Visiting Grand Canyon on road trip

On our road trip to USA we visited Grand Canyon. It is a place that I can highly recommend to anyone. The canyon is considered one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. A really amazing place. 

Grand Canyon has close to 5 million visitors each year.

We visited Grand Canyon in October, which seemed to be a quite good time. There are fewer crowds than in summer and comfortable hiking temperatures. 

Grand Canyon is a great place for hiking. All the trails are not always open, depending on conditions. We did the Bright Angel Trail, which is the most popular hiking trail into Grand Canyon. It is possible to do shorter and longer hikes on the Bright Angel Trail. We did 3 miles (4.8 km) roundtrip, which is a 2-4 hours hike. The elevation change on our route was 1,120 feet (340 m).

There can also be mules on this trail, we did not see them on our hike. 

It was fairly easy to walk down, walking up took a lot more effort. If we've had more time (plus equipment and more water) it would have been fun to keep going to the next point (three mile resthouse). But this was really good too. There are many places to see in Grand Canyon. If you want to go down to Colorado river, it's a longer hike.

We came to Grand Canyon Village the evening before visiting Grand Canyon and stayed at Red Feather lodge. 

 

 

 

Hello new year 2026!

Oh my. It's the time for new year's resolutions again. I'm not ready for this again. First it's good to ponder how this year has been, and what things you want to keep when you enter the new year. There are many things, that are out of our control, so there is no point to focus on them. Just focus on the one's you can.

Let's google it (new year resolutions). Maybe you get different suggestions, but these are the one's I got.

Top 10 New Year's Resolutions (and How to Follow Through!)

• Exercise more.
• Lose weight.
• Get organized.
• Learn a new skill or hobby.
• Live life to the fullest.
• Save more money / spend less money.
• Quit smoking.
• Spend more time with family and friends.

My list could be more like this:

• Remember to exercise, take walks or go for a run.
• Keep healthy habits. And also enjoy life. Drink coffee. And eat chocolate sometimes.
• Yes, get organized (do the best you can). Little steps to that.
• Learn a new skill. Yes to that. I would say: be curious to try and learn new things.
• Live life to the fullest (without stress how well you are able to do that)
• Save more money/ spend less money. Why not, if it's possible. And it can be in small things, for example making more food at home.
• Spend more time with family and friends. This is a good one! 
• Also: spend less time on social media etc., sleep enough.

If you fail, try again tomorrow. 

Cadillac Ranch in Texas

On our road trip in USA, we picked some places we wanted to visit, that were on our route. It's really hard when you only have a few weeks, and there would be a lot of interesting places to visit. 

One of the places we visited was Cadillac Ranch. What is interesting with old cars buried nose down in a field? That's a good question. Since the installation has been there for a long time, it has to be interesting.

In Amarillo Texas, located on the historic road 66, you can find this art installation. There are 10 Cadillacs buried in the ground on a field. Cadillac Ranch was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michel, part of the art group Ant Farm. 

The Cadillacs are from years 1943-1969. They were all bought from local junkyards and used car lots.

You can spray on the cars. I think it was cool, and worth a visit. Kids liked it too. 

We didn’t have to buy any spray, other visitors gave us theirs when they were leaving.

This is the road next to the field, where we parked our car. Visitors are allowed any time.

Our USA road trip route

 

Road trip in 5 days

We made a road trip with the family to USA in October 2025.

Our plane landed in Dallas, Texas. From there we took a flight to Nashville, Tennessee. We picked up our rental car from the airport, spent two nights in Nashville and started our road trip from there.

Here you can see the route we drove, 3640 miles. It's could be even more, but this is roughly how it was. 

Monday: from Nashville, Tennessee to Monett, Missouri

Tuesday: from Missouri to Tucumcari, New Mexico.

Wednesday: Tucumcari to Grand Canyon Village, Arizona

Thursday: from Grand Canyon Village to Hurricane, Utah

Friday: from Hurricane to Salt Lake City, Utah

How was the route?

This was something we couldn't be sure about in advance. Would it be too much driving? 

Luckily the travelling went well. We had a comfortable car with enough space for travelling and having the luggage with us. 

Another thing is that the landscapes were interesting to watch, we also drove on some smaller roads. Especially Monday to Wednesday we had long driving days, so we would have a bit more time to visit Grand Canyon.

Was it worth it?

Oh yes. Ten states in five days. Of course it would have been nice to have more time to visit places. 

We had one whole day in Nashville, and a weekend in Salt Lake City. Also we spent later some time in Tampa, Florida. 

I have a lot of pictures and will write more about the places we visited in my next postings.

Also planning to share some tips for those planning a road trip to the States.

Road trip

 

So exciting, our road trip is starting soon! I will write about our trip afterwards and share some Instagram stories (mistymondays) on the road.

The happiest country

 Hello from Finland, the happiest country in the world.

Why are we so happy, and are we that happy?

Maybe the answer is, that many things are going well here. 

Also we have the world's biggest archipelago and 75% of the surface is covered with forests.

Other nice things are clean air, safety and a long winter. Not to forget strawberry cake.

Strength training at home gym

Now I have trained seven times at home gym. How has it been?

In fact it has been better than I expected. My training has two parts, warm up and strength training. I'm doing the warm up on a treadmill and strength training with Caliber app.

Training with Caliber has been better than expected. The app gives you the training program and collects the data from every time you are training. The excercises can be done with two barbells.

How about motivation? Some days I have not been very motivated. Still I have done the exercises three times a week. And on the treadmill it's possible to watch Netflix. It's on 8 degrees in the room. that feels a bit cold. It will become a bit warmer though when winter is over. And treadmill training helps to get muscles warm. Then the low temperature doesn't bother so much.

To stay motivated I asked ChatGPT about the benefits of strength training.

Strength training 

• increases muscle strength
• improves  physical appearance and boosts metabolism
• improves bone health
• helps to maintain a healthy weigth
• enhances functional strength
• helps strengthen the muscles surrounding the joints
• can boost energy levels
• is associated with a risk of developing chronic diseases
• enables you to maintain vitality, mobility, and independence

Gym training at home

I used to go to CrossFit -classes at a gym for over a year. This year I have started training at home. To be honest, not many times yet, I have done my first training yesterday. 

The main reason to start training at home is that we have a space for it and some equipment. Also the freedom to choose what time to train, and the curiosity to try if this will work (without a coach and other people). 

I have Caliber app on my phone, and each time I choose a workout to do. Also I do at least a warm up. This is the plan.

How about equipment? We have a treadmill, some barbells and two kettlebells. Also a jump-rope, punching bag and a foam roller. We will see how it works out. It’s possible to buy some new equipment if needed.

Now it’s all about self-discipline. My goals are to train 3-4 times a week. To finish one Caliber training each time and to use the treadmill for warm up. Then to add some movements to it, depending on how much time I can use for training.

What are the advantages?

• Convenience and flexibility. There is no need to travel to gym and you can exercise whenever you want.
  
• Cost savings. No costs, unless you want to buy new equipment.
• Access to personalized programs. There are lots of them available, also for free.
• Family involvement. My husband is also training.

Are there downsides?

• Limited equipment and space. At the gym there you can do more varied training.
• Lack of social interaction and motivational challenges. This is one challenge for sure. It requires a lot of self-discipline to train alone and also to stay motivated.
• There is no professional guidance at home gym.

Home gym, a threat or possibility?

Hello new year!

What's new this year? 

I can tell you at least two things.

• I have a life planner
• Done with CrossFit -membership (for now)

From now on my life will be more planned and I will start gym training at home. Or at least I hope so.

Gym training will be interesting, because now I will be setting up my own schedule. It's all about self-discipline. Will it work? I honestly don't know. It's much easier to go to a gym and let the coach tell you what to do.

How about being your own coach? Well, if the training doesn't become a routine, it will not work. I know a variety of movements that can easily be done at home. 

More about this later, when I get started.

This week the weather has been much colder as usual. Yesterday I went with friends and kids ice skating and kicksledging on the lake.

Happy New Year!

 

Summer memories

Some pictures from Bulgaria last summer.

The sun and the sea, what else do you need?

Pictures are from Sunny Beach.

September snails

 

It's September and I found these snails in my garden.

My greenhouse

I planted this Summer cucumbers and tomatoes in my greenhouse. First time ever!

"Life begins the day you start a garden." -Chinese proverb

Doughnuts or exercise

 

A few weeks ago, or exactly one and a half week ago I decided to bake doughnuts instead of going to crossfit. This can sound like a wrong decision. Why bake something unhealthy instead of exercise, which is healthy. 

Well, it was the right decision. Exercise is good. Balance even better.

And here we come to the question: how do you know, what is the right thing for you to do?
Today it can be one thing and tomorrow another thing.

"I've learned that you can't have everything and do everything at the same time."
- Oprah Winfrey

Tody as help for cleaning

Maybe a month ago we started using Tody to remind us of all the daily cleaning chores. We have been renovating our house for a long time, and cleaning has not been a priority one.

I don't love cleaning. Who does? Still it's nicer to have a cleaned house, than a house with lot of dust.

When you start using a new app, even cleaning can be fun at first.

First our kids loved Tody, because you can write all the chores for every room there. Then when you have finished the chore, you can mark it done. And when the chores pile up in one room, the picture of the room will have stains.

When you don't have time to clean, there are red dots reminding you of all the things that should be done. This is the point when the kids say: "We can't clean all the time". I agree. It's not possible.

The best thing about Tody is, that you will remember to do the chores in right timing. For example you can set a reminder for vacuuming once a week, or every second week. 

And if it seems like some chores should be done all the time, just fix the settings.

Good things about Tody:

• The to-do lists
• You can make specific tasks for every room
• It will show you when something is undone (you can see stains)
• It feels good to click on the things that are done, and get the instant feedback
• More motivation

And the annoying things:

• The to-do lists, it seems like something should be done all the time
• How can something be overdue again?
• It will show you when something is undone (you can see stains)

Even though it seems like some the annoying things are also the good things, Tody has helped us with household cleaning routines.

Bullet journaling in progress

Oh my. I started bullet journaling in an old notebook. Because I have many half-empty notebooks.

This whole bullet journaling thing is very interesting. The system should be quite simple, keeping track of your long time and short time goals and daily or monthly tasks. 

Basic symbols are used to mark the entries (task, note, event, signifier).

Can I do this?

Now I have everything ready in my notebook to start journaling.

I feel already exhausted. The first day of my journal remains empty. What did I do yesterday?

People use bullet journaling for different purposes. My purpose is to keep track of the daily tasks and also long term goals. 

It´s good to find out what tasks are not finished, and you can add them to next month´s list.

The plan is to create a habit of journaling and the I can add colors and some illustrations to the pages. We will see.

This is bullet journaling part one. If this becomes a habit, you can read more about my experiences of bullet journaling.

Kaunas in Lithuania as a part of the road trip

 

Last Summer Kaunas was a part of  our road trip. The city was not familiar to us, and it surprised us with it's beauty. On a road trip it's very usual to select places where to stay based on the location. And you need plan the route to avoid too long driving days. So, that's how we found Kaunas.

Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania, and the city was the European Capital of Culture 2022 together with two other European cities.

Kaunas Castle was built in the 14th century. This castle guarded nearby cities and served as a strategic outpost.

From Santaka Park, next to Kaunas Castle, you can see two rivers. The rivers are Nemunas and Neris.

Visit Kaunas

Why is exercise good for you?

I guess everyone knows, that it is good for us to exercise.

It's easy to start and feel energized for one month (usually January). After that the calendar starts getting filled with "more important things". Those more important things makes it almost impossible to find time for exercise.

The most common reason why people don't exercise is that they don't have time. Another reason is the lack of motivation. 

In fact, there are a lot of reasons, why people don't exercise.

Maybe the more important thing would be to look at why we should exercise.

There are many benefits.
Exercise is for example improving memory and brain function, heart health and quality of sleep.

When I started exercising after a break last September, I was not feeling very motivated at first. After a some weeks I could feel the energy and good effects that came from exercising.

I enjoy CrossFit, because it has constantly varied functional movements and challenges for every time you train. It's good to remember, that you compete with yourself rather than with others!

Exercising doesn't always have to necessarily be intense, walking has a lot of benefits too.

14 Health and Fitness Benefits of CrossFit

5 surprising benefits of walking

Roadtrip with old car

Last Summer we made a road trip with family. We drove through eight countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

In ten days in June we drove 4400 km, with an 16 year old car (Opel Vectra). During the road trip the car surpassed 320 000 km. Well done, for an old car!

We drove from Umeå in Sweden to Trondheim in Norway, and forward to Larvik in the south.

The first picture is from Sweden and the others from Norway.

During a road trip there is not always time to stop and take pictures. When we were driving in Norway, I tried to catch beautiful views with my camera. 

These pictures are taken through car window.

Route map

Our road map route in Sweden and Norway.