It's that time of year to start planning our vacations. We went up to Billings on Friday and met our friends for dinner. This year we are planning a motorcycle trip to the Oregon coast. The original plan was to spend a day in Canada. Gary applied and received his passport. We had a hard time finding out where is parent's were born, but we got it.
We met at a Mexican restaurant for dinner, then over to the Breckenridge's house for planning. There are six of us going on this trip that have committed and we are all on trikes. Gary and Marty really want to see the redwoods and in order to do this we had to cut out the Canada leg. If we kept the Canada leg in, then we would have to cut out the redwoods. The whole idea of this trip was to see the redwoods.
The problem we ran in to was vacation time for us working stiffs. The Breckenridges are retired but the rest of us are still working. Gary only gets 10 days of vacation a year. I get five weeks of vacation a year, so an extra day wouldn't hurt me in the least. Our friend Vicky gets 15 days a year and her husband Marty can only take a limited number of days off for vacation. He is self employed in the dry wall business.
The consensus of the group was to save the Canada leg for another trip. We decided that we could take a four day weekend for the Canada trip.
Once we got the days figured out, then we had to figure out the route. Since we will be gone during Labor Day, we decided to hit the coast part after Labor Day. We figure it won't be so busy with people. Along the way we will be traveling through the Columbia River Gorge, along the Oregon coast and up at Oak Harbor we will be taking a ferry. Looking forward to it.
Gary and I are also taking a couple days to go to Deadwood South Dakota with the HOG Chapter for the Gambler's Run. Hoping this year we won't have the rain like last year.
In August, Mom, Jennifer and I are taking our annual girls road trip to Minnesota to visit with Bonnie and family. Kevin and Sam said they would take me to the zoo to see the bears. Jennifer and I would like to spend a day at the Mall of America for some shopping.
In between those times, we will be taking some weekend rides. I did receive an e-mail from Jason today and they are planning a road trip to Idaho, Wyoming and Montana in June. Jason said that they are leaving California on the 16th. Will keep in touch with him for those dates. Will be fun.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Groundhog Day
Good news. Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow today. Means that we will have an early spring. However, Roundup Murry did see his shadow.
Roundup has their very own groundhog and this was his first year predicting the weather. I'm not counting Murry because he is just an apprentice groundhog, when Phil has been the official one for years.
Looking forward to an early spring.
Roundup has their very own groundhog and this was his first year predicting the weather. I'm not counting Murry because he is just an apprentice groundhog, when Phil has been the official one for years.
Looking forward to an early spring.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Munchie Bowl II
This was the second year that the Beartooth Harley dealership sponsored the Munchie Bowl that was held this past Saturday. For $2 per person we were able to sample tasty munchies like Raven's Revenge, Hamburger Cheese Dip Bomb, Something Awesome and Not'cho Ordinary Nachos. Not too bad, $4 for lunch for the both of us.
There were 15 booths set up, you get to sample all the goodies then we got to vote on the best food and the best booth. Some had their booths all decorated. The nachos were a meal in itself and it was supposed to be a sample. Most were dips, but we did get to sample some taquitos, pulled pork sliders, meatballs, chicken wings and legs and a macaroni salad.
Our favorite food was the meatballs made by one of the roller derby teams from Billings. Our favorite booth was all decorated in Packer paraphernalia (of course).
Some booths even had drawing for prizes. This year I won a huge basket full of BBQ stuff. There was a tablecloth, a jar of seasoning, two jars of BBQ sauce, some brushes and tongs and three packages of BBQ pads. You are supposed to be able to lay your BBQ utensils on these pads and the stuff won't leak through to the other sheet.
Gary even made it on the local evening news. He was at a booth with some of our friends eating of course. I was washing my hands, they got sticky from eating the BBQ chicken legs and pepperoni rolls.
The roller derby girls won the people's choice for the best food and the best booth. They were the ones who served the meatballs and their booth was a kissing booth. For $2 you got a kiss from one of the girls. They were raising money for the MDA. The hamburger cheese dip bomb won the Munchie Bowl by the judges.
We had a good time and came away stuffed and my prize. Good thing we took the truck as we had it loaded with the shopping we did before the Munchie Bowl event.
Here are some photos of my prize so you can get an idea of how huge this basket was. Not too sure what I will do with the basket though.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Only A Mother Would Know
I got this cute joke in my e-mail from my boss. The first thing that came across my mind was my niece Libby and her dad Keith.
A Cup of Tea
One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given me a little "tea set" as a gift, and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought him a little cup of "tea", which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my mom came home. My dad made her wait in the living room and watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was "just the cutest thing!" Mom waited, and sure enough, here I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy; and she watched him drink it up. Then she said, (as only a mother would know), "Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?"
I just laughed. I can picture Libby making tea for her dad and Keith drinking up the most delicious tea he has ever tasted.
A Cup of Tea
One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given me a little "tea set" as a gift, and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought him a little cup of "tea", which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my mom came home. My dad made her wait in the living room and watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was "just the cutest thing!" Mom waited, and sure enough, here I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy; and she watched him drink it up. Then she said, (as only a mother would know), "Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?"
I just laughed. I can picture Libby making tea for her dad and Keith drinking up the most delicious tea he has ever tasted.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
HOG Meeting and Belt Test
I am behind already. My first HOG chapter meeting as the secretary was on the 16th. Had a fairly good turnout. Fortunately this time of year nothing big is going on so it was easy to take notes. I even won a door prize, I got a frosted highball glass. I am also in the first newletter of the chapter for the year. My picture and the minutes that I took at the officers meeting are in it. I did find out that there is training for new officers that Harley puts on and there is one in Reno in March. Apparently the dealership owner has a condo in Reno and if anyone would like to go, he may let us stay in his condo. Hmmm.
Friday was the color belt promotion test. We had 13 students from our school test, one of the largest to test to date. Four students were grandchildren. Brandon and Alexus go their yellow belts, while Tristan and Mariah got their yellow stripes. It was fun sitting on the testing board and watching them. I didn't take my camera because it would be too hard to take photos and wouldn't look right when I'm sitting on the board taking photos. I am supposed to be watching the test. Jennifer was off on Friday so she came as well.
We had one student who was so stressed out about the test that when it was all over, she said that it was just like class, only with alot more people. We tried to tell her, but you can't do nothing about first testing jitters until they have gone through one. Now we will be working with our two students who will be testing for their 1st degree black belts in March.
We also watched the football games on Sunday and are in shock that the Green Bay Packers are going to the Super Bowl. It was pretty exciting with a bunch of jumping up and down and yelling. Now we have to get out our cheeseheads for Super Bowl. This year we are going to be eating Mexican food for Super Bowl.
Friday was the color belt promotion test. We had 13 students from our school test, one of the largest to test to date. Four students were grandchildren. Brandon and Alexus go their yellow belts, while Tristan and Mariah got their yellow stripes. It was fun sitting on the testing board and watching them. I didn't take my camera because it would be too hard to take photos and wouldn't look right when I'm sitting on the board taking photos. I am supposed to be watching the test. Jennifer was off on Friday so she came as well.
We had one student who was so stressed out about the test that when it was all over, she said that it was just like class, only with alot more people. We tried to tell her, but you can't do nothing about first testing jitters until they have gone through one. Now we will be working with our two students who will be testing for their 1st degree black belts in March.
We also watched the football games on Sunday and are in shock that the Green Bay Packers are going to the Super Bowl. It was pretty exciting with a bunch of jumping up and down and yelling. Now we have to get out our cheeseheads for Super Bowl. This year we are going to be eating Mexican food for Super Bowl.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Sheridan
Last Saturday, Gary and I went to Sheridan WY to meet some friends for dinner. Had a good time.
Friday night Jennifer and I went to Billings, I went to class she went shopping. About half way to Billings it started to rain. Great, now this will freeze and I will have black ice all the way home.
It had rained all the way back home, at least the roads were just wet. It didn't start to freeze yet, but when it did driving on the roads was going to be fun.
Things were very slick Saturday morning. We went out for our regular Saturday morning coffee and the parking lot at McDonald's was very slick. One of the employees had parked his pickup in the back. This section of the parking lot has a small incline. A customer came in and reported that there is a pickup right in the middle of the parking lot and it is creating a hazard. Now you know it is very icy and slick when your parked vehicle slides down an incline.
We left for Sheridan later in the morning. The roads were bare and dry and it was beautiful. We ran around Sheridan and looked in the stores before meeting our friends for dinner. It had started to snow later in the afternoon and it got worse as the night wore on.
Our friends were concerned about us driving all the way home in the storm. It was snowing so bad that visibility was next to nothing we ended up staying the night at a local motel. Sheridan got a good 8 inches of snow.
We left early in the morning. I wanted to leave later, give time for more traffic on the road, but Gary wanted to leave early to miss all the traffic. It was slow moving going home. In Wyoming the roads were snowpacked and icy and poor visibility. We got to about Wyola and the roads were nothing but ice. The state plows and sanders were out, but didn't help much.
Semi drivers are the worst. They all think the roads are bare and dry no matter what the conditions. In Wyoming the snow was light so when a semi passed you were in a total white out. I'm sure those semi drivers laugh about it. We only had one scary incident on the way home in Montana.
A semi came barreling up behind us and when he went to pass his trailer started to fishtail. Fortunately he got is straightened out and didn't hit us. What a relief.
Once we got to Garryowen and out of the hills the roads got better the further west we went. By the time we hit Hardin, roads were just wet.
Not the first time we drove on bad roads and probably won't be the last, but I sure don't want to experience that again. It took us nearly two hours to get home, which really isn't that bad.
This is how the roads were on Saturday.
This is how the roads were on Sunday
Friday night Jennifer and I went to Billings, I went to class she went shopping. About half way to Billings it started to rain. Great, now this will freeze and I will have black ice all the way home.
It had rained all the way back home, at least the roads were just wet. It didn't start to freeze yet, but when it did driving on the roads was going to be fun.
Things were very slick Saturday morning. We went out for our regular Saturday morning coffee and the parking lot at McDonald's was very slick. One of the employees had parked his pickup in the back. This section of the parking lot has a small incline. A customer came in and reported that there is a pickup right in the middle of the parking lot and it is creating a hazard. Now you know it is very icy and slick when your parked vehicle slides down an incline.
We left for Sheridan later in the morning. The roads were bare and dry and it was beautiful. We ran around Sheridan and looked in the stores before meeting our friends for dinner. It had started to snow later in the afternoon and it got worse as the night wore on.
Our friends were concerned about us driving all the way home in the storm. It was snowing so bad that visibility was next to nothing we ended up staying the night at a local motel. Sheridan got a good 8 inches of snow.
We left early in the morning. I wanted to leave later, give time for more traffic on the road, but Gary wanted to leave early to miss all the traffic. It was slow moving going home. In Wyoming the roads were snowpacked and icy and poor visibility. We got to about Wyola and the roads were nothing but ice. The state plows and sanders were out, but didn't help much.
Semi drivers are the worst. They all think the roads are bare and dry no matter what the conditions. In Wyoming the snow was light so when a semi passed you were in a total white out. I'm sure those semi drivers laugh about it. We only had one scary incident on the way home in Montana.
A semi came barreling up behind us and when he went to pass his trailer started to fishtail. Fortunately he got is straightened out and didn't hit us. What a relief.
Once we got to Garryowen and out of the hills the roads got better the further west we went. By the time we hit Hardin, roads were just wet.
Not the first time we drove on bad roads and probably won't be the last, but I sure don't want to experience that again. It took us nearly two hours to get home, which really isn't that bad.
This is how the roads were on Saturday.
This is how the roads were on Sunday
Monday, January 10, 2011
ZooMontana
Last Tuesday when I had my dental appointment and lots of time to kill before going to the HOG meeting, I went to the Billings Zoo. I got a new camera for Christmas and figured that this would be a great opportunity to take photos with the new camera.
Fortunately it was a warm day, about 25 degrees above and the sun was shining. I made my way to the zoo. I went in the afternoon giving it time to warm up. I was the only customer there besides a school group. Had the place to myself.
The paths are cleared fairly good, just had to be careful in some spots. It was a bit on the cool side walking around the zoo, there was a very slight breeze and that made it cold. Not all the animals were out, but the ones that were were active. It was nice to see them active, usually in the summer when I go it's so hot that they are just lazing in their enclosures.
The grizzly bear,siberian tiger and the river otters were the most active animals. The zoo has three orphan grizzly cubs that I was hoping to see, but they weren't out. Just the adult male bear was out. He really wasn't too active, walked around his enclosure and then he scratched his back on a tree stump. He wasn't too concerned about me.
The siberian tiger was another story. When I was near his enclosure, he hunkered down on the ground, his tail started swishing. I got some photos of this and then continued on my way. The next thing I knew the tiger got up and climbed a tree. That was a bit uncomfortable until I saw that he couldn't climb up high. What a relief. That tiger did follow me to the glass enclosure where I could see him very well.
The river otters were very cute. They came up to the glass enclosure played right there for me. They would get up on their hind legs and acted like they wanted me to pet them or something.
I saw the grizzly, tiger, otters, gray wolves, red pandas, wolverine, big horn sheep, raven, and the bald eagles outside. By this time my face is pretty cold and I made my way to the entrance and inside the gift shop. I needed to warm up. I looked at the inside animals and took some photos of them. Only one didn't turn out, too much glare coming off the window.
I was at the zoo for an hour and a half and enjoyed myself. I do want to go back in the spring and see if the other animals are out. The zoo is getting another animal. They are working on a new enclosure and the sign reads "Andy is Coming". Not sure what kind of animal Andy is, but it will be interesting.
My photos are posted on my picasa site. I did have fun playing with some of the edits and figured out one that I would use quite a bit.
Fortunately it was a warm day, about 25 degrees above and the sun was shining. I made my way to the zoo. I went in the afternoon giving it time to warm up. I was the only customer there besides a school group. Had the place to myself.
The paths are cleared fairly good, just had to be careful in some spots. It was a bit on the cool side walking around the zoo, there was a very slight breeze and that made it cold. Not all the animals were out, but the ones that were were active. It was nice to see them active, usually in the summer when I go it's so hot that they are just lazing in their enclosures.
The grizzly bear,siberian tiger and the river otters were the most active animals. The zoo has three orphan grizzly cubs that I was hoping to see, but they weren't out. Just the adult male bear was out. He really wasn't too active, walked around his enclosure and then he scratched his back on a tree stump. He wasn't too concerned about me.
The siberian tiger was another story. When I was near his enclosure, he hunkered down on the ground, his tail started swishing. I got some photos of this and then continued on my way. The next thing I knew the tiger got up and climbed a tree. That was a bit uncomfortable until I saw that he couldn't climb up high. What a relief. That tiger did follow me to the glass enclosure where I could see him very well.
The river otters were very cute. They came up to the glass enclosure played right there for me. They would get up on their hind legs and acted like they wanted me to pet them or something.
I saw the grizzly, tiger, otters, gray wolves, red pandas, wolverine, big horn sheep, raven, and the bald eagles outside. By this time my face is pretty cold and I made my way to the entrance and inside the gift shop. I needed to warm up. I looked at the inside animals and took some photos of them. Only one didn't turn out, too much glare coming off the window.
I was at the zoo for an hour and a half and enjoyed myself. I do want to go back in the spring and see if the other animals are out. The zoo is getting another animal. They are working on a new enclosure and the sign reads "Andy is Coming". Not sure what kind of animal Andy is, but it will be interesting.
My photos are posted on my picasa site. I did have fun playing with some of the edits and figured out one that I would use quite a bit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)