Trying not to panic

Ok, so I've been gone for a while.  I had to go to Florida for a few days on business and flew back in today.  I remember now how much neither like nor enjoy the air flight experience.  It's hard to believe I pay for that treatment.  So we were (predictably) delayed in Charlotte for 2 hours.  So I was in the airport for 3 hours without my knitting because my purse counts as a carry on and there was no room in the computer bag.  But that is bitterness for another tale.  So in that 3 hours, my suitcase did not make it into the stack heading for Chattanooga.  I'm trying not to panic.  My nearly entirely complete sweater is in that bag.  The knitting is missing.  Pray, pray for the knitting.

Weekend Update

Shawn and I believe in exhausting ourselves over the weekend rather than rest up.  I mean, what is work for but to rest between weekends?  We started off Saturday with our annual pilgrimage to Dahlonega, GA.  Why?  Because it's apple (butter) time!  We stop each trip at R&A Orchards to stock up on apples and cider.  Next weekend I'll be transforming the apples into apples butter.  I like going to the orchard b/c they let you sample each apple variety so that you can put together the best combination of apples for the butter (apples like grapes can produce a different tasting apple from the same tree depending on the weather during the season).  We take the scenic route on the way over.The colors were beautiful even with the cloud cover.  The recession had changed the retail landscape in Dahlonega quite a bit from last year and some old favorites were among the casualties.  But I still managed to find a few things to purchase (it was tough, but I persevered).  

Yesterday when we got home, we wandered over to Ashley Furniture.  We've been talking for a while about 1)how it really is time to ditch the dorm room bedroom furniture and 2)how much we hate the living room furniture we purchased 4 years ago.  We bought a trendy, down-filled sofa and chair and a half.  A chair and a half is a monstrosity of a seating choice that promptly devoured 1) all the extra space in the living room and 2) anyone who sat down in the thing.  Plus with 4 cats, the back cushions on the chair and the sofa quickly became permanently shaped like a U from the cats sitting (and sinking) on them.  Long story short, they were trendy but anything but comfortable.  Well, we found everything we wanted.  This is a miracle because Shawn and I have widely, widely...widely varying tasted in furniture.  He has changed some from our first foray into furniture purchasing.  He has realized we live in a small house where furniture that an NBA basketball star would be comfortable with doesn't fit.  One piece was a closeout so we were able to bring it home immediately.

This is about 5 minutes after we got it home.  As you can see, Twinkie approves.

Sunday afternoon, I had to post bowl for the league since work prevented attendance on Thursday.  I managed my most constant performance yet 109, 109, and 99.  I must say, I've been rather disappointed that I haven't managed a 300 yet.  

Remaining vacation update...

So after the balloon fiesta in Albuquerque, Shawn and I headed south to the VLA, the Very Large Array.  Think Jodie Foster in Contact...

27 antennae arranged in a Y pattern over 13 miles.  They had a great walking tour except...

 For a sense of scale, here is Shawn, 6' 1" compared to one antenna.  Each one was the size of a baseball diamond.

Tuesday, we changed direction and headed north to Los Alamos, where the 1st nuclear bomb was developed during WWII.  The whole town was kept secret (as much as you can keep a town secret).  While they don't let you go to the actual research facility (something about national security), they have a great museum, the Bradbury Science museum, and best of all it is free!

Wednesday, we were in Chama (tiny, tiny town) to ride the Cumbres Toltec narrow gauge railroad.  The train engine was manufactured in the 1920s and is steam powered.  

For those who have never ridden a steam engine, go prepared to come back with bits of coal ash in places of your body that never even saw daylight.

This is the one of tunnels.  If you recognize it, it's because they've filmed a lot of movies here.

Thursday, we headed to Taos.  This is the Rio Grande Gorge.  This picture does not even come close to the dizzying height the bridge we're on.  I was clinging to the camera and the hand railing for dear life.  We stopped at the Taos Pueblo, the oldest continuously inhabited site in the US (over 1,000 years).  No pictures as it cost $5 a camera and it cost $10/person just to get in.  The site was maybe the size of a football field and we completed the walking tour in about 15 minutes.  It was neat to see (but a bit pricey).  People still live there without electricity or running water.  

 

Shawn found a new buddy in town...

Friday, we were in Santa Fe.  This is the Loretto Chapel, the site of the "miraculous" staircase.

 The original choir loft was accessible only by a rope ladder.  So the sisters prayed to St. Joseph (patron saint of carpenters) to send a carpenter to build a staircase.  Well, one showed up.  His original staircase had no handrails (yikes).  It was 33 stairs (Jesus lived 33 years) and made 2 complete 360 degree turns.  What is amazing is that there is no center support.  What holds it up is the perfect balance of the design.  There are no steel supports; the entire thing is made of wood. After the carpenter completed the design, he left without receiving payment.  

In conclusion, it was a great vacation, but if I don't eat another chili for a while that would be ok.

Vacation eye candy

We're in New Mexico at the International Balloon Fiesta.  It is a feast for the eyes.  It was cloudy at first, so the early pictures are a bit dark, but when the sun broke through--gorgeous.

Shawn--looking alert despite the obscenely early hour (3:30 am) we had to get up to get here.

 

• 

 

Some of the balloons were a bit unusual--

We went back for the Balloon Glow tonight, but the extremely windy conditions prohibited the balloons being put up.  I tried to be disappointed but I was too tired.  

Life List #41-Take a meditative retreat.

Thursday morning-Fuel up.  Purchase prerequisite Combos and Diet Coke (no cherry, *sniff).  Head out on Highway 64, which I pick up about a mile from my house.

It is perfect road trip weather.

I decide to follow Highway 64 to Hendersonville.  Though if I had known it looked like this--

and that this would go on for about 40 miles, I might have gone a different way.

But there were lots of pretty scenes out my window.

After several hours (the extended scenic route took longer than expected), I arrived at the Billy Graham Conference Center (The Cove). 

In a setting like this, it was easy to feel uplifted.  I had a perfectly lovely retreat and left feeling better in mind, body and spirit.  

Dear GPS

Dear GPS,

   I’m leaving you behind.  Don’t get me wrong.  I remember how you made the navigation out of the Philadelphia airport to New Jersey seamless.  The nasty tollbooth operator wasn’t your fault.  I also remember the way you guided me around that traffic accident in Nashville.  You save me an hour in commute time, at least.  But there was that time in Atlanta.  It’s still hard to talk about it.  That was one scary route through town.  We both know it was only the grace of God that saved us on that one.  And really, was it necessary to sound so condescending when I made that wrong turn in Memphis?  I still recall the frustration when you made me drive the same 1 mile stretch a road for half an hour looking for that road you insisted was there even though I told you (loudly and repeatedly) it wasn’t.  So this time, I’m leaving without you.  I want scenic routes; you prefer the highway.  I like detours and side trips; you get snippy if I don’t do it your way.  So this time, I’m going it alone.  

Joys of a Road Trip

I love a road trip--a real road trip, one that requires a mix tape CD iPod full of rockin' songs (nothing slow or you're asleep at the wheel), Combos, and a Diet Cherry Coke.  If you can stay off the interstate, all the better.  Hurrying to your destination defeats the purpose of a good road trip.  And no GPS.  GPS on a vacation is a mini van full of grumpy kids and harried parents, both desperate to get to the destination so they can get away from each other again.  You know the vehicles I'm talking about.  The ones that weave a bit because the Dad is trying to swat at the kid behind him who won't stop kicking the seat.  All the while, the Dad is threatening to pull the van over if the kids don't stop fighting.  

Road tripping is good alone or with friends.  Of course, should you choose to venture out with friends, they have to be carefully selected.  The wrong mix can ruin a road trip (and a friendship).  The person who falls asleep when you pull out of the driveway and doesn't wake until you pull into your destination should be left at home.  So to should someone with wildly differing music tastes.  Being subjected to your pal's favorite country croonings when you are a heavy metal fan will make even the shortest trip like a tooth extraction without novocaine.   I've got a trip coming up.  I'm getting my Combos, Diet Coke, and my trusty Rand McNalley map together.  Next post will be from the road.