So Random Things We Found Today

While we were out looking at covered bridges, we came across a few things that make you go hmmmmm.



The first was not that unusual of a thing, except for where it was located. We saw a pair of abandoned shoes on one of the bridges. I wondered as a mom, what happened here? Did they get home and wonder where they left their shoes long after they forgot where they left them? Did they hate the shoes and want them to be lost? Or did they want to leave them there as a symbol of something?

This wasn't a random thing, but we also saw this beautiful creature here:

After we left this bridge, we saw something else that caught our eye. This was the funniest thing we've seen in quite awhile. We had some interesting conversations about who could own this fine piece of machinery. Someone full of life I bet.

Yes, that is Super Scott's car. Isn't that the coolest car? I can see Austin wanting something like this for his first car!



You just never know what you'll see when you drive around looking for local sights.



Living the life in Ohio!

Glen Canyon NRA - Alstrom Point

I wasn't really looking forward to today, since the forecast was calling for some pretty miserable weather all day. That's just how it started out, too. I stayed in Kanab, Utah last night and when I woke this morning it was going back and forth between rain and snow. When I got in the car and decided to head towards Page, Arizona it was hailing... actually more like kind of a slush coming down. Kanab isn't a very big town, and by the time I drove from one side of town to the other my car was covered in this hail/slush mix and I had to pull over to clear my wipers of the mess. Once I got a few miles outside of town, the clouds parted and the sun came out. It was sunny and warm (65 to 70 degrees) the rest of the day!

On my way out of town I stopped at the Kanab visitor center for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I ran into a very helpful older man with a white beard who has lived in the Page/Kanab area for the past 30 years. I told him I was interested in trying to get to Alstrom Point on Lake Powell, but wasn't sure of the way since the route is off the main roads. He gave me directions on how to get there and we visited for quite a while about other areas of interest as well. Once I had my fill of local knowledge, I thanked him and headed for Page and Lake Powell.

For those of you who might not know, Lake Powell is a man-made lake, created from the construction of the Glen Canyon dam in Page, Arizona. The dam is in Arizona, but the majority of the lake lies in Utah. Lake Powell and the surrounding land makes up what is known as the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. There are a couple of marinas on the lake, and houseboating is big business there. If you drive near the main marina you can see row after row of houseboats.

I spent a good part of the day just exploring the part of the lake that is right near Page. It certainly is a beautiful area... I could easily see myself living here. I wanted to shoot the sunset from Alstrom Point, and based on my "local knowledge", when 5:30 rolled around I figured I better get started on those backroads to get to the point. My directions told me it was about 25 miles to the point, which turned out to be spot-on. My GPS read 25.2 miles once I got there. I was told the way would be "relatively" easy so long as the clay portion of the road was dry. And it was, for the most part. There was only one section about 100 feet long that was a little bit wet but my Honda Element made it through without any problem, although not before flinging up a decent amount of mud and getting my car good and dirty.

Alstrom Point was sublime. I chose to walk the last mile and a half or "road" which went right out onto the point itself. I could have driven it, but it was easier to walk. The road at that point was more suited for a high-clearance Jeep. The sunset turned out to be the best one of the trip so far. The rocks seemed to glow as the light hit them, and the clouds were vibrant hues of pink and blue. After this amazing light show was over, I ate my Subway sandwich that I had brought along for supper, then opened the rear hatch on my car and rolled my sleeping bag out on the floor. I camped in the car for the night, since I didn't feel like driving back out on that road in the dark. It was a wonderful night and it was warm enough that I left the hatch open while I slept (no bugs here.... yay!!!!!), with the warm Arizona breeze keeping me company all night long.

The PBR

The PBR or Professional Bull Riders is the only sport I really follow. I always said I would never get involved in a sport like some people do with football, basketball, baseball, soccer, golf (did you notice all of these are 'ball' games). The people who follow theses sports know all the players, and all the winners, and all rules, and all the big moments in the sport.

Well, I did get involved with a sport. But it is the 'roughest sport on dirt'. Most of the riders start in the minor rodeo events and work their way up to the PBR. It is a rough, hard climb to get there and most of the rodeo riders never make it. The top 35 riders in the rodeo bull riding events are allowed to compete in the PBR. They have to win points and money to qualify. Another words they have to be good at what they do and not be afraid of getting hurt. It isn't if you get hurt, it's when, 'cause it will happen.

I have been following the PBR since it was started 20 years ago and always wanted to go to the Ty Murry Event when it is held each March here in Albuquerque, NM. I finally got to go last Sunday for the last day of the 3 day event. It was fantastic.

The event might have been fantastic but my photos aren't. I'm still not that good with my new camera and in the flashing lights, spinning, whirling, bucking, bulls made for hard to take photos so I didn't get any really good photos. But here are a sample. The videos I took with the same camera did come out better but I can't get them to download.


There were a lot of noise and on the ground fireworks when it first started.



This is the cowboy and horse who's job it was to rope the bull and get it out of the arena if the bull didn't leave on his own. The area is the University of New Mexico Basketball arena. They bring in heavy tarps, then plywood, then tons and tons of dirt and the chutes for the bulls. It is the smallest arena of all the PBR events. It looks small on TV but looks even smaller when you are there.








The rider is getting onto the bull in the chute. The men with the rode are ready to open the gate when he says to.In the red shirt is Shorty, one of the 3 bull fighters that keep the bull off of the rider when he comes off. The ride is only for 8 seconds, if the rider can stay on that long, and usually they don't.







Flint Rassmussen is an ex-bull fighter turned comedian who entertains the fans while the riders are getting ready to ride.



This is Crag Hummer, a well known sports announcer, and Ty Murry, 7 time world champion all-round cowboy, who started the PBR, and announces with Crag. They are the ones that do the TV announcing but there is a different announcer that you hear if you are actually at the event. Our seat was just 6 rows from where they were sitting to do the TV part.



Got these out of order here, this is the winner of the event, Joao Ricardo Vieiro, one of the Brazilian riders, and his first event win. Since this is an International event there are riders from the US, Brazil, Canada, and Australia. And we like them all. Many people are fans of the bull more than the riders. At this event were the two most popular bulls, Bushwhacker and Asteroid, who have each won the Bull of the Year award.



Here is a view of the arena and the seats. Thats 40 very steep steps down to the bottom and we were close to the bottom. Great for seeing everything up close but climbing out was a workout.







After an event the bull riders circle the area signing anything you want them to sign. I got the autographs of 3 riders and as I was leaving the I almost ran into a retired rider that I have always admired, and whowon the PBR World Title of 1997,Michael Gaffney, who was nice enough to autographed my program.

If you want to know more go to www.pbr.com

Horse Won't Herd

Tuffee was trying to herd Nita. Now she looks at me as if to ask "What do I do now? She won't herd."

Happy Birthday

Today is my mother's birthday. You haven't heard a lot about my mother yet, but it's coming. My mother is a quiet steady engine that keeps this family well fed and motoring right along. She always turns out great meals except on her birthday which has become synonymous with going out for Chinese. When my mother cooks, she usually has a stick or two of butter at the ready. One of our family's favorite recipes is Greek chicken- like Yiya used to make. My non Greek mother is not particularly fond of this dish, but she patiently churns it out by request. As the saying goes in my family- first you take a chicken... then you bake it in a pan with tomato sauce; cook the macaroni, drain the noodles and add a stick of butter. Then you pour all that chicken dripping tomato sauce on top of those buttery noodles and.... I can't even stand to write about it, it's that good. Another specialty is fudge cake, not to mention Aunt Mary's Hot fudge sauce, and chocolate muffins, but don't get me started.

My mother was born here at the old Sibley Hospital which was on North Capitol Street. She weighed seven pounds, and was the first child born in the family. Her parents, Bernice and Roger Calvert had just gotten married the year before on Bernice's eighteenth birthday. They named my mother after her mother, Bernice Bailey, and so she became "BB" which morphed into the Bebe we know today. My grandmother wrote: "Baby's first ride was from the hospital in Dr. Molzahi's car. After that she had numbers of auto rides, street car rides, baby carriage rides, but I think she loves best of all to ride in daddy's arms."
Too sweet.

She was born a blond, and to this day, through the miracle of modern means, she has stayed a blonde. She is so beautiful that she became a model AFTER she raised three children and before she had one more. She is still a looker and still on the go, planning the next cruise as soon as this one is over. She even drags herself to exercise class and does Thanksgiving for forty of our closest relatives- all on my Dad's side. (That includes a turkey AND a ham and about 5,000 pounds of mashed potatoes)

So this is it- the one day a year she doesn't have to cook. I have to go round up the kids. We're off for Chinese somewhere in Rockville.

So Happy Birthday, MOM, and thanks.

Vegetable graffiti

My tomato greets you.


(Just in case you didn't catch that.)


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Updated! Check out the eerie coincidence that Maktaaq reported.

Wild Woody Fun

Earlier today, Daryl and his crew, or as my MIL says "Daryl's" and Austin went to visit the Cherokee Nation. I'm hoping Austin will blog about it since I wasn't there so I can't. When they returned back to our campground, they invited us to do some Go Kart racing.



Nathan was hesitant, and I suspect that is because I have won every race we've had in Go Karts since we got married. He says it is because I am lighter. I had no idea that being lighter makes you a better driver, but he is the engineer so there ya go! Daryl and Diana are hard to turn down though. And they know just what to say/do to make it work. So off we go! (thank guys!)



On the way into the racetrack, the crew stops for a moment of silence. Or awe. Or wonder. Or something.

Because there is some crazy person detecting device here. Nathan always says you can't fight with crazy, because crazy always wins. I see now why. I mean who could beat someone who is willing to do this. Willing and actually PAY to do it. I forfeit right now. You win!

Now we're off to the track. Let's get ready to rumble!

We do the first race. I ride with Josh to help offset that lightness factor that Nathan worries about. That and Josh asked me to ride with him, and I can't tell Josh no. Daryl and Lauren ride together. Everyone else rides alone. I don't know much about the singles, because they left way before us so it was just us doubles fighting for the lead. We won't discuss this race. Let's just say I came in dead last. Hmmm....maybe there is something to that lightness factor. We still had fun.



We take Josh over to the little guys track, so he can drive his own car. He loved how I drove, but he wanted to do his own thing!



Josh was made to race cars. He's a thinker. He's independent. He is a risk taker. And he knows the important rules like let the cute girl pass you because you can lap her later, but never ever let the other boy pass you. If he does, pass him right away.

If the other boy gets upset...well, that's just part of the game.

In this game, you just gotta do your own thing. Josh takes first place. Further supporting Nathan's theory. The other boy cried a bit. Which broke my heart. But not so much that I didn't high five Josh for beating him.



The kids all want to do one more race on the big track. The adults want to take pictures. It's a fair deal. Josh and Aric just do their thing. Austin beats up on girls. Lauren is all by herself. I understand that, because she drives like a mad woman. She tried to make me spin out in the race I drove/lost. Not once. But twice she did this. She's fierce!

At some point Aric tries to lap Austin. Austin doesn't let him. They are content to do this for a few laps. Aric bumping into Austin. Austin letting me know that they've got nothing on him. Then they catch up to Lauren. It's the end of the race. She's in front. She doesn't understand the concept of "they already lapped me a few times". She just knows..she is in front. She won!

My guys are so gracious, they let her believe she won. Now that's real love. Of course, once you are married...it's a whole different tune. You only win if you win. And it's still real love. Just a different kind.



Living the life in Tennessee!