Alamosa

This morning we went into town to do our laundry. While the washers were running, we walked around the neighborhood. After laundry, Ken dropped me off at a thrift shop and went to get diesel so we can start off tomorrow with a full fuel tank. The thrifting was disappointing, but I'm always hopeful that I'll find a treasure next time.

We went grocery shopping and then headed home for a late lunch. Both the truck and the trailer were really dusty and not looking their best, so we went back to town to a car wash to clean up the truck. Then we drove over to Cole Park to walk. The park is right by the city buildings, including the fire station, library, and city offices.

The San Luis Valley Museum has an unusual display of paintings on the side of the building, many of which are trompe l'oile.

We've been wondering about a rather strange building on the edge of town. It looks like a black fortress, with slit windows and the letters "CIA" in gold. We stopped to check it out and found that the explanation is rather mundane. It belongs to the Leavitt Group, CIA-Leavitt Insurance Agency though why there is never more than one car in the parking lot remains a mystery.

Home again, we spent the next couple of hours cleaning the rig and touching up the truck. They will probably be dusty again tomorrow after our move to Abiquiu. Read more!

More Alamosa Trails

The souvenir map of Alamosa we got from the Colorado Welcome Center indicated an extensive trail system branching off from Cole Park, with names like "Crestone Peak Trail" and wildlife viewing areas called out.

We were unfortunately unable to find most of the trails listed, and what we did find was largely along city streets. The only wildlife we saw were squirrels and mockingbirds. However, we still enjoyed the walk. We came upon a sign designating a large area as "Grazing Area & Open Space." We can vouch for the open space part, but didn't spot any grazing animals.

One interesting historical note: Amelia Earhart landed in a field here after losing her way over the dustbowl of eastern Colorado.

Here's a transcription of the sign:

In Memory
of
Amelia Mary Earhart
1897 - 1937
First Woman Aviator
to Fly Solo over the Atlantic Ocean
Amelia Earhart was lost in flight--somewhere over eastern Colorado and western Kansas--during the dustbowl days of
1932. She was flying a transcontinental route in preparation
for her ill-fated round-the-world-flight. America's most
famous woman aviator adjusted her course 180° and returned
to the San Luis Valley, which she remembered flying over
earlier during clear visibility.
Amelia Earhart landed in this meadow and was met first by
Lloyd E. Jones, who lived in the closest house. In addition
to making accommodations and other arrangements for her
during her stay in Alamosa (including guarding her airplane),
Mr. Jones autographed Amelia's aircraft with his name and
"Alamosa, Colorado."
Monument Donated By:
Lloyd E. Jones & Michael M. Hackett

After lunch we did some trip planning and spent some time on chores. I did some light cleaning of the exterior while Ken aired up the truck tires. That's no easy job. It's complicated by the need to remove and reinstall the tire pressure monitor sensors and by the extremely awkward angle of the valves on the rear dually tires.

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Zapata Falls and Great Sand Dunes

Our first adventure today was a trip to Zapata Falls. Actually, we didn't quite make it to the falls.  The trail to the falls is an easy quarter mile hike, but when you get to the end of the trail, you can hear the falls and see the rushing stream, but the falls themselves are around a corner in an alcove.

In the summer it's relatively easy to wade or use the rocks to get into the alcove, but today, the stream was covered with ice and snow. The ice has been undercut by the spring meltwater, so it's very thin in places, and we saw one young man fall through and saw other spots where people had obviously fallen through the ice. Brrrr! We had our hiking sticks and hiking shoes on, so we carefully picked our way across the stream and along the far bank until we could catch a glimpse of the falls. They were mostly frozen still and quite lovely.

At this point I could see the falls themselves, but I didn't have a camera with me, and I needed both hiking sticks to keep my feet under me. Ken wisely stayed back a bit and snapped these photos.

After another 20 minute drive over washboard, we drove on north to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. At the visitor center, we watched a short video and looked at the exhibits which described the action of opposing winds and the curve of the Sangre de Cristo mountains that have created and maintained the impressive dunes.

They rise as much as 750 feet tall, and although they continually shift and reform, they have been here for thousands of years. Photos can give some idea of the dunes, but like other spectacular natural formations, only being there in person to be awed by them can really communicate their scope and shifting nature.

After a picnic lunch, we hoped to climb High Dune, but the weather didn't cooperate. There were thunderstorms in the area, and the dunes are a particularly dangerous place to be with lightning around. Besides, the wind was chilly and gusty, so the prospect of hiking the dunes wasn't very appealing. Maybe another time.

We stopped on our way back out to the main highway to view some boondocking sites on BLM land adjacent to SR-150. They are off the highway on a BLM road and would be a great place to enjoy dark skies and the vista of the wide San Luis Valley to the west and the Sangre de Cristo mountains to the east.

We drove back to Alamosa, to Cole Park to walk along the Rio Grande. That area is much more sheltered than the dunes, and the rain storms had moved on. Read more!

Almost Oasis

We packed up this morning and headed from Lathrop State Park to Great Sand Dunes Oasis RV Park. The route was simple: 54 miles west on US 160 and then 12 miles north on CO 150. When we arrived at the RV park, we were dismayed to learn that they had no water turned on in the RV park and even worse, no faucet to fill our fresh water tank. We had called a couple of weeks ago to make a reservation, and we were told that we would have no problem. If they had told us at that point to fill up before coming to the park, we could have done that.

We were less than happy with the management, so we decided to go elsewhere. First we called the Alamosa KOA, but they said they weren't open for the season yet. When Ken asked for a suggestion, they told him that Alamosa Economy RV Park was open just down the road, so that's where we are staying. It's 24 miles from the Oasis, which is the closest park to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, but we figured it would work.

After lunch we wanted a nicer place to walk than the dusty RV park, so we drove into Alamosa and stopped at the Colorado Welcome Center there. We left clutching maps of Colorado and of Alamosa and headed to Cole Park.

Alamosa has a very nice city park situated along the Rio Grande River (yes, the same one that flows within a couple of miles of our winter home).

We walked around the park and along the river. We enjoyed watching the skateboarders practicing their moves at the skate park and the runners and cyclists along the trails and the dog owners out with their pets.
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Beautiful Easter

We woke this morning to rain and more rain. It had rained steadily during the night, and now it seemed likely to rain all day. When we got a break in the weather at 11:00 a.m., we headed out to hike around Martin Lake, one of the park's two lakes. The trail around the lake is asphalt, which is why we chose it rather than the Hogback Trail we had hoped to hike.

It was overcast but otherwise mostly pleasant. We saw deer tracks, but no deer. Yesterday we saw lots of magpies and robins, but they were making themselves scarce this morning.

Chris and Shawn had to make an early morning trip to the doggy emergency room. Talulah had managed to get a round bone stuck on her lower jaw, past her canine teeth. She's home now with antibiotics and pain medications and orders to stay quiet. Chris says the sedation made her loopy. He and Anara called this afternoon.

I talked to Ed today. He has a new job, starting tomorrow, working for eLead, training dealerships around the country in the use of their software systems for managing customer relations.

This afternoon, the sun began to peek through the clouds. Soon it was a mild, bright sunny day. We couldn't resist going on a short hike on the Hogback Trail and taking photos of the Spanish Peaks. Marvelous scenery, and the piñon pines put such a refreshing odor in the air.

Tomorrow we'll go to Great Sand Dunes Oasis. It's right at the entrance to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Read more!

On to Lathrop State Park

We originally planned to leave New Horizons this morning. Because we left yesterday, we got an extra day, so we decided to spend a couple of nights at Lathrop State Park. We stayed here in August 2010 and enjoyed it.

We started out this morning on the plains of Kansas, which are generally flat and barren unless they are cultivated. We expected to end the day in the mountains of Colorado. What we didn't expect is that a fair piece of eastern Colorado is also flat and mostly covered with tumbleweeds and such.

We stopped in Sugar City for lunch, parked against the curb, since we couldn't find a better place. We had been driving through unpopulated areas on state and county roads with no berms to speak of. When I started to put out our main slide, which was next to the curb, I suddenly heard a scraping noise and stopped. The bottom of the slide had hit the curb. Fortunately there was no visible damage. We are usually pretty careful about any sort of slope we park near, but it's been quite a while since we encountered any problems, so I wasn't as vigilant as I needed to be. Another lesson learned.

As we drove on, finally the terrain changed and we began to see hills and mesas and even mountains on the horizon.

We arrived at the campground about 3:00 p.m. local time, which is MST, one hour earlier than Kansas. We checked in, put some fresh water in our tank, and set up on our campsite. It's site 92, the same one we had four years ago.

We have views of the mountains, but storms obscured some of the peaks. Fortunately it was sunny when we arrived, and the weather held for our walk. In the photo below, you can see one of the lakes if you look hard.

The wind has picked up, and we expect rain and possibly thunderstorms overnight. Read more!

Leaving Camp Horizons

We got up early and hitched up. With the new command module hooked up, we headed out on a test drive to see what error messages we would get. On our first quick run, I saw the DF DEAD message flicker on briefly. That meant the Driver Side Front Sensor was malfunctioning. We took it out for a longer run, and that error message kept flickering on and off, signally a probable connection issue.

Back at New Horizons, Ken U. raised the trailer wheels on the Big Foot. He soon showed us the "dead" sensor. The wire where it connected to the sensor was frayed or burned looking, clearly the source of the problem. A few minutes later, new sensor installed, we made another test drive. Everything reported working fine!

Just after 11:00 a.m. we were on the road, I-70 westbound that is, and headed off for our next adventure. We stopped for the night at a rest area near Grainfield, KS. Like most Kansas rest areas, it has a special loop dedicated for RVs, including a dump station.

When Ken started to put out the slides, he was horrified to see the floor covered with water and ice cubes! The freezer door had come open, and the ice cube trays and bin had fallen out. Ice cubes were melting everywhere!

After a bit of cleanup, we got set up and headed out to walk. The day was sunny and clear, but the wind was fierce. Occasionally I was blown a bit sideways even.

I decided to take some photos of Kansas. This is just what a lot of it looks like!

Back at the trailer, we fixed dinner and made plans for tomorrow.

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Sudsing our Duds!

The guys are closing in on finishing all the work on our rig. We are cautiously hopeful about our leak. Tony says that he has found and fixed it. The water was coming in through the bottom refrigerator vent and running along the wall. He sealed up the corner of the refrigerator compartment, which should do it. Tony also installed six new LED lights for us in the galley. Dan changed the oil and filter on the generator and resealed the roof.

Our new command module for our ABS brakes arrived today, along with a couple of new sensors. We're sure we need at least one because of all the alarm sounds we heard on the way here. Tomorrow morning we'll hitch up and actually be able to see which sensor(s) might have a problem.

After the guys left for the day, we headed out to Laundry Land to do our laundry. The antique washer outside, painted a bright turquoise, is like one my mom used when I was little.

We stopped at Dillon's to pick up some groceries and at a Conoco for fuel. We'll be ready to leave tomorrow if the work is finished in time.
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Progress

Another early morning and day spent in the customer lounge. We did some trip planning and chatted with other owners. Carolyn came in with an express mail envelope for me. Happy Dance!!! It's my wallet. Yay! It's such a great feeling to get my wallet back, but especially to know that there are some really kind and honest people in the world.

Jack Mayer came over to talk for a while. Steve and Gari were there as were Paul and Kathy. Their work was finally wrapped up today, and they left this afternoon, heading east.

Steve and Gari got their new TrailerSaver hitch installed, and they are hoping to start out with their new Majestic soon, maybe tomorrow.

Progress was made on our punch list. Dan put a new SeeLevel sensor strip on the black tank. We're hoping that will improve the performance, but we don't have too much faith. The Maxxair fan in the toilet room is now working properly. Tony replaced some of the drawer slides and looked for our leak. He resealed the refrigerator vents. Read more!

Cate Is Ten! and Work Being Done

Cate turned ten today. She was happy at the thought that she'd be in double digits! Happy birthday, Cate!

Last night I set my alarm for 2:00 a.m. and watched the lunar eclipse for an hour. It was an impressive sight, even though I had problems with the ambient lighting in the parking lot. I ended up staying inside and watching through a window using binoculars. It's a bit eerie to watch the bright familiar moon seeming to snuff out and turn a deep orange.

This morning we got up bright and early so we could pack up and leave our trailer by 7:15 a.m. The guys moved it into the bay shortly afterwards, and they have been working on it.

This afternoon we made a run to Radio Shack and Goodwill. I found a pair of black capris and a Paris top, both with some bling and cute. Read more!

Waiting

Today something wonderful happened: someone called to tell me that my wallet was found! A sense of relief and gratitude washed over me. The man on the phone (Moe) said that his brother had found my wallet. It was in Norman, OK, that I evidently dropped it while we were out on our walk. The brother (Ali) is a recent immigrant, so he brought the wallet to Moe to ask what they should do with it.

Evidently Moe looked in the wallet and found my information card, which indicates that Ken should be called in case of emergency. Hallelujah! This kind guy offered to go to the post office this afternoon and mail the wallet to me here at New Horizons.

When we walked over to talk to Ken in service, we stopped by the customer lounge (aka home away from home when someone's trailer is being worked on). There we found Paul and Kathy, whom we had met on an earlier trip. We also introduced ourselves to a couple we hadn't seen before: Steve and Gary. They are here for their one year warranty work.



We went over our punch list with Ken U. He said that someone would start work on our trailer in an hour or two, and we should be prepared to fold the unit up and leave it. The guys will be putting it into a service bay to work on it (don't blame them a bit--it's cold outside!) We heard the wind and "wintry mix" that fell during the night, and we woke to find ice and snow outside. Paul and Kathy said it had been 88° when they were hiking on Saturday. A serious cold front has moved in, and we're expecting a low in the low 20s tonight.

Ken came by this afternoon to say that work on our unit won't happen until tomorrow morning. We'll get out of bed early, prepare the rig for moving, and go over to the customer lounge for the day.

This morning we looked out to a snowy scene and found ice and snow on our steps. Ken had to scrape the windows before he could move the truck.

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On to Camp Horizons

We woke up this morning in Norman, Oklahoma, and tonight we're at Camp Horizons, Junction City, Kansas. Yesterday it was summer, and now there's a cold wind blustering outside and freeze warnings. Brrr! It was a very long day, but we didn't run into as much stormy weather as we feared.

Here's a photo of me, very busily recycling... (Ken's joke)

We did face a few trials today. The first is that we got so low on diesel that we feared running out. There was no diesel in Winfield, KS, and our dashboard readout was showing less than 100 miles fuel range, not enough to get us to Junction City. Fortunately we did find diesel.

Unfortunately, when we arrived in Junction City and set up, I was unable to find my wallet. A thorough search by both of us failed to turn it up, so we think it must have fallen out of my fanny pack somewhere on our travels today.  So far no one has called to report finding it. We've called a couple of the places we stopped today, but no luck. Darn!

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Hard Day's Drive

We had a longer drive than we're used to today, 275 miles. We usually try to keep it to 200 or fewer. Today's drive was also stressful because we ran into lots of construction and traffic slowdowns. When we stopped for lunch we found that the sofa had slid out of its alcove. Getting it back in place involves moving lots of the stuff we have stored under the sofa and then later replacing it. This doesn't happen often, but it's a pain when it does. We also found a 3/4" brass ball on the floor that we couldn't figure out where it had come from.

It was nearly 6:00 p.m. when we pulled in to take our place among the trucks overnighting in a Walmart parking lot in Norman, OK. We had to backtrack and hunt for the place, since the exit that Rosie wanted us to take was closed for construction. Yeesh!

As we might have expected, it's windy, so we're doing a bit of swaying in the wind. We finally discovered what the brass ball is for: the light fixture over the dining table has three glass bells, and one of them was dangling loosely. Fortunately Ken was able to locate the threaded rod that had fallen on the carpet and put the fixture back together.

Tomorrow is another long day, through Oklahoma, into Kansas, and arriving at Camp Horizons.
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Lovely Day in the Piney Woods

This afternoon we went to the Times Square Cinema with Carol to see Noah, a movie that has been widely panned by Christians expecting a biblical story, but one which many critics like.

We were definitely not prepared for the movie we saw. It has plenty of special effects, and Russell Crowe turned in a good performance, but it's a dark film. The first stunning thing is that the children of Seth, the good guys, are helped by the "Watchers," supposedly fallen angels who have been encased in stone and sentenced to stay on earth. They look more like transformers or some of the Ring Trilogy monsters than they look like helpers.

Noah himself becomes darkly paranoid, sees that even his own children are not entirely good, and decides that humanity must perish (though it's important that the animals live on). To this end, he threatens to kill his infant granddaughters, lest they become future mothers.... Definitely not our favorite movie.

This evening Dick and Carol took us out to dinner for our birthdays. We went to Oliveto Italian Bistro. The atmosphere was pleasant, not too noisy, and the food was quite delicious. We had the Rosemary Chicken Breast, which came with creamy jalapeño risotto and broccoli. The risotto was especially good, with just enough spiciness for our taste. Of course we also had good company, and we topped off our dinners with the "Eight Chocolate Brownie Bliss A Ghirardelli® brownie with five types of chocolate served warm with a scoop of Blue Bell® vanilla ice cream and drizzled with white and dark chocolate sauce and sprinkled with cocoa."

Earlier in the day I couldn't resist taking a picture of these azaleas in the back yard. The azaleas are late blooming this year because of the unseasonably cold spring.

On our walk this evening we stopped to thank our hosts, David and Linda. They are unfailingly cheerful and helpful.

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Visiting and Lots of Photos

We're in site #20 at RVParks R Us. As you can see from the photos, we have plenty of space around us.

We also have some inquisitive neighbors. They live on the land behind the RV park, which also features an oil well. At night we sometimes hear them being a bit vocal, but they are quiet in the daytime.

We went over to Carol's later this afternoon, since Thursday is one of her longer work days. Christine comes over after school, because the middle school she attends is just a couple of blocks away, on the west side of Golden. She took her earphones out to smile for this photo.

Here's Carol's famous puzzle table. She's currently working on a patchwork of various "Texas" signs.

I went with Carol when she dropped Christine off at home. Robbie was excited to show me his carnivorous plant collection. The one he is holding is a pitcher plant.

We went out in the back yard to watch the kids play on their new (to them) trampoline. It's a hand me down from a neighbor who moved away and didn't care to move the trampoline.

The kids were having a blast, especially when Christine joined the boys. Sam was squealing with delight when Christine bounced him.

This evening Ken and I cooked dinner for Dick and Carol and Ken and me. I made Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette and Roasted Butternut Squash Penne with Autumn Pesto, with spinach salad, bread, and strawberries over angel food cake. Carol made another loaf of pumpkin pear bread. It was all yummy. We saved some for Dick, who was out at a poetry meeting in Whitehouse.


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The Friths

Sam had a dentist appointment this morning.  Robert and Debbie dropped off Robbie at Carol's. Later, Robbie had an Occupational Therapy session, so Sam stayed at Carol's with us.

Debbie reported that Sam had been super at the dentist's, opening his mouth on cue and not objecting to the dental exam and cleaning. Part of the reason is that the dentist's office is geared for kids, with things like a rocket ship shaped building and flat dental chairs with a TV on a screen on the ceiling.

Carol had food ready for lunch when we arrived. She had two veggie salads, and she made some delicious veggie quesadillas. We visited in between putting in loads of laundry and folding clothes out of the dryer.

For dinner Carol made two pans of spinach lasagna. One was gluten free, since Debbie has the boys on a gluten free diet. I had a bit of it, and it was quite tasty. The noodles were made with rice flour. Christine walked over after school, and Debbie and Robert and the boys arrived about 4:30 p.m.

It was nice to see the Friths again. The kids grow and change so much in the months we are away. Debbie talked a lot about sensory integration, which is what they are working on with the boys.

This evening I went with Carol to her choir practice. The practice is held in a school music room, which means the chairs are rather diminutive for adults, but it works. The group seems really cohesive, and the director and her husband (who plays piano) are both very professional but keep things light-hearted. Carol wanted to introduce me to a visiting couple who have also been full-time RVers. I enjoyed talking with Maggie. They've been on the road for a year, mostly in the American west, but have just bought a home on Lake Fork near Emory, TX, which is near enough for their Dallas kids to visit.

I'm not sure what the story is on this photo.... Read more!

Travel Trials

On our walk this morning we were looking for water birds. We haven't seen too many (except for geese on the golf course), but this morning one really caught our eye. It was struggling to eat a large fish it had caught. There's a heron in the shot too.

Later this morning we left Lewisville Lake Park and started out for Tyler, but very shortly heard the tire pressure monitor alarm. The inside rear dually on the driver side was reporting 37 psi, instead of the 60 psi it is supposed to have. We were planning to stop at Costco in a few miles, so we drove to the Costco parking lot. Ken checked with the Costco tire department, but they were unable to help us, so next he called Coach-Net, our roadside assistance plan.

They promised to send someone out within an hour. We unhitched the truck from the trailer and went inside to have lunch.

Afterwards, we decided to get out the tools needed to lower the spare tire. We read the instructions in the owner's manual, but couldn't figure out how to get the tire down. No worries: surely the tire service person being sent out to work on a "medium duty truck" would be experienced and know just what to do.

When the promised assistance failed to arrive, Ken called Coach-Net back. They agreed to contact the service person and call back. Then the tire service person called. He didn't know where the Lewisville Costco was. Ken explained where we were, but the service truck still did not appear. We had decided to give up and drive to Discount Tire, but Ken was put on hold when he called Coach-Net to report this. While he was on hold, the service person showed up. Rick's Tire Service didn't look like much--one guy with a cigarette dangling from his lips. After he couldn't get the spare tire down, he decided to see if he could repair the flat. It turned out to have a nail (as we figured), and he repaired it and reinstalled it. We were good to go.

A search of Google failed to yield any clear instructions or YouTube videos on how to lower the spare. We'll stop at a Ford dealer tomorrow to see if they can show us how, just in case we're stranded somewhere....

While Ken waited for the service person, I had done our Costco shopping, so we were on the road again shortly after 3:00 p.m. The first part of the drive was pretty stressful, with lots of construction and traffic congestion. Ken took over at Terrell, and from there on in it was smooth sailing.

We arrived at RV Parks R Us in Tyler about 5:30 p.m. They were very welcoming and showed us to site #20, wide open, easy back in. After we got set up, we headed out to walk. The highway is being widened, so we were walking in construction areas. Plus, the traffic is very noisy. Tomorrow we'll try to find a better place to walk, possibly at Carol's.

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Twelve Years

We went for a bike ride this morning. It would have been more comfortable if we'd worn our gloves. As it was, our fingers were blue with cold and tingling with pins and needles when we finished the ride. I plunged my hands into warm water, and they immediately began to itch intensely. Next time I won't forget my gloves!

This afternoon we watched the Redbox DVD of Twelve Years a Slave. It's a gripping story and very graphic in its depiction of the inhumanity of the slave economy and the extreme cruelty visited upon helpless human beings. Solomon Northrop was one of the few lucky black freemen to escape after being kidnapped and sold into slavery. One of the issues raised is whether or not the perpetrators ever faced justice and retribution for their misdeeds. Solomon's kidnappers and those who brutalized him escaped earthly justice. Read more!

ATL/DFW and Visitors

This was my final morning visiting Atlanta. Cate and Sam and I managed to fit in two more games of Ten Days in the Americas (with Ed coaching both Sam and me). Then Ed and the kids drove me to the Atlanta airport for my flight back to Dallas.

It wasn't the easiest flight ever. Every seat was filled, the flight was delayed, and the weather was rough all the way. The seat-belt sign was never turned off. Seats on American have been getting closer together, and now even more so. I think they've squeezed the standard coach seats closer together to make room for some extra inches for the "premium seats" (for which they charge extra, of course). The guy in the seat in front of me immediately reclined his seat all the way. The final effect is quite claustrophobic.

However, we did land safely in Dallas, finally. It was good to see Ken after a week away. On the way home we stopped at Kroger's to pick up food for tonight's visitors. Kelley and Will came over for dinner. They've been dating for quite a while now, but this was our first chance to meet him. He's an ex-Marine and in management at My Fit Foods, which is where Kelley met him. We had a very good visit, but somehow I forgot to take any photos. Darn!
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Bluegrass!

This morning Julie had a massage appointment with a lady from Brazil. Her husband had arranged for a massage and hair cut and style as a gift to her. It was her first massage. Julie always finds it especially gratifying when a person new to massage comes in a bit nervous but ends up really appreciating the experience.

Ed and Cate and I played the Out of Africa version of Ticket to Ride. I've played only the USA version, so it was a bit of a learning curve for me. It was only the second time that Ed and Cate had played. I started with very minimal knowledge of African political geography. It was an interesting experience. Cate won. She had the GlobeTrotter 10-point bonus, but won by more than that. I was in third place.

This afternoon we went to Clarkston (about an hour to the southeast) for a bluegrass festival. We arrived shortly after the first group started playing at 3:00 p.m. and stayed until nearly 7:00 p.m.

The WRFG Peachblossom Bluegrass Festival is an annual fund-raiser for Community Radio, WRFG-Atlanta.The event takes place Sat. April 5,2014 at the Clarkston Community Center in Clarkston Georgia.Bands include Playing on the Planet,Cedar Hill,Johnny Roquemore & The Apostles of Bluegrass,Grass Backerds,Whoa Nelly,Facing South,8th of January,Tucker Station. Indoor seating, craft/info/food venders.

I especially enjoyed Johnny Roquemore & the Apostles of Bluegrass. They ended their set with "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms," which brought the house to its feet. Cedar Hill topped off their set with a rousing performance of "Mama Don't Allow No Music Played Around Here."

The kids weren't really into the music, but they did enjoy the snacks and buying some handcrafted jewelry. On the way home we stopped at zPizza for dinner. Read more!

INK and Nail Salon

After lunch today we went to Gainesville, GA (east of Cumming, on the other side of Lake Lanier), to visit INK: Interactive Neighborhood for Kids. It's a children's museum with a variety of "real life" environments for kids to explore and role play in. Cate liked the music room and the stage. They all liked the dentist's office and GrandPappy Airlines and the grocery store. Gainesville businesses contributed items like the dentist office chairs and the x-ray light board and x-rays. There's a fire truck and a sheriff's car and a dairy milking barn. The kids had fun.

Julie and Cate and I went to the nail salon for manicures and pedicures while Ed fixed a yummy dinner. Afterwards we all watched Disney's Frozen. It was easy to see why the movie is an award winner.

Meanwhile, back in Texas, Ken went to the Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine, where he spotted this interesting motorcycle.

He also opened a Redbox account online and rented three movies: Django Unchained, Enough Said, and All Is Lost.  Yesterday he went to the theater to see Gravity in 3D. Nothing like some binge movie watching! Read more!

Playing Around

We had a quiet day today--at least as quiet as is possible with three high energy kids. This morning we walked to the neighborhood playground with kids and dogs. Some other kids also on spring break showed up, and Cate and Sam mixed it up with them. Jesse, on the other hand, pursued his botanical studies, bringing various leaves to his parents for examination.

This afternoon Ed and Julie and Jesse and I went for a walk with the dogs. Cate, who will soon be ten, was very proud to be left in charge of her brother Sam. I watched Ed and Sam and Jesse playing Trouble, a Sorry type game, but with much improved board design. The pieces are plastic pegs that fit in plastic slots, and the die is enclosed in a plastic bubble that is depressed to cause it to pop up. Much safer and easier for younger players.

Later Cate and Ed and I played Ticket to Ride USA 1910. I haven't played that version before, but it worked out very well for me, since I got the 15 bonus points for being a "GlobeTrotter" (which means completing the most trips). That put my score just over Ed's--definitely beginner's luck. Read more!

Amicalola Falls Hike

Our outing today was to Amicalola Falls State Park. Ken and I did this hike last July, and Julie and the kids did it a couple of years ago, at which point Julie was carrying Jesse up the steep trail. Ed had never been to the falls. The rest of us were happy to go again. It's a nice state park, not too far north of Cumming, and very green and refreshing. Today was a lovely day for a hike, sunny and warm, but not hot.

After a stop at the visitor center, we started up the Creek Trail. Julie asked Jesse if he was ready to use his "strong legs," and of course he said "yes!" He actually did a very good job of the uphill hike, keeping up with the rest of us just fine. Sam had to be reined in. He was zooming ahead around every bend. Cate is a good hiker too. We soon arrived at the Reflection Pool and joined the Appalachian Approach Trail, which leads to Springer Mountain and the southern terminus of the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail. Of course we didn't go that far!

Instead we climbed two sets of stairs up to the top of the falls. Along the way we saw some spectacular scenery, especially looking up at the base of the falls. At the top we rested for a while and had some cheese and crackers before starting back down the East Ridge Trail back to the visitor center. The kids were looking forward to playing on the playground. Amazingly they still had plenty of energy.

When we got back home, a package had arrived from Aunt Terri. Everything inside was in Japanese, a veritable treasure trove. It included a coffee mug with "Bubby" on the side--Terri's nickname for Ed when they were little.

After dinner we watched the third episode of the Cosmos series. The kids had seen the first two. Even Jesse was enthralled, because space is his personal interest. He says Jupiter is his favorite planet because of the big red spot. Read more!