Jodie, Keith & Myra's Visit - Great Time Had By All

Jodie visited from the West coast and Myra and Keith met here at our house for a mini family reunion. We all had a great time. Thanks for coming Jodie. Thanks for driving Keith and Myra.

Jodie and Amaya

Keith, Myra and Carol trying to work off supper by taking a walk around the neighborhood.

Presents! A signed copy of Peter Rabbit for Amaya.

Keith is almost 52 so we took the opportunity to celebrate his birthday.

Myra has never felt very old but now that Keith is 52...

Myra and Keith brought the "Corn Hole" game and of course we played it for several hours after supper. Everybody managed to win once after the teams were parsed 12 different ways.

It was a wonderful surprise - Brian came to visit for a short time. He brought his wedding tux and Jodie happened to have her dress in her suitcase so we had a reenactment. It was fun. We all realized that the honeymoon was over when they walked up the street to the Dairy Queen for their honeymoon.

Keith brought some great champaigne and Carol opened a big bottle of her 2002. We all had a good time.

Carol and Amaya

Amaya and Jodie

Amaya and Myra

Amaya - 5-weeks, Keith - 2,704-weeks

My, my, my - I felt loved this week...

The New Denver Airport Sculpture - I Like It! A Tribute to a Fun, Beautiful, Vibrant City and an Obviously Talented Sculptor

This Review of the sculpture from the LA Times

"At first look, the 32-foot mustang sculpture overtaking the Denver skies looks like a beast from the book of Revelation. With its callous blue skin and fiery red eyes, bucking into the heavens, “Mustang” is as iconic as it is ominous, screaming into the night as planes roar by its permanent perch outside Denver International Airport. The sculpture, created by New Mexico artist Luis Jimenez, was commissioned by the city of Denver in 1992 at the cost of $300,000. After years of delay and contention, the airport finally wrangled the sculpture, which now sits on the access road to the main terminal. Jimenez died in 2006 when a portion of the sculpture dropped from a hoist and pinned him against a steel support beam. He was 65."

A Visit to the Jim and Linda's Place in Colorado

It was a nice flight from BNA to DEN but we happened to have a few cumulus clouds on the final to Denver. I suspected that we might catch a brief halo image so I had my camera ready. Sure enough, a nice halo reflection - isn't physics wonderful. This phenomena is quite familiar to the hanglider pilot, less common when you are traveling at 350 mph with the sun usually in the wrong orientation. I think I will send this picture to to the Southwest Spirit Magazine and see if I can win something grand. (I will let the my blog followers know if I do.)

First night, everyone helps in the kitchen. (Doug does dishes, no one lets him cook.)

Doug, Carol and Linda went to the Nature Center to hike - Doug looked at the 35-mile start line and backed up quickly to Starbucks in the mall next door. I did take a picture of the relative humidity scale - I doubt it. Denver felt almost as dry as Phoenix - well, that might be a slight exageration. (To be safe, with conflicting evidence of unclear safe environmental conditions, I decided I had better not chance anti-dehydration. This little known physical ailment is caused by hiking with too much humidity that will quickly (I think) fill your lungs with water.)

We had a grand time in Colorado, but hey, I have to admit it, I did miss my raquetball!! I took this front window shop picture from the Apple store at the mall next to the Nature Center. As I might have mentioned before, Carol and Linda hiked 13 miles... I walked at least 13 minutes getting to the mall. At a reward for our outstanding efforts, Linda later bought ice cream at Cold Stones. I had "Really Really Vanilla" with a dollop of "Hot Fudge". It was really really swella with heart fillup of mo sludge... (Ok I am no poet... I knowet.)

On one of the days, we drove through Golden to the top of Lookout Mountain. (I wanted to see where the hanglider pilots launched to legally land below at the Colorado School of Mines.) I saw evidence of hanglider pilots - several wind streamers at the very top and a pickup with a glider rack, but no confirmed pilots ready or able to launch. Pictured here, Doug, fledgling pilot, with his very lovely ground based wife Carol.

Next to the Lookout Mountain Nature Center there was a restored family hunting lodge given to the city by the somebody somebody family. It was restored very nicely and serves as a wedding, etc site. We stopped to pose for a picture before we left.

Kristin, Doug and Carol to Copper Mountain

Kristin driving to Copper Mountain from Denver in less than 45 minutes. I asked her if she was ever nervous about getting a speeding ticket. She said, not really, her husband was a cop and she would just ask for a "professional courtesy." She drives really really fast... (I am just kidding of course... sort of... but then I am old, she is young, speed is all relative to each generation.)

I accidentally took this picture at Copper trying to turn the camera off. Just goes to prove that some of the best things that happen in life are accidents.

On the way to Copper, I tried to ignore the telephone poles buzzing by my head like a picket fence. I realized, once we got to Copper, and after I changed my shorts, that I had indeed done a "Tricky" Saduko in an absolutely unbelievable time of 45 minutes. This is mindblowing and will go into my annals of fantastic personal achievements. As I look back, all I can remember about this out-of-body experience in the back seat of Kristin's car is that I kept thinking, "My time may be short Lord, please let me finish this puzzle."

I was so impressed that I arrived at the beautiful Copper Mountain alive that I arranged to give the girls a sleigh ride before the snow lost its crisp nature and the horses would have a problem. Although it was quite a costly affair, since the horses had to be quickly trucked in from Vail, it was indeed a terrific little outing. If you enlarge the photo, you can see more detail of the horses.

Kristin and Carol with two of Kristin's friends that must drive even faster than she does since they got there an hour earlier.

Kristin, Carol and Doug at the foot of the mountain.

A Visit to the Lance, Jennifer, Skyler and Quinn Family in Colorado

You are greeted at this warm house with a collage of art - some of it from Skyler, some of it from Quinn - and that cool dude smoking Turkish you-know-what. "Well that came from a National Geographics photograph that I painted in high school." Likely story Jen, it was too well done - obviously you are trying to take false credit for someone that has tremendous art skills. (Please e-mail me a picture of that picture - I want it for my blog.)

What a cute family!! And we even caught Lance home from his worldly travels. Huh? Oh! Well, ah, umm, I guess that Lance is home alot now... That be a good thing right? "YES, say the girls and mother too." (Most of the time at least.)

How tall are you really? Well, Jennifer is stabilized, Carol is getting shorter and it is quite likely that both Skyler and Quinn will be looking down at these ladies soon.

Doug convinced the girls to all hop up onto the trampoline for a picture. He then convinced the little ones that Carol used to be "hot stuff on the tramp." They then proceeded to egg her on until she shed her shoes and did a few tramp spreads high in the air.

Carol was indeed impressive. Her trampoline jumping technique was even hotter than I remember it back on those hot, steamy Benicia nights in our quiet, private back yard after the kids went to bed. At the time of this picture, you can see that she had generated so much molecular frictional energy with the low/high humidity conditions that her hair was sticking straight out. It was stupifying, my mouth went dry! I watched intently as small, miniature bolts of lightning zig zagged from her finger tips. As she continued to jump, I started thinking "Holy smokes, I wonder if we could camp under this thing tonite."

We had a wonderful picnic in their beautiful back yard under the gas lamp. We all gave thanks for family and for the natural gas placed under Colorado that need pipe lines for delivery to the rest of the country that pay dearly for it since it is this cycle of energy dollars that eventually finds its way to the retirement benefit coffers of steel mills with retired metallurgical engineers. Amen and pass the chicken.

Linda, Skyler and Quinn holding down the hamock.

A long story, to be told at a later date, with one of the chapters being called, "Holy cow this really is a rare dinosaur tooth and not just a cow bone." One of Lance's petrified wood specimens that his Grandfather found in Wyoming many years ago.

The Ultimate Man Cave...   Lance: Zero, Visitors: Zero but the Crown and Ginger race has not yet started.   Wow... Michael and I want a man cave like his some day.

I remember when our two little girls were about this size and I still had hair. What a pretty family. Thanks to the Ted Williams Fan Club Family for having us all over!!

First Mow of the Season: 3/18/2009

All I know is that I beat Carter in the lawn mowing contest since he is still in Florida. Boy, he will be mad - he is supposed to have the best yard in the neighborhood.

A Family Picture Day at the Parthenon in Nashville

The family all met at Centennial Park for some picture taking activities. This park is the home of the world famous Parthenon replica. Juim has been visiting and took us all out to dinner afterwards.

Pancake taking Carol over to the Roman Parthenon to show/tell her about some of the nuances that can be gleaned from a detailed inspection of the ancient sculture replicas inside the Parethenon that Carol missed on her first inspection of the replica artifacts.

On the way, Panama stopped, bent over and pointed out to Carol a big pile of dog poop... it was not so old as the Egyptian artifacts. Pancake cautioned Carol that it would not be good to stick your fingers into it.

The whole family getting ready for a picture when Pancake looks at me and says, "Hey Gramps, lets split this scene and go chase them dogs around the pond."

Carol and Juim, both looking pretty.

A full view of the Nasville "very wide" Parthenon. Apparently it is very much an exact duplicate, ie. footprint sizes, etc. Obviously, however, the columns are concrete, not stone; the headboard sculptures are concrete, not chiseled marble, but it is still very impressive.

Flowers... everywhere I go I am compelled to take pictures of the flowers. Carol is happy that I am infatuated with flowers since she gets them from me "X" times a year. (Fill in the X with your guess.)

The Apple Trees are in Full Bloom in Clarksville

There are beautiful apple trees everywhere - white and pink says Carol - they all look white to me. This is a view of one of them with the old church steeple in the background.

A picture taken in the front yard through one of two small apple trees. We have tried to be more vigilant in watering the young trees in the summer - that has really helped them grow.

Dinner at the Best Restaurant in Kentucky

Erica and Michael took us all out to dinner at "Patties" about an hour away. It is between the lakes at the Land-of-the-Lakes and a popular place for the summer tourist/lake crowd. Great dinner - 2" Pork Chop (their specialty) with all the trimmings - I took a picture of the parking lot as we got there thinking that the light snow that started as we got there would melt - little did I know it was going to get worse. We saw several accidents on the I-24 west as we came home very slowly. (One jack knifed trucking completely closing the road at Hopkinsville.) Snow and flowers - the weather is nutty in Kentutty...

I got home and took a couple pictures of the snow that had fallen. Someone next to our house melted a perfect little pine tree. What talent we have in this household. Its getting to look alot like Xmas... in March.

The Teardrop under the new snow... glad I am sleeping inside tonight next to my warm, pretty little wife.

Pattie's 1880's Settlement - great food and gift shop - the dining areas are really decorated in a unique fashion - lots of old antique stain and beveled glass. Young Stephanie, sitting behind the glass in the adjacent room with her boyfriend, had a birthday and the wait staff sang for her.

Fountains, geese, ducks and ponds surround the restaraunt... very rustique.

Door to the men's room.

Juim, Erica and Carol in the gift shop.

Juim, Erica and Michael in the gift shop.