An Admirable April Adventure: Reno

After a good night's stay and breakfast at the Elko Comfort Inn, we burned west down I 80 in the direction of Reno. The weather was much better and the trip was beautiful with spectacular mountains and skies.

 We followed Interstate 80 through incredible scenery

 The variety of color and texture is awe-inspiring

 

Nevada is beautiful

Arriving in Reno we spent the afternoon, reading, visiting, and basking in the wonderful afternoon sunshine at Thomas Creek Park, an attractive area of natural planting interspersed with lawns and play areas.

 Clara read to me

 Just a touch of facial hair

 Thomas Creek Park

 Born to climb

 Clara can pump herself

 We enjoyed the sunshine

 

Anders shot the roller slide

We had supper at 168 Chinese Restaurant. It was delicious, but we ordered way too much. Kris purchased some doughnuts from a local shop for dessert.

 Lots of delicious Chinese food

Anna and Kris post-dinner

It was a pleasant day. It is fun to see the kids again.

Bags are packed and everyone is in now bed in anticipation of an early departure for San Francisco tomorrow.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

An Admirable April Adventure: Elko

This morning at 12:00 noon we headed west to Elko, NV in a pounding rain storm. By the time we reached the Bonneville Salt Flats, the rain had abated but the wind had picked up to something like 45 MPH. The wind was coming from the NW, so forward progress was daunting; we were on empty by the time we reached Wells. So much for good gas mileage. The rain left the salt flats covered with water so they were blue and waves were striking the shore as the wind howled.

"Lake" Bonneville

Arriving in Elko, we settled into our hotel before heading to K-Mart to pick up some reading material. We had dinner at Machi's Saloon & Grill, which came highly recommended on Yelp. It was good but a bit on the pricey side. Their salad and bread was really yummy! Next time I will try pasta or a salad.

 Monday-night special: long rib with garlic-mashed spuds

This was the place

Tomorrow we are off to Reno, so the adventure continues. That's all for now, however.

OXO

D.

Arches for Spring Break

Not long ago Phil and Meags asked if I wanted to go to Arches with them for the day as it would be Spring Break for the kids. They called again last night to confirm and I was delighted to say yes. Always concerned about how the bum knee will perform, I agreed to do what I could and wait in the car if I couldn't. Well the knee was fine but the legs are way out of shape. I have started walking again, but clearly am not up to par. It was a beautiful day and we had a splendid time. We called Kris on the way home and she met us at Janet's for a latish supper.

 The P. Taylors

 Photographs just can't capture the grandeur

Cairns lead the way

 Meags and Ollie on the brink

 Snow-capped La Sal Mountains framed by Delicate Arch

The whole group at Delicate Arch 

 The Taylors

 Headed back

 Ditto 

Lunch at the Sand Dune Arch trail head

Ollie removing his shoes at Sand Dune Arch

 Almost like a day at the beach

Sand Dune Arch

 The melanin-challenged people stayed in the shade

 Double Arch

 Ready to trek to the arches

Ollie is doing his county report on Grand County so

we made a stop at the county seat in Moab

 I think everyone will sleep soundly tonight

Joined by Kris for dinner at Janet's

What a great day. Thanks to the P&M Taylors for the invitation and the fine management!

That's all for now, but there will be more adventures in Reno and the Bay Area next week.

OXO

D.

Easter 2013

We are such adherents to tradition that one year looks much like the other; the kids just get a bit bigger. Nonetheless, it was a very nice Easter.

The Colvers were the first to dye eggs on Saturday

 Millie and Bea popped in to borrow a cheesecake recipe

 Dickie and Kris's eggs

 Max and Lizzie gave it try

 As did Meg and Ollie

Meagan introduced us to Kool-Aid dying

 The really intense colors were dyed in Kool-Aid!

 Meagan and Ollie finish up

 On Sunday afternoon, Katy and Daniel stopped by 

on their way home from church

 Lamb with mint sauce

 The conversation was no-holds-barred, as always

 At one point it drew tears of laughter

 Warm enough to eat outside, and Lizzie was mollified 

by the reinstalled railing

 The traditional Easter egg hunt was underway

3 found, 9 to go

 It made Meg very happy

 The last egg!

 The conversation moved outside

Considering some possible adventures for this 

week's Spring Break

There may or may not be a Spring-Break posting, but there will certainly be postings from Reno and San Francisco next week. That, however, is all for now.

OXO

D.

One Thing and Another

Here are some of the things that happened during the last couple of weeks. Daniel has a crazy schedule this semester and Katy is often alone on Friday and Saturday. Consequently we invited her to go to dinner with us at Yamato, and on Saturday we shopped together. She went to Harmon's with me, and I went to WinCo with her.

Yamato

 This WinCo doesn't have a mini casino

 A study in gold

Every day but Friday, Oliver picks up Holden at Wasatch and they walk to Millie's house. Then I drive Ollie to Meagan's school.

 Handsome lads

Apparently Kris and I were the only ones who noticed that our deck bounced like a trampoline. We had  Juan (Stephen's basement digger and all-around handy man) install some piers to hold up the center of the deck where there were cross braces, but no support. Juan also painted the railing.

 Ready for the piers

The "pit" was treacherously exposed and Lizzy decided she 

would not eat outside until the railing returned

There will be an Easter post to follow soon, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.