A quick trip to Paris.... Las Vegas

This weekend Calvin had business meetings in Las Vegas, and I tagged along for a weekend get away.  We stayed in the Paris Las Vegas hotel, because Jersey Boys was playing there and I wanted to see it.  This is what the Eiffel tower looks like through a dirty window with a flash highlighting the streaks.  But it was a room with a very Las Vegas view.  After the show Calvin and I took a walk along the strip which was bursting at the seams with unusual looking people. It is my impression that Las Vegas is even more Las Vegas than it was when we used to come every year for a swim meet.

Just by coincidence Peter and Roque were also in Las Vegas this weekend to run the Red Rocks half marathon.  We ALMOST got there in time to see them cross the finish line, but we did get to see happy smiles for a job well done.

And it was nice to get out of the downtown are a see a few red rocks.  I think there are petroglyphs somewhere, but I didn't take time to find them.

Nevada is a great place to live.

Road Trip in Sedona

Last weekend we enjoyed a long weekend in Sedona, Arizona.  We chose Arizona because it was warmer than Reno and Sedona because it is surrounded by red rocks.  Beyond that we didn't have any real plans, so we drove north from Phoenix and stopped at a rest stop half way to Sedona, checked out the visitor information and planned our weekend from there.  

The key to a good road trip is taking lots of pictures so you can remember where you've been.  We started out having lunch in the old mining town of Jerome at the Haunted Burger.  Calvin stopped here on a big bike ride a few years ago and loved the view from the deck.  Lunch wasn't bad either.

We arrived to a room with a view in Sedona. 

The area around Sedona is dotted with ruins left by the Sinagua people who inhabited the area roughly between 1100 and 1300 AD, so I dragged Calvin through a lot of ruins.  If you look closely  you can see some about in the middle of the photo.

These home sites in Walnut Canyon were not large, but it is supposed that the Sinagua were not very tall.

Walnut Canyon is near Flagstaff.  On our way back we came to a stretch of historic Route 66.  I've been trying to talk Calvin into a road trip on Route 66 for years, and here we are headed west.  We even had lunch at a Route 66 diner.

After lunch we took a hike in the West fork of Oak Creek Canyon which was absolutely spectacular.

Saturday we visited the Palatki and Honanki ruins which also had rock art, although was not as impressive as some we've seen, but I liked the "pigtail girl."

This interesting panel is possibly a sun calendar.  The wavy line might represent the mountain range opposite. There are little black triangles under certain peaks which correspond with where the sun rises on the Soltice and Equinox.  Kind of like the blue triangles on our bedroom wall marking the location of sunrise throughout the year.

This is the range across the way.  The volunteer said that the dots match up with observed sunrise here.

I liked these ruins because they are in the red rock, and they are two story town homes.

The Sedona International film festival started Saturday evening, so we took in a showing of Redwood Highway, which I enjoyed, but Calvin thought the best part of the evening was the cookies and cupcakes they gave out for opening night after the show.

Valentine Cookies

I don't think that we observe a lot of family traditions, but I have a personal tradition that I have enjoyed since I was a child.  I like to have frosted sugar cookies on Valentine's Day.  I remember a Valentine's Day when I was, I think, in the second grade.  My mother was "room mother" for our class and back then that meant baking a batch of cookies for class parties.  She had made frosted sugar cookies for Valentine's Day and for some reason she trusted a 7 year old to deliver a box of cookies to school.  But on the way to the school bus I either tripped and dropped the box of cookies, or I just dropped the box of cookies, and some of them broke.  I had to go back home and confess the tragedy.  My mother didn't scold, or point out that I hadn't been careful.  She just replaced the broken cookies and sent me on my way again.  And from that day, Valentine's Day is not complete for me without frosted sugar cookies.

My tradition is to use my mother's sugar cookie recipe, which makes a fairly crisp cookie which, I must say in defense of my seven year old self, does break easily.  And I use what I hope is her mother, Libbie Brown's, cookie cutter.  I picked it up the summer Calvin and I lived in the house of my grandparents Brown.  That was more than a decade after she died, but I like to think it was hers even if it wasn't.

I started making my own cookies and sharing them as Valentines in high school. My cookies always have a "conversation heart" in the middle of pink peppermint frosting.  I don't make cookies every year, but for over forty years pink frosted sugar cookies are my own special Valentine's Day tradition.

Winter weekend

We have had a delightfully warm and dry winter, which is great if you want to get out and work in the garden, but not so great if you want to drink water next summer.  This weekend the high pressure moved out and the snow moved in, so instead of gardening and bicycling we had some winter fun.  We had a little snow at our house Thursday morning, but there was enough snow Friday morning to send Peter and Calvin to Mt Rose for first tracks.

Friday evening we went with friends to Truckee for dinner and then on to Northstar Village to view the snow sculptures.  The sculptures were fun, but not awe inspiring. And it was really cold, so we didn't stay long.  My favorite was the whale rider by the Yukon Canada team.

The sculptures were still works in progress.

A couple more

Saturday morning Calvin and I went to Mt Rose with the rest of the world for a few runs.  We actually had to wait in lines for the lift!  But the skiing was the best of the season (which is not high praise) so it was fun.  After Mt. Rose we met up with Peter and Roque for some ski touring/snow shoeing on the Tahoe Meadows.  Calvin and I bought new touring skis from a local ski store that is going out of business.  The skis are great on the flat, but not so great going up and down hill. But it looks like they will be a lot of fun.

At the lunch stop I traded skis for snowshoes with Roque and reaffirmed my belief that snowshoes are not speedy mode of winter transportation. And not all that fun.

So now that we have had winter, spring is more that welcome to arrive, as long as it brings a lot of rain with it.

Climbing the walls

While our family was together we looked for indoor ways to entertain a group with ages ranging from 3 months to 60 years.  Not always an easy task, but indoor climbing proved to be a big hit.  Fortunately Alice and Garret are happy pretty much anywhere as long as they are fed and held.

Here is everyone attacking the wall

Clare, Austin and Zach were fearless climbers but they had the most fun just playing around on the mats.

Even 2 year old Clare got the idea

Austin and Butch climbed side by side to the top

Zach was one of the first to the top

Rosie challenged Calvin to a race to the top and had a come from behind victory at the bell.

Alice wasn't sure she like mom up so high

They also had a slack line that the kids loved

And we loved just having everyone there.

Cal's Crew Reunion 2014

We had a fun winter reunion with our entire family last week.  Sarah is approaching the end of her maternity leave and wanted to visit Reno, and when everyone heard that the Bordelons would be here, they all made plans to join the party.  It was so fun to have everyone here and I enjoyed playing with the grandkids so much that I didn't remember to get my camera out very often.  But here are a few random pics from the week. 

We're hoping everyone gets Reno eNVy and wants to move here.

We are snow poor this year, but that didn't stop us from having a fun ski day.  These are pics from inside the lodge because we took turns watching babies and skiing. 

 Rosie and Clare looking cool

Alice sleeping in a bag of clothes

Zach looking like a boy who had a great ski day

After skiing the hot tub got a workout

We had an afternoon at the archery range

But Austin didn't think that was so fun

Alice and Garrett were happy with a fist to chew on, but not at all picky about who it belonged to

We spent a lot of time just visiting around the table

And dressing up once in a while

And even playing in the park

And when we got a bonus day because of canceled flights we rode the ferris wheel (at least Toby, Sarah and Clare did)

What a great family we have