stricken

I've never been a nailbiter. I know it's a thing, but I'd not given it much thought. Ever wonder where the bitten nails go?

It was back to reality this week after our DC trip. I worked Thursday and Friday in testing, and thankfully, Boss had turned off scheduling for some tests so we could ramp back up rather than have to hit the ground running. 

He and I were closing up yesterday and decided to do some decent cleaning since the place was pretty quiet. He washed chairs, I vacuumed. 

I vacuumed a fair amount of discarded fingernails. *GAG*

Some chew pencils, some muss with their hair, some rock back and forth, some chew and spit out fingernails...

I was honestly thinking along similar lines when we were out with the throngs at the various DC attractions. Here's a rundown of all the places we visited.

Outdoors:

• Washington Monument
• Lincoln Memorial
• Jefferson Memorial
• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
  
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
• National Christmas Tree

Indoors:

• Capitol building
• Archives (Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights)
• Library of Congress
• Air and Space Museum, DC
• National Gallery of Art, East and West buildings
• National Museum of US Army
• Natural History Museum
• Air and Space Museum, Virginia

Looking back, we covered a lot of ground. While at the various attractions, I noticed all the glass, upon which people scrunch up to get a good look at things, kids plant hands and faces. 

"Dang, someone's gotta clean all this glass", I realized. I appreciate the glass cleaners. 

...and the floor cleaners, the bathroom cleaners, etc.. So many people, so much mess.

In general, every attraction was pretty darn immaculate. Oh, and I noticed this painting in the National Gallery right away. Featured recently by Fresca, I was pleased to see it in the flesh!

The Jolly Flatboatmen

I learned that the Washington Monument and the Capitol building were both struck by lightning on New Year's eve. An omen?

When seeing the Capitol for the first time, I was rather agog by the "badass" statue atop the dome. 

I wanted to learn more about The Statue of Freedom, my current favorite statue

So it was struck by lightning, and I imagine it wasn't the first time. 

But she's tough, I'm sure.

Personally, I made it to the rooftop of the National Gallery for this impressive cock.

So, a memorable and worthwhile trip.

And now... back to the nailbiters.

finding fathers

Yes, we were in Washington D.C. for Christmas this year. Chaco moved to the area for work a little over a year ago, and this was Magnum's and my first visit since then. 

Wolfgang and Meego had been out there in the spring, and they joined us this round as well. So all 5 of us were together for Christmas, and they were able to help Chaco with the tour-guidin'.

I'd never been to D.C. before, and I 10/10 recommend it as a destination! Maybe not during the holidays since holiday travel can be a hassle with crowds and potential weather delays. The weather gods shone upon us, though, with mild weather for the duration. D.C. was quite crowded, however. Chaco said he'd never seen it so, even last Christmas from what he remembered. 

But we couldn't complain, since we ourselves were part of that fray, so we moved about with the masses. 

SO much to see and do there - Museums! Memorials! Statues! People! People! Lotsa People!

I can't choose a favorite attraction, everything had much to offer. And thank gosh for the Metro!

I didn't take many photos, as is typical for me I suppose. Enjoying the moment and then later thinking, "hmm, maybe I shoulda taken some pics"

Christmas Day was our first full day there, and we saw the national Menorah Lighting from a distance. Meanwhile, we wandered over to the National Christmas Tree display on the Ellipse and quickly located the Colorado tree

Meego agreed to pose

Even though D.C. is not necessarily a typical winter destination, the holiday flair was a bonus. 

So Happy New Year to all! I like how blogging allows us to look back on our day-to-days, including things we might've forgotten. This trip would certainly make my 2024 highlight reel. 

Get ur walking shoes and go!

headed out

 

Greetings on this side of Christmas '24!

We are on a little getaway, and I'm spending a cozy bit of morning with the "granddog" Ella at Chaco's. 

I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas season however it's done. This is the first time in  several years that I've traveled during the holidays, and the weather's been, thankfully mild.

I'm catching up on my blog readng. Meantime... here's me and a big thing.

how they know me

Regarding our trip to Pasadena over 4th of July weekend for a family gathering - it was the first time I'd traveled by air in 23 years.

It's not like I'd purposely avoided it. After we'd had the kids and I was a stay-at-home-mom, we didn't do a whole lot of traveling other than yearly road trips. Particularly after we moved to Colorado, where most of both my and Magnum's extended family lives, there just weren't that many occasions - or casual income - to fly. 

The last time I'd been on an airplane was just before 9-11. How's that for timing? I took baby Meego to Colorado to visit my parents. 

Now Meego's a grown adult and flies when he pleases without me. Remember when he and his friends had a college graduation party? And they broke out the shot ski? And my kids were [all up in my business, coaching me on doing ONE shot]?

I mean, I get it. I left my profession before Meego was even born. The kids mainly know the stay-at-home-mom version of me, where my function was "laundry and stuff" to quote Arthur the Aardvark's little sister D.W.  They know me as someone who can quote Arthur the Aardvark, not someone who air travels and imbibes much alcohol.

But prior to that, my life was much different. I was gainfully employed as a corporate working girl, drank alcohol on occasion, schlepped around airports for both business and recreation... 

I loved my corporate working girl life, I loved being a stay-at-home-mom. Same person, different seasons. 

So this month, there was a bit of "YOU're gonna fly? On a plane?!?".  

Migosh, I'm not Laura freakin' Ingalls.

Yes, I flew on a commercial airline. It wasn't much different than I remember from the "old days", other than beefed up airport security. On a side note, we used to joke that if/ when I did fly after 9-11, I would be flagged and stripped searched because there just so happens to be a known domestic terrorist who shares my maiden name. 

But that's another story, and she has most likely changed her name anyway.

I snagged one of the pics from the gathering - everyone except for 10 or so covid casualties

Our return flight was surprisingly light - 38 passengers for 143 seats. "Take the whole row. If someone sits next to you, ask them 'why?'". I grabbed a photo of my big ol' personal row

So THAT was different. I commented to Wolfang how comfy that was, having the whole row.

"You never fly, then you do and get that. There are people who fly all the time, and will never have that experience!", He pointed out.

See, I know what I'm doing.

call o' nature

We went away for a few days of relaxation on the beach... but not really.

We went away for a few days of play in the mountains. I'm not really one for sitting on a lounge chair on a cruise ship or beach while sipping an umbrella drink and taking a pic of my sandaled feet. So this'll do.

We visited lovely Steamboat Springs, CO - yet another touristy resort town up yonder. A ski town fer shur, but plenty to do year-round, so the whole fam headed there for a little end-of-summer getaway.

None of us had been there before except for Magnum who'd gone there to ski once or twice in the pre-me days.

We stayed in an Airbnb or Vrbo (Magnum booked it...) condo with plenty of room for all of us and nice views off the pond.

Our condo also allowed us to bring Chaco's dog, Ella. Our dogs stayed behind at the kennel, so don't tell them about Ella.

On our first full day, we rented bicycles and rode the length of the trail that runs through town, top to bottom and then some. Along the way, we stopped at the enjoyable Yampa River Botanic Park. It sits right along the bike path and was nicely laid out and maintained. 

My trip recorder skills are so bad, I didn't get one photo, but oh well. We have the internet.

On the bike ride, I noticed quite a few rather run down, mobile home type residences on the outskirts of town surrounding the posh big expensive homes of Steamboat. Thing with these resort towns - somebody needs to do the cookin' and cleanin' for the ritzy residents.

We walked around the small downtown area, Chaco in search of a hoodie. He preferred one that did not say "Steamboat Springs" anywhere on it. Not a chance.

With biking checked off our list, we headed out the next day for some hiking. We found a nearby trail that would take us to Fish Creek Falls, a moderate hike that took us from about 7400 ft to 9000 ft to the upper falls - around 4.5 miles out and back.

The aspens had not yet begun to change. It should be really pretty in a couple of weeks when we're not there.

We rounded things out with a good deal of eating and lounging and people watching and gaming. The trip provided me a much needed nature fix, yet left me thirsty for more. Greedy, I know.

hot and spicy

"Driving the struggle bus through toasty town!" another runner commented regarding running in the heat this morning.  

It's hot outside.  Need to get up really early to beat the heat, and I (and the struggle bus driver) was not up that early. No duck pics today as even the ducks kept a low profile along the creek. But it wasn't unbearable, and I know the heat wave is worse for many others. We're noticing the payoff of the new windows and blinds we got last December. We don't have AC, and have been able to keep the house relatively cool without it.

It was a good week and nice to be back from our hippie adventure. In addition to learning about earthships, we stopped for a bit of Colorado lore in San Luis - the oldest town in Colorado, established in 1851. San Luis is a very small town with a few hundred residents in a poor part of the state. In college, I was friends with a girl from San Luis. She was a "tough chick". These days, she's a high school teacher, so good she's tough.

San Luis' most famous attraction is the Stations of the Cross Shrine, so we had to stop and check it out. The attraction features a trail that makes its way to the Cathedral with each station depicted in bronze sculptures along the way. The trail is dirt, but not very steep, and less than a mile long.

We enjoyed the stop, it's nicely done and well  maintained. We are not anything close to being devout Catholics, but I definitely felt a certain sacredness while there. Others we saw along the trail were very quiet and respectful.

When I was growing up, my mom was friends with a nice and very Catholic Italian woman - Mrs. Valentine.  Mrs. Valentine was an excellent seamstress, and my mom would often bring clothes needing altering to Mrs. V.

The ladies would sit and visit, and if I tagged along, I was given books or such to look at if I didn't bring my own. Visiting the Stations of the Cross Shrine brought back memories of being at Mrs. V's house and coming across graphic depictions of the stations of the cross - likely not meant for a child!

Anyway, if you ever find yourself in San Luis, CO with about an hour or so to kill, I recommend a visit to the shrine.

In other touristy activity, we walked along the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  We crossed the bridge on our way to the earthships. It sits 650 feet above the river. It's no secret here that I'm not a fan of heights, so the views from the bridge were impressively horrendous for me.

I managed to let go of the railing long enough to snap a pic, which really doesn't do a great job of depicting the depth of the gorge.

Sadly, the bridge is apparently a "popular" place for suicides. Lots of suicide hotline info and little memorials along the way.

The American Institute of Steel Construction awarded the bridge "The Most Beautiful Bridge" in the long span category.

So that about rounds up our little trip to the Taos area. I'd never been there before, although it's quite close to where I grew up. The town of Taos is pretty small - lots of adobe houses and shops - with little galleries and touristy gift shop type places.  Need a kachina doll? Taos is your place!

We had to sample the local Mexican food. There is quite the rivalry between the state of New Mexico and the town of Pueblo, CO for the BEST green chilies. I've had some Pueblo green chili, and it's delish. Now I've had Taos green chili, and found it also to be delish, but a different delish from Pueblo delish. 

Either way, it's all delish. 

children of the sage

Greetings fellow travelers! Magnum and I recently returned from a couple of days of hippie camp. We traveled south to the outskirts of Taos, NM to live among the Earthshippers. An interesting and educational time was had!

Our hippie camp rental among the sage

We knew  there was a cluster of earthship activity just outside of Taos, but I was not expecting the sheer number  of structures.  There are six or seven that can be rented, and I was thinking maybe fifteen to  twenty altogether with rentals plus private owned?

Welp, turns out the site is over 80 earthships on 640 acres.  I had no idea there were so many in one spot. It was almost other worldly. It was nothing but dirt, sage, and earthships as far as the eyes could see!

For those who don't know, earthships are sustainable structures offering total off-grid living. They are often made from "trash" such as glass bottles, beverage cans, and automobile tires.  They utilize solar and wind for power, rain collection and cisterns for water, and greenhouses for gardening. 

We stayed in the Phoenix West studio. It was the only one available on the dates we requested. It was very nice, better than I expected actually. 

"Our" side of The Phoenix

The only drawback is that it does not have a kitchen since it's part of a bigger structure, and the kitchen was in the other half - rented by some people who rained on our parade.

The interior was cozy and quite serene.  So much so, I kinda forgot to get photos, but I swiped these from the website:

Strangely, I really loved the bathroom (?). This photo doesn't do it justice. 

Two skylights above kept the whole interior bright and cool, and that shower was better than anything Gilligan ever had on his island.

I was surprised at how hot the shower water could be. 

Not surprisingly, there are fire restrictions in place in all of New Mexico. I'd brought our camp stove to use on the patio, and we managed fine without a full kitchen. There was also a coffee maker, coffee and tea selection, and a few dishes and utensils in the studio.

So yes, hippie camp was a win! Are we going to pull up stakes and become children of the sage, ourselves?

Oh, heck no. Too "out in the middle of nowhere" for us. 

We will remain Outlanders.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

5. Write a blog post inspired by the word: Freedom

weekend "getaway", and what's with yer dog?

Happy first day of spring!  Spin those mattresses! Change those toothbrush heads!

It was a pretty uneventful week.  Work was on the quiet side with the students and instructors out for spring break.  Now on to the final push to finish out the semester before summer. My coworker, Party Girl, got her elderly dad moved here from Nevada.  

Her dad's losing his memory, and it's been a stressful situation for her. I know she's relieved to have made it to this milestone in the process.  And I'm glad the lightish workload allowed her some flexibility in her schedule.

Strange and sad, the dementia thing.  PG says her dad doesn't seem to really know who she is, but he has an inkling that they're related, so trusts her.  Physically, however, he's in great shape for his age - which is a worry.  He can easily walk off and get lost.  

When I worked at the nursing home, we had several residents who weren't very aware of who/where they were.  But none of them could get anywhere fast.

"Maribelle's headed for the elevator"

"Oh, okay.  I'll get her after I stock these dozens of coffee mugs..."

Magnum and I had a rip roaring outing to Denver yesterday.  Well, not really.  We actually just went to the airport to pick Meego up from a Spring Break trip he took to California.  His girlfriend moved there for work after graduating last spring, and they're making a go of the long-distance-relationship thing.  He had a good time and put me once again to itching for a vacay.  

Until then, meandering around the Denver International Airport will have to suffice.

I hadn't been to the airport - any airport - since, again, picking Meego up from a trip.  I noticed a handful of maskless people in the airport, but not many.  

However, I saw tons of people with masks only covering their chins. Why bother? 

(photo is from last time at the airport - premask days)

Wolfgang came over to let our dogs out while we were airporting.  He had a friend with him, and, not unexpectedly, Merlin had a cow.

Merlin is a sweet and loving pooch, but he reacts in full on stranger-danger protective mode when someone unknown to him comes to the house.

This is fine up until a point, but we need him to chill out once we assure him that the friend/ contract worker/ extended family member is welcome.

He's okay away from our home - tolerates the vet and the kennel - but he's a junkyard dog at home.  What does that say about the state of our home?  Oh well, I'm thinking we might enlist some professionals on this one.  

sleeping beauty

The Good:  We may have turned a corner.  I saw the first robin of spring yesterday!
The Not-So-Good:  It was laying on the backdoor mat as the cat was dismembering its lifeless body.
The But-Still-Okay:  Spring!  And the cat was fed...


The Good:  My throbbing tooth feels much better.
The Not-So-Good:  It's not fixed yet
The But-Still-Okay:  I've learned so many new words, like endodontist and apicoectomy.


The Good:  Magnum made it back from his business trip with only slight delays from last week's blizzard
The Not-So-Good:  He brought a raging cold virus back with him
The But-Still-Okay:  He can work from home, limiting his cootie-spreading to immediate family rather than to coworkers.  Not quite sure if that belongs in this category.


The Good:  Meego is home on spring break
The Not-So-Good:  No special plans for spring break other than exposure to Magnum's cooties.
The But-Still-Okay:  Meego is home on spring break


So that's my status update for now.

We have a futon, not a couch.  It sits on a foldable wooden frame so as to have two positions - flat or angled like a couch.  I understand that traditional futons are only flat.  But at least our futon mattress is of the traditional kind - not an extra puffy Americanized version.

I mention it here because I've been sleeping on it this week since viral Magnum currently makes sleeping noises like what I imagine Chewbacca sounds like when he sleeps.

And I find the futon SO comfy.  Honestly, I want to replace our bed and all it's related equipment with a traditional futon.  Plus, I just like the look of them as they appeal to my minimalist tendencies.

When I was in college, one of my roommates was from Japan, and she had a traditional futon for her bed.  At the time, I thought it looked incomplete, but a lot of college apartment bedrooms are pretty sparse and slapped together anyway, so I didn't think much of it.

The reality was, however, that she was actually quite rich.  Like super rich.  Like super duper rich.  The sparseness of her bedding was not the result of a cost issue. Maybe she chose me as her roommate to get an authentic feel for starving American college student?

But now I understand why, even though she could have easily afforded a more elaborate bed, she chose the simple futon.  And here I thought I was the one teaching her so much, like the difference between "condominium" and "condom".  And no, Rocky Mountain trout and Rocky Mountain oysters are not related foods.

If/ when we move, we're not moving our current bed set. We'll replace it with a traditional futon. Magnum is not yet aware of this, and I'm declaring it here, so he should get working on his getting-up-off-the-floor.

Because blogging it makes it true.

getting oriented

We took Meego up for his college orientation this week.  A day and a half of figuring out classes and experiencing dorm food and stuff.  While he was doing that, Magnum and I hung out in college town.

Meego told us that about half or so of the orientation kids had parents with them the whole time- except for when counselors made them go away.  I know we could have similarly attended, but Meego didn't feel the need, and I think it's good for him to have that independence.  I've noticed that teens seem less independent of their parents than when our generation was their age.  But it's a different world now.

Anyhoo, Magnum and I had a little over a day to hang out.  This town is known for its bicycle friendliness, earning a "Platinum" rating before there even was such a rating.  Apparently, the powers that be had to create the Platinum category just for this place!

With that, we decided to rent some bikes and experience some platinumness for ourselves.  Upon reflection, I would agree with the rating.


In addition to all the bike lanes and pathways, the terrain is naturally bike friendly because the entire area is so FLAT.  We were still in Colorado, weren't we??  Here in Colorado Springs, bike rides are usually a series of lung-buster uphills balanced with brake-burner downhills.

As such, we got around just fine on these old-people bikes from the rental shop.  I realize now how nicely color-coordinated I was with my rental Granny bike.

And I think that was the first time I ever went for any kind of bicycling while wearing a purse.

It was a nice way to learn our way around while sometimes getting lost.






We also managed a bit of geocaching, which we haven't done in a long time since we haven't been anyplace new in a long time.  Really, those things are everywhere.


Cheesy "action" photo.











So it was a nice little getaway and a good orientation for Meego.  While there, I thought back to my own college days.

I won't go into detail, but back then, I wasn't doing any Granny biking, tree treasure finding, or wondering what the cat was up to...

wish you were here

Spring break - woooooo, we're rippin' it!

Okay, actually so far, I've spent most of spring break going up and down the interstate, but it's all good.

We got Wolfgang moved up north late last week, and that trip was bookended by a band trip Meego took to Disneyland.  At least someone in the family is having a proper vacation.

We had to get Meego to the Denver airport at 3:30am on Thursday.  Is 3:30am early morning, or still nighttime?  It's kind of a grey area.  But he made it right on time - not like there's much traffic at that time.

They returned Sunday night/Monday morning at about 1:00am.  Again, not a whole lot of "rush hour" going on.

As expected, the kids had a good time.  They marched in the Disney parade, but really it was mostly a way to go play in L.A. and Disneyland for four fun-filled days.

I did not chaperone the trip.  It sounded too much like work.

I asked Meego if there was any trip drama, and he said there was none that he knew of other than some "Chaperone drama".  Apparently one of the chaperones was a bit uptight, but we'll just leave it at that because she lives about two houses away from us...

I've heard they did a nice job at the parade and "represented the school well".  The dress code for the trip created some frowns - for instance the requirement for "tasteful" sleep and swimwear.  One that caught my eye was the requirement that everyone wear "jeans with no holes".  I don't think any of the girls owned jeans with  no holes prior to the trip.  They pay good money for those holey jeans.

I have not been able to get any pics or videos of their parade performance, however.  Geez, how hard is it to get a bootleg footage from a Disney performance?! (quite difficult).  So I can only imagine the thrilling expressions as in the photo above from a football game - same enthusiasm as a Disney parade, I'm sure.

Mom Life at Denver International

Spring break continues for the rest of this week.  With all that driving and moving and packing and  unpacking behind us, we can get down to some wild times!

...like some spring cleaning and car maintenance.  Time to defrost that freezer too, I guess.

Whachu doing?  Wish you were here.

kathy griffin covfefe

I was gonna do a "weekly recap" blog post, but my week was rather uneventful, so I had to borrow some words from general news headlines for my title.  If you found yourself here assuming something interesting is in store, you can probably leave now.

Today, I enjoyed a lovely morning bike ride under sunny blue skies.  As I was returning towards home, I ran into a wall o' people and pooches!

I learned that today was the annual Doggie Dash 5k.  I thought it was actually kinda nice to see so many people out enjoying the morning and raising some money for the charity.  A few other bicyclists looked to be grumbling at the inconvenience.  To that I say, "get over it!".

It was an out-and-back "race", so the canine horde only took up about a mile and a half of the pathway.  Most were pretty considerate of the others out recreating like myself.  I did almost get taken out by a Great Dane who decided to explore the area near a water station.  That's not a collision I would've won.

In other news of people with more exciting lives than myself, Wolfgang just returned from a fun trip to Europe.  One of his friends was invited to present a paper at a conference in Paris, so Wolfgang and the friend's brother tagged along.

He sent this "obligatory" pic

peanut butter and jealous!

A strange thing happens whenever Wolfgang leaves on a fun trip.  Our weather turns to crap.  It was true for the most part during this trip, so another reason I'm glad he's back.

I haven't actually seen him since he returned late last night.  He did spend that final 48 hours of the trip dealing with flight delays and cancellations, so not all of his texts were of the sort to be envious... but most were.

Have I ever mentioned that I don't even own a passport?

a weekend in contrasts

Yesterday, Magnum and I got out for a bit of culture:  an afternoon at the Thee-a-tah (trying to say "theater" in a snobby way).  It was the high school drama department's production of "Emma!" a pop musical.  

They did a nice job, it was very entertaining, and some of those kids are very talented young thespians and singers.  It's not really typical for us to go to the school plays, but like last spring,  Meego participated as one of the nine musicians, so that's how we ended up there.

The musicians all had a good time of it, sounded great, and Meego said that it was some of the most challenging music he's ever played, so - growth!

The cast presented each musician with a rose after the final showing, along with a thank-you note signed by each member of the cast.  All the notes had some silly pun to refer to each musician's instrument.



For example, Meego's said "Your bass-ically the best!" *snort*.  However, the trumpet player's note just said, "Sorry, all the trumpet puns are too dirty".

This bit of fine arts culture was in stark contrast to my outing on Friday.  I went up to Boulder to visit my oldest brother, Hagrid.  Y'all remember Hagrid?  The secret government agent scientist man?  Yeah, him.

As might be inferred, Hagrid works at an interesting place.  Yet, I'd never been there before, even though I'd lived in Boulder for four years. Sure, I'd driven or bicycled passed the place many times, but getting inside is such a chore and would involve having Hagrid escort me, blah, blah, blah... There are no photos of our visit.  Hopefully these will suffice:

Hagrid

Where Hagrid works

 With Hagrid's impending retirement however, the whole blah, blah, blah didn't seem so limiting anymore.  Really, it was Chaco who lit the fire.  His work bares some similarities to what Hagrid does, and so Chaco has been wanting to go visit for a while, look around, and talk some shop with Hagrid.  The three of us made arrangements for Friday.

As expected, I was pretty clueless once the two of them got to discussing nits and grits.  The conversation was like foreign language with some English words peppered in a la:
*gibberish* *gibberish* *gibberish* *gibberish* system *gibberish* *gibberish* *gibberish* data *gibberish* *gibberish* effects *gibberish* *gibberish* *gibberish* *gibberish* signal...

Nonetheless, it was fun spending a few hours in the secret places of the secret place with Hagrid and Chaco.  Also, Hagrid's 14-year-old stepdaughter joined us, so I had someone at my intellectual level to hang out with.  😊

Plus, it was fun to just get outta town for a day.  I lived in Boulder over twenty years ago, so it was fun taking in the sights and memories.  Its relative compactness is a nice contrast to the sprawl of Colorado Springs - which is becoming increasingly annoying to me...

All in all, a nice end to a nice week.  Science and music - aren't I so darned well rounded!

.

I can see clearly... now

"I need an adventure..." - the last text I sent.

I was out today and happened to be riding Bella the bike when I got a text from Wolfgang.  He told me about a trip he and a couple of friends are planning for a couple of months from now.  Sounds like fun.  For those guys.

And it reminded me how much I would just LURV to get away.

Remember how the family took a trip to sunny California while I stayed here to freeze and keep the geriatric dog company?  I'm not complaining, it was my choice, I'm glad they went and saw and did the things they did.  They said they missed having me along.  They brought me back a t-shirt...

But it doesn't delete the fact that I feel overripe for a getaway.  When was my last one?  I don't even know!

In the meantime, I took advantage of a relatively nice day today.  I haven't gotten in much bike riding lately.  Mostly because of the weather. We haven't had a whole lot of snow, but it's just been a really windy blustery few months, and windy blustery takes the fun out of bicycling.

Today looked good, though.  Relative calm.  A bit on the chilly side, but that's what outerwear is for.  Plus, I had no tuting assignments today and felt deserving.  So after doing a bit of morning housewifery, I got Bella and me all ready for a joyride "just because". No deadlines or need-to-be's.  Just ride around for the fun of it, like when we were kids.

And it was wonderful and invigorating and fresh and crisp and just what I needed...  For about 90% of it.

At one point, I remember looking to the north sky and thinking, "Those are some really dark clouds, glad I'm not under them".

Well, they must've heard me and came over to make fun of me.

Suddenly, the bright crisp day turned dark and sloppy.  Huge, wet snowflakes began hitting me.  At the beginning, it was actually still quite fun.

I snapped this selfie just before I crossed over into probable legal blindness.

The big sloppy snowflakes smacked into and clung onto my geeky bicycling glasses.  As soon as I'd swipe them somewhat clean, they'd get re-smacked upon.

At one point, as I took them off to give them a (totally ineffective) better cleaning, I realized I could see fifty times better without the glasses.  Anyone who knows how bad my eyesight is will know that's not a good sign.

But I wore the glasses anyway to keep the big sloppy snowflakes from smacking into my eyeballs.

Eventually, it tapered off some.  The big sloppy snowflakes turned into just little wet ones.  The storm moved on through, and the sun reappeared about 5 minutes after I got home.

Figures.

I still need a getaway adventure.  I'm not counting that one.

expanding horizons

Today, I plan to paint our ugly kitchen.  I'm just sitting here reading some blogs, sipping coffee, and waiting for the caffeine to kick in.

Since I'm finished with school and "irregularly employed", I'm wanting to make the most of this downtime with a bit of DIY and general environmental improvement around the house.

I finally got around to seeing Rogue One over the weekend.  Meego, Magnum, and I saw it on Saturday.  Just when I thought I'd outgrown the whole Star Wars franchise, I really liked Rogue One.  And [hopefully it's not much of a spoiler to mention...] the appearance of Princess Leia at the end felt all the more poignant since Carrie Fisher's recent passing.  I honestly could've done without The Force Awakens.

I've been contemplating a little getaway.  Remember when the family all left  me here, home alone, while they traipsed around California?  And all I got was this NASA t-shirt?  (okay, I do appreciate the t-shirt.  I pretend I'm Sally Ride...)

Anyway, I have a leftover airline ticket.  It's not a whole lot of credit, but there it sits.  And, what to do with it?

• Drag Meego off somewhere fun for his spring break?
• Drag Meego off somewhere less fun, but check out a prospective college or two?
• Drag myself somewhere fun?
• Get someone to come somewhere fun with me?
• Let the credit expire, and just eat it?

These are just some ideas I'm pondering.  I've been checking airfares for places I/we would like to go and we'd be spending an appreciable amount in order to use my "free" miles.

At the same time, I'm already getting a bit sick of winter, and would love even a little escape.

I suppose I'll think of something.  This isn't rocket science.

little old houses, Dad, and George

As planned, Chaco, Meego, and I headed down for a little hometown visit with my dad over the weekend.  It was a nice getaway.

It's a little over a 2-hour drive to get there, so not bad.  I'm not big on driving (puts me to sleep, even if I'm the driver!), but I typically make the trip down and back in one day.  I thought we'd take a little more time to spread the drive over two days this time and not feel in a rush during our visit.  Problem is, the whole town fills up with tourists all summer long.  Mostly obnoxious Texans.

I worked at a local hotel for the last four years I lived there.  We'd be full-up well in advance every weekend of summer.  Weary travelers would come in looking for a room, and we'd have to break the news that the next available hotel rooms were about 100 miles to our  north.

First they would laugh, because, surely we were joking.  Why would so many people fill up our podunk little mining town?!  Certainly, they couldn't all be getting sex changes!  Truth is, hometown is the first town you hit when entering Colorado from the southern border on the main interstate.  You make it to Trinidad, and you have ARRIVED!  Little podunk  sex change/mining town, yes, but highly desirable nonetheless.

ANYWAY, my point is, hotels are still booked through summer.  I couldn't get a room.  Hometown girl status or no.  Airbnb.com to the rescue.  Have you heard of it?  I found us an old house to stay in.  It was built in the 1890s and really gave a feel of how little people were back then.

As we navigated the narrow and steep staircase to the upper level of the house, Chaco noted, "Gee, I've heard stories of people in the past dying from a fall down a flight of stairs and wondered how could that even happen.  We could totally die from falling down these stairs!"

True.  But we didn't...

Not my photo, I stole it off facebook

So we had a nice visit with Dad and took in a little scenic time.  This is "Simpson's Rest", a bluff that overlooks the town and has a well-known "Trinidad" sign.

It's the burial site of pioneer, George Simpson (hence the name).

So, in the morning, the three of us took a hike.

The peak in the background is Trinidad's most prominent feature - Fisher's Peak.  It's about 9600 ft. in altitude and has about a bazillion depictions - paintings, photos.

It's practically a crime to hike to the Trinidad sign and not get a photo of the view of Fisher's Peak and Trinidad, so...

It was a beautiful morning for our little adventure.  When we arrived at the base of Simpson's Rest, we noticed a series of toppled garbage cans.  Evidence of bears.  I hoped they were resting after their night of garbage partying, and apparently they were.  

Of course, we were really there to visit Dad, who's doing well.  He turned 91 last week.  I took this pic which demonstrates my poor photography skillz.  Dad's eyes are closed and I failed to notice that there was a gentleman sleeping in a chair in the background.  I blur-smudged the sleeping man out, and now he looks like a ghostly presence.  

Poor photography aside, it was a nice little getaway.  Had a nice visit with Dad, didn't land in a bloody heap at the bottom of a Victorian staircase, and weren't mauled by bears.

Win!

.

sun, wildlife, and drums

We got out into the world a bit today.  It seems like we've spent so much time being snowed in recently, so an outing was nice.  The sun shone pretty much all day, and the roads were all mostly pavement!

Meego had a winter percussion competition today in Denver, so Magnum and I went along, although the stereotypical "band parents" were are certainly not.  But that's another story.

Anyway, it was just nice to have clear roads and clear skies for a change.  The trip and entertainment were just gravy.  We arrived with plenty of time before Meego's group was scheduled to perform, and Magnum noticed a curious "Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge" on the map near the competition venue.

"TWO PONDS?!", he smirked at the name.  "NATIONAL wildlife refuge?!" he smirked at the distinction.  Okay, I agreed it wasn't much of a name, and we were in the middle of a residential area that didn't look anything like a wildlife refuge, so it was decided.  We had to check this place out.

It's a real thing.  I googled.

And we were there.  Today.  See?

It wasn't a huge place, but it actually looked quite inviting.  I think it would be a fun place to take little kids.  Today, it was very buried in snow.  We ventured inward a little bit along a trail someone had blazed with snowshoes, but with the risk of being stranded and resorting to cannibalism, we turned around.

One thing has us curious, however.  Maybe the blog brain trust can help?  Here's one of the trailhead kiosks...

Note the universal "do's and dont's" symbols.  On the right, the "dont's":  No horseback riding, no bicycles, no pooches, no humungous cigarettes, and no shark fishing - apparently.  On the left, the "do's":  Wheelchair access, binoculars/observing, hiking, and... and... deer hunting?  Bring your pet elk?  Not our fault if you are gored by antlered wildlife?  What does that symbol  mean??  

Anyone??

Oh, the band competition was fun too.  They did us all proud.  

I was glad to have something take my mind off the weird signage of Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge...