Tucked Away up North

Posted on June 8, 2025June 9, 2025 by The Retired Alchemist

My dad turned 98 in May. Now that is something to celebrate. Ever since my mom passed, my sister and I take him on a short trip for part of his birthday gift. Our husbands are always willing to join in too. While he is doing well for 98 years, we see the inevitable signs of aging and we want to help him to enjoy life as much as possible with the time he has left. No matter what age we are, it is important to have things to look forward to. He has always loved being out in the woods, so we try to go to places surrounded with natural beauty. This year we packed up our suitcases and coolers and headed north to Elkin’s Resort on Priest Lake.

Tucked away up north in the panhandle of North Idaho, not far from the Canadian border, is a charming resort. Elkin’s Resort has rustic cabins that overlook the cool, pristine lake. It is a beautiful, quiet retreat from the hustle and bustle of daily life. And it is a great spot to celebrate 98 years of living.

All of the cabins have a view of either the creek or lake. The cabin we stayed in is on the right side.

The evenings get pretty chilly up north. It calls for building a fire in the fireplace and pouring a glass of wine. My dad surprised us by bringing along a narrative my mom wrote several years ago. It was a short memoir of how they met and their first 50 years of married life. It was full of humor and stories about raising their family of six children. It brought tears to our eyes as we listened to my dad read the story of their lives. It brought up so many good memories.

My dad reading the memoir by the fire in our cozy cabin.

The next morning, we woke up to the sun rising over the lake. The resort has numerous red Adirondack chairs scattered over the property and along the beach. Settling into one of them is a perfect spot to have that first cup of morning coffee.

The perfect spot for a morning cup of coffee.

A little side trip for the day

Later that day my dad suggested we go see Granite Falls. It is about 30 miles north of the resort in the Panhandle National Forest. He thought the water would be flowing hard this time of year. Turns out he was right. It was spectacular… and loud.

The power of nature continues to amaze me.

If you hike up past the falls, you find yourself in an historic cedar grove called Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars. When the grove was first discovered in 1919, the average tree was 800 years old, and some were 2000 years old. It is hard to believe that these ancient, large cedar trees come from tiny little pinecones.

Cedar tree pinecone (left) and my BIL standing next to one of the ancient cedar trees (right).

We were up high enough that there were still stubborn patches of snow on the ground.

Because it is cool and moist by the falls, there are lots of ferns growing near it. My dad pointed out the fiddleheads that were forming at the top of the ferns. The fiddlehead is the young part of the fern that is coiled at the very top, just before it fans out. Apparently, several types of ferns have these and some are edible. We did not take our chances on that.

Speaking of food

Each of the cabins has a small kitchen equipped with dishes, pans, etc. There are also BBQs available on the premises for visitors to use. You need to pack most of your food up there because the grocery store is a bit of a drive. There is a small store at the resort with a few essentials, such as toothpaste and the fixings for s’mores (an essential up here). Or you can opt to eat in their lovely dining room. During the summer you can also choose to eat at the tables in the yard overlooking the lake. Hill’s Resort is just about ten miles south of Elkin’s and it has lovely fine dining and more casual patio dining as well. With such great dining options nearby we decided to eat dinner out both nights.

I had the jumbo scallops. They were served over couscous with bell pepper, cauliflower puree and asparagus. Sooo good. Mr. U and my dad opted for the ribs.

If you are ever up in North Idaho…

If you ever find yourself up in North Idaho, and in need of a retreat, I recommend that you make the trip to either Hill’s Resort of Elkin’s Resort. I wrote about previous trips to Hill’s resort in the posts, Heading to the Hills and Take the Risk. Both resorts offer an enchanting, peaceful get-a-way with cozy, rustic cabins and serene lake views. Walk the paths near the lake, hike up in the woods, go see Granite Falls, rent a kayak and have a morning paddle, or just sit by the lake and read. Be sure to book your reservation early if you want to go during their peak season. Then plan to kick off your shoes and relax for a few days. It is good for the soul.

The serene natural beauty is a balm for the soul.

Internet Scamming

Posted on March 14, 2025March 14, 2025 by The Retired Alchemist

Gone are the days of eagerly waiting for a paper ticket to arrive in the metal mailbox with the red flag for an anticipated event. We would clutch that ticket in our hot little hands and display it at the entrance to the big arena. Many of us kept those tickets afterwards tucked away in cedar memory chests, taped to pages of a scrapbook or displayed in a shadow box with other memorabilia from the event. It was proof we had been there. Now all we get is a barcode ticket on our phones that may or may not show up. Mine did not for a recent event. Internet scamming is for real. In my Pollyanna brain, I thought that didn’t really happen very often, until it happened to me. And I am so careful – damn it!

Background story & rant

Please bypass this section if you do not want to hear me rant…

I received my master’s degree from Gonzaga University, so we have been “Zags” fans for many years. We have traveled to attend the West Coast Conference tournament in Las Vegas a couple times to watch their men’s basketball team. On a whim, Mr. U and I found a fairly good deal on tournament passes and decided to go again this year. The tickets were purchased a couple months ago through GOTICKETS, which I will never, never do again.

Several weeks after we purchased the tickets online, they reached out to us and explained that the “seller” meant to sell tickets for the first night of the tournament only and not the advertised full tournament passes. In fairness, they said they would provide us with comparable tournament pass seats for the same price. Fine. The tickets would arrive several days before the tournament via email.

As promised, the new tickets arrived but it was only for the first day of the tournament again. Mr. U tried reaching out to them. After numerous automated responses and being passed around, he was finally able to make contact with a real person. She said she would reach out to the seller and get back with us. She did not, so we went through the whole process again a couple days later. Same answer – they were trying to contact the seller. Never heard back.

The final day before we were to leave, we went through the whole process again. Same answer. However, they did call us back this time and said that they made an error, and that the seller meant to sell the tickets for the first day only and not the full tournament pass. Hum… heard that before. And believe me, no one in their right mind would pay that amount for tickets that were only for the first day of the tournament, so this was not an error. It was false advertising and a scam. The exact same thing happened to my brother and SIL who also tried to purchase tickets for the tournament through this site.

The person we spoke to refused to provide us with different tournament seat passes. First, she said that was because there were not any more available. When Mr. U pointed out that he was currently on their site and there were indeed some available, she said that they do not do that. (Never mind that they did that earlier when they made the exact same error.) They also refused to let us talk with a supervisor. Over 45 minutes on the phone and all the person would say is, “it was our error, and I am sorry for the inconvenience.” They did finally agree to refund our money. My brother has still been unable to get through to anyone to get a refund.

We would have just cancelled the trip all together, but we could not get a refund on our flights or hotel at this late date. There were still some tickets available online from other vendors, but we were fearful to purchase anything that way now. So, we headed to Las Vegas the next morning without any game tickets. One nice thing about aging, is that you learn to put life in perspective. Don’t get me wrong, we were furious, but it was not a life and death matter. We would go to Las Vegas and have a vacation, even if we could not get tickets when we got there.

Ironically, I am not a fan of Las Vegas. It is fun to see once but it is not a vacation destination for me. Walking the strip is a cultural experience and the themed casinos are amazing. Call me old fashioned, but I don’t care for the display of porn and I am just not a fan of gambling. (But apparently, we were gambling when we bought the game tickets.) Did I mention that I will never use GOTICKETS again? Enough said. Lesson learned.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade

Enough of my rant. On with the fun stuff. I always enjoy walking through the uniquely themed casinos. We definitely got our steps in while we were there.

The Bellagio fountains and water show go off every 15-30 minutes.

The Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens change with the seasons. Easter was the theme while we were there.

When you are in Vegas you really have to go to a show. This time we went to The Piano Man, which was a Billy Joel tribute by a singer that used to travel with him. It was a good clean show but fairly short. I had to laugh when I looked around and noticed a very specific demographic attending… we all had gray hair.

One year we went to see Blue Man Group. It is a family friendly show that makes you smile. I also really enjoyed the Cirque du Soleil show we saw a couple years ago. Definitely worth seeing. Several years ago, when I was in Vegas for a conference with some co-workers, we went to the Human Bodies exhibit. We thought it was fascinating, but then it was a group of RNs. We have weird ideas of what it interesting.

*The Piano Man* show with a little Elton John mixed in.

One of my favorite types of entertainment in Vegas is people watching. And it is free.

The Las Vegas strip is entertaining, but it quickly gets a little too peopley for me.

For some reason, I have never discovered any amazing restaurants near Las Vegas Blvd. (aka the strip). Maybe it is because we don’t like to go to really expensive restaurants unless it is a special event. My usual trick of asking the locals came up empty because all of them say that they never go down to the strip.

The only restaurant that we have returned to is Battista’s Hole in the Wall. It has been around since 1970 and has an old world, classic Italian vibe with an unusual menu set up. You choose any entree, but they all come with the same sides: minestrone soup or an Italian salad, yummy garlic bread soaked with butter, limitless carafes of white and red house wine and a cappuccino with whip cream on top for dessert. We have been there a few times, and it was packed every time, so it is wise to get a reservation.

When Battista’s opened in 1970 it was a true hole in the wall that could only seat 14 people.

Battista’s has an Italian old-world vibe to it that has served numerous famous celebrities over the years.

How it all ended

Once we got to Las Vegas, we were able to go to the box office and purchase individual tickets for the games we most wanted to see. At this late date, tournament passes had gone up so much in price that we did not want to buy them. Despite the ticket frustrations, we made it a fun trip. The “Zag nation” showed up in full force and the games were awesome. The best part was that our team, which was the number two seed, ended up winning the tournament!

Despite our frustration with the internet scam, we were able to enjoy our trip. This experience has made me gun shy to buy tickets online again, even though we have done it through other vendors in the past without issues. It is difficult to go to events, especially planned ones that are out of town, without making purchases via the internet. Has anyone else been scammed on the internet? Any vendors we should stay away from?

Should I Take Flight and be a Snowbird?

Posted on February 24, 2025February 24, 2025 by The Retired Alchemist

If you are retired and live in an area that gets really cold, harsh winters, you may have considered the option of being a snowbird. A snowbird is defined as a northerner who migrates to a warmer southern state in the winter. And why not? The birds are smart enough to do it. I know that we have pondered it for many years. To take flight and be a snowbird or not to be a snowbird – that is the question.

I am writing this post sitting outside on a patio in Arizona enjoying the sunshine and palm trees while it is snowing several inches at home. We are, once again, pondering the question of whether or not to be snowbirds.

Our weather forecast at home this week is on the left. The forecast for Arizona the same week is on the right.

Last year at this time we were in southwest Florida trying out the snowbird lifestyle for a month, which I wrote about in the post, Travel: Living Like the Locals. We loved the area with the Gulf (of what?) adjacent to it. The water, beaches and sunshine lifted my spirits. I can certainly see why so many people snowbird there, but there were a couple big drawbacks for us.

First, it was a full day of travel with at least one layover. Florida is about as far across the U.S. as you can get from our home in the PNW. It was just too far away from family and friends. The other consideration was the possibility of hurricanes. Several people told us that the cost of insurance on their condos was outrageous, if they could even get it covered. Sadly, about nine months after we left, Hurricanes Helene and Milton swept through the area. So, while we really enjoyed our month there, we ruled it out as a snowbird option for us.

To snowbird or not to snowbird, that is the question

The advantages

As with any major life decision, there are advantages and disadvantages, and you have to weigh those based on your lifestyle. It is about rightsizing your retirement life. The most obvious reason to snowbird is to get away from lousy winter weather. I get tired of being cold all the time, shoveling snow and navigating icy sidewalks and roads. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing better than snow at Christmas. I love curling up by a cozy fire with a good book while the snow falls gently outside in a silent blanket of white. Bonus if I made a pot of soup to simmer all afternoon. It is beautiful and cozy… until about January. Then it becomes claustrophobic, dark and dreary.

Another advantage of fleeing to warmer temperatures are the health benefits – both physical and mental. We are much more likely to get out for a walk or hike in a warmer climate. And yes, we have gyms, but I prefer the outdoor gym. Of course, bike riding is totally out of the question in the snow. Sunshine also elevates your mood. Too many gray days can get depressing. Research shows that sunshine boosts your serotonin levels as well as vitamin D. During the winter months at home, we can go for days and days without sunshine, as you can see from the above photo.

A third advantage is the fun of exploring a new environment and meeting new people. We can get a little stale over time, and it helps to explore new places. It triggers our curiosity and opens up our creative thinking. Not to mention all of the different restaurant options! 😊 (I wonder if that defeats the health benefits?) It is wise to choose a place that has lots of things to do that you enjoy.

The disadvantages

Being a snowbird also comes with some disadvantages. The most obvious one is the cost. Renting a place for a few months adds up. You can buy something, but then there is the initial cost, as well as the upkeep and/or HOAs. However, if you buy something, you can rent it out part of the year to defray some of the costs and you should get a long-term return on your investment.

The other big disadvantage is being away from your life at home that long. This is particularly difficult if you sit on a board, volunteer or work part-time. Mr. U has a part-time job at home, but they are very flexible and willing to work with retired employee schedules. (That was a requirement for us.) For me, it is hard being away from family and friends for extended periods of time. I miss my peeps. This week we met a couple that snowbird in Arizona from Wisconsin. They were also torn because all of their family was back in Milwaukee. Their solution was to plan several trips back home for family events or just some grandparent time.

If we were to snowbird, it needed to be a quick flight back and forth to our home in the north. Arizona is only about a 2 1/2-hour direct flight for us. That meant that we could travel back and forth much easier and cheaper than Florida. Son #4 has a condo in Arizona that he rents out when he isn’t visiting there, so we knew we would get to see him there some. Also, it is close enough that family and friends can visit. Matter of fact, my granddaughter was just there last weekend for a gymnastics meet and we were able to go watch her while there. That being said, we would still not do the traditional snowbird life of being gone for a full 4-6 months at a time.

Never say never

After our month in Florida last year, we decided not to snowbird. One year ago, I wrote a post about that decision, explaining Why I Won’t be a Snowbird Any Time Soon. And then winter showed up… again. And we are not getting any younger. The timing seemed right, and Arizona checked most of the boxes for us. So, we finally got off the fence and purchased a condo in Scottsdale. Common sense be damned. It is past time to live our best retirement life.

We took the snowbird plunge. Note the cute little turtle at the bottom of the picture. There is a walking path right by our condo that goes along this pond. It will keep me more physically active in the winter just to go see the wildlife.

Maybe George Jetson Had It Right All Along

Posted on February 3, 2025February 4, 2025 by The Retired Alchemist

If you are old enough to be retired, you probably remember the 1962 cartoon, The Jetsons. Arguably, some of the best cartoons aired in the 60’s, such as The Flintstones, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and “not a bird, nor a plane, nor even frog, just little old me… Underdog!” And don’t forget nearsighted old Mr. Magoo. It was a great time to be a kid. Of these cartoons, it was The Jetsons that playfully looked into the future. We watched with amazement and laughter as The Jetsons used unfathomable technology in their daily lives from their home up in the sky in Orbit City. Little did we know, The Jetsons had it right all along.

How The Jetsons predicted the future

The Jetsons was an unimaginable, futuristic cartoon. But now, over 60 years later, a lot of what they used has come into our everyday existence. Let me give you a few examples.

Remember Rosie, the sassy robot that cleaned house for them? Now we have the self-driving Roomba vacuum, and it doesn’t even make any wise cracks while it works.
Like The Jetsons, we now have voice activated alarm clocks that gently wake us to our favorite song, instead of a loud, obnoxious beeping sound. Not to mention our brain assistant, Alexa. No wonder I can’t remember anything anymore… I don’t have to.
One episode shows George Jetson reading the newspaper online. This was at a time when everyone received their ink smudged newspaper on their doorstep – flung there by the neighbor kid down the block as he rode past on his early morning paper route.
We were all watching The Jetsons on a big clunky T.V. with an enormous box behind it. It was often housed in a large wooden T.V. stand that served as a piece of furniture. We observed The Jetsons as they watched T.V. on a flatscreen mounted to the wall.
The Jetsons had moving sidewalks, while we now use treadmills to go nowhere.
Not only did the Jetson family have smart watches, but they also had a smart house.
George Jetson may have participated in the first ever video conference. As a kid watching the show, I never would have guessed that someday I would be actively taking part in Zoom meetings.
And lastly, the self-driving car. George’s car sure beat Fred Flintstone’s car that was propelled forward by his own two feet.

Mr. U and I recently escaped to Scottsdale Arizona for a few days of sunshine and warmth. As we pulled up to a stop light, I looked across at the car in the lane next to us… with no one in the driver or front passenger seats. It expertly waited for the light and other cars before turning. The passenger sat calmly in the back seat staring at his phone – not unlike many drivers that scroll through their phones while sitting at a red light, or worse yet, while driving. We don’t have any of these self-driving cars (also known as autonomous cars) in our small town up north, but we are starting to see quite a few of them in Arizona.

This sign was posted on the wall at the Phoenix Airport.

Many of the technologies and conveniences that were in The Jetsons cartoon have come to happen in real life. When we were on our trip to Florida last year, we saw the below robot in a restaurant. I do not think her name was Rosie, but she was very busy delivering meals to customers.

I wonder if we will see more of these in the future.

Keeping up with technology

Like many baby boomers, I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I resist learning it, but once I do, I love the amazing convenience it usually provides. Mr. U and I both cringe when we hear the word “upgrade” because it means the technology will change, just when we finally had it figured out. And we have used more than a few swear words trying to get some techno gadget set up. But it is imperative that we remain at least somewhat current on technology if we want to stay in the mainstream of modern life. If you do not force yourself to do it, life will pass you by.

Mr. U remembers his aunt using the phone on the left at the farmhouse that his dad grew up in. And I am sure that many of us remember picking up the dial phone, only to hear the neighbor’s conversation on the party line. Now we have handheld cell phones with customizable backgrounds that fit in our back pocket. We’ve come a long way!

My dad has chosen not to embrace much technology. He gets a pass because he is 97 years old, however he misses out on some of life because of it. He did not keep his cell phone because he never got comfortable using it. But then he misses out on texts and pictures from his kids and grandkids that I know he would enjoy. He was frustrated when a business would only accept credit cards (which he does not keep) because they needed to hold a deposit with it. So, he had to call me on the business’s land line to get my credit card number to use. He was not happy about that.

I have used many of the modern conveniences predicted by The Jetsons. However, I have not ridden in an autonomous car yet. The closest I have come is riding in son #4’s Tesla. It is a little unnerving when he takes his hands off the wheel as we are zipping down the road at 55 miles/hour. Yet, I am sure this is safer than 75% of the drivers out there. And self-driving cars don’t have emotions, which would eliminate road rage. But I don’t think I am ready to hop in the back seat and get an autonomous Uber ride yet. My hope is that they are the norm when I get older and am unable to drive myself. How about you – would you take a ride through the city in an autonomous car?

Liv’n On Someday Isle

Posted on November 17, 2024November 17, 2024 by The Retired Alchemist

How much of your life have you lived on Someday Isle? Someday Isle is that ambiguous position between how I am living right now and how I want to be living. It is that time of waiting for “something” to happen in order to be happy. We spend so much of our lives waiting for something to change or happen in order to fully appreciate life. Waiting to start school, waiting to be done with school, waiting to leave home for the first time, waiting for the wedding day, waiting to hear back on the job interview, waiting to buy that first home, waiting for the baby to arrive, waiting for the empty nest, waiting to retire. Now what are you waiting for? Maybe it is time to quit living on Someday Isle.

Another boat to Someday Isle is procrastination. It comes in all sorts of forms. Someday I will lose those pesky ten pounds. Someday I will start the exercise class. Someday I will eat healthier. Someday I will put self-care first, or a million other promises we make to ourselves… someday. Today is the someday that we have been waiting for.

When Mr. U’s aunt passed away, we had to clean out the house she lived in since childhood. The upstairs had not been lived in for years and had become a storage area. In it we found unopened tins of Christmas cookies and unopened boxes of chocolates that were now stale. There were beautiful hand embroidered pillowcases. They were all being saved for someday. There were also stacks of styrofoam containers and even bags of cut hair. His aunt lived through the depression, and she kept these items for that elusive someday. Not really sure how the hair was going to be used though???

Many times, when you reach a certain age, there are less “somedays” to look forward to, so we start looking back. We remember, with rose colored glasses, the good ole days. The one perfect touchdown made, the soul stirring first kiss, the award we won, the big deal we landed at work, the abundant feeling of a full nest. As you get older, it is easy to fall into the trap of feeling like the best of life is behind you. Instead of living in the abyss of waiting for someday or remembering the good ole days on replay, why not enjoy the abundance of living in the here and now. As the song by Gabby Barrett says, “cause right here, right now, I say these are the glory days.”

SKI fund

A couple that was traveling in our area recently told us that they were here using some of their SKI fund for the trip. It was the middle of summer so of course we had to ask what a SKI fund was. It was their acronym for “spending the kid’s inheritance.” Smile.

We have never been freer to do as we please than we are in retirement. Our children are grown and building their own lives, and we get to reap the rewards from that. If we planned our retirement finances well, we are free from a work schedule and financial concerns. Yet, even in the glory days of retirement, it is still too easy to live on Someday Isle, especially if you have been living there most of your life. It can become our normal. It used to be called delayed gratification, which I believe in. However, we have delayed and saved and now is the time to enjoy the benefits of that.

We keep waiting to take the next big trip to Europe because my dad is 97 years old, and I worry about being that far away from him. We are reluctant to buy that condo in the sun because we wonder if we will use it enough to be worth it. And then there is the fact that we really need to downsize… someday. This is what liv’n on Someday Isle looks like in retirement and it is time to get off and start using our SKI fund.

Getting off of Someday Isle

Of course we want to be prudent with our money in retirement. We don’t want to run out of money before we run out of life. And of course we want to leave something to our children when we leave this earth. But we also need to enjoy the here and now. After all, have you ever seen a U-Haul trailer behind a hearse?

We spend our whole life being responsible, doing the right thing, being the good girl, and we forget to live out some of our dreams. The majority of people that are close to death have more regrets about what they didn’t do than what they did do. I don’t want to get to my deathbed and have regrets that I did not live out the things on my someday list, and retirement is the perfect time to do that. All it takes is one good health scare to remind you that THIS is the someday that we have been saving for. It is a beautiful life waiting to be lived. So, let’s take the plunge and swim off of Someday Isle.

TheRetiredAlchemist

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