Joeann Fossland, Master Certified Coach

Friday was a drive from Hines, Oregon to Mt. Hood. No presentation this day and we'll be staying at the Timberline Lodge for 2 nights. It will be nice to not have to pack up and get back in the car immediately. This drive reminded me a bit of the train trip from Sydney to Perth, where the road was straight and the scenery was unchanging for miles and miles. That railtrip in Australia has the longest stretch of straight tracks in the world. The road from Hines to Bend is a long monotonous stretch.

The scenery started to change on the drive from Bend to Mt. Hood. We travel through beautiful pine forests as the altitude gets higher and higher. When we arrive at the Timberline Lodge at 5850 ft., it's a blustery day and the lodge is surrounded by snow. The Lodge is beautifully constructed. Built in 1937 by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) during the depression, it is a comfy place to snuggle in and enjoy their signature Hot Chocolate!

We enjoy a wonderful dinner complete with sorbet and a surprise bite of filet for an appeitizer! They say in the service industry, creating surprisese is one of the keys to WOW service! Are you creating surprises for your clients?

There is skiing this time of year on the slopes of Mt. Hood. A little over an hour from Portland, family and groups come for the day. On Saturday, there was a large group of handicapped skiers enjoying the slopes in special ski contraptions. Each of the mornings started out sunny, with clouds below us and as the days wore on, the clouds increased, but the weather is pretty balmy. We bought some gloves and had a snowball fight to Lly's delight!

Lily was thrilled the Pool and Spa, even though they were outside, w!ere warm and fun! I was happy to have a little downtime and just relax....

Life is good!

Oh.... what a beautiful morning! The sun is just peaking over the ridge at the Miracle Hot Springs between Buhl and Hagerman, Idaho. We slept in a canvas dome last night.I woke this morning to the sound of Alligators roaring! What an adventure!

We started the day soaking in the hot springs again. Lily swung from the trapeze and did flips off it while Bub did arm exercises to loosen his healing shoulder. I booked a massage this morning and it was blissful! After an hour in the hot water and an hour having trigger points release all my tension, I felt a bit like a melted pool of water. Bliss is a good word to describe it!

But, alas...time to get back on the road to Boise for today's e-PRO Workshop at the Keller Williams office.

My friend, Past WCR National President, Gail Harnett, helped get me invited and came to the workshop. Gail had signed up several years ago and wanted to know the process to now get certified. This is a question I am asked occasionally and the answer is there is a special discounted rated that varies depending on how long ago you took the course. If this applies to you, contact epro@internetcrusade for details about how you can jump back in! Everyone who enrolls in June (or restarts) will get the new Social Media module included! Or... if you've never signed up and you are ready:
Sign up for the e-PRO in June and get $25 off as well as the Social Networking module.

The parallel universe trippers, GrandBub and Lily went off to the Boise Zoo. Lily had wanted to see some Bald Eagles on this trip and got her wish at the zoo. Perhaps, now that she knows what they look like, she can spot one in the wild. Bub says the zoo was not as nice as 2 years ago, that it looked like the funding or current administration has cut back the budget. That's too bad.

Back in the car for a not so traveled road to Hines, Oregon. We decided to take a more southern route through Oregon and up the Cascades to make our way to Portand. The country was starkly beautiful as we drove west on Route 20 from the Idaho border. Vast open spaces, punctuated from time to time with cattle ranches. There are some amazing hills striated with lines of green Bub said looked like stretch marks. We drove past very volcanic looking black rock bluffs before dropping down into Burns and then Hines.
Lily was disappointed the pool was under construction at The Comfort Inn but I was tired enough to be ready for bed after reading the next awful chapter of Lemony Sickett's Bad Beginning. Count Olaf has hung baby Sunny in a cage 30 feet in the air blackmailing Violet into marrying him to get the orphan's fortune. It is a very disagreeable book. Lily is enjoying it! Oh, my....

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