Back in April, my Son showed off his new desk set-up at the house.
We admired the colorful thing that was on the desk itself.
He told us that it is a mouse pad, and HERE is a link to it.
Being we were about to leave on our trip to see him, we did not act on it.
The other day I decided to buy it. It was only $29 (though shipping was expensive).
So far, we like it a lot, especially since I always hate when the mouse falls off the end of the mouse pad.
So this is great.
It is the time of the year when the sun is at its furthest location, to the north.
In my house, it means that the back side (which normally does not get much sun at all) has lovely spots of sun on the floor in the kitchen.
Makenna noticed it three days ago, and on Tuesday, she sat in the box of light.
I could not resist taking a few photos of her.
Unfortunately, it moved very fast, so she left me alone. Sigh...
I have been talking about them since 2014. HERE is my first post about them.
I have missed them so much, being retired and all that.
Sunday they announced that they have a new treat, that is available at Valley Marketplace in Santa Clarita.
It has been at Gelson's Markets, around the Southland, for a month. So this finally got it to our area of the world.
I tried one, and it is OK. Not as good as getting it on the truck, but not bad, either.
I will definitely be back for more.
THIS is what it looks like on his website.
My son bought a house that had lumber for a deck, in his garage.
His first project, is replacing the old one, that is falling apart (see photo number 1).
A co-worker from GM (a friend from his EcoCar days) came over the weekend before, to check things out with him.
They bought railing at Home Depot, to finish up the lumber that was needed for the project.
So with everything set, they did the demo on Saturday, and then laid the lumber down on the deck.
The railing will happen another day, but for now, it is safer than it was.
My Water Post For Today.
My Son has been taking evening walks around his new location.
Lots of lakes, and one of them is the lake that they are connected to: Proud Lake.
They have a community dock and the other day he checked it out.
Quite a beautiful area, though I bet they have some mosquitos around at night.
I hope you enjoy.
Cimcie found it in her father's personal items, after his death.
A not perfect, but better, version of The Second Arrangement. It was recorded on cassette, just before an assistant engineer erased it, by mistake.
Donald and Walter did perform the song in 2011, but even they did not know how it sounded anymore.
We now have something that is so close to the final version, and it is glorious.
I have not listended to all 20 minutes of this Youtube video, but it is on it toward the very top.
This article from someone called The Expanding Dan has a 5:44 combined version on it, to fill in the missing vocals. I can't link to it alone, so you need to continue reading and then scroll down toward the end, for the clip I heard the first day.
Enjoy.
This is somewhere USA...but you get the point.
Out in the middle of the United States, you see lots of animals roaming.
My personal opinion is that they have that right.
Do I want to hit one of them, when driving? The answer to that is NO.
With a bit of luck, and continued health, I have booked a trip to South Dakota.
Fall, when the kids go back to school is a perfect time.
I would love to take the train, but there are no trains in South Dakota.
The closest you can get is Denver, Colorado, Omaha, Nebraska, Williston, or Fargo, North Dakota.
I can tell you are loving the choices we have to deal with.
I finally decided that instead of driving miles and miles in a rental car, we would fly for the first time.
Denver and then to Rapid City, to see Mount Rushmore. My Husband has never been to it, and he would like to.
Wish us luck with this, and obviously, more to follow.
Consumer Reporter, David Lazarus, has a pinched nerve in his neck.
While he is recovering, he is doing his live reports from home, like he did during the Pandemic.
When he lights up his home studio, his cat, Lupin, comes over most times and takes his position on the blanket in the corner of the desk.
As David explains, he has no control over the cat, but the cat remembers those Pandemic days, since he was born and raised during them.
Thus, most home studio "Hits" he is there, doing what he does best. Sleeping.
Wishing David good health, so he can return to the studio.
We will miss Lupin, when this happens.
I admit this, I managed to miss crossing the Pecos River, in New Mexico.
What it did, is make me notice much more in the New Mexico area above and to the East of, Lamy.
That, by the way, is the stop for anyone who wants to travel up to Santa Fe. (Maybe someday)
There was a creek along side the train, with some nice rock formations, and I took several photos of that.
I am happy I have them, and now share one of them with you all.
Today is the day. The summer Solstice arrives and the days will begin to get shorter.
This photo was taken back in 2020, when we were in the height of the Pandemic and they live streamed the sun setting at Stonehenge.
I read that it occurs at 7:57AM PDT this year.
It is definitely a cause for celebration, since it is the longest day of the year.
I caught an image of today's solstice. 2023. Enjoy.
Welcome to Milford. The place where the General Motors Proving Ground is.
My Son wanted to take us to a BBQ joint, and this is where we ended up.
Smoke Street. An interesting place with many choices for BBQ.
I think I got BBQ Pork and it was good.
It was very crowded, and that was a bit of a drag.
Main Street reminded me of the many main streets throughout America. Small, but cute.
My Water Post For Today.
Last week I mentioned that we were photographing a new bridge over the Detroit River.
Here it is, the Gordie Howe International Bridge.It is named after a Canadian Hockey player, who played for the Detroit Red Wings.
So far, there are the two towers and some cables attached to it.
We were impressed, since seeing a bridge in progress, is not a normal occurance for us.
Enjoy the water, once again.
In case I can continue my blog on Train Travel Help, I wanted to get this photo up.
I knew that somewhere in the Metropolitan Lounge, there was a shower.
The problem was, I never saw it.
This trip I was determined to find out where it is and hopefully, get inside it.
I did find it in the ladies room, but I never had the opportunity to get past the lock on the door.
Too bad, because it would have been worth the effort.
The staff were way too busy to deal with me and I could not ask them for the key.
Maybe next time.
I may be going crazy trying to get my Thesis/Applied Project in order, but it does not stop me from feeling that occasional masking, and social distancing still has a place in this world.
Our latest trip had the least masking, of all our recent trips.
In spite of that, we made it through without catching COVID-19, RSV, etc...
We try to get a feeling for an area, and if it does not feel safe, we mask.
It seems to work for us.
Thanks Virtual Railfan, for making the cool as all heck Social Distancing shirt. I wore it both coming and going on the train.
...and the score is: 2 girls and 2 boys.
My nephew, and his wife, just welcomed their 2nd child on 6/14.
Her name is Isla and I am so glad to hear she arrived safely.
She joins her big brother, and two cousins.
It is nice to know our family has continued into a new generation.
Back in January we attended a Chinese New Year festival in Phoenix, Arizona.
I took a walk around the festival grounds, and found a dragon boat.
I was shocked that one lived so far from the water, but I am sure they bring it some where that has a lake.
I love the intricate patterns on it.
A great job, all-in-all.
If I am not mistaken, this was the sun rising on the Colorado border.
It was our trip home and that is where it happens, because you miss the entire state of Kansas. :-)
Nights and mornings are the best time to see things.
You get to enjoy them, if you get up early or stay up late.
There was fog out there, but it did not transfer to the photos well.
Enjoy.
I usually have some sort of annual by my door to the house.
My panseys are about to expire, since they are a winter plant.
This year I purchasesd Dahilas.
It is a first for me, and so far, they are pretty beautiful.
I got 2 different colors, to bring me joy.
We will see how they do, over the summer.
My Water Post For Today.
The Detroit River is a pretty cool area of Michigan, and when we visited, I could not resist a look back from where we were by the Ambassador Bridge.
Check out the riverboat, which I thought was going to come our way. That is pretty nice, too.
Of course, the GM Ren Center, is over on the left. You can't get away from it.
Enjoy the view.
I showed off Cincinnati Union Terminal, on THIS post.
The thing is, the outside is interesting, but it is what lies within, that is spectacular.
These are 3 murals that have been restored, and still are visible inside the building.
I hear the airport in Kentucky has more of them, on display, but I did not see them.
I am glad that Cincinnati managed to raise the money to restore most of them.
Guns and Roses, once again, leading us into a new year. Welcome to the Jungle, indeed.
Year 16 is in the books, and similar to year 15, things are still not totally back to normal.
In good things, I survived Covid-19, back in September, and so did my Husband. I hated taking Paxlovid, but one does what one has to do, to get well.
We took three train trips, over the Fall, Winter, and Spring. We managed to keep ourselves healthy, and enjoy our time in different places. The Grand Canyon is spectacular (highly recommend), and so is the Flagstaff area. I hope sometime to get back there…since I have a corner I would like to stand on, in Winslow.
Tucson, and Phoenix were our winter vacation, and we had a great time with our Phoenix friends.
Our last trip was Michigan, and we took the train over to visit our Son again, this year. Still recovering from that one. He bought a house (his first), and so we got to spend a bit of time in it.
The Applied Project is still not finished (shakes head) will it ever be finished, who knows.
Otherwise, life goes on here, we watch trains and sometimes watch TV. It’s a life.
I still might take a pottery class sometime soon, but if not, I love buying pottery from some of the people who have taken classes in the past.
See you all next year, for year 17.
On our trip to see my Son, when we got to Chicago, we transferred to a local train called The Wolverine.
It just runs through Michigan, so it is something called Amtrak Midwest (or at least that is what it says on the front of the engine).
This particular car was the newest one we ever rode in.
It was pretty high tech, with a bathroom that you did not have to touch to use. I was impressed.
I stayed masked the entire time, but felt pretty safe on the train.
On the Southwest Chief, I had this for dinner one evening.
RIGATONI BOLOGNESE
Rigatoni Pasta | Parmesan Cheese | Bolognese Plant Based Meat Sauce
It used to be made with ground beef, but now days it is plant based.
It was fine, but I wondered about the changes Amtrak has made in their dining menu.
In addition I also had a baked potato with chili. You guessed it, it was also plant based.
I am not against plant based food, per se, but would prefer a choice of meat or plant based chili, or bolognese.
The menu is HERE, if interested in viewing.
If you remember, we had breakfast in Kentucky before heading back to Detroit. I wrote about it HERE.
My Son and I gravitated to the biscuits, that morning.
My Husband went in a totally different direction, he got a waffle omlette.
When I looked it up on the Internet, I was impressed at how easy it looked. Just pour the omlette mix into the waffle maker, and cook it for 2 or 3 minutes.
I am going to have to try this at home sometime.
The Indy Car Detroit Grand Prix was run on Sunday, June 4th, 2023.
As mentioned on THIS post, we went through downtown Detroit while visiting our Son, and saw some of the course.
It was so thrilling to watch the race and see the same things we passed, twice (going and coming back from Belle Isle).
We were watching our usual NASCAR race, but when they got rained out for 2 hours, we switched to this race.
Time well spent, IMHO. Listening to announcers filling time, does not interest me.
In case you care, Palou won the race.
My Water Post For Today.
When we left Ann Arbor, Michigan, we saw several bodies of water.
Some with dams, and looking it up, it is the Huron River that is right by the tracks, at least for several miles.
It was pretty, so you get to see it.
It winds its way all the way up to the area where my Son lives.
A very interesting part of Michigan.
This is the view from our table at The Incline Public House.
I am so glad we decided to eat outside, instead of in their cramped interior area, by the bar.
That view was incredible, and it was a beautiful late afternoon (weather wise).
For someone who wanted to see the Ohio River, this location was perfect for river gazing.
As I mentioned before, I would have loved to have had more time to look at the town, but what we got was great.
WKRP Cincinnati...
On our one roadtrip in Michigan, we drove about 5 hours down to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Well worth the trip, in my humble opinion. It was a beautiful city.
You can see how the weather was, on Thursday, but as with both trips down into Ohio, we ran into rain on the way home.
I had plans to visit the Cincinnati Zoo, where Fiona and Fritz the hippos live, but it got rained out.
In good news for us, the Kentucky leg of the journey went well, and the breakfast was really good.
I would love to return to this town, if I could. So much to see.
Oh well...
The most unusual stop we made on our way home this trip, was La Junta, Colorado.
There was a man on top of a van, waiting for the train.
They just happened to be right by our car window and so I got to watch the action, without going out.
It ended up that a very large group of (I think) Mennonites were getting picked up and the luggage went up on the roof.
There was so much, that a second van came after a few minutes, to take some of the group.
It was just so many.
My Husband founbd it very interesting to watch, as you can see.
Welcome to June 1st. The beginning of summer for the weather people. Our summer hits on June 21st.
Back to our trip. We came through a bit of weather, on our journey back to Los Angeles.
I was a little worried about severe weather, but it ended up not being by us.
All we got from it, was a rainbow.
Something positive, to add to our journey.
I love New Mexico and northern Arizona.
It is a beautiful area of our Country.
