Blog Catch-up (or is that Ketchup?)

On 1/19 we drove from Columbia, SC to Jackson, MS. Nothing to report on that drive except a long day.

But on 1/20, based on my brother's recommendation, we drove the Natchez Trace Parkway from Jackson to Natchez. That is one really pretty road very similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway, but through semi-swamp with lots of Spanish moss hanging down from the Live Oaks. It follows the original Natchez Trace which was a wilderness road back in the 1800's. There are a few short walking trails, but mostly just a really pretty drive. There are also a couple of Indian burial mounds right along side the road. I had heard about Indian mounds up in OH and IL but I didn't know they were also down in MS. I knew they were big, but when you're standing there and thinking about piling up all that dirt by hand and with stoneage tools they become really big.

We hit I-10 in Baton Rouge and took that all the way to San Antonio. The 20 mile-long bridge in LA is cool and Houson driving is insane. The rush-hour must be incredible, hopefully I will never see that.

We have spent the last few days in San Antonio with my brother and his wife. We haven't really done much and it's been a nice rest. We did go up to Austin to visit my niece & meet the newest members of the family, Hamilton (3 yrs) & Benjimin (2 1/2 months). We all headed off for dinner at a place called The Salt Lick for some real Texas Bar-B-Que. It was great...you could get a heapn' helpn' of all the saturated fat you should have in a month for just $12.

Tomorrow we head off to west TX for a day and on to Taos and our first western skiing ever.

What Would da Vinci Do?

On Saturday we were able to visit the South Carolina State Museum with my sister & brother-in-law. The museum is located in an old cotton textile mill dating back to 1893. What a great way to use such a magnificent building. The Museum was hosting a collection of Leonardo da Vinci's "Machine's in Motion". Machines designed by da Vinci were set about the exhibit for us to actually touch and set in motion. Models of his glider, olive press, printing press, bicycle & even a robot were on display for everyone to play with.

After we went through the exhibit it was time to go to the movie that originally appeared on PBS. We missed Part I, but were able to catch Part II. The basis of the movie was showing how two teams of engineers took da Vinci's designs and recreated them using his materials & methods. The first was a huge crossbow...ultimately the crossbow split before it's full power could be harnessed, but the team proved that it was possible to throw a cannon ball using it.

The second team fared somewhat better with da Vinci's glider. After some tweaks to satisfy the pilot's desire for a way to guide the glider it got off the ground & flew much like da Vinci described. All in all a good way to spend a cold day in South Carolina...who knew it could get to 15 degrees!

Board not Bored

Today was our first day on the boards this year. I boarded this morning and lasted 3 hours on greens and blues. A couple of falls, but nothing exciting. Meanwhile Cindi took a header on one of the big piles of snow under one of the snow guns while skiing. I didn't see the fall but she said it was really good and she did have snow on her helmet when I saw her.

After lunch and a nap Cindi took a whack at her board. Last year she made it all the way down on a blue but today she claimed she was 'tired' (I think it was that age thing) so she was only at it for a couple of hours and never got off the bunny slope.

Snow Daze

We got to Snowshoe yesterday.

I got a new pair of skis as a retirement gift to myself and this was the first time out. They are a lot stiffer and shorter (and slower) than the old ones. Actually, that works out OK since now I can follow the wifey without running over her ;-)

Today was Cindi's birthday and I didn't forget. I did forget it a few years back and it wasn't so pretty. I called from work and asked what was for dinner at which point she informed me that she didn't know since she doesn't cook on her birthday...oops!

The kids even made her a surprise birthday cake today. They bought all the stuff at the Snowshoe store and it cost about $20, but it was a really good surprise.

Cindi's turn...just a bit more elaboration on my cake from the kids since we "forgot" to get a picture before the cake was eaten. They made me a devil's food cake with what else but chocolate icing. Since Snowshoe didn't stock candles for my cake they also hit upon the grand plan of using M & M's to spell out "Happy B'day". The only problem arose when they had to buy the candy from the vending machines...how about over a $1/pack. I'm telling you it had to have been the most expensive cake I have ever had! Thanks go to Thomas, Rob, Amanda & Landon for the surprise & wonderful cake. Oh did I mention that I was able to get 2 pieces of cake? It seems Rob was concerned that we'd have to leave cake behind so he helped in the disposal by eating 5 pieces. Lesson learned...not to leave my cake in the kids condo.

We're Off in 6...5...4....hours

The journey starts in just a few hours. Let's hope nothing "important" has gotten left behind & we bring nothing broken on our return. See everyone in a few months!

Five Days

It's now only 5 days until we begin our travels. Our first stop will be Blacksburg and then we're off to Snowshoe for a few days of skiing with the kids. Let us hope that the weather will be cold & snowy which will be a marked improvement from our last ski trip. It will be our first ski resort of the 2009 Winter...it will not be the last.

Our plan is to keep everyone posted on where we are headed so stay tuned. Five more days...let the count down begin!

P. S. Thanks to Martin from Molins for the info that Capital Ale House in Midlothian has proper British bitter (yes, they actually have to pump it out). It's listed under 'Cask Conditioned Ale' on page one of the menu and the handles are all the way down at the far end of the bar all by themselves. Thankfully Cindi was DD when we went on Sunday since I had way too much. Man, that stuff is the nectur of the gods!

The New Mantra

I don't want to.

I don't have to.
You can't make me.

I'm Retired!"

Thanks go to Clare for my new "Mantra Pillow"!