January 25, 2019 – Forgot to write words

Yes, I forgot to write a four-word headline for January 25, and just can’t remember anything special about the day to write. The temperature was above zero and below 33, as evidenced by my low temperature blanket. This is what happens when I fall behind for a few days, and have to think back. I need to try hard to keep up. At least if I write the four words, I have an idea what to write from there.

January 24, 2019 – Neighbors need to shovel

I know some people are busy, and when it snows overnight, they don’t have the time to clean the sidewalk. They need to clear the snow before it becomes ice. We don’t walk on the sidewalk if there’s snow in case of ice. When Warren snow blows, he now does more than just our sidewalk. We also put pet friendly melt in front of the mailbox to help Shari our mail carrier.

January 23, 2019 – Sewing bags, Reading newspapers

Double-tasking by sewing (embroidery) Advent calendar bags and reading a set of newspapers from Indiana. The super critique part of this evaluation gives me great notes for the write up I need to do. Almost done with both projects.

January 22, 2019 – New books and flag

I was so disappointed that I couldn’t find a Valentine’s flag anywhere. The good news is you can find just about anything online. My new flag came today, along with the Rocky Mountain gardening book and Instant Pots for Two.

January 21, 2019 – Riding bike while snowing

The best thing about having my bicycle on a trainer is riding while it snows outside the front window. I watch the neighbors go to work as the snow falls and blows. Almost better than TV.

Photo from last year. I need to update this photo to show the tile and drapes and antique radio. There is tile in this photo. It’s still in the boxes and not installed as the floor. (AMWERTZ)

January 20, 2019 – Super Blood Wolf Moon

The full eclipse was an amazing sight. It started slowly.

At 7:45, not much to see.

At 9, the clouds were trying to hide the moon, but after 15-18 cold minutes, the clouds passed.

At 10, it was red against a clear, cold, Wyoming sky. What a sight!

January 19, 2019 – Taking the spaghetti home

I hadn’t had the chicken Parmesan at Millstone since before Warren got sick in October. We’ve really been watching the things he eat. He had a sandwich, so I had the chicken Parm. It was good, and way too much food, so I brought the spaghetti home for a second meal.

Interact.com

After judging Online Interactives, I picked three that I thought would be fun – Thinglink.com, tryinteract.com, and anyflip.com

Below is my first quiz attempt using tryinteract.com

https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/5c92aff17ee55b00142ceb2b?method=iframe“>Quiz

January 18, 2019 – New guitar needs name

Yesterday I bought a new guitar, a travel guitar. It’s a cute little thing.

I need to get the NSPA judging done so I can play with it.

[And, I will have Ohio and Kansas judging soon.]

Busy season – Sorry guitar with no name.

January 17, 2019 – Two newspaper super critiques

NSPA honored by need for a break in December. I just could not face another critique.

Today I was assigned two newspaper super critiques. This should be interesting, as I have not done a super critique for a newspaper before.

January 16, 2019 – Sewing room gets curtain

Must be a window covering week. I bought a pink panel some time ago at Habitat for $3. Today I trimmed, hemmed, and added a Pooh. Except for the clutter, the sewing room is coming along.

January 15, 2019 – Sausage making and Gardening

The Powell Valley Continuing Education catalog came today. Two classes that look good are Sausage Making and Gardening in Park County.

Lunch today was Red Apple burritos, carrot cake, and peach salsa. lakeside at Horseshoe Bend at Big Horn. The salsa was a phenomenal find.

Can’t wait till the sausage class.

January 14, 2019 – Looking for Valentine’s flag

Doesn’t anyone have a Valentine’s flag? Apparently not! 😦

January 13, 2019 – Snow flake, come back

The snow flake keeps coming and going on my phone. Bring on the snow.

January 12, 2019 – Sheets down, drapes up

Cost – $5.25. Finally, no more sheets for drapes on the back slider door. It’s only been a little over a year. Next, I want tie back holders.

January 11, 2019 – When will it snow?

Based on last year, we haven’t seen much snow. We did have a white Christmas. I miss the snow on the low mountains and the farmer’s fields. Let it snow.

January 10, 2019 – Bubba’s, brisket, soft serve

Another run to Cody, another lunch. We hadn’t been to Bubba’s in a long time. The brisket was Fantastic. The hot fudge sundae at DQ was good too.

 

 

January 9, 2019 – Cookies make great appetizers

Peter’s Cafe in Cody makes awesome cookies. Warren likes to eat one while waiting on lunch. And then chases lunch with Wilcoxson’s ice cream. He had Chocolate Runs Through It. I had Peppermint Stick and Huckleberry. A great end to a lunch that started with a cookie.

How can one resist a giant cookie, especially when they are right there in the case where you stand to order food? (AMWERTZ)

January 8, 2019 – First Becca Bags done

I sewed the first of a new one-zip bag pattern. Alissa said her buddy Becca was in a low place, so I’ll make her a personalized set. More Becca Bags to come.

The material pattern is Crayola. The one-zip method is fun. (AMWERTZ)

The one-zip method uses only one side of the zipper. Fun to make. (AMWERTZ)

January 7, 2019 – Wyoming delivers surprise snow

Snow was not predicted, but heck, this is Wyoming. Who knows what the weather will bring! We went out to get propane. Threatening skies were approaching! We went to Taco John’s for lunch, and that’s when the snow began. For about half an hour it came down well. Snowblower time when we for home. It’s surprises like today that I love about Wyoming.

January 6, 2019 – The Baby Lock works!

I cannot remember the last time I used my Baby Lock. Probably over 10 years (or closer to 20). I was concerned because it is probably 30 years old. The numbers for the tension knobs don’t move, but regardless, I was able to get the tension perfect. I can’t wait to sew with my “Baby”!

My Baby Lock has seen a lot of sewing, but not for the last 10-20 years. I can’t wait to get her working on the Advent Calendar bags. She should speed up the sewing. (AMWERTZ)

January 5, 2019 – Mickey goes to basement

Mickey and his friends played on the half hour for two minutes, from 6:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. (AMWERTZ)

Well, Mickey and his friends in the Christmas music box got as far as back in their cardboard box. Time to switch to Valentine’s decoration in the window.

 

January 4, 2019 – Ride bike indoors, twice

This was the second day of twice a day rides inside. Boy does my butt hurt when I get off. Good news – recovery is quick.

Photo from last year. I need to update this photo to show the tile and drapes and antique radio. There is tile in this photo. It’s still in the boxes and not installed as the floor. (AMWERTZ)

January 3, 2019 – Cut bags, many bags

A total of 144 bags (unsewn dimensions 14×7) await the next step, embroidery of names and numbers. (AMWERTZ)

Stage 3 of the Advent Calendars is to make bags for the six calendars. That is a total of 144 small bags and 6 large bags. I used up some remnants I had and a few bought at half price.

January 2, 2019 – It took a year

Today I finished the 2018 high temperature blanket. The last steps today were finishing the brown and yellow edge and sewing in the color legend. A few notations, only 2 (two) days reached 101. Fortunately, we were in Buffalo those days, where it was in the upper 90’s. With 101 being the highest, it was a pleasant summer. Now with the cold winter, we have a beautiful, warm blanket, and it only took a year.

This blanket has 365 crochet rows based on the high temperature in Powell, Wyoming. (AMWERTZ)

January 1, 2019 – New Year starts negative

No, 2019 didn’t start bad, it started COLD, like in negative digits cold. We spent New Year’s Eve in Riverton, Wyoming, due to a cold blustery snowstorm on December 30 (our anniversary – #33) that closed 789 through the Wind River Canyon. The -19 temps when we loaded the car this morning made my fingers hurt, a lot. The 2019 low temperature blanket will start with pink, as the new year starts negative.

 

Vacation food

A Big Texan Father’s Day and crossing Oklahoma

I already wrote that we watch Pawn Stars, American Restoration, and Counting Cars. Add to that Man vs Food, and other shows on the Travel Channel and Food Network. That said, Warren has been talking about Amarillo.

Amarillo by morning, I joked.

It was morning. We arrived at Amarillo, Texas, by 11 a.m. on Father’s Day.

What’s in Amarillo?

BBQ, steaks, more BBQ, more steaks.

The Big Texan.

Warren literally ran into the Big Texan Steakhouse. You can’t miss the big yellow building from the interstate.

For Father’s Day, Warren wanted to go to The Big Texan, home of the 72 ounce steak.

I didn’t think I was hungry, but driving into Amarillo, yep, the smells of all the restaurants cooking told me I was hungry.

The Big Texan is a huge restaurant. We parked the motorhome (and my little towed car) out with the big rigs. We were the only RV at that time. The motorhome sure looked dwarfed next to the big trucks.

A 28 foot motorhome with a towed Saturn wagon may seem big, until it is parked between the “real” big rigs.

We were greeted by the smell of steaks cooking as we walked to the restaurant.

We did not order the 72 ounce steak. That is just crazy. We did order what the menu called the “perfect pairing” in honor of Adam Richman, and 18 ounce steak, three butterflied fried shrimp, salad, and rolls.

My salad looked like a face. Face or not, it was good.

There is a face somewhere in this salad.

The shrimp were perfect. The steak too. I couldn’t eat the whole thing.

I couldn’t wait and ate one shrimp before taking a picture. The steak was perfect.

Our waitress was great and even brought us more rolls to add to the to go steaks. A stop at the gift shop for T-shirts (and the Texas sized fly swatter Warren wanted) and we were back on the road.

Check out the Texas sized fly swatter.

Headed for Oklahoma.

I’ll be honest, I had been very nervous about this part of the trip. We had looked about going into Kansas. That would be the long way to Branson. Since the Tornado in El Reno, the weather had seemed a bit better. I had been watching the weather since the first tornado in Moore. I had the KOCO app on my phone, and the URL for the KOCO weather in my tablet.

I was watching the radar on the tablet as we crossed Oklahoma. We had wind. The wind kept getting stronger. I could see that we were heading toward a storm that was approaching I-40. Just before exit 101, Warren said he needed to get off the road, the wind was getting too bad. Fortunately, exit 101 was a Love’s Truck Stop.

We pulled off, and got out of the way of the trucks. The wind did not subside. It got stronger. I had been watching the storm for some time. It was a slow moving storm, but had a lot of red in the radar. Warren decided to move the motorhome and tuck it in next to a big rig to block us from some of the wind.

And then the rain came.

And RVs, trucks, cars, everybody started bailing off the interstate.

We turned on the weather radio, and watched the tablet. We waited.

Find Hinton under the radar. We were where the road to Hinton and I-40 meet.

And then it really hit. The rain came down like crazy. Wind. Then hail. I could see the hail as purple on the radar.

I will admit, it was scary.

It seemed like it took a long time to pass.

This is before the rains hit and before we tucked in next to a big rig from Montana.

The storm dumped a lot of rain in the parking lot.

A rainbow or two tried to peak out as the storm passed.

The leftovers from The Big Texan were great during the storm.

After the storm passed us, the parking lot was flooded in places. Some trucks and RV left. We stayed put. The rest of the storm was going in the direction we were headed. We decided to just spend the night in the truck stop lot. We didn’t have any reservation for the night. For some reason, I just had never made reservations for Oklahoma.

Without power, and no air conditioning, it was warm. We had the windows open for air, but it was warm. About 1 a.m. it got really warm. Then at 1:44 a.m. the wind started again. This wind shook the motorhome. The wind passed quickly. Then rain, thunder and lightning. It became just a soft rain.

At 6 a.m. a flash of lightning semi woke me, but it was the thunder that seemed to bounce the motorhome three bounces that woke me all the way.

Mother Nature’s alarm clock.

Cowboy T-Rex knows where he can get a great steak (The Big Texan).

The valley with Monumental views

Hollywood loves this place. It has been used for John Wayne westerns, Back to the Future, and others I can’t remember.

We stayed at Goulding’s Campground. The location was perfect, and Goudling’s offers tours of Monument Valley. The tour guide picked us up at the campground.

The day we arrived from Las Vegas the wind was blowing really hard. The wind wasn’t the biggest problem, the blowing dirt was. Huge clouds of red dirt. I was afraid we were not going to have a tour the following day.

Fortunately, in the morning, the wind was gone. We signed up for the all-day tour (8 hours). The all day tour starts in Mystery Valley, with a hamburger lunch cooked by the tour guide, then on to Monument Valley.

Warren and I sat in the back of the open-air truck. I figured this would be a better place to snap pictures.

Warren sits in the back of the tour truck with Monument Valley in the background.

It was a good place to sit. We could feel all the slipping and sliding over the sane. Who needed an amusement park with a ride in the back of the truck, bouncing over the rocks and bumps. It was a good tour.

Our tour guide was David. He told a lot about the history of the Anastazi in Mystery Valley and the Navajo in Monument Valley. He cooked a mean hamburger. He also had a great sense of humor.

I recommend staying at Goulding’s, either at the campground or the lodge. The restaurant has great food (check out the Navajo tacos).

A Navajo taco is fry bread topped with Navajo chili, lettuce, cheese, tomato and salsa.

Don’t drive your own car into Monument Valley. I am so glad we took the tour and didn’t drive my car. The roads (which are not paved) are not kind to cars. Pay for the tour, it’s worth not tearing up your car.

The monument behind Warren is called Left Mitten.

This is Sun’s Eye.

This is a male hogan.

This is Left Mitten with other monuments in the background.

This monument of called The Hub.

This cowboy and his horse replicate an iconic photo that was taken in Monument Valley.

This view of the cowboy and horse is from John Ford Point. John Ford filmed many westerns in Monument Valley.

The female hogan is more rounded in shape.

Warren gets back on the truck after lunch.

The view from Goulding’s Museum is the first impression of the beauty of the Valley.

These flowers were in bloom outside the Goudling’s Museum.

Getting “Restored” in Las Vegas

Last July, Warren went to the Gold and Silver shop while I was in sessions at JEA’s Adviser Institute. I did get to go later. I was most interested in seeing the large photo of Death Valley that I had seen on TV.

This time we were making the rounds of two other History Channel shows based in Vegas, “American Restoration” and “Counting Cars”.

Great facades at Rick’s Restoration make for great pictures and look good on TV.

First stop was Rick’s Restoation, the name of the business featured in the show “American Restoration”. Other than the man who welcomed everyone and some workers, we were the first ones there. Ok, the first tourists of the day.

Warren anxiously waits for Rick’s Restoration to open.

Turns out the History Channel films twice a day, every day. We could take all the pictures we wanted unless History Channel was filming. Luckily, no film crew was in sight.

It looks like Rick has an endless supply of projects. The circus arrived in town too.

Unlike on “Pawn Stars,” the folks you see on the show, you see working. We shook hands with Kelly. She greeted us into the office.

The tour was short. No pictures or video allowed. The tour, which is a large hall between the workrooms had windows so visitors could see into each area. Real people doing real work with real tools. Warren was impressed that it was hand work, no expensive mechanized things.

Of course we bought shirts.

Once done there, I programmed Count’s Kustoms into the GPS. It was close. I love my GPS!

This is just one of the custom motorcycles at Count’s Kustoms. The seat on this is looks big and comfortable.

Count’s doesn’t have a tour where visitors can see people working. It is a self-guided tour of the Count’s personal car collection. The collection is cool. The lighting made pictures a challenge, dark with some red. Just what a true fan of the show would expect.

I’ll have to look it up, but this big guy, Scott, is the shop manager and bookkeeper. Warren got to shake his hand and get a picture. Doesn’t he look happy?

We have no been to the three History Channel show locations in Las Vegas. It’s little odd things like that that make a road trip vacation memorable.

The tourist stuff done for the morning, I used my JJs app to find a Jimmy John’s for lunch. Add avocado, please.

JJ’s chips, #17 Ultimate Porker (add avocado) and a regular ice tea. I was one happy lady.

Second stop – Las Vegas

I didn’t take any pictures at Soledad Canyon. It was just a first night stop. In fact, we didn’t even unhook the car from the motorhome.

Here we are at the rest stop outside of Tracy on Sunday morning, June 9. This was a breakfast stop.

The morning we left Acton (which is where Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon is), there was a little fog. The temperature was a lot nicer than the 100’s we had in Stockton the two days before we left.

But we did have wind.

Lots of wind.

The lunch stop was The Mad Greek in Baker. This was a must. We planned to stop at The Mad Greek months ago when we decided we would go through Las Vegas on the way to Wisconsin.

Two gyros and zucchini fries! Yum!

This is why we HAD to stop at The Mad Greek. It was so good.  And of course, a handmade strawberry shake.

Topped with whipped cream, a strawberry and a little umbrella. Sorry, no pictures of the spanikopita, cherry and cream cheese turnovers, and baklava that I bought for later. (all gone now)

The wind was still waiting out on the interstate.

A dust storm rolled across I-15 at Primm.

The black spot at the top of the picture is a bug who had the bad fortune (or lack of smarts) to make contact with the windshield. I’ll take it out later in Photoshop.