2009 - ChrisBeth'nEmily

We're finally out of Texas

7 Jul 2009
Raton, New Mexico

    We had to drive through 3 states to do it, but we finally made it out of Texas! Okay, so we left Amarillo this morning and then the Navigator (moi???) insisted we drive miles and miles out of our way (30 or so...) in order to travel through Boise City, Oklahoma on our way to New Mexico. (I have family in Boise, Idaho and didn't know there was another Boise.)

    The Panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma are not known for their exquisite scenery, but it was interesting.

    *Huge agricultural fields - corn, cotton, hay, cattle, etc. - some kept green by huge circular irrigation systems.

    *Huge "farms" of windmills generating electricity for the city folks across the state. (Those same folks who are suing to keep the ugly transmission lines from crossing their backyards, of course. Let's just make it come magically, jumping across someone else's landscape, please.)

    *Huge collections of grasshopper-looking oil well pumpers - some scattered willy-nilly through the aforementioned farms of agriculture and windmills.

    *Little towns that insisted we drop our speed to 55 or 45 or even 35, lest we flatten one of the few youngsters.

    Tonight and tomorrow we are visiting a really cool campground just south of Raton, run by the NRA (yes, that NRA). Until now, the Yuma shooting range was the best I'd seen. This area makes all others look puny! AJ's southern boys would wet their pants they'd be so excited at the variety - you want a small bore rifle silhouette range? or a shotgun trap/skeet range? or a sight-in range? or a black powder range? or a high power rifle silhouette range? or a hunter's pistol silhouette range? (that one stopped me for a moment - the only thing I would hunt with a pistol would be an armed human invader of my home, so I guess this is where I practice.)

    On the map of the grounds the location of the Automated External Defibrillator is clearly marked. Thank you. Tomorrow we will wander over to the administration building to examine the new firearms museum and see if any fun competition shooting is going on.

    The Center location is wonderful - after weeks of Texas heat and flatness, this area in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains is refreshing. And cooler.

Happy 4th of July

5 Jul 2009
Abilene, Texas

    Okay, so I'm a day late. Live with it.

    This morning it is raining - just a nice steady light rain. And it's much cooler - this is a good thing. It's been in the mid to high-90s all week.

    We planned to participate in the Abilene/Taylor County community celebrations of the 4th yesterday - we had choices: the Buffalo Gap children's parade and reading of the Declaration of Independence; the Hillcrest neighborhood parade and assorted food booths; the "Big Country Support the Troops July 4th Family Festival" at the city park, including the classic fireworks show (there is an Air Force base in town - this is a patriotic community!); some "hard-hitting, action-packed indoor football" as the Abilene Ruff Riders took on the Odessa Roughnecks...

    We chose the football and fireworks - right across the street from each other. They moved the starting time of the game so it would be over in time for the Big Show of Lights.

    On the way to the game Chris questioned whether the game would be rained out (there was a forecast of thunder storms - and he was still remembering the Rangers game we didn't watch in Arlington a few weeks ago.) I explained again that it was indoors. Okay.

    The game was terrific! I'd never seen indoor football before - I mean, it's played on a basketball court, more or less! We sat in 25 yard line seats (there is no 50 yard line!) We yelled and sang and supported along with the respectable crowd. I learned how to do the YMCA arm moves as we all sang along.

-Okay, so the box seats were folding chairs on the floor hiding behind a flimsy-looking temporary barrier.

-Okay, so, the announcer knew a lot of the fans by first name.

-Okay, so, the auctions of the game shirts - autographed after the game - went for just over $100.

-Okay, so, there was a pickup truck parked under one field goal and people were sitting in the back watching the game.

-Okay, so, the final score was 43 - 19 (yes, the Ruff Riders won!)

-Okay, so, as we left - and had to go clear around over to the other side to get out - we walked through the "press booth" and no one got upset.

    This was fun!!! There's a great Abilene news article on the players lifestyle - click here for the link.

    We had deliberated parked the car for a good view of the park - remember the fireworks display in the park? - we pulled out the chairs that live in the back and settled down for a good view. There are lots and lots of fireworks stands in the city and county - some tucked back on country roads that we traversed as we tried to find the Center for the game. (What??? You say why didn't we use the GPS and Streets & Trips??? Well, we did. Don't believe everything they tell you!) The impromptu displays in the parking lot and picnic areas of the park were rather good - these people had spent some good money on more than sparklers. And we waited and waited and waited... It got darker and darker and darker...

    Finally, someone came along and said it had been canceled. We're sitting in the 84 degree temps on a non-windy, nice night. What's the story???? After we got home, the thunderstorms rolled in and the rain began. Oh, well. Chris worried about the wrong thing being canceled...

The arena - note the pickup truck under the goal post.

Play action!

    The opening in the temporary barriers/advertising sections over there leads directly into the "bench" for the players. Slide the wall, enter the playing field. BTW, the coaches are allowed on the field - they mostly stay in the corner areas.

The mascot?

These are the box seats - the highest priced ones - well, other than the ones on the 25 yard line...


The final score was: Abilene Ruff Riders 43, Odessa Roughnecks 19

Quotes for the day:

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." - Erma Bombeck

“Sure, luck means a lot in football. Not having a good quarterback is bad luck.” - Don Shula

“Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?" -Jim Bouton

"The reason women don't play football is because eleven of them would never wear the same outfit in public."  ~Phyllis Diller

Not Much is Happening...

28 Jun 2009
Johnson City, Texas

    We ran over to Walt & Roxie's today for a get together for them to say good-bye to their friends for a couple of months (going to Sweden to see the grandbabies) and so we could meet and greet their friends and neighbors. Good food, good people, fun times. We took the new radio controlled car that may or may not be donated to grandkids, someday. Someday is getting further away - the guys had a good time with it today!

    We've spent several days lately playing with real estate ladies (why are they all women?) It was the plan when we came down here that we'd find a little acreage in the country so we could build a big steel barn someday that would house us and Pugsley. We obviously are not in the right tax bracket to afford Hill Country acreages - or we're too tight. Or both.

    Mason county is further out and kinda nice. Kimble county is further out and marginal, but it has some good hunting land for sale fairly cheap (only $4000 per acre.) Gillespie county is too rich for our blood. Blanco county is the right location, but no one wants to sell what I want to buy. Oh, well.

    The other evening we drove out in the wilds to have a terrific hamburger at Alamo Springs, and then "watched" the Mexican Freetail bats fly out of the old railroad tunnel on their way to go eat millions of bugs. We watched an empty dark hole below us until it was after dusk, at which time the bats sneaked out under cover of darkness. Cheeky blighters!

Waiting for Godot - oops, hamburgers.

They lied!

Bat skeleton - interesting decorations... and it's not even Halloween.

    Did I mention the cute little town of Albert, Texas that is for sale? At a ridiculously low price, considering it comes with 13 acres of land, a bar/grill, and a house! It's just down the road from Luckenbach, but never quite made the fame. We decided not to buy it.

 

Population: 4 - not counting the tourists.

Inside the "Ice House" - the bar and grill.

Quotes of the day: [It's hard to find a bat quote, btw!!!]

“Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble...”  - William Shakespeare

Texas Hill Country

25 Jun 2009
Johnson City, Texas

    One of the best parts of RVing is meeting new friends - and then meeting them somewhere else down the road.

    Walt and Roxie were our *neighbors* for a couple of weeks at Lake Lyman in northeastern Arizona a year or so ago. This week we are having fun with them in the Fredericksburg area, where they have a real house, now they've given up that roadie stuff. One of our connecting links is gourds - I reeled out the line and set the hook into Roxie. She now does some neat stuff! Including pink flamingo bird houses. Put your mind around that image!

    We visited the fabulous gourd show at the art gallery in Kerrville with them, after a great lunch at the Cotton Gin in Fredericksburg. It was fun to recognize the works of one of my favorite gourdists - Kristy Dial - on display at the show.

    We visited the home/barn of friends of theirs out of Mason. We are interested in obtaining property and doing somewhat the same idea, so we peered and poked appreciatively. The longhorns on the property were friendly - see photo below.

    We located one property we did not wish to purchase after wandering over the river and through the woods... And then Walt chauffeured us on a drive through a small portion of the western Hill Country area, which we really enjoyed. He and his buddies ride motorcycles out through this area a lot and took us to see the back roads and small towns. I fell in love with Mason, by the way. Great little town with multiple restaurants, and gift stores, and a courthouse square, and lots of shops and...

    We have been invited to a sort of farewell party on Sunday at Walt & Roxie's (they leave next week for a month in Sweden visiting the grandkids.) But last night we enjoyed pre-party-visiting with the owners of the barn (see above) - turns out Linda and Chris had some similar migratory experiences, which was fun.

 

Just sittin' and rockin' on the front porch of The Barn.

Some of the local longhorns on Lee & Linda's place.

Quote for the day:

If happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care, then the happiest individual would not be either a man or a woman; it would be, I think, an American cow.  ~William Lyon Phelps

Finally to Austin

20 Jun 2009
Johnson City, Texas

    Here we are, finally at the only other planned visit for the summer. The prior one was Indianapolis, of course. My wonderful and talented sis-in-law offered - after much begging and groveling - to give me some tips and techniques on 'how to paint' if we would show up near their house.

    The trip down from Fort Worth area was slow and painful. Our average speed was 27 mph! It was another hot day, there were several stretches of construction, and accident #1:

Ow!

    Then there was accident #2:



    But then it was time for lunch... we had exited I-35 and tried a state highway by now. One with no picnic areas nor places to pull over for a break and food. I solved the problem by locating a drive-in with room for us! Not many drive-ins can handle a 40 foot motorhome. We cheated; we parked in front along the highway...

    and partook of yummy Mexican food! The sign was in a bad location, but you might see we wouldn't quite fit into one of the two drive-thru windows...

    Johnson City is a very small Hill Country town - home of former president Lyndon Johnson. We parked here so we'd be close to both Austin and Frederickburg, where we'll be spending time. In fact, it is in fact between the two, but I may have mis-calculated the "close" definition. Oh, well. Roadrunner RV Park is a nice little park, with a delightful owner. Obviously it's not High Season - we didn't have to beg for a spot.

    I started "working" on Wednesday - slaving over a hot paintbrush for hundreds of hours each day. VeAnne is soooo good - she put 4 kids through college with tole painting sales and now does multiple craft shows each year. I'm in awe of how she can just pick up a brush, dap it in paint and make it do what she wants!!! I'll put in some photos of her stuff when I revise this entry. This one shows her correcting my grubby little lines on my pumpkin try.

    She has a veritable factory at their home - half the garage is full of bandsaws, sabre saws, jig saws, drills, sanders, tables, paints... (the other half contains my brother's gorgeous BMW, as in motorcycle. I must remember to get a photo of it also.) No cars in this garage! The photo is taken in her "studio" above the garage, which is stuffed to the gills with paints, patterns, books, trinkets, tables, stools, more paints, brushes, solvents... And I thought my playhouse was full... I'm an amateur.

    The other aspect of visiting D&V is their appreciation for good food and willingness to try "new." We found Johnny Fins on Lake Travis (well, it used to be a lake...) and had fantastic large skewers of really good fried shrimp (on Wed. you get a double order for the single price!) This morning we showed up at the door with a Marie Callender's Ham Quiche - plus a French Apple pie. We received a fine welcome! 

    Chris and Derl spent the last couple of days shopping for shoes and handguns. They succeeded in purchasing both.

Quotes for the day:

I don`t have hobbies; hobbies cost money. Interests are quite free. - George Carlin

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser. - John W. Gardner

God gives every bird a worm, but he does not throw it into the nest. - Swedish proverb

More photos added later:

  I painted most of it - VeAnne added swirls & edges and the lettering (see prior photo.) I learned how to 'load a brush' and do depth and highlights, and how to blend and combine. Cool. It was hard for her - something like teaching a first grader. She was good.

I rummaged thru her stacks of stuff in the house and shed and forced her to sell and/or donate a number of pieces to me. This was one - too good.

Same frog, different sign.

Christmas stuff sitting around. Covet, covet... RVers don't get to own such stuff in large quantities, y'know.

Driving Fun

12 Jun 2009

Grand Prairie, Texas

We have a GPS. Doesn't everyone???? Ours speaks with a female British accent and is called Emily. Yes, we did name our bird after our GPS. Doesn't everyone?

Emily the GPS is known for getting confused and/or getting us lost. Well, so is Emily the Budgie, but that has nothing to do with today's story. Getting confused and lost is much more amusing in the car than in the motorhome, of course. The car has been known to go around narrow residential blocks, cut through parking lots, and even - *gasp* - back up when bad directions happen!!!

Lately we have been even more amused by some of her pronunciations. Today was one of those days. While we were in Minnesota last summer it took us awhile to figure out why the street we were supposed to turn on was "Constitution Doctor" - and then we realized she was totally correct. "Constitution Dr." certainly looks like Constitution Doctor to me... or not.

Today was even better. We drove way out northwest of Fort Worth to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving to watch your tax dollars being made. I'll try to refrain from commenting about how the President you elected is having to have more and more money printed. Okay, so I didn't refrain. For the final segment of the journey, Emily told us to turn right off the freeway onto "Federated States of Micronesia 156". Excuse me???? Run this through the brain once more? Yep, that's exactly what she repeated. How many are aware that the secondary roads in Texas are designated "FM" and then a number? The FM standing for Farm to Market (in the old days), but definitely NOT Federated States of Micronesia. It got us there.

And then much later, as we approached the last segment to our "home" - the RV park on the grossly under-construction, very narrow, very busy road, we were ordered to turn on "Shhh 360" ?? As in, "be quiet"??? Or SH as in State Highway? Obviously it was a long hot day - it was 97 degrees... we did the money warehouse... we did the parade of longhorns... we did Billy Bob's... we fought the afternoon commuter traffic...We chuckled.

As we approached home we stopped at a red light. And began laughing. Thank goodness the lights in question weren't facing our way. The cross traffic was stopped. Permanently? Or until they sent someone out to look up at the lights and give a signal when they turn green?

During the day's festivities, I felt it necessary to make a fool of myself on Pecos Bill, the longhorn.

 

Quote for the day:

"Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing." - Warren Spahn

Fort Worth and Environs...

10 Jun 2009

Grand Prairie, Texas

Late entry put in at the beginning: Glub...glub...glub... and we thought Indiana had rain... 5 to 6 inches in the past 24 hours... 3,000+ lightning strikes in the same time... we're glad we're on a concrete parking pad!!! The internet satellite dish is working spottily, so photos may have to be added later, btw.

We are happily ensconced in a less-than-resort-quality RV park smack dab between Dallas and Fort Worth. It's an okay place, just nothing to write home about. It is very, very convenient if you are interested in meandering through the "Largest Texas Weekend Market" - chock-a-bloc full of all the 'marifas' you never wanted, nor needed, nor would ever purchase. But there are lots of them!!!

We've been touristing - as long as we're in the Big City, let's see the sites: visiting the Fort Worth Stockyards and its marvelous longhorn cattle; wandering through the really terrific and well laid-out Fort Worth zoo; going to a Texas Rangers' ballgame... still on the calendar is a visit to the Bureau of Printing & Engraving (visiting some of our tax dollars under construction.)

 Real longhorns!  Trying to eat. (click on the photos for larger views, of course)

Every day (at 11 and 4) they "herd" these longhorns down Main Street in the old stockyards area. We missed the spectacle because we were having too much fun at the zoo, but we found the horns... Can you imagine trying to fit those into that feeding station? and not get caught?

 Fort Worth Zoo - Chris  What is this again?  Flamingos!  snack shack

This is a really terrific zoo - not exactly the old concrete and iron bar cage image! We'd probably have stayed longer, but it was 94 degrees (and at least 80% humidity! I didn't sweat, I dripped!) - the sno-cone from the Penguin shack saved my life. The flamingos were marvelous.

I let him ride...  (tomato frog)  

I made Chris pose... we liked the 'tomato frog'... the landscaping was luscious...

We arrived at the Ranger's ball park in time (according to their website) to take the tour of the back rooms and the museum. Well, not exactly... The tours ended at 2 pm; the museum was closed for a "private" party. We looked at each other and entered at the same time as another couple that had been invited. After all, we're very private. I'm glad we didn't pay the entry fee - it was okay, but not spectacular. And we didn't take the free drinks - we do have standards, after all.

Field prep   CP in our seats

So then we were in time to watch the pre-game warm ups, the bases get set, the field markings take shape. You have to believe they don't have too many fans, even on "Wednesday - all hot dogs $1" night. We got walk-up tickets for seats on the 3rd base line, 4th row. And the hot dogs may have been a dollar (limit 5 per customer) but the Coke and beer prices were astounding!

Rangers Stadium  Announcing the Advancing Torrent   Let's roll out the cover  Good groundskeepers!  Downpour

So then we were in time for the rolling out of the field cover... the staking down of the cover... the parking of tractors on all four corners of the cover to keep it from flying away... and the Downpour, accompanied by the Wind! Wow. After an hour or two, we all went home... Maybe we'll try to use our rain check on Friday, when the Dodgers are in town.

Quotes for the day:

Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night." - Charles M. Schulz

You call it slacking. I call it "Dedicated Inactivity." - T-shirt at Caitlin's party

June is for Graduation

6 Jun 2009
Dallas, Texas

    I just returned from a quick trip to Boise to see Caitlin, our eldest granddaughter, do the march across the stage for a diploma from Capital High School. She did it very well, indeed.

    Which brings to mind years and generations of other graduations. My parents did not come from families that were highly and formally educated. Mom and Dad were possibly the only ones of any of their siblings to attain any educational degrees. They attended college before their marriage, during the child-rearing years, and as we children were in high school. On campus classes, correspondence courses, summer classes, one-at-a-time classes squeezed into a work week. It was a part of their life. Not only was the goal of a degree important, but so was the learning process. Our house always was filled with books, magazines and newspapers.

    Dad was awarded a Bachelor of Arts from Idaho State College in the 1961. Mom's was awarded a few years later - the same year their eldest son graduated from University of Utah. Later Mom completed all the course work for a Master's, but never completed her thesis.

    From our family: mother, father, and four children came at least 9 degrees. Derrel has two Bachelors, I have two, Mike has a Bachelors and Masters, Gene has a Bachelors and several PEs. Not bad, y'know?

    The next generation achieved as well - the twelve grandchildren of my parents lay claim to at least 6 Bachelor's, several Masters and four doctorates: Dr. Doug, Dr. Alex, Dr. Chad, Dr. Todd... Cool... This doesn't even take into account their spouses.

    Now our grandchildren have begun the walk: Brad graduated this month from the Air Force Academy, following in his father's footsteps and leading the way for his younger brother. Trevor is heading to West Point, Caitlin has just graduated high school and is heading for Army basic training, Taft graduates from high school next week in the Seattle area.

    We're all at home in a graduation ceremony. It feels good. I'm proud of my family.

Quotes for the topic:

A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that 'individuality' is the key to success. - Robert Orben

A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad. - Theodore Roosevelt

A professor is someone who talks in someone else's sleep.- W.H. Auden

At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards. My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros. - Paul Freund

Oklahoma

28 May 2009
Checotah, Oklahoma

     I don't know about you, but my image of Oklahoma is huge grassy plains, spotted with roaming bison, oil well rigs and rampaging redskins... Well, trust me, it ain't so! We really enjoyed our few days in Oklahoma city a few weeks ago - it was metropolitan and interesting.

    Now we are in the eastern/central part of the state. It is grassy and tree-filled and populated by rolling hills and huge lakes (Lake Eufaula, Lake Tenkiller). Occasionally there are a few little towns - all with historical museums, of course.

    Today we will wander up to Muskogee. Yes, dear friends, as in Okie from Muskogee per Merle Haggard... 

And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all.

    Points of interest: The Five Civilized Tribes Museum, the Three Rivers Museum and the USS Batfish - a submarine right in town. Doubt we'll find any white lightnin'.

      The KOA where we are parked for almost a week is a really, really nice one - you have to understand our prejudice against KOAs to appreciate that. We/I have vowed NEVER to stay in another one on several occasions, usually right after we rub up against a stupid tree that is too close or not trimmed up properly, or tried to make a corner designed for Coleman pop-up tent trailers.

    This one has open areas for people with satellite dishes, it has level sites, it has grass, it has trees, it has a fishing pond, it has a zoo - chickens, emus, goats and geese - AND it has a cook. Every morning and night you can dine at the clubhouse - the first night we were here she offered blackberry cobbler for dessert. YUMMY blackberry cobbler ala mode... The menu is amazing. The food is good.

    I had some fun comments on last week's post. Thanks for the chuckle, Joan - no, no unemployment - (darn); the good analysis, AJ (PeeWees) - it takes your great way with words to state the obvious for me - you have to read his epistle on cleaning toilets to understand why we will NEVER work as camp hosts; and the appreciation of the quotes, Dawn. I have so much fun finding them. BTW, if everyone would continue to comment I could put the box back in the right column. It was so embarrassing when I had it there and the last comment was 6 months before...

   

    Pam called the other night and is planning a graduation party for Caitlin - we all agree that her graduating is such an unexpected event that we have to party! And then we semi-analyzed the "family" to be invited: parents, grandparents, cousins, friends. All normal, right? Well, then you throw in multiple divorces, step-parents, step-siblings, half-siblings, ex-grandparents, ex-step-grandparents, pets... we must vying to be the poster child of the new "American family." 

Miscellaneous photos:

Just be happy this isn't YOUR tank of fuel - nor ours (our tank only holds 95 gallons).

Sometimes we're together...

 Sometimes we're not - the KOA geese.

Quotes for the day - special family edition:

Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts.  ~Author Unknown

“In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.” - Alex Haley

When our relatives are at home, we have to think of all their good points or it would be impossible to endure them.  ~George Bernard Shaw

Friends are God's apology for relations.  ~Hugh Kingsmill

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city."  - George Burns

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."  - Jane Howard

Getting caught is the mother of invention.   - Robert Byrne

Recovery and moving on

25 May 2009
Effingham, Illinois

    We had a fantastic month in Indianapolis! Race Day was the culmination - beautiful weather, huge crowds, excellent race, the right guy won (IMHO)... and we are unemployed again. Hurrah!

    This morning a group of us met for breakfast at the Brickyard Crossing restaurant - A.J. Foyt just happened to walk by while we were there. Cool. We bid farewell to new friends and scattered to the four winds. In a massive rain and thunderstorm. Thank the rain gods this happened today, not yesterday!!!

    Race Day was long - I had to be at the time clock at 4:45 AM. Yikes. How disgusting. It was still dark as the gates opened to the public at 6 AM.

    After I was released and technically unemployed - about 2 pm - I walked the Speedway grounds, stared at the weird people, enjoyed the sights and sounds (zoom, zoom, zoom), watched a bit of the race on the south end between turns 1 and 2, walked through the garage area where the already outed drivers were packing up, ate some more junk food, stared at the weird people, watched snippets of the race past pit row, wandered through the plaza, hiked the mile to the campground past the weird people, and settled down in my nice home to watch the end of the race on a nice TV in an air-conditioned room with my almost unemployed husband. He had to report to duty again for a short time before turning in his yellow shirt, official ID card and radio. He was smiling when he returned, also unemployed...

    This morning, in the middle of the rain, we packed up and moved back into the gravel lot - getting out of our grassy field before it was again flooded. After I returned from breakfast, we hit the road. We were out of town by 10:30 am. So much for extended farewells.

    Tonight we are still decompressing. Emily is practicing her rock climbing skills on the wall lamp.



    We're on our way to Dallas, where I'll leave Chris & Emily for a few days while I fly to Boise for Caitlin's graduation. Then we'll wander south to the Austin area. And then our plans peter out...

    
Quote for the day:

I bought a cactus. A week later it died. And I got depressed, because I thought, Damn. I am less nurturing than a desert.  - Demetri Martin