Real fur

Holly is buried in real fur and it is keeping me warm too.

A Purple Ranch

Found this place through VRBO.  Ten acres in the desert.  Horses.  Birds.  Chickens.  Cacti.  Artsy. Funky.  Fun.  Just right for a week in the desert.  Thanksgiving here should be good.  Hopefully we will get in the balloon ride, too.

Slots in Vegas

Debbie loves slot machines.  At first however I thought we were here for no reason.  Still a lot of people smoking these days, and Debbie just cannot handle it.  But I found a row of machines in an aisle leading outside to the courtyard at Flamingo.  Little used.  Clean.  No smokers.  So Debbie lost her money, and I lost mine.

TSO

The Trans Siberian Orchestra's show was just great!  Neurons that are alive had to be energized, and neurons that are dying had to be jostled into longer life with all the lights, pyrotechnics, and sounds!  Thank you, John and Jodi.

Click here for more about TSO.

All golfers have to look over their shoulder for what wildlife might be near

There is a golfer in the top left corner, on the green, lining up his putt:

These big bachelors are just off the fairway:

Elk, and more elk

And here are the cows:

These animals are all over the place.  A panoramic picture would have a hundred elk it.

Too cute

Bull elk

These seen in a meadow on the way to Estes Park.

Since the rutting season is over they are off alone.  It is likely we will see herds of cows, maybe in the streets causing an elk jam.

Estes Park

John would not let us into Estes Park until he took this picture:

There are six of us in the picture . . . .

Where in the world is Obie?  He got slighted.

Denver is wonderful!  We have a great room at a great price.  A Marriott property.  Again thanks to Hotwire.  Six floors up looking due west over Denver to the mountains.  Weather is cool not bracing.  It will be sunny and 65 today for the visit to the zoo.  I am going in shorts!

Tomorrow we are off for a night or two to Estes Park.

(if you haven't found Obie yet, look for the eyes, ears and nose between my right leg and Debbie's left.)

No imagination

Who thunk up this name?  I guess Kan got to go first because the town is in Kansas.  If it was in Colorado, the town would be named Colorass, which I think rolls off the tongue better.

Going west

Being an easterner, southerner, Floridian, never even out of the state until I was 16, I never really got the term, midwest.  For example, here we are in Topeka, which is about the midpoint of America east to west, but it is considered the western edge of the midwest.  Go figure, Census Bureau.  More of an oddity, Ohio is considered the midwest, and it is only two states away from the Atlantic Ocean!

I will have to say the midwest is beautiful country.  If the weather was better . . . .

DNA testing solves problem

I had heard of this before, DNA testing to identify owners who do not pick up after their dogs:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/south/2013/08/24/condos-braintree-and-watertown-using-dna-track-littering-dogs-and-their-owners/eoJ1F6XaEYGlQzaWiv4grI/story.html


But there are some facts in the story worth reviewing.  Sixty bucks to get your dog tested.  Fifty to test the poo.  Good actors do have to put up $60 once in the lifetime of each dog, but the problem gets solved, and bad actors get to pay the lion's share of the solution.

All communities should institute this!

Wal Mart sells it

My Dad favored Jack Daniels Green Label and would come home most every night, fill a large ice tea glass first with ice, then with Jack.  He would sip that drink throughout the evening, usually falling asleep in his Lazy Boy before us kids' bedtime.  I am not doing the same, but I periodically toast the Old Man, now with Jack Daniels Black after having visited America's Distillery No. 1.

And now I learn Wal Mart gets to sell liquor!  In Missouri.  In the store.  Not in a separate store like Florida requires.

I did check, and Jack sold in Wal Mart is not Made in China.

Butterfly Palace

Now we want to get to Rosario to see the Monarchs overwintering.  Nature is fascinating!

Power out but still connected for a while

When cruising by sail we had to of course always think about the source and the storage of power.  Engine, generator, solar panels, batteries, sun, diesel fuel were in the thinking.  When we began exploring America by Benz power never even came to mind.  But here I am with no power.  And I realize I have about two hours of phone and internet unless I go get in the car.  In two years of sailing never had that problem.  A plus for the travel trailer, you can be completely self sufficient?

Hotwire 1-Day Hotel Sale

Hotwire saves us $200 over eight nights in Denver!

I am not sure, a little nervous, how Hotwire comes up with these sales that are so targeted, but we had booked a good hotel for a good price on a hotel website, and then Hotwire offers a one day sale and saves us $200.  The thing is you have to trust the ratings.  You don't get to know the hotel until you book a noncancelable room.  Here we upgraded a half star, and Hotwire and Tripadvisor reviews predict a good stay.

No smoking and pick up after your dog

What is it about people who cannot follow a few rules?

We stay in nonsmoking rooms.  We stay at smoke free properties if available, but we have not found one yet that has been totally true in their advertising.

We stay at places who will accommodate Holly.  Most have had very nice pet walk areas, a bin with poop bags and a discard receptacle.  We still have to tread lightly when walking through the area.

What is it?

Debbie would not let me buy a paint ball gun when we were cruising on Charmed, the sailboat, to fire on other boaters making wakes in no wake zones.  I want one now to blast inconsiderate drivers but am still told no.

An interesting thing about TDOT, they have electric signs along the highway that report how may deaths there have been on the highways in 2012 and 2013.  The number for 2013 seems to go up every day!  To date there have been as many deaths in 2013 as all of 2012.

The Great Loop

When doing the Great Loop you can choose the Mississippi, so we figure we have now completed about six miles of the 6000 mile Loop, having taken a boat ride in Memphis.  From the departure point at Beale Street Landing we went south to the bend, then back north to the middle of Mud Island.

The best part about the boat ride was the tour guide.  A mix of history teacher and story teller.  Made you want to go look up what was true and what was not.

Memphis zoo

Zoos are always cool places.  Memphis is a poor example this time of year.  The season just ended and everything was a mess.  Of course it was good on some level.  Meerkats remind us so much of Holly.  You could get within five feet of the hippos.  And the panda just sat there crunching on bamboo.  Could that stuff have any taste to it at all?

Charlie at the Ryman

The best there's ever been . . . .

Hunchback of Notre Dame

Halloween at the Symphony with live organ accompaniment to the 1923 silent film was very entertaining.  The organist used arms, hands and feet to pound out fascinating music.  The movie was fascinating too.  A far cry from the stuff being produced today, but way better than some.  For example, way better than the Counselor which is just out.  That movie is not even a good rental for home viewing.

Porches all around

Cool porches on the Southern Living Idea House 2013.  Look closely at the last one and you will see a swing.  This proves to Joe for Peggy that a good house has big porches on all four sides!

New best friend

Debbie and I standing next to Jack . . . .

Jack Daniels only stood something like 5'4" tall.  He had group photos taken with him being the only man standing.  This statue is not true to size.  But who cares.  The man had it right buying a still at age 13 and taking the business to the limit.

The Distillery is a must see if you are near Lynchburg for any reason.