Life on the High Plains

The day before we left for the cruise, Irv, Scott, Kim, and I had the chance to wander around downtown Seattle.  What a nice city!  Walking downhill to the waterfront was easy, we had a bit of a workout hiking back up those hills when we returned to our hotel. I loved these blue trees.  There was some kind of scavenger hunt going on downtown.  These young kids came up and asked us if we knew where the blue trees were.  Of course we had no idea, but an older gentleman knew exactly where they were. We got to quickly walk through the famous fish market.  I would definitely like to go back some day and spend more time there. The Seahawks and Mariners have their stadiums side-by-side in downtown Seattle.  (Who is that really good lookin' guy?) Even the manhole covers were interesting. I was very intrigued by the public transportation system--underground buses and light rail.  Full size buses and a train, how the heck do they do ...

We got home from our cruise yesterday.  Thank goodness today was a holiday.  I needed a vacation to recover from my vacation.  We had a fantastic time.  I wanted to stay on the ship for another week, but I couldn't quite figure out where to stowaway, plus those people who work on the ship are hard workers.  I don't think they ever get a day off. The best news is we all had a wonderful time and better yet, we're all still speaking to one another.  I'm sure there will be many stories to come. But, today it was back to reality. No breakfast buffet. No lunch buffet. No bingo. No glaciers. No trivia challenge. Nobody to make my bed every morning. No "drink of the day". No ports of call. No five course dinners and a new bottle of wine every night. Nobody to turn my bed down at night. No bald eagles, humpback whales, or sea lions. No happy hour. No piano bar. No rolling ship to lull me to sleep every night. Back to the ...

Juneau, Alaska! Yes it's cold and misty, but very beautiful. We're going to the Mendenhall Glacier today then whale watching and then to a remote lodge for a salmon bake.

GeoTagged, [N47.59057, E122.27428] The time has finally arrived! It's the day we're going to get on our cruise ship. We arrived in Seattle yesterday with Kim and Scott. We did a little exploration of downtown and had some terrific seafood. This is the view from our hotel. There's a sea view--don't you see it between those two tall buildings? My blog writer app is being a little finicky and won't let me add photos from my photo gallery. I'm going to have to figure out how to fix that because I expect to have some great shots of whales in the next few days. Bon voyage!

Last weekend Irv and I ventured down to Las Cruces, New Mexico to celebrate our nephew's graduation.  It was a beautiful day in southern New Mexico, a great day to celebrate Ryan's accomplishments. What I find really hard to believe is that Ryan is old enough to graduate from college...it seems like he should be about five years old.  Where has all the time gone? Ryan is an incredibly smart young man (he's the guy with the big smile on his face if you couldn't guess).  He majored in Geo Chem.  Wow!  What the heck is that anyway?  I know he goes out to study rocks, he even got to study for a semester in Belize.  (Yeah, studying in Belize.  Who the heck believes that?).  Anyway, he's done with the first part of his education, now it's time for his graduate studies. Guess what graduate school he has chosen...the Colorado School of Mines.  How cool is that?  We're going to have a nephew within a couple hours from us.  ...

Cody had his surgery late yesterday afternoon and they discharged him at 6:30. He was so pathetic. He couldn't even walk in a straight line and I had to lift him into the car. Getting him out of the car by myself was a whole other story. Both Cody and I cried all the way home. How could I subject my baby to this? His incision is about four inches long and I can tell it hurts. He had a restful night thanks to pain pills, but I on the other hand didn't sleep a wink. I was worried about him. Apparently I wasn't the only person worried about him. Mr. Beans called first thing this morning to check on him. What a sweet boy! So maybe it wasn't so smart having this surgery done right before we leave for Alaska. I hope Jillian and Brian will help nurse him back to health. The things we do for our critters.

Cody is having surgery today to remove a cyst from his left side. I don't know what is sadder--leaving Cody at the vet's office by himself and hearing him cry as I leave, or seeing Keira's big brown eyes asking why see doesn't get to come as I left the house. My babies are both sad today. :(

This past weekend I took a trip down memory lane with my dad, brothers, and Irv.  We all met in Phoenix and then made the drive to Payson, Arizona where I was born. In 1959, a few months before I was born, my dad was transferred to Payson to be the District Forest Ranger.  My parents and a few other people formed a group that eventually led to the start of Mount Cross Lutheran Church in Payson.  The church is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and my dad, a charter member, was invited to attend.  We decided to make it a "mini" family reunion. This is the Ranger Station where my dad worked.  It's part of a museum now.  We were lucky enough to get to tour inside when the folks running the museum heard that my dad used to work there. Across the street from the Ranger Station is the house where the ranger and his family lived. This was my first home. This used to be the horse pasture, barn, and helipad for the Rang...

On the way home from work tonight I decided it was a good time to plant my garden.  Irv was at work, the weather was beautiful, I didn't have any homework to do because I'm on spring break, and I didn't have anything else planned.  (What do people do with all their spare time if they're aren't taking classes?). I took my seedlings outside and planted all 72 of them--zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, lettuce, and pumpkins.  I figure some of them won't survive, but I'm going to try anyhow.  Irv found this red plastic at the store, it's supposed to keep the roots warm so the seedlings have a better chance of surviving in cooler climates.  We'll see if it helps. You may notice something new with my garden this year.  Yes, an automatic watering system.  Thanks to my sweet hubbie who extended the sprinkler system out to the garden. After planting my garden I went out to the barn to feed the horses and while I was there I decided to muck out ...