H.A. Larson's Blog, page 13

Hell Yeah, it's Fall!

 

Well, well, would you look at that? It's FALL! To say I'm excited is an understatement. It's my favorite season and I always look forward to all the Fall things that I love: the colors of nature, pumpkin patches, hiking (I do that every season but it's best in the Fall), hayrack rides, cooler weather, Renaissance Faires, and, of course, Halloween - the greatest holiday of the year.
I also love Fall because I love nothing better than long sleeves, cozy sweaters, and fire pits. Sitting around a fire with a warm mug of spiced & spiked apple cider while the cool air licks at your face cannot be beaten.
It's also the time of year when I start watching a carefully selected handful of movies for my annual Shocktober! post. I haven't figured out this year's theme, but I will! I even have a planned ghost hunt, because what would be better during the spooky season than spooky undertakings?
There's also a sense of impending renewal with Fall, as it signals the start of the planet on its journey towards a new life for the coming year. This renewal always impacts me personally in the best of ways, and I can see myself, now, standing on a ridgeline in the Loess Hills on a perfect Fall afternoon taking it all in, marveling at the colors, and thinking about my own renewal for the year ahead.
It's a time for thankfulness for the life I have and to look forward to all the possibilities of the future. It's a time to shed all the damaged layers and make way for new ones. 
Are you looking forward to Fall as much as I am? Make sure you get out there and enjoy it before it ends - because it always ends too soon.

Coming to Terms with the Dreaded MLC

I think it's fair to say that I've been going through some shit these past few years, a fact that has played out here in my blog for the world to see. I chalked it up to this, that, or the other thing, but I was wrong about all of it. There were so many obvious signs: mood swings, crazy sleeping patterns, increased consumption of alcohol (ouch!), feeling stuck in a rut, relentless life reevaluation, obsession with appearance, thoughts of death/dying, etc. To say that these signs describe my life over the past few years is an understatement...I mean, this could just be a laundry list of my personal issues and I feel personally attacked, damnit.
What the hell am I talking about? Well, (cough, cough, anxious laugh) I'm talking about a midlife crisis. Ugh, there, I said it. As much as it pains me, I've been dealing with a midlife crisis. It shouldn't be a surprise, I'm a Woman of a Particular Age, after all, but it sure was to me! I mean, I've heard all about MLCs before and, even though I'm perfectly aware of the fact that I'm legitimately middle-aged, I was positive that I was impervious to middle-age and all its trappings. Ha! Haha!
So, the bad news is that I'm really, truly enmeshed in typical middle-age bullshit, but the good news is that now that I'm aware of it, I can start moving past it. I can stop trying to manically find a way to make a trip to Europe that I can't afford right now, I can stop hyperventilating about the fact that there's only one generation between myself and death, I can stop binge-drinking when I've had a crappy week, I can quit looking for a new career path, and I can stop obsessively carrying around regret for a life-I-have-not-lived. 
I mean, when I sit back and think about it, my life kicks ass. I worked really hard during this whole crisis to take my life back, build a career (however minor it is), create a life that I enjoy, and start paving a path for early retirement that will allow me to have the life I always wanted. I have a great support system built of a wonderful family and amazing friends that not only enhance my life but bring so much meaning and joy into it. I'm fortunate, I'm blessed, and I'm happy. Is it perfect? Is it exactly what I had hoped for at this stage of my life? No and no, but it's perfectly fine how it is for now. After all, I have plenty of life and youth left in which to find and do the MORE.
I'm not going to lie, the past few years have been mentally difficult, so difficult. It was so difficult that I wish I would have figured out what was actually happening early on. Then again, if I had known, maybe I wouldn't have had the drive that I did to push through all the changes that DID need to happen over these past few years.
I guess everything does happen for a reason even if it doesn't always feel like it.

Day Trip Adventure: Highway 75 Wines & Tasting Rooms

It's no secret that I like wine. I have a dedicated 20-bottle wine rack at home and I love nothing better than having a glass or three with friends - as any Woman of a Particular Age could attest to. Not long ago, I talked about discovering the Nebraska Wine Passport program and how that has become a bit of a passionate interest of mine.
So it happened, then, that my friend, Rebecca, and I found ourselves on a bright, late summer Saturday traveling south on Highway 75 to hit up some tasting rooms and wineries to get more stamps on our passports. And drink wine, of course.



Our first stop was at Union Orchard. A long-time fixture in the area, this roadside country establishment sells wares from their orchard - particularly apples - and sells a wide variety of canned/pickled items. I've been here a handful of times over the years and never come away without some of those items. 



More of a tasting room for Nebraska/local wines in the past, the orchard now makes a few wines from the grapes they have growing on the hill above the country store. We opted for the tastings of four (but they gave us five) for five dollars plus the glass.



In the past, they sold a delightful rhubarb wine from a winery (somewhere in Nebraska) that I was hoping to pick up a bottle of this day. Unfortunately, they no longer sell it. Who knows? Maybe it's not made anymore.



They do, however, make a rhubarb-raspberry wine of their own, so after having a taste for one of my samples, I picked up a bottle. I also picked up Mac's Creek Irish Jig (a tasty white wine from another winery on the passport program) along with pickled carrots and Vidalia onion relish. One of my great aunts used to make dill-pickled carrots and this is the ONLY place I can find them, so I always grab a jar of them when I come here.



After a nice time at Union Orchard, we headed a few miles south to Kimmel Orchards. Styled similarly to Union Orchard, they leave a lot to be desired. I had been here once in the past and it's really only a place for a sad hayrack ride and a money-making pit for the owners. I got a glass of their fruity wine (I didn't know they made wine) which was cheap at $3.75/glass but was subpar and served in a small, disposable plastic cup. Needless to say, we got our passport stamped, finished our cup of wine, and left.



A few more miles south on 75 brings you to Nebraska City, home of the Arbor Day Farm complex. Composed of the Arbor Day Farm, the Morton Mansion (which I've talked about here on this blog in the past), and the Lied Lodge (inside pictured above), it's a really cool place to spend a day or two. The wine tastings are done in the complex's Apple House Market, which is just a large tent on the Farm. Because of the heat this day, it was closed, so we went up to the Lied Lodge.



The Lied Lodge is a semi-fancy, large log cabin-style hotel with a fancy restaurant and the Library Lounge. Since the Apple House Market was closed, we went up to the Library Lounge and asked if they could stamp our passports. They were kind enough to do so and we opted for a dark, Nebraska beer: Lincoln's own Empyrean Brewing's Collapsar.



It's called the Library Lounge for a reason, and we enjoyed our brew with some of the books that line their shelves. We ordered a too-expensive meal to soak up some of our drinks, before leaving, from the Lodge's fancy restaurant, Timbers.

While we waited for our meal, Rebecca pointed out that there were a couple of wineries just west of 75 in Syracuse, Nebraska. Eager to add a few more passport stamps - and emboldened by all the spirits we had imbibed - we headed there next.



We stopped first at one of the only two legit wineries on our Wine Day Trip, Rich Harvest Winery. 



Large and spacious, the tasting room was surprisingly decorated using both modern decor and architecture.



It was quiet and a nice respite from our previous stops.



The winery sits on several acres of beautiful land.



And the vines were picture-perfect in the waning, afternoon sun.



Our last stop of the day, Safehouse Winery's tasting room, sits in the sleepy downtown of Syracuse.



The building was the site of the former Bank of Syracuse and it's the COOLEST and one of the more interesting wineries I've been to. Here you can see the old bank safe which now is a wine vault.



The winery plays up to its bank past...



 ...while also imbuing the place with a Prohibition Gangster vibe. This place has a historical richness and an ambiance that cannot be beaten. This old safe (a nod to its bank past) and these framed photos of Prohibition Era gangsters - like Pretty Boy Floyd, Lucky Luciano, Baby Face Nelson, and Al Capone (to name a few) attest to this.



True to form, the tasting room pipes in music from the time period.



I enjoyed a glass of their Prohibition Dead Red, aged in whiskey barrels for an extra kick.







We left here knowing that we would definitely be back again!


All I can say is, "What a day!" We had such a good time and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly...even if Kimmel Orchards wasn't up to snuff. I heartily recommend the Nebraska Wine Passport program. It's a fun way to learn about and try the wines made from Nebraska grapes while also being a gateway to day trip adventures...and you know how I feel about those. So, grab a passport, a friend or two or three, and enjoy a day discovering some of what my great state has to offer.






 

My Staycation and All the Hiking

I was on vacation the week of Labor Day and, except for my brief trip out to Western Nebraska, I stayed around home this time. Yes, I took a bonafide staycation. Why? Well, I'm a single-income house now, for one thing, and I recently took on a loan for a brand new car. While I have plenty of money in the bank, that's my emergency fund and it wouldn't be much of an emergency fund if I kept dipping into it now, would it?
Just because I took a staycation doesn't mean I didn't have fun. There are plenty of ways to have fun on a staycation, something I've written about in the past, and I certainly did. Unfortunately, I caught a cold the night I returned home from Western Nebraska, so I took plenty of Zicam, drank lots of water, and got good sleep each night. So, what did I do - besides doing battle with a cold? Well, my life had been so busy up until June, combined with a torn meniscus and an old car that wasn't road-worthy, that I decided I wanted to get out and hike in all of my favorite spots. I also decided on long, coffee mornings and some writing. I did all of that. 



Tuesday, I headed out to Schramm State Recreation Area. I stopped to look around the forest after I reached the top of the ridgeline and spied something in this tree. Do you see it?



It's a geocache! My Dad is big into geocaching and when I was pregnant with my daughter, I was into it big time. Alas, I lost interest during the time I was raising an infant and never picked it back up again. That didn't stop me, however, from signing the book inside. 






Eastern Nebraska is rife with wildflowers that blossom and wane depending on the season. This buttery beauty is a wingstem.






No matter how many times I go to Schramm, I never tire of the views around the fish hatchery ponds. 



On Wednesday, I recruited my friend Rebecca to go hiking with me. We headed down to Platte River State Park. It had been ages since I'd been there, so it was nice to see the teepee they put up every year during the warmer months.



PRSP has a small waterfall midway through its main trail and it's always fun to stop and spend a bit of time splashing around on the rock slabs that carry the water down to the next level.






On Friday, I went out to Hitchcock Nature Center across the river in Iowa. Their main entrance had been closed for some time, but now that it was open again, I was eager to hit up their trails. It's my second favorite park behind Neale Woods.



The views from Fox Run Ridge are always stunning. Off in the distance, you can see the Ponca Hills of Nebraska, where Neale Woods resides.






Since it had literally been years, I left Hitchcock and drove over to the Lewis and Clark Park lookout just north in Council Bluffs. 



The nice things about being on the ridges of Loess Hills are the unobstructed views for miles!


I had planned on taking at least two more hikes this week, but I - unfortunately - caught the cold my daughter had and needed a few days to rest. Why couldn't I have gotten sick the next week instead of my vacation? Oh well, such is life, right?
Have a great rest of your week.






 

Scottsbluff National Monument

On Labor Day weekend, I took my daughter out to Western Nebraska for what I hoped would be a fun, bonding mother-daughter trip. We packed up the car early on Saturday and headed just shy of seven hours west from our home in Omaha. I was excited. I'd always wanted to spend some time out in Western Nebraska because there are so many interesting things to do out there: Scottsbluff Monument, Toadstool Geologic Park, Chadron State Park, Agate Fossil Beds, Wildcat Hills, and Fort Robinson. I was also hopeful. My son is grown and on his own leaving my daughter the last kid at home, but, she's 15 and lives in her own world and would rather do just about anything other than spend time with me. It's a stark contrast to two years ago when she and I were hiking partners. 
While I recognize that she's a teen now, I was hoping we could get one more good, fun trip in together before she grows up and moves out, too. Alas, it just wasn't meant to be. Not only was she dead set against doing anything, but she also came down with a bad cold the night before we left. By the time we made it to the town of Scottsbluff - our anchor town for the trip - she was feeling pretty crappy. We relaxed the rest of the day in the motel while I fed her various otc meds and hoped for the best. The next day, it was clear that she wouldn't be going anywhere, but I was determined to do things anyway...after all, I love doing things alone. So, off to Scottsbluff Monument I went.



I left fairly early, while the weather was still cool, to take the Saddle Rock Trail. This trail goes from the Visitor's Center to the summit of the Bluff. It's paved but unshaded and there's a steep grade to climb, making this a hard trail. 



The trail wends its way between and up the South Bluff. The North Bluff is Scottsbluff and was so named for Hiram Scott, a clerk for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company who died near it back in the 1820s. The Bluff served as an important landmark for travelers on the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, and horseback riders on the Pony Express Trail.



A view in the other direction gives you a glimpse of the grade that you face on the trail as you climb upwards.



Back in May, when I was moving, I tore the meniscus in my right knee and I've been slowly and carefully building back up my hiking prowess. Because of this, I tend to hike slower than I ever have in my life, and hiking this brutal trail took me quite some time - and a few breaks.



A view of the South Bluff from the bottom.



I reached the top of the South Bluff and the views there are simply stunning. The haze you see in the distance is the smoke from the California wildfires.






The Saddle Rock Trail moves between the right bluff you see and the tree-covered ridge to its right.



There are easy summit-top trails that allow you to get views in all directions. This was my first glimpse as I neared the North Bluff on the aptly-named North Overlook Trail



This shot was taken from the North Bluff and it's stunning. You can see for miles, even with the smoke haze. The bluffs extend for seemingly forever into the distance and you can see why these bluffs were a landmark for people as they traveled out West and back, as was the case with the Pony Express Riders.



This is a view looking Northeast from the bluffs...



...while this is one looking Southwest.



One last beautiful shot as I walked back to the Saddle Rock Trail from the South Overlook Trail.

I really enjoyed the time I spent here, and I ended my trek with a stop at the Visitor's Center. The VC has a passport stamping station for those who have the National Parks Passport - I've always been tempted to get one but never have - and good information about Scottsbluff's history as an important landmark during the Westward Expansion.
Since my daughter was both unenthused and under the weather, I decided to forgo the other things I wanted to do (sniff, sniff) and headed back home early the next morning. On the drive home, I reminded myself that this is how it is now. Your kids get old enough and have several years where they don't want to hang out with you and do your things. And that's okay. I can remember my Dad and I not taking family vacations anymore after our fateful trip up Harney's Peak, and I was the same age as my daughter then. My Dad and I take vacations together now, and someday my kids and I will too.
While I didn't get to see Toadstool or hike in Chadron....it's on my bucket list for a solo trip. Maybe later this Fall. I can't wait.



 

My FIRE Journey: Making Money by Spending Money

 

Not too long ago, I talked about the reasons why I quit using my debit card. Today, I want to talk about how I've already benefited from that decision. 
Last year, I got a Discover It Miles card. Like any card I pick these days, I picked it purely for the rewards points. This particular card offered points - or miles, in this case - at a certain percentage, depending on what you bought. The reward offered was that Discover would automatically double whatever miles you had accumulated at the end of a year. You could then either use those miles to book travel or convert the miles to cash. I chose the latter and recently had Discover deposit nearly $400 cash to my bank account. See, I used that card to pay bills, buy groceries, gas for my car, laundry detergent, and other things that are necessary for day-to-day living instead of using a debit card. I would then pay off the card each month with the money I was going to spend on those bills anyway, thus avoiding paying any interest. So, for simply paying my bills for a year, I made $400. 
After my year was up for the Discover It Miles card, I moved on to the next card with good rewards: my Fidelity Visa. This card is attached to my Fidelity investment accounts and offers 2% cashback on every purchase. Every quarter they will then deposit that 2% I've made into my investment accounts. Again, I'm using this card to pay my bills, and recently, I received the first quarterly reward in my Fidelity account. How much? Nearly $60. That equals $240 per year. 
I've also gotten enough points on a Choice Hotels credit card for five free hotel nights, enough airline miles on American Airlines for a one-way and two round-trip tickets, and enough airline miles with my Delta Amex for another one-way ticket. To describe how easy it was to get those five free hotel nights, I only had to spend $500 on the Choice Hotels card in three months. That's it. I simply bought my groceries and household goods for three months and got five free nights in a hotel. Easy peasy. I typically use two rewards credit cards at any given time, attaching one to all my automatic bill payments (electric, car insurance, phone bill, etc.) and the other to my household purchases (groceries, toilet paper, gas for the car, etc.).
Of course, you have to pay your credit card balance in full each month or you're going to incur interest fees and that kinda defeats the purpose - you have to be disciplined. In other words, only spend using your credit cards on what you would have spent using your debit card. I can't think of an easier way to earn cash, hotel rooms, airline flights, and a host of other things by just spending how you normally spend. 

I hope you're enjoying your week. I'm off this week for vacation and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'll start posting some vacation stuff starting this weekend. Until then, have a great rest of your week!

Future Hiking Plans

Not me

A handful of years back, when I really started getting into hiking, I read a good article about the Appalachian Trail (aka the AT). It triggered an idea in my head that I might like to hike it - if not all, at least a part of it - one day. I mentioned it to my friend Amy, a naturalist with the Nature Conservancy, hoping that she might like to do it with me. She was game, just not for the whole thing, so we thought we could maybe do a week or two there after my youngest got a bit older. Well, earlier this year, she reminded me that next year (2022) is our year. I had honestly forgotten that we had even chosen a year!
This past weekend, then, we got together to figure out the details. Where on the AT were we going to hike? How many days? How many miles per day? When were we going, exactly? We spent a good part of Saturday figuring all of that out. We also discussed gear and I brought my backpacking tent to set up for the first time. This made me realize I'd have to get a whole new set of gear...well, for some it at least. I had gotten backpacking gear last year with the intention of taking my daughter out backpacking, so my tent is a two-person tent. Unfortunately, my daughter turned 14 last year and was a completely different person than the year before. Not in a bad way, mind you, just in a teenagery way. 
Now that we have our plans set, I am getting pretty excited. This will check off one of the boxes on my "Things to do before I die" list. Thank goodness, because that sucker is a mile long! Ha! 
The weekend is getting closer, and it's a long one to boot, so enjoy what's left of the week.




 

Why do I give up so easily sometimes?

 

I don't know why, but sometimes I give up too easily and it needs to stop. It's nothing more than an act of self-sabotage that gets me with my second, third, or even last option....for everything. As an example, it's no secret that I am obsessed with Europe, a fact that only got more pronounced after my trip to Ireland back in 2014. My plan for the past three years has been to retire early to Dublin. Lately, though, I've started making excuses why I should pick another option here in the States. Sure, it's a good option but it's not my first option. It's almost like I find the negatives and hold on for dear life. 
But, it's not just my early retirement plans to Europe that I tried to give up on. I've been on a journey of health for a long time now. During that time I've yo-yo'd and gone through ups and downs. Every time I fall off the wagon, I tend to just want to give up, and then I'm stuck in fail mode for months! It's so exasperating.
While I made so much progress in my life by reaching a lot of goals over the past couple of years, I've also had some setbacks. While my successes outweigh my failures, I focus on the failures and just wallow in them. I had a moment of awareness recently that made me realize just what I was doing to myself and I understand that I have to do something to reverse this mode of thinking. 
I'm not giving up! I'm going to move forward, one step at a time, and for every step, I will concentrate on one or two goals at a time.

Wish me luck!

The Past Few Weeks: A Picture Story

 

I'm not going to lie, the past few weeks have been pretty great. I've gotten out and done more things during this time than I have in literal months. Of course, I've taken plenty of photos, so why not share a picture story?

It all started three weeks ago when I bought a brand new car. It hurt to have to go into debt again, but it was a necessary purchase. My old car wasn't road-worthy anymore, except to get me around town, which is fine except that winter is coming and my wanderlust was getting the better of me. Luckily, I had done plenty of research so I scored a great deal. Now that I have good, reliable transportation...it's time to be the adventurer I am again. To that end, I didn't waste any time!



That Saturday, I hit the trails early for a short hike at my favorite spot: Neale Woods. 



It was just as lovely as always.



Early that afternoon, my daughter and I drove over to Lincoln, NE, to spend a quick overnight visit with my son who attends UNL. On Sunday, we made our way over to the Sunken Gardens, a real gem in Lincoln. This was my second time visiting there.









Our next stop was the Nebraska State Capitol building.



You can take the elevator to the 14th floor and stand out on the viewing deck. While I've been to the Capitol building before, I'd never been up top, so it was a first for me. What a view!



We were hungry after our sightseeing, so we went to Rutabaga's, a fully vegan restaurant. We ordered onion rings for an appetizer which tasted just as amazing as they look.



The kids both got the nachos.



I got the mac 'n cheese.



Monday after work was warm and typically quiet, so I drove down to Fontanelle Forest for a short but leisurely meander around the boardwalk. I tore the meniscus in my right knee during my move in May, so I've been carefully rebuilding up my hiking prowess.



Much like Neale Woods, you can spy the Omaha skyline from a vantage point within the park.



For the first time ever, I got a closeup, personal view of a deer mama and fawn.



That Friday, after work, my daughter and I packed the car and made the three-hour drive North to my Dad's house. His tree-covered driveway was lovingly created by him when he moved in over 30 years ago and I absolutely adore it.



Dad and I took a walk down the road from his house to the creek.



It's been so dry that the water level is low enough to expose and create little islands.



That Saturday morning, Dad and I took off for some hiking.






Once upon a time, this was a hill for inner tubing in the winter.



The small shack behind my dad was the pulley that moved along the thick wire that people would hold onto to bring them and their inner tubes up the hill.



The view up here was gorgeous.



Later that day, Dad, myself, my stepmom, and my daughter drove up to the Iowa Great Lakes. We first stopped at Big Spirit Lake.






If you go around to the north side of Big Spirit Lake, you're right on the border of Minnesota. Hi there Minnesota!
After that, we went to Arnold's Park on Lake Okoboji to watch a free concert.



The following Friday, my friend Rebecca and I went out for a couple of drinks. We ended up at her house where we were fortunate enough to catch some fireworks from her patio.



It was a pleasant surprise.




Saturday, I did some county highpointing up in Washington County Nebraska. Most county highpoints, at least the ones I've been to, are all on private property so there's not much to see. On my way back home, I made a pit stop at Beaver Creek for a short little walk.










Sunday morning was quite cool, so I hit up Schramm State Park. 






I've seen this view hundreds of times, yet I never grow weary of it.


The past few weeks have been a nice return to a life of travel and adventure that I've missed. I have so many things to look forward to that are coming up soon or not far in the future and I'm quite excited. I have lots of plans, none of which include slowing down.
Have a great week!

My FIRE Journey: I Stopped Using my Debit Card

Last year, I started credit card churning when I learned of it and have been paying all of the bills that I can, using points credit cards, ever since. A couple of months ago, I was looking through all my points cards (credit cards that give me rewards points) to plan out a trip for later this year when I was struck by a revelation: why am I using my debit card for anything? I mean, when I think about it, I get nothing for using the card other than the privilege of not having to carry cash. Well, my credit cards accomplish the same thing, only I get rewarded for using them.
This revelation literally blew my mind, and I haven't used my debit card since. Every purchase I make gets put on my points credit card of choice. Even though I pay for things strictly using a credit card, I have some self-imposed rules that make this work.
1. Just like I would with my debit card, I only spend money on my points credit cards according to the balance in my bank account. I pay my bills, I buy groceries, I purchase household supplies, and whatever else I spend my paycheck on. 
2. While I haven't written a check in years, I have always used a checkbook register to log all of my debit card purchases and withdrawals from my account. This way, I know exactly how much money I have to work with at all times. So, while I use points credit cards now instead of my debit card, I still deduct each purchase I make on my checkbook register.
3. Last, but not least, I pay off my points cards before the bill is due so I don't incur any interest fees. Now, this is what I was doing anyway, but it's still a hard and fast rule.
I continue to apply all of my thrifty ways so I can save as much money as possible on my road to FIRE. In other words, I still keep my spending to a minimum, but now I use my points credit cards instead of my debit card. It's just another way that I make my money work for me.