Test Post

Apparently the Blogger app doesn’t work anymore so we'll see if we can do it the old fashioned way.

My new Cuisinart with the two lids. 

 I use the smaller lid for everything except slicing and grating.  A lot easier to clean.

Strange Winds in the Night

The other night, about 3am or so, my bedroom door started rattling, enough to wake me up.  I realized that it was very windy, something that never happens at night around here unless we are having a winter storm.  And in that case I would have all the windows closed.  Still too warm in the house to close windows, so I propped the door open and went back to sleep.  The next day I mentioned it to the son and he sent me this link explaining the phenomenon:

Middle of the night

The last couple of weeks have been unusual, weatherwise.  First we had several days of near-100 degree heat with fairly warm nights.  I even took to washing dishes by hand because I didn't want to heat up the kitchen with the dishwasher.  Then it cooled off somewhat but the humidity was 40 to 50% which is really high for us.  Then we had predictions for a couple of days of thunder and lightning and maybe some rain.  No rain here but we did hear a bit of thunder one afternoon.  That was supposed to be over day before yesterday but this morning we had enough rain to wet the patio and sidewalks, again unusual for us in September. Today is mild and the wind came up about mid-day which is the norm.

Banana Update

Last week, the bananas were still green so I took them back to Costco.  The clerk did not seem at all surprised.  Apparently they see this problem a lot with the organic bananas.

The banana that just won't get ripe.

Bought a bunch of bananas almost two weeks ago at Costco and they are still green!

Last Saturday my daughter suggested I put one with other fruit to see if that helped, but this is the result...

Road Trip 2015 Day 15

Henderson, NV to Home 

 Highway 95 south out of Henderson is a quiet, mostly 2 lane road through deceptively flat desert.  A good part of the road looks flat but is a series of gentle roller coaster bumps.  At one point we had to wait at a level crossing for a very long freight train to pass.  We never did see where Nevada became California and there was no CA Inspection Station. 

We stopped in Needles to retrieve Mr. B's briefcase and then were on our way west and north, through Tehachapi, where we saw some lightning but no rain, and Bakersfield.  We ran into a major construction delay not long after we reached I-5.  That ate up a good hour.

We decided on one last really good meal before the trip ended, so we stopped at Harris Ranch.

Mr. B's choice

My choice.

I would have taken pictures of the actual food but we couldn't wait to dig in.

We ran into one more setback after we left I-5.  Because of a fire on the west side of Pacheco Pass, there were bomber planes dropping retardant, a helicopter with a water bucket, and dozens of fire trucks.  But there was still one lane open so we were able to get through.

It had been a hot day here but we were really happy to be home.

Road Trip 2015 Day 14

Glenwood Springs, CO to Henderson, NV

 Another early start.  Stopped for breakfast at Denny's in Grand Junction, CO.  My eye has started to hurt again so I called the Doctor and was told to increase the frequency of the drops.

Utah has really nice rest areas.  Frequent, clean, and usually located at a particularly scenic spot.  Though, I've got to admit, it's hard to find a spot in Utah that isn't scenic.  At least along I-70.

But we finally came to the end of the road at I-15 and, from there to Las Vegas, it was pretty much just  desert.  As we were coming in to Las Vegas, in the usual rush hour traffic, I noticed a column of smoke to the west.  Later we saw on TV that a British Airways 777 had caught fire while getting ready for take off from Las Vegas Airport.  Sounds like the pilot narrowly averted a real disaster.

We stayed at the Best Western Plus in Henderson.  Lovely room but no restaurant.  Not wanting to drive anymore, we walked a few blocks to a small casino.  Bad call.  The food was not good, nor was the service.
Oh, well, tomorrow we should be home.  And my eye is no longer hurting.

Road Trip 2015 Day 13

Topeka, KS to Glenwood Springs, CO

It rained during the night and was still raining as we loaded up the car.  But then it stopped and was mostly cloudy as we drove west through Kansas on Interstate 70.  Kansas is very generous with rest areas - one about every 50 miles.  Kansas is also one of the flattest places I've ever seen. In the western part of the state we saw a lot of the same kind of crop, with a red seed stalk.  Made the fields look like a sea of red.  I think it is called Milo, a grain sorghum good for low rainfall areas.

Colorado Welcome Center

This is Labor Day so we thought driving through Denver in the early afternoon would be a piece of cake.  But we didn't factor in the surprise rainstorm.  Holy cow!  It sure can rain in Denver.

About the time we hit the western suburbs, the rain was gone and it was a beautiful sunny day again.  But the eastbound lanes of I-70 were stop and go for the next 40 miles.  We stopped at Georgetown for a rest break and the elevation of 8530' hit me as soon as I got out of the car.  I was woozy and it felt like I was on a boat in a rough sea.  Walking to the bathrooms was pretty scary and I held on to Mr. B for dear life.  We decided not to spend the night there and continued driving through beautiful Glenwood Canyon to Glenwood Springs which is about 5000'.


We had a really good meal at Vic's Route 66 Grillhouse.  I ordered the Jager Schnitzel with spaetzle. Yummy.

Our motel had the most amazing view.