I’ll get to the chapter in a minute, but first…
Thanks! I looked up the website and it looked like the family rafting was limited to people who bought the all-day pass or whatever it was. That makes it a little less feasible economically.
I suspected that might be a problem. Especially with six of ya’.
I’ll try to keep that in mind with my other suggestions but I’ll probably make ‘em anyway and just know that you’ll be ignoring most of them out of necessity.
Julie is a former band geek. Played trumpet.
I played various reeds back in school myself (wrong choice, but I didn’t know it till it was too late to change). My boy works trombones and baritones but he’s had to learn nearly everything as he intends to teach them.
She also plays electric and string bass (but not in a marching band--that would be tiring)
Actualy…
That’s not as unlikely as you might think, now-a-days. WCU fields an entire rhythm section on a movable scaffold every season. Our local HS is doing a show this year based on Tchaikovsky’s 4th symphony, and they’re using a string bass for some of the movements. They just park it up front with the keyboards, mallets, tympanis and aux-percusion.
D.C. is always a great day trip for us.
And Philly, and Baltimore
Lucky you.
Whenever I've looked at the California Grill menu, I've always had a hard time identifying dishes that I would actually eat. I do believe I'd give this one a go! Pork and bacon...definitely. Cheese polenta--I'd probably be ok. Mushrooms? No, thanks. Never been a fan of eating fungus. And get those dead grapes outta here, too!
If you get there, your’ just gonn’a have to trust me on this one.
I’m not a big fan of “shrooms” either, but I’ve been making attempts recently to try stuff I think I don’t like and these (when mixed with other parts of the dish) were surprisingly good.
As for the dead grapes, there aren’t any persay…
They’re a component of the sauce while it’s being put together and are strained out prior to plating. The result is just a very fine dark sauce that mixes amazingly with the rest of the flavors. It has a taste all its own and if not told, I’d have had no idea that raisins were even a part of the perpetration.
Good luck! Hope you survive!
Reading your stuff ain’t much of a challenge.
It’s writing and then suffering through my stuff that reeks.
(I did make myself finish a chapter, but I want to get a couple more done before I even cinsider inflicting any of it onto anyone else.)
Second that bad boy. Had it my last two times at CG. Oh, my, Deity of Choice, that is good eating. Not a big fan of polenta but the Pirate Princess chastised me for licking my plate clean.
Good stuff. I had them bring extra bread to solve that plate cleaning problem.
Were we at home… the dish would have been up off the table.
Now then…
Back to the actual chapter update.
Hmm? What? Oh, sorry. My mind wandered a bit into the realm of gooey icing. I’m back.
it is its own kind of quicksand…
So, how many trays of ‘em did y’all abscond with?
Yes, Drew is growing up fast, but he still has yet to master the art of looking at the camera for more than 0.3 seconds at a time.
Or even just sit still.
May never happen, either.
We didn’t have one for Drew, so we just fished out his pajama top. Fashion-wise, he can pull it off. Whereas people just look at me funny when I do it.
Worse if I were to do it…
I don’t have any pajamas, much less tops.
Best I don’t try that particular fashion exercise.
It was an old analog-style gas pump…
No pressing need to upgrade the equipment, I suspect.
It was only later that I found out I’d pulled up to the pump for premium, not regular gasoline. Oops.
Probably catch a lot of city slickers with that little trick.
I suspect the purveyors just sit inside and laugh when folks pull up to the end pump like that.
Theodore Roosevelt first visited this area in 1883 while on a buffalo hunt, and liked the area so much he bought a ranch there. On the tragic date of February 14, 1884, both his mother and his wife passed away. He marked the date with a large “X” in his diary and wrote one sentence: “The light has gone out of my life.” Overcome with grief, he returned to the area and lived in solitude at his ranch. He credited his time spent here, living alone in the wilderness, as being incredibly vital in his development as a leader and in his learning to live with grief. He also developed a fierce conservationist streak and became a huge proponent of the National Parks later in his presidency.
A very complex fell’a, TR was; many seemingly incongruent sides to him.
Sadly, Sarah decided that she was going to bow out of the Junior Ranger programs this year
Not surprised, actually.
just the latest of many signs that she’s growing up. And it’s happening way too fast and I can’t stop it from happening and I’m not ready for it and no I’m not crying and STOP LOOKING AT ME!!!
I’ve got a list full of lies that folks have offered me that are supposed to make you feel better…
There about as useful as a nat’s fart, but you can have ‘em if you want ‘em.
The field appeared to be moving. Or rather, lots of pieces of it appeared that way.
Indy, why does the floor move?
Lots and lots of prairie dogs.
Prairie dogs … Why’d it have to be prairie dogs?
Don’t ask me what each call means, though—I don’t speak prairie dog.
Squeaky, uh, squeak, squeaker, squeakin'.
We watched for a while and then drove into the badlands. My research had suggested that first-time visitors drive in a counter-clockwise fashion, so that’s what we did.
Always go left.
Wild horses travel in herds, right?
Seem to be the consensus.
Were it ponies or colts, then it’d been either a String or a Rake.
It also never fails to bring to mind a great line from the TV show Justified, when our hero stumbles upon a meeting of various bad guys and remarks to his partner, “Now, would you call this a herd, a gaggle, or a flock of a------s?”
I do believe that would have been a Festering of a------s.
Or maybe a “suffocation”
Once back at the visitor center, Sarah and Julie went to check out Teddy Roosevelt’s old cabin
Is it the actual or a recreation?
Just curious.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes glimpse of our typical road trip:
Looks like pretty much every one’s kid’s reaction to the driving part of road trips.
Then I did a search basically asking, “Is Route 7 in Montana paved?”
Trick question...
You didn’t specify what it was paved with.
For years, the town of Ekalaka, Montana had been the only county seat in the U.S. that didn’t have a paved road running through it.
Somehow I suspect that something was actually lost when this was no longer true.
I had another moment of panic before deciding that Google was probably more up-to-date than the GPS unit. I hoped.
I get around this situation by not carrying a GPS with me.
That way it never contradicts my map research.
(and I’m forced to take either the blame or credit for the outcome)
(insert more obligatory state highway worker jokes here).
That’s like rooting for the Yankees…
Too easy and requires neither commitment nor thought.
Besides… it’s really only fair to blame you for all of the problems in Delaware.
Right?
While driving on the unpaved, torn-up road in the middle of nowhere, I told Julie, “You know, you could have married any number of men who were richer or more good-looking than I am. But I bet none of them would have taken you here.”
Quite the tactical risk you took right there.
Eventually, we crossed into Wyoming and then finally arrived at our next destination: Devils Tower National Monument.
If everything's ready here on the Dark Side of the Moon...
play the five tones.
We drove up to the visitor center and met up with some friends. They were from Delaware, not another planet.
That may still qualify.
They have six kids (3 adopted), which officially makes them crazier than we are.
Only by a third.
Also, there wasn’t a single UFO in the sky, so that movie was full of crap.
The nerve gas was preventing you from perceiving them.
Maybe I needed to hum the 5-note theme in order to get them to appear.
But did you know what a quaver was before you saw the movie?
The kids got their Junior Ranger badges. With so many kids at the desk, Drew hopped right in line and got his very own badge without having to do any work, once again proving every theory you’ve ever had about the youngest kid being spoiled rotten.
Yeah, that story checks out.
Among the very best of these underrated pleasures is: breakfast for dinner.
We do this all the time.
It’s probably our favorite family dinner.
(well… Bad Mac may come in first, but it’s a close second)
I think I could happily eat breakfast food for dinner for the rest of my life.
I’m usually not that hungry in the morning, so having it latter just improves the taste
I got a skillet featuring all my favorites: eggs, hashbrowns, thick slices of bacon, and French toast.
A good start…
Grits
I really miss teenage metabolism.
Preaching to the choir on that one.
Coming Up Next: A Rope Drop that’s even more vital than the Magic Kingdom.
Missile Command doesn’t take excuses.
Of course! It's an absolute must!
Glad you liked it!
).
