Arches National Park

I don't have much time this morning so I'm hoping to do a longer post later! Here are some highlights of our day yesterday.

We hiked at the Windows area

We hiked up a ridge to see Delicate Arch

We took one more hike to see Landscape Arch

We saw some wildlife!

We had a delicious dinner at a sushi place and gelato for dessert!

Then back to the park for sunset.

Day 4: Aurora to Moab

It was another really hot day on the road!
We made great time getting out of Denver so we decided to do a drive through Colorado National Monument on the Rim Rock Drive.  There were some beautiful views of canyons and standing rocks.

Rim Rock Drive

MHZ and Rebecca at Artist's Point

Jeff and I at Artist's Point

Independence Monument

In Moab, we got settled in our cabin at Riverside Oasis.  It's called the Post Office.  (I didn't take a picture of it yet, but I will!) Here is one from their website.  It's pretty nice, with our own bathroom and cold air conditioning.  We went to the grocery store so we could cook dinner.  However, we didn't count on the BUGS.  There were swarms of little beetle/moth type things that loved to land on the back of your neck.  They didn't bite or anything but they were plenty annoying anyway.  Rebecca found them very distracting so we ate inside.  We did see this as we got food ready.

In a side note, I love to look for regional candy and other products when we're out west.  I started doing this  after we read Candy Freak by Steve Almond at book club.  I love Big Hunk and here's one I tried yesterday:

Marshmallow center, chocolate coating with coconut. It was OK. Not my favorite.

Day 2 and 3: Couldn't Get Any Hotter

We had some internet connection problems last night so here's an early morning post for you!
Sunday we left Effingham and drove forever across I-70 and nothing exciting happened.  The biggest entertainment was watching the thermometer get up to 105 degrees.  We did have a nice hotel waiting for us and everybody went for a swim in the evening.

Sunrise over Effingham

Yesterday we got up and on the road a little earlier.  It was still really hot but I wanted to find a side trip so we could break up the I-70 monotony.  We debated about the biggest ball of sisal twine, or the world's largest hand-dug well, but decided to visit The Garden of Eden in Lucas, KS instead.  It was a great choice!

Rebecca takes a picture of the main gate at Garden of Eden.

The soldier shoots the Indian who shoots someone else.

The Garden of Eden cabin wasn't open when we were there but we could walk around the outside and see all the concrete sculptures.  There was also a sign for the Grassroots Art Gallery, so we drove further into town to see that.  It was ALSO closed (we were there around 9 am) but when we were driving out of town, we saw this place.

Fabulous Bowl Plaza, Lucas, KS

It's the town's public restroom, just opened earlier this month.  What a fabulous space!  Here are a couple of interior shots.

Men's room with robots

Women's room sink

We loved that the sidewalk looks like a roll of toilet paper.  I'll post many more pictures later because some of the details are remarkable.

After Lucas, we got back on the highway and kept driving through temps above 100.  In the afternoon, we stopped at the I-70 diner for a pick-me-up.  Luckily I was driving then because Jeff doesn't always listen when I say "stop there!"

Chocolate cream for MHZ

Cherry a la mode for me

First day of our trip

Adding a Spare Kid to the trip made packing a little more challenging this year.  However, Jeff is the Master Packer, so he got everything to fit.

We got on the road this morning before 7 am and made great time to Effingham.  There was a little construction, but nothing that slowed us down too much.  According to Rebecca (AKA Spare Kid), we made 4 rest stops on the way, including picnic lunch.  When we arrived in Effingham, we had a swim in the hotel pool and then went to a fabulous restaurant: The Firefly Grill

Mmm, crusty bread

Jeff found this place before we left home and we even made reservations.  Our server, Eric, was very friendly and helpful.  (We had to ask him what lardons are. Leave a comment if you know already.)  The food was amazing!  See how crusty and awesome that bread is? Jeff had the Szechaun pork tenderloin and I had braised short rib pho.  Marjorie had chicken breast stuffed with cheese, couscous and roasted brussels sprouts (with lardons) and Rebecca had a wood-fired oven pizza with three cheeses.  Check out their menu for more detailed descriptions. We also visited their koi pond and the kitchen garden before we left.  Unfortunately, we were too stuffed to try the strawberry rhubarb souffle with lemon mascarpone ice cream...

And of course, it's a requirement to visit this giant cross:
Bonus points if you identify the tiny people at the bottom.

One coat of paint

Taken from the stairs.  See the luggage?  Time to pack!

      We finished one coat of paint in the living room.  We need to do another, but we'll be leaving for vacation first.  Maybe it just needs some extra time to dry, right?

      Here are a couple of photos.  The color looks very different in the two.  If you want to see what it looks like for real, you'll have to stop over.  Or you could look up Mythic Paint.  It's a color called "Lucky Chance".  To me, it looks too brown on the website though.  We got it at Dr. Greenbee's in Kent.

OK, time to stop typing and get back to packing!

Looking up the stairs.

Decorating

We finally decided to enter the world of grown-ups and decorate the living room.  We've been avoiding it because the walls were covered with glossy, peeling lead paint.  But we finally bit the bullet and started the painting process.  My mantra is "Will this look worse than it used to?"  (Answer: probably not.)

It took a day to scrape and sand the walls.  We hung up drop cloths over the doors and wore respirators while this was going on.  Jeff had the shop vac attached to the sander so dust was kept to a minimum.  I spackled some cracks and patched a hole too.

The mantle wall after scraping and sanding.

Then I washed the walls and ceiling with TSP to clean up the lead dust. No photos of that since I'm the one taking the pictures!

The third day, we spot-primed all those bare spots and spackled places.  Then Jeff started priming the walls and ceiling and I started taping off woodwork.

Jeff applies the ceremonial first bit of ceiling paint.

The mantel wall after priming.  It Doesn't Look Worse.

Then the TRAGEDY struck...  while leaning back to tape near the top of the stairs, my lower back seized up.  It's a new thing for me, and I would vote to skip that next time.  So Jeff got to do the rest of the priming by himself while I sat in the recliner with ice on my back.  He also painted the ceiling ALL BY HIMSELF on the fourth day.  It looks great.

The walls are primed and the ceiling is painted!

By the fifth day I could help a little and we got some walls painted.  We'll have to do a second coat but I'm really happy with the color so far.  It definitely doesn't look worse than it used to.

Some painted walls in the stairway.

Also painted by the front door.

Two Updates

Update number one: the baby robins flew!

Although now there seems to be a robin reinforcing the nest again.

Last week at the farm market:

Shelling peas from Heron Hill farm

Bread from Raphael at Issac Mills. We got a pepperoni bread and a Nelson Ledges.

two kinds of pasta from Ohio City Pasta

Strawberries 

Jam from Chris's Kitchen

Chimichurri sauce from Fresco Safi 

This week I didn't take a picture because we were heading out to the in-laws for lunch - cinnamon bread, more peas from Breakneck Acres this time, radishes and salad turnips from Birdsong Farm, and more strawberries!