3658 miles and Home!

Today I spent a little time in Salt Lake City. The city was okay, but I was more interested in the lake. I found a little place on the map I knew I had to go to - Antelope Island. It was well worth the side trip. I spent 3 hours on the island. It was really early in the morning, and there were bird watchers and fishermen everywhere. I think I was the only "tourist". I met a couple of really nice guys who were bird watching, and they were really excited about showing me the birds they had been watching. I drove all over the island. I think I hit all the public roads. I saw not a single antelope, but there were buffalo everywhere. I went for a hike, and I was walking among the buffalo. I got a little freaked out when I passed a coyote on the trail, so I turned back. Jim told me I should have been more afraid of the buffalo than the coyote. Whoops.

Once I left Salt Lake City I headed toward Boise ID. I was driving along the Snake River Canyon, and I decided to check it out. I went down to Shoshone Falls, which initially I thought was a mistake.... off the highway, off the main road, off the side road, off a smaller side road, and then down a nearly single lane windy, icy road. What the hell was I thinking? Well when I got to the bottom of the road I saw it. It was awesome. It was a weird combination of ice and rainbows.

I was tired and ready for my own bed so I high tailed it home to see Jim and my babies.

800 miles

Thanksgiving with Holly's family was really nice. It was a full house and a huge meal. We have a pretty small family, so it was kinda weird, yet nice to be in such a hectic environment. It was awesome to spend time with Bucky. I'm so glad we are able to hang out more. Yay he and Holly are coming up for Christmas!

I left out this morning to start the trip home. There is not a direct way to Portland from Tucson, but I decided to go the wiggly way so I could go some places I had always wanted to see.

I went to the Little Colorado Canyon and the Grand Canyon and took a nice little hike (I was assured that it had been to cold, so the rattlesnakes were in until spring). When you pass through the indian reservation on the way to the Grand Canyon, there are lots of roadside vendors - I can only image what it is like in the summer! I stopped and bought some jewelry. Afterwards I passed through the Painted Desert... which in my opinion was not as cool as the Painted Hills in Oregon... sorry kids. I also went to Zion UT. I wanted to go to Brice Canyon, but it had gotten too dark at that point. Holy crap it was COLD.

Well I did not mean to do quite that much today, but the traffic was so thin I felt I should take advantage of it. Of course once I was ready to stop I had a hard time finding a hotel with interior corridors. I have a thing against them. I found a seemingly okay place earlier, but there were 5 or 6 semi trucks parked out front and a bunch of guys standing outside smoking so I went on. I finally stopped in Payton UT at a nice hotel.... well nice for Payton I guess.

Shock

This was the temperature around Panguitch Utah this evening. What a shock to my system.. Yesterday in Tucson it was 78.

San Diego!

Bucky and I left San Diego today to go over to Tucson AZ to spend Thanksgiving with Holly and her family.

While I was in San Diego I had a great time. Bucky had to work most of the time, but I had great fun hanging out with Holly. One day she and I went to Legoland which was sooo fun! The next day we had brunch and wandered around the Hotel del Coronado - it was beautiful. We also hung out, shopped, and got our nails done. It was so fun - Holly is great! Bucky is a lucky guy!

Holly went to Tucson ahead of us with their dogs, and today Bucky and I ambled our way over. We went to the east coast of the Salton Sea. Last year I had gone to the west shore, but after seeing a documentary about it I really wanted to see the other side. It is sort of like a ghost resort town. It was eerie, and very different from the other side. Bucky and I also stopped buy the Date Oasis. We sampled the different types of dates, bought some date souvenirs, and got a yummmmy date shake. We got into Tucson pretty late and headed for bed.

San Francisco!

I'm en route to San Diego to see Bucky and Holly, so of course I stopped in San Francisco! I got to spend a couple of days with Heather,the kids, and the fam.

Saturday Heather, Brian, and I went over to Pescadero. The drive to Pescadero was pretty. We went there for the anniversary lighting of the Pigeon Point lighthouse. It was awesome! We got there early and got a spot to see the lighting. It was so crowded. And cold. I felt like such a dork. I was standing there with my little canon camera, using an empty coffee cup as a "tripod". Everyone else had these huge cameras on tripods, stood there talking camera talk, and tweeking their settings. We stood there and watched the sunset and the fog roll in... it was soo pretty. We stayed at this cute little "Bed and Biscuit" in Pescadero.

This morning we headed back and dropped Brian off, and I left for San Diego.

Early Adopter or Just Plain Crazy?

I ordered a Chumby. I got the email that I was eligible, and I ordered it. It should be here tomorrow. Bad thing is... I'm leaving tomorrow for California for Thanksgiving vacation. So I won't get to play with it until I get back! I'm such a gadget freak! Check out the Chumby friend's website, they look pretty cool.

ps - I got the "latte" color

$700 chocolate bar

I take my car in to get worked on, and they think this will take my mind off of the price.

Okay. It worked. I ate it on the way home, and once the sugar high kicked in, I was happy driving my nicely tuned, flushed, belted, and washed car.

I love my car. Really I do, but...

There are those little things that you never think about when you buy a car. Do the windows in the back roll all the way down? Does the stereo have speed sensitive volume control? Does it have weird sized tires that are only made by 2 companies? Does the back seat not fold down? Well what about - can you change your own headlights? What about the battery?

I love my car. Really I do, but... I have accepted (begrudgingly) that I have to take it to the dealership to get the headlights replaced, and I have even accepted that they are ridiculously expensive. But this weekend I discovered I have to take it to the dealership to get the battery replaced. They basically have to take the front of the car off to get it out.

I guess that's what happens when you own a "luxury" car. Right now I'm realizing it was actually a "luxury" to be able to get all dirty and change my own headlights.

Corn Maze Movie

From A Plane

Sometimes I think I should learn more about geology. I see things from planes and on the ground that make me wish I knew how they were formed. I don’t know… in Tennessee and especially in Indiana I never really had that sort of curiosity, but since I have lived out here and have been traveling more, I really have begun to wonder about it. I think it is because the rock formations, mountains, etc. are so dramatic, and I have at least the basic understanding that a lot of it is related to all the volcanic activity and plates moving. When I fly over the rockies or strange land formations I try to picture what happened to create it. I think some of that curiosity too is fueled by the shear pattern of it all.

I seem to have this “eye through the lens” mentality. I have started to realize that I have always been like that. I am so visually stimulated and so attuned to patterns. Mom can tell you stories of how I irritated her when we would go clothes shopping, looking for fabric, or carpet, or wallpaper. I’d always have some reaction to the pattern of the supposedly random. It just leaps out at me. I try to make patterns of everything. When I am seeing something either casually in my field of view or looking directly at it, I always try to make it align or create a pattern. I know many of you by now are shaking your head and saying “OCD”. Yes that’s probably true (actually I have had that confirmed by some very reliable sources).

All this said, I really think that is why I have an interest in learning more about geology. I have the base obsession with patterns and visual arrangements, and when that is combined with my need for understanding how things work its only natural I guess.

The whole OCD/pattern/alignment issue also fuels my interest in photography. I really would like to learn more about that too. If only my travel schedule was not so erratic… I could take some classes in all of thee above. When I was younger I tried painting, crafting, and sculpting. When my inability to finish things I start didn’t kick in, I actually produced some kinda good stuff. Several things in my mental state have changed to squelch that sort of creativity, but I think my “eye through a lens” mentality might just let me use photography as my creative outlet.

I love Paul

Paul and I were having coffee together this afternoon, as per usual when I am in Skaneateles. We were talking and he said he wanted to build a windmill in his backyard. He asked, mostly to himself, how do you build a windmill? Then he got a faraway look in his eyes and deadpan said, "I wonder if I could use ceiling fans?"

I thought I was going to die. After we stopped laughing he told me it was not a faraway look, but he was looking at the ceiling fans in the coffee shop mulling over the idea.

He's a riot.

My Current Hair Color

Snow is for Bunnies

Snow? Okay I saw it on the side of the road in California when we were on vacation, but seeing it falling from the sky? No accumulation expected, but I hope it doesn't jeopardize my return flight home. I hate O'hare airport.

I'm staying in this really old house that has been converted to a boutique hotel (aka small - 5 rooms, but nice). The wind is blowing so hard that it sounds like someone is running up and down the side of the building. Kinda creepy.