Now, next day, Lawton Virginia… at my niece’s house… The bird is in… the first bottle of champagne is open. There is food out on the counter… there are kids… my grand nieces and nephews under foot… its Thanksgiving as thanksgiving should be…
The bird is done, the stuffing too,
the gravy hot, mash potatoes too
Green beans; its Thanksgiving and we are feeling fine…
Phone calls awaiting from over seas
The kids are asking what’s for me
Jen is bribing the kids to go and hide
Its Thanksgiving, and we all have gathered here….
Wood and wine, we are all here…
Soon it time for pie…
Pecan and pumpkin and cream too…
Kellie is spraying whipped cream into everyone’s mouth…
Its Thanksgiving in Virginia…
Friday morning… we sleep in… we get up… Metro into DC… stop at a Starbucks for coffee and a danish… then on to the National Art Museum… They have a Di Vinci… then across the mall to the Air and Space Museum… We have special responsibilities, we are carrying a “Flat Stanley” visiting us from outside Chicago… and we need photos for Cassidy, his person… We meet another family carrying a flat Stanley in the Air and Space Museum… a group photo is needed… after a quick visit we are off to the Museum of the American Indian… The museum is challenging… it is hard to understand… I hated it after my first visit but now after 4 or 5 visits think it is an inspired museum which asks you to think… Tina is still not sure… we tried to eat in their café… but the lines were significant… off to a Mexican place behind the Library of Congress then back to the Botanical Garden, which had a special Christmas train and village exhibit… the exhibit was great… we spent more time than expected, then walked to Metro for a trip back to Matt’s to reclaim the car and join everyone else at Gaylord’s National Harbor… a destination Convention site and resort across the Potomac. Mike, Jen’s husband works there and we were off for their “ICE” exhibit… an carved ice village in a tent… kept at 9 degrees… They issue everyone heavy blue jackets… we explore… we ride the ice slide… a week ago I was testing water slides… now Ice slides… then off to the hotel lobby for tree lighting, indoor snow, and water and light shows… there were fireworks outside as well… after enjoying the festivities, and deciding that eating in any of their restaurants would involve a wait of hours we made for old town Alexandria… ended up in a high end Italian place… the kids were well behaved… all was good… we had wine (all was good) now home… getting ready for bed.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Slouching towards Thanksgiving….
Late Tuesday night we (T & I) were off to SFO to catch the red eye for Thanksgiving in Virginia (yes Christina there is a Virginia)
The extra daughter, feeder of cats and other animals, drove us, dropping us off at the appropriate gate… an hour and a half before out flight is scheduled to leave…
We were carrying half a case of wine, that needed to be checked… and had included the checked baggage when checking in… we went to the proper counter… all check in stations occupied… a short line, and a noticeable lack of any United Airlines Employees behind the counter… We had seen this before… on a previous United flight… again a busy evening… and all staff abandoned a counter with guest waiting, and waiting, and beginning to panic… After 10 minutes or so a porter tells us to go to a different counter… a general check-in counter, not the have boarding passes but needs to check bags counter… Again, all stations in use… at least there is an employee this time… Another employee sensing my frustration comes over… I believe a supervisor, and gets me served… then off to the security lines… which are quite long… We get through and get to the gate, as they are calling our boarding group…
We get seats and bin space… others don’t and have to gate check, some not receiving receipts for the bags… There has to be a better way to handle baggage and fees…
We arrive in DC about dawn, in a drippy fog… make our way across the airport… at Dulles this involves this involves shuttles that give you a second chance to experience de-boarding…
Our wine arrives without damage at the oversize item area, the daughter arrives within minutes of us going outside and off we go in to DC traffic…
Breakfast in an Alexandria café… rendezvous with the nephew (we are staying at his condo, he is going to Michigan for Thanksgiving… ) Matt lives next to a metro station… We board the metro and go off to the Pentagon for a tour… (thanks to Jackie Spear.) The Pentagon has high security (who would have thought that?) We clear security, then go to the waiting area… then the tour… It’s a good tour, with various hall ways dedicated to military history and honoring various groups and events… the 9-11 memorial is small but powerful…
Leaving the Pentagon, we back track to the condo to pick up cameras and change… then off to DC
Metro to the Eastern Market where they have moved the food stalls back into the old brick building after the fire… In deference to Pikes they don’t throw fish here… but in one stall they were throwing turkey… not for show, but to move them from a cart to the cooler… we have Crab cake sandwiches… We look but there are no butternut squash in evidence.
From the market we walk to the Library of Congress… I need to get to upgrade my card, so we go over to the reader registration room… I get a new card and Tina gets a card… Steph already has a card… All now equipped with current cards we take Tina for a tour of the Jefferson Building… since we all have cards we can explore the Jefferson reading room, the “temple of books”
From the LOC we walk past the Capital, to the mall… then split up, I am want to spend time in a library, but they are closed… I spend a few minutes with “Jupiter” a 1876 steam locomotive I am fond of… we rendezvous at the Museum of Natural History, Then explore the Museum of American History… We last until closing, then walk over to the National Portrait Gallery, via the Navy Memorial…
From the Portrait Gallery, take Metro to Union Station for dinner at the Capital City Brewery… home via metro, then Steph and I go off in search of butter nut squash and more wine… I didn’t see a need to carry the champagne from California when it can be found here, and its always nice to have a back up bottle or two… There seems to be a shortage of butternut squash in the DC area… none found near California Maryland… only a couple of small ones at the Eastern Market in DC… and Safeway has none… couple of stops later we have both…
Now, next day, Lawton Virginia… at my niece’s house… The bird is in… the first bottle of champagne is open. There is food out on the counter… there are kids… my grand nieces and nephews under foot… its Thanksgiving as thanksgiving should be…
The extra daughter, feeder of cats and other animals, drove us, dropping us off at the appropriate gate… an hour and a half before out flight is scheduled to leave…
We were carrying half a case of wine, that needed to be checked… and had included the checked baggage when checking in… we went to the proper counter… all check in stations occupied… a short line, and a noticeable lack of any United Airlines Employees behind the counter… We had seen this before… on a previous United flight… again a busy evening… and all staff abandoned a counter with guest waiting, and waiting, and beginning to panic… After 10 minutes or so a porter tells us to go to a different counter… a general check-in counter, not the have boarding passes but needs to check bags counter… Again, all stations in use… at least there is an employee this time… Another employee sensing my frustration comes over… I believe a supervisor, and gets me served… then off to the security lines… which are quite long… We get through and get to the gate, as they are calling our boarding group…
We get seats and bin space… others don’t and have to gate check, some not receiving receipts for the bags… There has to be a better way to handle baggage and fees…
We arrive in DC about dawn, in a drippy fog… make our way across the airport… at Dulles this involves this involves shuttles that give you a second chance to experience de-boarding…
Our wine arrives without damage at the oversize item area, the daughter arrives within minutes of us going outside and off we go in to DC traffic…
Breakfast in an Alexandria café… rendezvous with the nephew (we are staying at his condo, he is going to Michigan for Thanksgiving… ) Matt lives next to a metro station… We board the metro and go off to the Pentagon for a tour… (thanks to Jackie Spear.) The Pentagon has high security (who would have thought that?) We clear security, then go to the waiting area… then the tour… It’s a good tour, with various hall ways dedicated to military history and honoring various groups and events… the 9-11 memorial is small but powerful…
Leaving the Pentagon, we back track to the condo to pick up cameras and change… then off to DC
Metro to the Eastern Market where they have moved the food stalls back into the old brick building after the fire… In deference to Pikes they don’t throw fish here… but in one stall they were throwing turkey… not for show, but to move them from a cart to the cooler… we have Crab cake sandwiches… We look but there are no butternut squash in evidence.
From the market we walk to the Library of Congress… I need to get to upgrade my card, so we go over to the reader registration room… I get a new card and Tina gets a card… Steph already has a card… All now equipped with current cards we take Tina for a tour of the Jefferson Building… since we all have cards we can explore the Jefferson reading room, the “temple of books”
From the LOC we walk past the Capital, to the mall… then split up, I am want to spend time in a library, but they are closed… I spend a few minutes with “Jupiter” a 1876 steam locomotive I am fond of… we rendezvous at the Museum of Natural History, Then explore the Museum of American History… We last until closing, then walk over to the National Portrait Gallery, via the Navy Memorial…
From the Portrait Gallery, take Metro to Union Station for dinner at the Capital City Brewery… home via metro, then Steph and I go off in search of butter nut squash and more wine… I didn’t see a need to carry the champagne from California when it can be found here, and its always nice to have a back up bottle or two… There seems to be a shortage of butternut squash in the DC area… none found near California Maryland… only a couple of small ones at the Eastern Market in DC… and Safeway has none… couple of stops later we have both…
Now, next day, Lawton Virginia… at my niece’s house… The bird is in… the first bottle of champagne is open. There is food out on the counter… there are kids… my grand nieces and nephews under foot… its Thanksgiving as thanksgiving should be…
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
T- 3 and counting…
T and I are off to Virginia and Maryland for Thanksgiving in just over 3 hours. So far only the wine is packed… but the rest will take care of itself… The wine (six bottles was an issue… it has to be checked, and we are flying United, and United breaks guitars, and I am sure they are certainly capable of breaking or otherwise mistreating wine… So I bought a wine shipping box with a heavy Styrofoam liner, wrapped precious bottle and sealed the whole thing with lots of tape… it will have to do…
The plan (as much as we have one… overnight flight arriving at Dulles some time near dawn… The daughter will meet us… we will find some breakfast, maybe in Manassas (also known as Bull Run if you follow the Northern point of view related to the War of Northern aggression), find our way to Alexandria, where we will be staying… then metro to the Pentagon for a tour… then off to Washington DC… We want to visit the Library of Congress (I need to upgrade my card so I can put in pulls electronically) and a couple of the Smithsonians… I plan on taking a look at a few things in the Museum of American History Archives while the ladies are next door at the Museum of Natural History… We will probably do lunch at the Eastern Market…
Eventually we will make it back to Alexandria for the night.
Thursday is of course with family at one of our nieces in Lawton Virginia… Friday is so far free, and Friday evening there is a Christmas evening program at Mt Vernon that sounds interesting. Saturday we will probably in California Maryland, and Sunday we end in Baltimore, staging for a very early flight on Monday…
The plan (as much as we have one… overnight flight arriving at Dulles some time near dawn… The daughter will meet us… we will find some breakfast, maybe in Manassas (also known as Bull Run if you follow the Northern point of view related to the War of Northern aggression), find our way to Alexandria, where we will be staying… then metro to the Pentagon for a tour… then off to Washington DC… We want to visit the Library of Congress (I need to upgrade my card so I can put in pulls electronically) and a couple of the Smithsonians… I plan on taking a look at a few things in the Museum of American History Archives while the ladies are next door at the Museum of Natural History… We will probably do lunch at the Eastern Market…
Eventually we will make it back to Alexandria for the night.
Thursday is of course with family at one of our nieces in Lawton Virginia… Friday is so far free, and Friday evening there is a Christmas evening program at Mt Vernon that sounds interesting. Saturday we will probably in California Maryland, and Sunday we end in Baltimore, staging for a very early flight on Monday…
Sunday, November 22, 2009
One Year - a Mile Stone...
Today it this blog’s first anniversary… a milestone…
I started it on a whim… I was attending the Lern Conference… Lern is a consulting group serving life long learning and Recreation programs… their message is about how to identify and reach your customers, how to develop classes… they are pretty good at what they do…Our City Recreation Department follows the Lern principals… in a really crappy environment it has worked well for us…
At that Lern conference I was particularly interested in generational marketing and electronic marketing… One talk (really many talks) got my attention… it was on social networks… Facebook and such… I was excited… I made plans… but our management team is suspicious of new things, and I was not allowed to use electronic marketing… we are allowed to use email newsletters… but the soft wear chosen is clumsy…
With the enthusiasm that comes from a good conference I joined Facebook, I started blogging… but not for work… for me… I have files on the cloud… I haven’t embraced Twitter, but I probably will try…
So today is the first anniversary of the blog… in the last year I have made 75 posts… a post every 5 days or so… I find I am enjoying it… I am compelled to continue… to find more things to post about… I have a Picasa page… with photos… it calls me as well. I continue to use Facebook… I find connections on Facebook… it works for me…
If you are reading this you have joined my world… welcome…
I started it on a whim… I was attending the Lern Conference… Lern is a consulting group serving life long learning and Recreation programs… their message is about how to identify and reach your customers, how to develop classes… they are pretty good at what they do…Our City Recreation Department follows the Lern principals… in a really crappy environment it has worked well for us…
At that Lern conference I was particularly interested in generational marketing and electronic marketing… One talk (really many talks) got my attention… it was on social networks… Facebook and such… I was excited… I made plans… but our management team is suspicious of new things, and I was not allowed to use electronic marketing… we are allowed to use email newsletters… but the soft wear chosen is clumsy…
With the enthusiasm that comes from a good conference I joined Facebook, I started blogging… but not for work… for me… I have files on the cloud… I haven’t embraced Twitter, but I probably will try…
So today is the first anniversary of the blog… in the last year I have made 75 posts… a post every 5 days or so… I find I am enjoying it… I am compelled to continue… to find more things to post about… I have a Picasa page… with photos… it calls me as well. I continue to use Facebook… I find connections on Facebook… it works for me…
If you are reading this you have joined my world… welcome…
Friday, November 20, 2009
Unicorn Chomping Pinko Commies and Water Slides…
Yesterday I got to see Alton Brown… aka Good Eats… He gave a talk at Google… T works at Google… Alton was doing a lecture for YouTube… on Thanksgiving… I got to go…
The lecture is on line at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWJGHOpm9Lo
It was really good… Alton knew he was at Google… he talked about Google… he teased Marrissa, the Google goddess… She was a good Sheila and not at all stuck up (Monty Python Reference… Alton would approve)
Then off to work… decorating a Victorian house.. we ended the day with the capture of Fluffy, a feral kitten who we have been caring for … we now know she is a she… and not anymore as of Friday evening…
Today, I got to be a Water Slide tester… at 10:00… cold, windy… we gathered at the water park… we were promised 90 degree water… (it was) for our testing…We stripped down… We went outside… We climbed the stairs… We were cold… We jumped into the water slide…. We slid… We Splashed… We did it again…
Having provided information about water flow and such… we went home or to work…. I went to the music store… and bought CDs
The lecture is on line at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWJGHOpm9Lo
It was really good… Alton knew he was at Google… he talked about Google… he teased Marrissa, the Google goddess… She was a good Sheila and not at all stuck up (Monty Python Reference… Alton would approve)
Then off to work… decorating a Victorian house.. we ended the day with the capture of Fluffy, a feral kitten who we have been caring for … we now know she is a she… and not anymore as of Friday evening…
Today, I got to be a Water Slide tester… at 10:00… cold, windy… we gathered at the water park… we were promised 90 degree water… (it was) for our testing…We stripped down… We went outside… We climbed the stairs… We were cold… We jumped into the water slide…. We slid… We Splashed… We did it again…
Having provided information about water flow and such… we went home or to work…. I went to the music store… and bought CDs
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Fall has arrived… in the land of no seasons…
It’s not a calendar thing… It’s not the store ads that weigh down the newspaper or the catalogs that the mail brings….
It’s beyond the leaves… beyond the early night fall… Fall has arrived…
Tonight it’s dark, very dark courtesy of a very thin, spectacularly thin crescent moon. It’s cold… while days are pleasant, the temperature drops fast as the sun falls.
At work, and at home, I am gathering and splitting fire wood … lighting fires… the smell of wood smoke is both a sign and part of the transition…
We start to cocoon… wear sweaters, hide in our circle of warmth… We think of tropical vacations…
I make soup.
I am starting to think of Christmas lights… of trees inside… of festive dinners…
This winter is seems mostly I am traveling… that seems at odds with cocooning… but it seems to work for me… It also means I am thinking of shedding stuff… losing that I don’t need but keep just for the keeping… probably not enough stuff to make a difference.
Or I can make more soup and empty the refrigerator and freezer… It’s all about soup…
Randy
It’s beyond the leaves… beyond the early night fall… Fall has arrived…
Tonight it’s dark, very dark courtesy of a very thin, spectacularly thin crescent moon. It’s cold… while days are pleasant, the temperature drops fast as the sun falls.
At work, and at home, I am gathering and splitting fire wood … lighting fires… the smell of wood smoke is both a sign and part of the transition…
We start to cocoon… wear sweaters, hide in our circle of warmth… We think of tropical vacations…
I make soup.
I am starting to think of Christmas lights… of trees inside… of festive dinners…
This winter is seems mostly I am traveling… that seems at odds with cocooning… but it seems to work for me… It also means I am thinking of shedding stuff… losing that I don’t need but keep just for the keeping… probably not enough stuff to make a difference.
Or I can make more soup and empty the refrigerator and freezer… It’s all about soup…
Randy
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Wine tasting
We need wine for Thanksgiving… I have written about this before… so today T and I went wine tasting…
Wine tasting is a very common local tourist activity… we are close to wineries… lots of wineries… we enjoy wine… we visit wine country… regularly… we have wine grapes in our backyard… but for the last 15 years or so we haven’t gone wine tasting… probably for the same reasons that New Yorkers don’t visit the Statue of Liberty…
Off to the north… to the Russian River area… near Healdsburg… Its about 100 miles away… The official goal was a Pinot Noir to partner with the turkey… Some years ago (15 years + some years ago) we really enjoyed a Pinot made by Bear Boat… at the time it was made by either J Winery (who mostly make Champagne) or their neighbor Rodney Strong… Now it’s made in Hopland, another 100 miles north… I haven’t found it at our local wine shops, so we decided to drive north and find an alternative…
First stop Rodney Strong… Good Pinot, but not “The” Pinot, but we really liked their “Symmetry”, a Meritage red… we bought that for Thanksgiving plus a Cab, and a really good Zin for home consumption, and a Port … we are taking that on the South American Cruise… We were looking for a oaky chardonnay, but didn’t find it. We asked for and got suggestions for other wineries…
Then off to Healdsburg and lunch in a tapas place… great lunch… Tina had a glass of David Bruce Chardonnay that gave us a fall back if we didn’t find anything else… (fall back doesn’t do the wine justice… it just wasn’t yet THE wine…) we walked about a bit around the square bought Emma (our dog) a Christmas scarf, and found the Kendal Jackson tasting room… They have a really nice soft Pinot… a great red wine for people who might otherwise drink white wine…It makes the dinner list. We buy a bottle… plus a Cabernet Franc for us…
Then off up along Dry Creek Valley… It is fall, the grapes have been harvested, the leaves are turning colors, the trees are changing colors… this isn’t Vermont, but it is fall in a beautiful place….
The folks at Rodney Strong had recommended several wineries… first Papapietro-Perry… they make Pinots and Zinfandels… They are up on a hill with 4 other small wineries and an olive works… We only visited Papapietro Perry… we tasted 2 Zins and 2 Pinots… we bought a Pinot…this one for us… They have a winery dog, complete with a tag on his collar saying “please don’t feed me”… They started making wine in their garage… we are now making wine in our garage… do I see a future for us… Tina doesn’t think so…
Finally we cross over to the west side of the valley to visit Preston… a winery with 13 cats in place of the typical dogs… Its more than just a winery… they have a garden and vegetable for sale… anything you want for $2.00 a lb… olives, and wine, all organic… from a solar powered building… We bought a pinot for home consumption here…
We headed home… stopped for ice cream in San Rafael, across the bridge… San Francisco at dusk… it was really pretty, clear skies and a brightly lit skyline, a ferry passing Alcatraz… we drove south along the Embarcadero…
At home we unload the wine, set the bottles aside for the trip to Virginia… then as I put the other bottles away I find that I have 3 bottles of 2004 Trefethen Chardonnay stashed away… perfect for the Chardonnay for the dinner… so now we only need a champagne… That shouldn’t take a tasting trip…
On other things…
T and I are trying to loose weight… lots of weight… we plan to loose a kindergartner each… We are doing this together… mostly watching calories, (goal, 1,200 to 1,500 a day) and shrinking portions… it’s working… we are both down more than 25 lbs… each, 50 lbs combined… even with eating out a couple of times a week… So today on the travel channel (sometimes a better food channel than Food TV) they visit a place that deep fries Twinkies… and announce a deep fried Twinkie has no less than 785 calories… I think I will pass…
On the travel front, my son is planning a trip for us… Spring 2011… yes, 18 months out… He figures his ship will be returning from an overseas deployment… and on the return from an overseas deployment the Navy usually offers sailors (and even officers) a chance to invite family and friends to join the ship’s company for a “Tiger Cruise”. I joined the crew of the DDG 86, the Shoup just over a year ago as they sailed from Hawaii to Everett Washington… We, the HT and DC group, with dad’s and one grandpa had a great time… the kids want to do it again, including inviting at least one sailor who has since left the Navy and his dad… I’m in…
And finally, the “New Years Cross Country drive” is taking shape… We picked up the car Saturday… I realized that our route will take us through Amarillo Texas, home of the Cadillac Ranch (http://www.libertysoftware.be/cml/cadillacranch/crmain.htm) , a 1970’s art installation by “Ant Farm” consisting of 10 post war Cadillacs buried nose down, tail fins up, as history of design, and a statement of the future of automobiles… It makes an appearance in Pixar’s CARS. It is iconic… They published a book about the project in 1976…. As a recent high school graduate I bought a copy… the project ignited my imagination… I still have the book. Now I will make the pilgrimage to the site… They suggest we take spray cans and contribute… will it be flames, or maybe a decoupage… Maybe pages from the book… I am not sure… but it needs to be something….
Wine tasting is a very common local tourist activity… we are close to wineries… lots of wineries… we enjoy wine… we visit wine country… regularly… we have wine grapes in our backyard… but for the last 15 years or so we haven’t gone wine tasting… probably for the same reasons that New Yorkers don’t visit the Statue of Liberty…
Off to the north… to the Russian River area… near Healdsburg… Its about 100 miles away… The official goal was a Pinot Noir to partner with the turkey… Some years ago (15 years + some years ago) we really enjoyed a Pinot made by Bear Boat… at the time it was made by either J Winery (who mostly make Champagne) or their neighbor Rodney Strong… Now it’s made in Hopland, another 100 miles north… I haven’t found it at our local wine shops, so we decided to drive north and find an alternative…
First stop Rodney Strong… Good Pinot, but not “The” Pinot, but we really liked their “Symmetry”, a Meritage red… we bought that for Thanksgiving plus a Cab, and a really good Zin for home consumption, and a Port … we are taking that on the South American Cruise… We were looking for a oaky chardonnay, but didn’t find it. We asked for and got suggestions for other wineries…
Then off to Healdsburg and lunch in a tapas place… great lunch… Tina had a glass of David Bruce Chardonnay that gave us a fall back if we didn’t find anything else… (fall back doesn’t do the wine justice… it just wasn’t yet THE wine…) we walked about a bit around the square bought Emma (our dog) a Christmas scarf, and found the Kendal Jackson tasting room… They have a really nice soft Pinot… a great red wine for people who might otherwise drink white wine…It makes the dinner list. We buy a bottle… plus a Cabernet Franc for us…
Then off up along Dry Creek Valley… It is fall, the grapes have been harvested, the leaves are turning colors, the trees are changing colors… this isn’t Vermont, but it is fall in a beautiful place….
The folks at Rodney Strong had recommended several wineries… first Papapietro-Perry… they make Pinots and Zinfandels… They are up on a hill with 4 other small wineries and an olive works… We only visited Papapietro Perry… we tasted 2 Zins and 2 Pinots… we bought a Pinot…this one for us… They have a winery dog, complete with a tag on his collar saying “please don’t feed me”… They started making wine in their garage… we are now making wine in our garage… do I see a future for us… Tina doesn’t think so…
Finally we cross over to the west side of the valley to visit Preston… a winery with 13 cats in place of the typical dogs… Its more than just a winery… they have a garden and vegetable for sale… anything you want for $2.00 a lb… olives, and wine, all organic… from a solar powered building… We bought a pinot for home consumption here…
We headed home… stopped for ice cream in San Rafael, across the bridge… San Francisco at dusk… it was really pretty, clear skies and a brightly lit skyline, a ferry passing Alcatraz… we drove south along the Embarcadero…
At home we unload the wine, set the bottles aside for the trip to Virginia… then as I put the other bottles away I find that I have 3 bottles of 2004 Trefethen Chardonnay stashed away… perfect for the Chardonnay for the dinner… so now we only need a champagne… That shouldn’t take a tasting trip…
On other things…
T and I are trying to loose weight… lots of weight… we plan to loose a kindergartner each… We are doing this together… mostly watching calories, (goal, 1,200 to 1,500 a day) and shrinking portions… it’s working… we are both down more than 25 lbs… each, 50 lbs combined… even with eating out a couple of times a week… So today on the travel channel (sometimes a better food channel than Food TV) they visit a place that deep fries Twinkies… and announce a deep fried Twinkie has no less than 785 calories… I think I will pass…
On the travel front, my son is planning a trip for us… Spring 2011… yes, 18 months out… He figures his ship will be returning from an overseas deployment… and on the return from an overseas deployment the Navy usually offers sailors (and even officers) a chance to invite family and friends to join the ship’s company for a “Tiger Cruise”. I joined the crew of the DDG 86, the Shoup just over a year ago as they sailed from Hawaii to Everett Washington… We, the HT and DC group, with dad’s and one grandpa had a great time… the kids want to do it again, including inviting at least one sailor who has since left the Navy and his dad… I’m in…
And finally, the “New Years Cross Country drive” is taking shape… We picked up the car Saturday… I realized that our route will take us through Amarillo Texas, home of the Cadillac Ranch (http://www.libertysoftware.be/cml/cadillacranch/crmain.htm) , a 1970’s art installation by “Ant Farm” consisting of 10 post war Cadillacs buried nose down, tail fins up, as history of design, and a statement of the future of automobiles… It makes an appearance in Pixar’s CARS. It is iconic… They published a book about the project in 1976…. As a recent high school graduate I bought a copy… the project ignited my imagination… I still have the book. Now I will make the pilgrimage to the site… They suggest we take spray cans and contribute… will it be flames, or maybe a decoupage… Maybe pages from the book… I am not sure… but it needs to be something….
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