 5 lb bags, so since I need a pound for each bread, I get 5 loaves of bread, from one bag of flour.
If I am not mistaken, that costs me (basically) about $3.99 on sale. The holidays it is normally even cheaper.
So under a dollar for the ingredients, and you get a weeks worth of bread.
Add an hour or so of baking with a gas oven, and there you are, inexpensive bread that tastes great!
You can get the recipe, HERE.
I am home, for the moment, and I have lots to say about Spirit Airlines.
First off, I did take the Premium Economy upgrade, that allowed me to book some flights with the middle seat empty. That was spectacular, and my first flight was like that. A tray table was placed on the middle seat, and it worked out well.
My return flight I was not so lucky. I was happy I had the aisle seat, but the guy in the middle was nothing but trouble the entire flight.
So if you can definitely get middle seats blocked, that is worth the upgrade.
As to the discount on their food, I did not see anything worth buying, just sodas and chips. Alcoholic Drinks cost $9 a bottle (no thanks).
I (as a general rule) don't use my phone on the plane, so I did not purchase the WI-FI. It's up to you if you want to watch a movie or two on your cell phone.
The seats do not have places to put your water bottle, or snacks, everything is metal in the upgraded section.
Boarding group 2 was also worth the price, as was the getting an overhead compartment for your 1 bag. It is high though, so tough to get to your bag during the flight, especially if it is heavy.
On my second flight, the gentleman in the middle seat, had so much stuff under his seat, that he ended up using part of my leg room for his feet. That drove me crazy.
Otherwise, it was a flight, and some of the upgraded things were worth it.
I am flying back home today, so I thought that I would remember 9/11.
I have been staying in the Garden City area, so this 9/11 Memorial is right down the road from me, as i write this.
When I booked these flights, I did not even think about the World Trade Center anniversary.
When in NYC, you find that it is never far from their minds here.
Still so sad, 24 years later.
I painted a barn, back in the early days of my oil painting class.
It has lived on the East Coast for decades.
This week, it ended up in my brother's posession, and I really love what he did with it.
It happens to be a favorite of mine, and I share it with much pride.
I hope you enjoy.
My Water Post For Today.
Another incredible photo of the Merced River, in Yosemite.
I love the mountain on the left side of the photo, the trees, and, of course, the rocks in the water.
It was very hard to take a bad photo, in such a pristine area.
I keep saying this, but I am so glad I took the time to visit our 1st National Park. It truly is America's Best Idea.
I hope you enjoy.
I had to go shopping, while here.
What I saw, right off the bat, was a huge display of Mallomars!
My Husband and I heard they had them last winter, but even after asking the manager, we never found any.
They don't make them during the summer months, so this must be the first display of the Fall in New York.
I thought about it for a few seconds, and grabbed a box. Now I just hope it makes it home without melting.
The other thing I saw was a bottle of maple syrup, called Dickinson's Maple Syrup, distributed in Oxnard, California.
I was like, What? We have no maple trees in California.
It ends up that it is distributed by J.M. Smucker's Company. Shipped from 3 thousand miles away.
Our interconnected life.
On our way home from Fresno, we passed a section of the High Speed Rail that goes right over the BNSF tracks.
Thus, it was over our heads for a moment or two.
It was south of Corcoran, and before Wasco, and is called the Tule River Viaduct.
It is the one place that really shows off the HSR in its final form.
They are planning to lay track next year, with or without funding from the Federal Government.
Get it done already!
I made it across the Country yesterday.
It was a long day, but there was a bright spot or two along the way.
My first one was at Newark International Airport.
They were doing work on the terminal, and so they had someone paint favorite locations from around the Garden State.
I immediately saw Old Barney, and dropped my bag, to get a photo or two.
It always makes me happy to see Barnegat Lighthouse, the location I visited, and who still graces the right side of my blog, to this day.
The other cool thing I saw in my travels, was a beautiful building at Belmont Park, right by the Cross Island Parkway. I was driving, so no photo of that.
Welcome to New York.
I am heading back East today, so this machine, may be in my future.
This trip was unplanned, and I am going it alone.
Hopefully, the lessons learned back in April, will serve me well on my journey.
I plan to spend some time with family, so there might be some fun involved, too.
Oh, and my brother is lending me his apartment's washer and dryer, to use, while I am there.
The concert went well, on Tuesday.
We got to the pick-up location about 25 minutes before they left, for the venue.
Our favorite picnic location didn't have many people, so we had our choice of tables to eat at.
Our seats were row 1, just after the box seats, so our view was great.
Though it was humid, and you could see Anne had to keep wiping her face and neck and the violin, during passages where she got a break from playing.
We LA types are not used to humidity, at all, so we suffered, too.
The piece was written just for Anne, so it was well done, as I would expect.
The composer, Arturo Márquez, was brought out at the end, by Anne, to thunderous applause.
Their work is now on vinyl, and they were signing copies for fans, at the gift shop. My Husband and I had a bus to catch, so we did not get to meet, and greet them.
All in all, home by 11:30PM. A good night.
I held off buying concert tickets for the Hollywood Bowl, this year, because there was not much that we had never seen.
Gershwin was there, The Planets were there, and Anne Akiko Meyers was there.
All shows we have seen and enjoyed, but nothing new.
I finally did purchase tickets for my Husband's cousin, Anne, and that is what we will see.
More later.
Photo from her bowl performance in 2023.
If you had heard that tourists are not coming to Yosemite, this should dispell that myth.
It was crowded, at times, especially at the most viewed sites (this one is El Capitan, I believe).
Our Park Ranger told us that climbers do not do any climbing, at this time of year, due to the heat.
Spring and Fall are their major climbing time.
I was kind of looking forward to seeing people up on the face of the mountain.
Oh well.
The Merced River flows through the entire Yosemite Valley.
Due to the granite walls, there are so many rocks along the river bed.
I have never seen so many boulders, seriously.
No matter, the river is beautiful to see.
I hope you enjoy.
