Another day, another blog...

My son and I had a nice morning. We met some friends at a place called 'Pump It Up'. We didn't have anything like this when I was young. It's in a large warehouse and is full of huge, blown-up toys. My favorite is a BIG slide. I think I may enjoy it more than my son!

It's a start

I came upon Blogger.com by following a blurb in Peter Townshend's Myspace profile. Someone claiming to be him wrote in response to me on Myspace. I am pursuing the truth now. Is it the 'real' Pete, or some whacko wannabe? I hope to find out. I've been a Who fanatic for the better part of my life. Making contact with Pete would be a major life-bonus. Regardless of whether I actually do connect with Pete, I am happy to have found his most recent writings here. The man has more than his fair share of talent and I'm happy to see him using it in some capacity. I'd like to hear more music from him but if this is what he is about these days, then so be it. I'll tune in, or log on.

And thus I joined another internet social club. I don't know how I can keep up with all this blogging stuff. I spend way too much time on Myspace.com as it is. I neglect my son, my email, the phone and actually getting out and doing something fun or useful, to sit here on my numbing bum. It maybe a great creative outlet, but I question how many people grow large and lazy while wasting their lives away in hopes of connecting with a stranger? And here I am. I wish I had something better to talk about at this minute but all I can think about is my bladder. (Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now) Maybe I'll come up with something more profound when I change seats.

Back now. (Heavy sigh) Is there any better feeling? No earth-shaking thoughts came to mind, so I'll bid you adieu.

Napa Valley Visit and the Ghost and Ghouls Halloween Party at Clark County Museum

Saturday, October 29, 2005

We had such a wonderful visit with my aunt in Napa Valley, California. We got to pick (with permission) Merlot grapes at the Silverado Winery's Vineyard. (Owned by a Disney) They were absolutely the sweetest grapes I've ever eaten. We had pure grape juice and grape syrup. Josh devoured the grapes, seeds and all! We toured up the valley and visited quaint towns. It was a fast trip but very worthwhile. It's such a beautiful area this time of year with the grapes in harvest and leaves changing color. Plus, my aunt is such a delight.

JOSH LOVED THE GRAPES!

PICNIC AND PLAYING IN ST HELENA, CA

Last night we attended a fun Halloween event near home. Joshua was in a costume contest and a reporter asked if she could take his picture. He was so cute in his Pumpkin Pooh costume. He seemed a little perplexed by it all but got lots of candy, played games, and has been talking about it all morning. He definitely had fun. We were fortunate that my parents were still here last night too, so that made it even more special!

AT THE GHOST AND GOULS HALLOWEEN EVENT

FACE PAINTING
ONSTAGE FOR COSTUME CONTEST

Las Vegas Renaissance Fair October 7-10 2005

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Joshua attended his first major costume party this weekend at the LV Renaissance Fair. There were all kinds of folks there in all kinds of get-ups, and all were having fun!

We danced to the music of Darby O'Gill and the Little People and Heather Alexander's band: Uffington Horse. I recommend checking out both. http://www.heatherlands.com/ and http://www.darbyogillband.com/

Joshua meets Hagrid

Dancing to Darby

Not too sure about the monkey....

Listening to good music Pooped after a long day having fun in the sun. Josh found this chair in one of the booths and wouldn't get up for quite awhile. We didn't stay too much longer

Another over-nighter mega-mile road trip

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

I could just puke. I just finished writing this whole story and Joshua came in and played drums on the keyboard and it all disappeared. The first time I wrote it, I got to re-live it and I was enthused, now I must ask for your forgiveness because I don't want to write it again and therefore I'm sure it will be much less interesting. ARGH! Yes, I just checked; I am very grumpy right now. To my 'Myspace' friends--I don't know if endless pictures of Joshua are all that interesting to you, but I send my blog link to my family too, and they have to be interested.

Here goes again:
This, our latest journey of America's roads less traveled started yesterday afternoon. We always get too late a start but end up there regardless. We headed roughly 200 miles north of Las Vegas to an old silver mining town called Pioche, Nevada. (You know how I love old silver mining towns.) Along the way, near Caliente, Nevada, we were cited for speeding. ("But officer, we are a million miles from any living thing; It's a long straight road and a beautiful day. We were going THAT fast? HOW MUCH?! We can attend court where? Uh, yes, um, thank you for the great directions and local information. Sure, come visit us when you're in our neck-of-the-woods, anytime--you have our address. What? Oh, yes, you have a nice day and drive safely too.) Pioche had lots of big holes in the hills with lots of tailings, a few old buildings full of old things, one old hotel atop one old saloon with an old cafe across the street complete with 3 old cowboys. Joshua enjoyed the "cowboys". Kelsey and I thought they might have been 'hicks' or perhaps 'hillbillies' but Joshua was certain they were cowboys. Since it was 5pm when we arrived and it gets dark here now by 7:30pm we thought we'd hold up there for the night in that-there cowboy-mining town--maybe go sip us some saspirilla in the saloon. Our hotel room was quite interesting, but clean. Some of us slept well; well, one of us did. It wasn't me or Josh. We got up early (some of us as early as the night before) and enjoyed our favorite booth across the street at THE cafe. We were afterall regulars by now and Joshua was on a first-name basis with most of the 'cowboys' and big-haired old ladies in town. They honestly did comment on what a cute and delightful little boy he is. (Just keep him away from computers).

This map doesn't even show Pioche, but I'm pretty sure it was really there. On the map, it is where the word "start" is. The dirt 'Mt Wilson Loop Road' headed east from Pioche, then north following a creek, and finally west to Pony Springs. Why Pony Springs is on the map, I couldn't tell you. Probably just because it is a 'spring' and they are hard to come by in southern Nevada. This map doesn't give you and accurate description of the vastness of the area. The Mt Wilson Loop Rd took us 4 hours at a steady clip.

Cathedral Gorge State Park near Pioche, Nevada

From Pioche, we drove a 65 mile mostly dirt road around Mt Wilson. For this transplanted desert-dweller, it was spectacular! It had lots of green grass and green Pinon pines along with the sage brush that I am so accustomed. There were plentiful yellow flowers along the road that followed a stream. There were several state parks; one even had a lake! We drove nearly to the top of the mountain (over 9000 feet) and then through Lake Valley. (ancient lake, now dry) We came out on highway 93 again north of Pioche and then south to Panaca, NV. Cathedral Gorge State Park was adjacent to Panaca. It was full of petrified sand dunes that had eroded in to cool shapes much like a mini Bryce Canyon. We followed a slot canyon quite a ways back until only Josh could fit through.

Josh in slot canyon

At Panaca, we headed east towards Utah and then took another long dirt road southeast. We crossed in to Utah and found an LDS pionier cemetery from the Dixie Mission in 1862. (you know how I love old cemetaries) It was truly in the middle-of-nowhere. There were two families burried there--many were babies. That always breaks my heart. We finally hit pavement again near Enterprise, Utah. Just west of St. George, Utah, we came across lots of large volcanic cinder cones and then a massive red rock formation called Snow Canyon. I wish I'd taken more pictures of it. We arrived in St. George and went to the temple. Josh ran around the grass and we watched a really nice movie in the visitor's center. I think it's the oldest LDS temple. I'm pretty sure the Salt Lake Temple was finished a bit later. I have lots of family from that neck of the woods back in the olden days so feel a connection.
I love finding alternate ways to places and will add this to my list of great adventures.

Heading into Snow Canyon, Utah

Mt. Wilson, Nevada *Notice the color green... a big treat for Southern Nevadans!

Hebron Cemetary, Iron County, Utah
It's in the middle-of-nowhere and very small

St George Temple, Utah

Joshua the Traveling Gnome below Hoover Dam

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

We boated from Willow Beach, Arizona, up through Black Canyon to the bottom of Hoover Dam today. It was quite hot but a nice day.

HOOVER DAM
Joshua has been building "houses" and "castles" all over our house. Some are quite elaborate. I found this one on top of the VCR in the bedroom. I loved the simplicity of it and thought I'd share. JOSHUA'S 'HOUSE'

Recent pictures

Friday, August 12, 2005

Joshua had a two-week long 2nd birthday. After returning from Colorado, we stayed home a few days and then flew up to Victoria, BC, Canada to celebrate his birthday with my family. Here is a photo of his new 'Big Wheel' and helmet. He's still a little small for his new "bike" as he calls it, but I remember my brother cruising on his big wheel trying to reach warp speed. Thank you grandma and grandpa!

Josh on his new bike

The next pictures were taken at Victoria's Splash celebration. The Victoria Symphony plays at dusk on a barge set in the Inner Harbour. They close down the streets all around. Thousands of people gather around the harbour and there is a huge flock of small boats and kayaks that converge in front of the stage. My dad and I paddled over and joined the flotilla. The music ended with the 1812 Overture with actual canons shooting and a big fireworks display. The Parliament Building is next to the harbour and I took the picture from near my dad's dock as we were walking home. It's a beatiful town full of nice people at a slower pace.

British Columbia Legislative Building at night

Kayaks at 'Splash'

Victoria Kayak Adventures

http://victoriakayak.com/

Joshua's 2nd Birthday Party

Celebrated two days late on Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Joshua had a nice little party with his friend August. August and his mom, my friend Julia, brought Josh a nice wood stacking/nesting block set. He received a custom-made "Joshua" Veggie Tales book and wooden fishie puzzle from mom and dad. Thomas the Tank Engine was our theme with balloons and goodies. The boys really enjoyed each other's company and had lots of fun. Josh is still talking about "his friend August". It was a very special day.

Rocky Mountain Highway

Sunday, July 24, 2005
On Tuesday July 19, we got up at 0400 and drove our sleepy selves to the Las Vegas airport intending a flight to Colorado Springs, CO. We weren’t certain that there would be any space on any Colorado bound flights, (impromptu trip as it was) so we had a back-up plan to drive up to the national parks in southern Utah, just in case. Fortunately we were given seats on the second flight out to Phoenix and connected easily out of PHX to Colorado Springs.
I’ve never been to Colorado so only had television or book images in mind. My husband was raised south of Denver in Littleton and Castle Rock, so made an excellent tour guide. He’d not been to Colorado though for quite a few years so it was nice for him to visit and see it through our eyes.

Pike's Peak from Colorado Springs

We arrived by 11:30am, picked up our rental car and headed out to Pikes Peak. It’s not quite like the mountains I’m accustomed to in Washington State. From Seattle, at sea level, Mt. Rainier absolutely towers over everything around. Pikes Peak, although only 300 feet shorter in elevation than Mt. Rainier, just peeks out slightly higher than the surrounding mountains. It is quite beautiful though looking up at it from Colorado Springs at just under 6000 feet. We drove the dirt road all the way to the summit and were greeted by an awesome panoramic view. I’ve never been at 14,110 feet so jumped out of the car with excitement and to my absolute amazement, I felt I might be having a heart attack. Of course there is only half as much oxygen up there as down below but I’ve never actually experienced that. There is the sensation of getting winded easily, but I felt as though my chest was being crushed. I found it quite painful and my heart pounded nearly out-of-control. Kelsey only got winded so I was a bit concerned about my reaction. There must have been a zillion little biting bugs up there but the view was spectacular. We left a few bucks in their gift shop (I can’t imagine large trucks bringing all the food and gifts up there, but they do) and walked around the summit checking out the unobstructed view. There’s a turn-of-the-century cogwheel train that brings you up and back from the valley. That would be a blast to do someday.

Joshua; The Summiting Gnome Joshua and I at Pike's Peak Summit

Cog Wheel Train on Pike's Summit
Cog Wheel Trains Descending Summit

We drove down and had to have our brakes checked at about 11,000 feet. At the bottom we turned left and drove though breath-taking scenery heading west. (I took for granted that the mountains were always to the east back home but the opposite was the case here) We stopped in a wide valley and visited with a Buffalo. It seemed just as it should be except it was nearly alone. We talked about the supposed "miles" of buffalo in the old days.

Give me a home where the buffalo roam....
Following along the Arkansas River and eventually Crossing Independence Pass to Aspen reminded me of the North Cascades Highway in Washington, but this was over 12,000 feet high at the top. Again, my heart greatly hurt. It seemed every time we got higher than 9000 feet my chest suffered. (I plan to read up on altitude sickness to see if this is a normal symptom) When we pulled in to Aspen, at about 8000 feet, Little Josh was quietly sobbing and rubbing his eyes. Thinking he was tired and hungry I kept telling him that we were almost there but no sooner than we pulled in to town, the poor little guy got terribly sick. I was afraid it might be altitude sickness but I think it was due to all the winding turns. His car seat was quite low and looking out of the sides just showed the tops of the trees. I felt so bad for him. We stopped for the night in one of the lodges and Kelsey picked us up provisions and a very nice dinner that we ate in our condo. Josh felt better quickly. I understand the hype about Aspen now and would have to agree. It's a beautiful setting for a town. The people there reminded me very much of my home up in the San Juan Islands--very laid back. I would love to spend more time there.

Aspen Ski Runs

We had a good night’s sleep and enjoyed the morning walking around town. We had many more miles to cover so headed west again to Glenwood Springs and then up the canyon of the Colorado River heading east. We stopped to watch the rafters (ah, the good ol’ days) and let Josh throw rocks in the water. Funny, we left 123-degree Las Vegas hoping for cool mountains but we greeted by record temps in Colorado too. Oh well-- 105 is tolerable compared to what we have here at home. We took several side trips in old towns along the way and passed through Vail. The ski runs were great but it doesn’t have the character that Aspen has. We ate in Frisco, which is just outside of Breckenridge ski resort. Kelsey showed me their condo and a cabin that he helped build years ago. Breckenridge has retained the mining town character and I would like to have spent more time there too.

We chose to go under a pass through a long tunnel heading towards Denver. Joshua appreciated that. We stopped in Georgetown, another old mining town dating back to 1859 (elevation 8,519 feet) and broused through the old building and shops. This area was my favorite of the trip. We drove down I-70 through Idaho Springs, another 19th century town, and ended up in Littleton for the night.

Central City Opera House

Devil's Gate Bridge-Georgetown Loop Railroad

The next morning Kelsey showed us his old stomping grounds. We saw everywhere he’d lived and he shared many memories with us. We eventually found ourselves back in the mountains following the South Platte River through "The Chutes"--a set of rapids through a narrow rock canyon. We kept heading north until reaching Red Rocks Amphitheater.

Debbie below "The Chutes" of the South Platte River
By then, we decided to head back up to Georgetown to ride the narrow-gauge railway up to a mine. We wanted to do it the day before but missed it for the second time in two days. We decided to spend an additional day in Georgetown because Josh was so excited about he train http://georgetownlooprr.com/ so we found a great room in town. http://georgetownmountaininn.com/. It was decorated with pine furniture-- made to feel rustic but very nice and comfortable. The next morning we got up early and bought our tickets for our train ride in the mountains. It sold out for the day shortly after we arrived. Josh loved the ride. It lasted about an hour and a half.

Our next destination, since there were many hours of sunlight left, was Central City and Blackhawk. We drove a long, winding, steep dirt road over a pass that Kelsey knew of as a short cut there. Many mining remnants dotted the hillsides along the way. The mountains in this area are covered in mine tailings and tunnels. Some of these mines are in such steep and rugged hills that I can't imagine how they got up there. Central City and Blackhawk are mining towns too. It was quiet there because they were in the process of gutting many of the buildings to make casinos. Fortunately they were staying true to the old 19th century character. The oldest church in Colorado was still standing and being used here. Kelsey was upset about Central City because it used to be more remote and quaint, but they were remodeling accurately and needed the income to stay alive. I guess you can't blame them. I really enjoyed these two towns. If you know me, you know I love ghost towns and mining towns and seek them out where ever I can find them. I had no idea that they were so plentiful in the mountains of Colorado.

We headed out again and went through the town of Golden, passing the huge Coors plant. We skirted Denver proper and went south to Colorado Springs to stay the night. We found ourselves in a bit of a bind as there was a large military unit just back from Iraq and there didn’t seem to be a room in town. We finally found one and paid about a year’s salary for it. In the morning, we turned in our car with 900 additional miles on it and sat at the airport for 3 long hours trying to get on a flight out. We finally gave up as every flight of the day was being weight restricted and passengers bumped. We rented another car opting for a flight out of the Denver airport. We drove through Parker, where Kelsey had been a police officer, and ate at a little truck stop east of the new airport. There was a humungous storm surrounding the airport with quarter sized raindrops and lightening bolts striking the ground all around us. The sky was very dark and Kelsey warned me about tornadoes. Yikes! I hadn’t fully realized how flat it is once you get out of the mountains there. That’s the first time I’ve seen the "Plains". I wouldn’t want to live there. When we finally got to the airport, (really nice airport by the way) there were tornado fallout shelter signs all over. Pretty weird for this northwest native!

We caught the 9:30 PM flight direct to Vegas and Josh was a trooper. He never complained in 900 miles of being strapped in a car. He hardly complained when he was very sick. We got home at 10:30PM Pacific Time and Josh stayed up for an hour playing with his toys.

Today is Joshua’s 2nd birthday and we are lying pretty low. Joshua and I plan to head to Canada next week but I think we’ll enjoy a few more days here at home.