Queen of Bliss, Joeann Fossland

Sometimes, I like going back to places I've been for the comfort of the familiarity and knowing what to expect. They say that is one reason the McDonald's are so successful, because you can count on the food being the same in Boise or Tucson or China! People are often comforted by having their expectations met and having no surprises. When we work with clients, this can make a difference. Tell them what to expect. Be impeccable in keeping your word. Have no surprises!

But then there are times the adventurer that I am loves to go on a road I've never travelled before and be surprised. Our trip is allowing us to do both of these things.

DAY 5: We wake to a rainy day in Ogden. I'd planned to walk the 4 long blocks to the Treehouse Museum this morning, but we opted for the comfort and dryness of the car. This delightful museum has small areas with themes that kept Lily intrigued fro a couple of hours. The oval office had a cardboard replica of President Obama and I wanted Lily to let me take her picture with him, but for some reason, she refused. She did recognize many of the presidents, whose pictures were on the wall. She made a card for her Mom in the crafts area and loved making noise with the drums in the music area.

My e-PRO workshop today was at Franklin Group NW Realtors where I was surprised to see several of my Women's Council of REALTORS friends. Two past Ogden Chapter Presidents, Penny Stark and Cathy Palmer, and the current President all were there! They tell me May was a very good month, although there is still some difficulty with loans. I am hearing more and more about the USDA loans being a good choice for many.

In the parallel world, Lily and Bub, went to an arcade, where Lily racked up lots of tickets with which she bought some prizes, including a chinese handcuff. She'd never seen one of these before and put her fingers in and then to her dismay was stuck! Grandbub finally shared the trick with her. It's a good life lesson, isn't it? You are stuck until you RELAX!!!!!! 

On the road again....from Utah to Idaho. Beautiful, rolling green hills with few trees, but lots of cows provided the scenery along a river for many miles. As we came into Twin Falls, population 35,000+ we looked for a restuarant for dinner for about 20 minutes to no avail. Eating out must not be a favorite pastime here. Finally we spied The Garden Cafe where we had a scrumpious dinner. It was even Kids Eat Free night!

Our next stop was the Miracle Hot Springs, where we unloaded our things into the King Dome and then spent a few hours soaking in the restoring hot springs! Daylight savings time and the fact we are moving further north have daylight lasting until well after 9, so we seem to be getting to bed later and later.

Every night we've been reading a chapter of Lemony Snickett's first book, The Bad Beginning. Lily likes the story, but I much prefer happily ever after to tales of misery. Even so, it was easy to drift off to sleep.

For more on the trip from the parallel universe diva, Miss Lily...visit her blog at www.LilysLand.com

(If a 7 year old can blog, you can too!!!)

Started off at the Holiday Inn Express in Heber. I swam a bunch of laps in the heated pool while Lily dove and splashed and generally was delighted to swim. After cinnamon rolls for breakfast, we packed up and headed up the mountain to Park City for the day's e-PRO Workshop.

It was a rainy, drizzly day in Park City and the summertime looks pretty quiet there. I was told the market is still very slow. That probably makes it a great time to buy and get a really good deal on a second home! No pictures today! My battery died and we didn't get a chance to charge it.

The Washington County Association gave me a wonderful warm welcome and Christian from Old Republic Home Warranty brought refreshments for everyone! The folks that attended were a great group and 5 people are on their way to getting techno-smarter by signing up for the e-PRO course.

After the session we drove to Ogden. What a gorgeous drive through green hills and farms with cattle and horses galore. We were told the bald eagles hang out by the river, but we didn't spot any. We did see a bunch of antelope (thankfully over in the field and not crossing the road!). We are staying in a historic-built in 1927-remodeled hotel in the heart of downtown Ogden, the Ben Lomond Hotel.

Waking in Zion to magnificent views of the sun shining up on the high cliffs out the window of our cabin. Lily and Bub go off to the Lodge for some breakfast and encounter deer along the way. I realize the ambitious schedule we have in some parts of this trip is not allowing for the time to just relax and enjoy. Zion deserved 2-3 days at least!

We are actually having 2 parallel experiences during this trip as Lily and Bub go find fun things to do while I do e-PRO Workshops. Today, I was warmly welcomed by the Washington County Board of REALTORS in St. George, Utah. Over 35 people turned out to learn more about technology. They told me their market has become much more affordable for all buyers. Some great values exist and buyers are starting to realize they better get in before the prices go up again.

The drive from St. George to Heber City was an easy straight highway drive. The clouds built in the afternoon and we saw double rainbows in several locations. We decided on a Holiday Inn Express and it was a great choice. The woman who checked us in chatted with Lily among other things about blogging! Lily was pleased...cookies at check in, a heated pool & spa, kids to play with and a nice spacious room.

I was reminded that it really doesn't take much to keep a 7 year old happy. Bub and I are happy too.

To read more about Lily's perspective of the trip, visit her blog at www.Lilysland.com

We woke up to clear skies and sunshine in Bryce Canyon Utah. We packed up for the day and treated ourselves to good breakfast at the Bryce Canyon Lodge. Built in the 1920's as a stop on the Southern Pacific Railways, the Lodge is a cozy and inviting place.

The drive through the Park was stunningly beautiful as we meandered through pine forests at 7000+ ft elevation with hoodoos, cliff, caves and natural bridges off to each side. It was barely 50 degrees and there was a fierce wind, so our stops were brief. After a few overlooks, Lily decided she wasn't getting out of car until it was over 60. She is calling herself a desert rat! I did carry her out to see the natural bridge.

We headed from Bryce to Zion. This made for a short car ride-about 1.5 hrs- compared to the previous day. I am realizing I have really packed a lot in and perhaps we'd have more fun if we had extra days to spend everywhere. Zion offered more of the amazing scenery we've been soaking up since the Grand canyon. Every turn in the road offered a new vista, often in a bright color. I read the history on the National Parks site of the different straitions of color and the timing so many thousands of years ago when this land was formed. We've seen blue, and pink, orange and white, cream and red!

After checking into the Zion Lodge and unpacking into our cabin with no TV (Bub tells Lily the cool gas fireplace is the TV), we head off on the shuttle bus to the top of the Canyon where the mile long riverwalk takes us to the Narrows!

This is an 18 mile shallow river with 1000 ft cliffs on either side. The water was 65 degrees but that didn't deter my desert rat from happily wading upstream with us and joyfully playing in the mud! Along the path in we saw a tiny bird chirping happily on a branch 10 feet away and lots of friendly squirrels. Hawks flew overhead. On the way out, there was a baby squirrel about six inches long next to the path and it nibbled on leaves Lily offered, until Grandbub tickled her and scared it!

After a nice hot bath and a little time in front of our flaming TV, we went to town to meet Realtors, Greg and Annette Basso at Oscars Cafe! I got to have what Annette referred to as the best hamburger in the World and that it was! If you ever get to Springdale and Zion, you must come here. Annette and I have connected over the years in some of my programs, but had never gotten to meet. We had an interesting discussion about the real estate market in St. George, Utah. She tells me a first time homebuyer, buying new construction can qualify for $24,000 in tax credits right now! And she also told me how their inventory has reduced sugnificantly and about multiple offers. Sounds like the economy is okay here! Greg and I talked about using you IRA for real estate investment and how few agents tell their clients about this. I was impressed and now it is perfectly clear why they are so successful!

Upon returning to our cabin, we passed three wild turkey in the road and two small deer greeted us. What a wonderful day!