The Hill Country

The Road Show has been keeping pretty close to home lately, but still has found a few weekends for some of our favorite drives.

One thing I noticed is that many towns are sprucing up and hoping to capture an influx of tourists and 2nd-homers. In Llano, the Super S Foods has had a major makeover, with newly painted walls and rearranged cold cases.
The animal mounts are fewer and more tastefully displayed.

Unfortunately, some of our favorite small restaurants have closed, due to high gas prices over the summer and now the economy problems. (At least one place closed more because of the food than the gas prices, we think...) Anyway, if you know and like restaurants in the Hill Country, make the effort to patronize them! The owners will certainly appreciate it!

One new place we found is the Alamo Springs Cafe, outside of Fredericksburg. Huge burgers and a jalapeno-cheddar bun that is fab. I didn't eat the whole thing!




Enchanted Rock is also a great diversion. We felt the need for some exercise, so made the trip recently.

The Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States. It also goes up the 425 feet in about a half-mile. We got up pretty quickly and then had an adventure (at least for me) walking down the back side which was pretty steep.


Another fun thing to do during the holiday season is look at the Christmas lights. Most of the Hill Country towns decorate their court houses and have lighted walk-through displays. We saw the ones in Marble Falls and Llano. The invention of those lights in tubes has been great for these shaped displays.


We also made a run up to San Saba- The Pecan Capital of the World- and went to several pecan distributors. The best thing is tasting the varieties before buying! We always end up with 10+ pounds of nuts and freeze them until we use them.



Llano River. Late Afternoon. Fall 2008.

Signs of the Times

The first photo was taken in July.
The second photo was taken in October.
Things are crazy out there people!

Hill Country Yarn Crawl

Hill Country Yarn Crawl

I decided to participate in the 2nd Annual Hill Country Yarn Crawl, but not in any organized way. My knitting group (the Knit Knackers) didn’t have a plan to do it and I had a commitment on Saturday that precluded going with others (see below). So I wasn't sure if I could visit enough stores to compete for the Grand Prize but I tried anyway.

The Yarn Crawl is when yarn shops cooperate to offer discounts, freebies, drawings for gift certificates and a chance to win a $250 Grand Prize basket of goodies. This year there were 10 shops participating in 5 different towns around San Antonio and Austin. The event began on Thursday and ended on Sunday. For $10 I got a booklet with maps to all of the shops and a tote bag. To get in the drawing for the Grand Prize, you had to visit 7 of the 10 shops by Sunday.
At each shop I had to get a stamp on the back page of the booklet which I turned in at the last shop to be eligible for the grand prize.
Also each shop devised a “scavenger hunt” consisting of several questions specific to that shop. People who completed the scavenger hunt could then be entered into the prize drawing for the individual store ($25 gift certificate).
Here is the run-down of the shops I visited and the freebies I got at each:

San Antonio:
Yarnivore: Samples of scented fiber soaking soap.
The Yarn Barn: A ball of ribbon yarn and a pattern to make a sachet.

Boerne:
Ewe and Eye: A ball of Idena Kos yarn; very thin and sort of shiny. Made of viscose and polyester.
Rosewood Yarns: 3 small stitch markers made with glass beads.

Austin:

The Knitting Nest: Yarn and pattern for the Black Widow Headband, complete with a plastic spider. This is a newer shop on the south end of Austin.
Hill Country Weavers: A ball of organic cotton yarn and a pattern booklet of washcloths. This shop is the grandmother of all knitting shops-see below.
Gauge Knits: A coupon for one free open class. This is another new shop in Northwest Austin.

Fredericksburg:
Stonehill Spinning: A pack of safety pins

I did the San Antonio shops on Thursday, the Boerne shops on Friday, the Austin shops on Saturday (thanks to Maggie Magellan) and the Fredericksburg shop on Sunday. It would have been possible to do them in 2 days, I think, but it would have been a LOT of driving. I didn’t get to the 4th shop north west of Austin (but I’d been there before) and one in the town of Paige, abut 50 miles east of Austin (never been there, but it would be a fun trip, I think.)

More about Hill Country Weavers: It is in the hip part of Austin called SoCo, named for South Congress Ave. The next time TFOT visits, we’ll definitely go there. The shop is in an old Victorian house that is a rabbit warren of rooms, each one packed to the ceiling with yarns, threads, notions, books, you name it. I don’t know how they can keep track of their inventory. They’ve also taken over the house next door and opened a knitting room and a small café. I had a nice conversation with Trish, a yarn spinner and knitter from Oregon visiting Austin and conducting spinning workshops. She had beautiful yarns, inspired by the colors of the Pacific Northwest. I wanted to buy some of her yarn, but it was way out of my price range…..
The cupcake trailer, “Hey Cupcake”, was right across the street. This place has been featured on TV as one of the quirky food businesses and I would have succumbed and gotten a snack for the road, but they weren’t open yet- I was about 20 minutes too early.
Luckily or unluckily, depending on how you look at it. I decided I was lucky they weren’t open yet. Especially since I had stopped for lunch AND dessert at the Bear Moon Bakery in Boerne on Friday.

Saturday my time was limited as I had to be in Llano at 2:00 for the annual neighborhood homeowners association meeting, so I skipped the 4th shop in the suburbs north of Austin and made my way west. Made it just in time for the meeting. Drove about 175 miles in all.

In Llano, I enjoyed seeing a bald eagle flying over the river and the wild goats out for exercise.

Headed back south on Sunday, stopping in Fredericksburg at Stonehill Spinning. It’s a smallish shop but has lots of fiber arts and crafts. All in all, a great yarn crawl!

Electronics Woes 3

Well, another of my electronic accessories has gone missing. Actually, I've lost 2 bluetooth ear pieces-I'm sure they're in the car somewhere or lost in the black hole that is the house, but the latest device I've lost is my Creative Zen Microphoto. I believe I left it at the Mayan Princess in a cute little leather bag with my name on it.

By the time I'd looked everywhere for it, and called my friend and asked her to check her car, I knew it had been left in the condo. I finally got around to calling the condo-and anyway, shouldn't they have called me when they found the blue bag????

I talked to a girl at the front desk and described the bag to her. It was in their Lost and Found. I didn't ask her to look inside and see if my Creative Zen MicroPhoto and ear phones (with the neat earphone cord holder that trailerfulloftunes had given me), but I assumed if they had the bag, they had the Creative Zen Microphoto as well.

The girl at the front desk told me how to get in touch with Lonestar Overnight Delivery service and arrange for a pick-up. I had the package the next day! But no Creative Zen Microphoto inside nor headphones or cord holder. There was a small battery-operated fan in the bag, which I had also left in the condo. hmmm.

I'm glad to have my personalized leather bag back, but I'm going to miss my Creative Zen Microphoto. I had downloaded the first "Master and Commander" book and DH and I had been listening to it on our car trips. I also had a few nice playlists and about 400 songs. Not a lot in this iPod world, but I was content with my content.

This has not been a good year for me and my electronics.

Lake Powell 2.0

We enjoyed another great week on the Star Chaser Houseboat on Lake Powell. The water was up about 25 feet from 2006 and we enjoyed new views and different campsites. We flew to Phoenix and picked up friends and a rental mini van for the drive to Page, AZ. On the US Airways plane (where even coffee costs $1 now) I read about breakfast places in Phoenix, so when the question of food came up, I suggested The Original Pancake House in Scottsdale. It took a while to find it, mostly because we didn't have a very good map or sense of direction, but finally found it. This is part of a chain, but a quirky one. Authentic pancake house, everything from scratch. Blueberry pancakes were outstanding, as were the egg dishes. At this location, they don't take credit cards, so be prepared with cash.

Anyway, we made our way up state to Page and met the rest of our group at the Antelope Point Marina, run jointly by the US National Park Service and the Navajo Nation. Great kids driving golf carts with trailers take your stuff from the parking lots to the docks. We planned to spend Friday night on the boat in the marina and take off up river on Saturday.

Friday night found DH and myself at the Page Walmart picking up last-minute items for the group, mostly alcoholic....The Page Walmart sells liquor, as do the other grocery stores. Very convenient!

We went into town and found the R.D. Drive In (Page's original drive-in). Definitely a local hang-out, with video games in the back and the older people sitting at the patio tables outside. We had pretty good burgers and fries, and a milk shake for dessert. Finally got to the boat with all the supplies and helped getting things shipshape for departure.

Saturday am was bright and clear and we set off after being checked out by the marina master.
We were planning to get about 40 miles up the lake and camp in Oak Canyon Bay.
This photo shows the digging of the anchor holes so that the boat doesn't float away.



We stayed 2 nights in Oak Canyon, and visited Rainbow Bridge again. The water was much further up the canyon, so the walk in was a lot shorter.
We went about 20 miles further up and stayed in Cottonwood Canyon, behind Register Rocks (our 2006 campsite) for 3 nights. We took boat rides and explored slot canyons on the jet skis.



We also revisited Forbidding Canyon and the Anasazi Ruins called Defiance House. Again, the water level made the walk in about half as far.
This canyon is known for the wall paintings.

The last 2 nights we spent in Padre Bay under the Cookie Jar Butte.
We had great food, thanks to the wonderful cooks, good weather, except for one rainstorm that turned the canyon walls shiny and covered with water falls, and a very relaxing week!
Lake Powell is always interesting!

But, at the end of the week, we had to come into the marina, unload the boat, pack up the cars and head south. We stopped in Flagstaff at the cafe at the Little America Hotel and did some shopping and sightseeing in Sedona. Stayed in Phoenix and went home on Sunday. Hope we can do that trip again before too long. Thanks to PW and JJ and the rest of the group!

Beach Getaway

Time for the annual trip to Port Aransas, Texas! Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, so we didn't have that much time on the beach. We did get to go kayaking around Shamrock Island, and made friends with some pelicans.


Usually the water is clear and marine life is easily seen. Due to recent rains, the water was stirred up and we didn't see too much....

We stayed at the Mayan Princess, a venerable place about 10 miles from town. The place is showing her age (lots of rust on the stairs), although our condo had been reasonably updated. Definitely stay in #305 if you want a HUGE master and a TINY second bedroom! And bunk beds! If you like to sleep in bunks, then this unit is for you! We liked the wraparound sectional with the recliner chair and the lift-up coffee table. They have a nice swimming pool complex and lots of chairs. A DVD player would have been nice.

2 places to eat: The Pelican Club in Port A for the atmosphere. If the weather is tolerable, they have a great deck overlooking the harbor;

The Bakery Cafe (take the car ferry to Aransas Pass; turn left at the corner by the HEB). Great cafe food and homemade pies. It's been spruced up but not changed. It's usually packed on the weekends!

Saturday night we played a few games of pool at Shorty's (the oldest bar on the island!). Loads of beachy atmosphere. Band on the porch. Ceiling covered with caps. Too dark for photos....

We played Monopoly while it rained, and that was fun. No tears! We're all getting more mature!

Next year, we hope to sit on the beach under our tent for a longer time!

Weekend in the Hill Country

As often as we can, we try to spend time in the Texas Hill Country. We sit on the porch and look at the water, fish a little, shop a little, really trying to do as little as possible. Recently, we tried 3 restaurants for the first time. (Not all in the same weekend).

In Fredericksburg, we ate at Rebecca's Table, owned by chef Rebecca Rather. (She has a great bakery in Fredericksburg and several cookbooks.) We really enjoyed the ambience and the food was very good. DH had to send back a steak because it was too rare (really raw in the middle), which seems to be happening to us a lot lately. But I think we'd go back there for sure.

The other place we've been in Fredericksburg is August E's. Very nice with a medium-sized dining room and very comfortable chairs. Modern and chic decor. There is a sushi bar, but we didn't try any sushi. We had steak. Excellently prepared and delicious. Also, one of the best creme brulees I've tasted. They got the sugar crust right!

The 3rd new place we tried was in Marble Falls, a longtime favorite of locals and travelers, The Bluebonnet Cafe.
This is a piece of coconut meringue pie. They have 14 pies on the menu every day. This is solid cafe food, and in the RoadFood books. Also very busy, especially on the weekends. We hit it on a Saturday night sort of late, and the place was filled with families having picked up their children from area summer camps. We noticed several tables with pre-teens and young teens ordering coffee-do they drink that at camp??
And, yes, I ate the whole piece, except the crust. Everyone knows most of the calories in pie are in the crust.... DH ordered apple pie, which was also good.



We also went to the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg. If you want to know all about how the U.S. fought the Japanese in WWII, this is the place for you. There are dioramas with some animatronic people and planes, and a large building devoted to all the battles in the Pacific, with maps and artifacts. You can also tour Admiral Chester Nimitz's family home, which was the first building in the museum complex. For all the times we've been to Fred. this was our first time in the museum.

The plane pictured is the same model (B-25) flown by the Dolittle Raiders.
This group led the first U.S. air attack on the Japanese in retaliation for Pearl Harbor. The prop works and there are sound effects.

One of my favorite stops is the Super S Food Store in Llano. They have great mounted animals on the walls! Llano is big with hunters! Sometimes they have special displays, like the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. one. I hope he caught that javalina!
Happy roadtripping!

Dali, Waterfalls and Stone Barns

The Road Show has been in New York for the past week! I went to the Museum of Modern Art
to see an interesting exhibit of Salvador Dali's art and his films. There was an interesting section about a collaboration with the Walt Disney Company where Dali was to do the illustrations to a piece of music a la Fantasia. A lot of drawings were made,but only a few seconds of film were completed. People at Disney finally completed the film about 5 years ago. It's called Destino
and hopefully will be released in the future, although I don't know when. There's a new exhibit on prefab housing, but that hadn't opened when I was there.This photo shows tired people at MOMA.

I also saw art at the Rubin Museum, The Folk Art Museum, the Met, and the Neue Gallery. I especially liked the Himalayan exhibits, the art of Henry Darger, the balloon dog by Jeff Koons, and the turn-of-the-century German jewelry.

On Saturday, DH and I took a New York Water Taxi tour of the New York City Waterfalls. These are 4 artificial waterfalls constructed on scaffolds that are over 100 feet high. They are an art installation by Olafur Eliasson. I liked the one under the Brooklyn Bridge the best. The boat is a great way to see all the falls, and I would recommend getting a sunset tour. At night the falls are lighted, which we didn't see, but I heard that's the best way to see them.
We also got some great views of the NY Harbor and the Statue of Liberty.

My gourmet adventure for this trip was to eat at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, in Pocantico Hills, NY. This restaurant is owned by Dan Barber, a famous chef and restauranteur, and is special because they grow lots of their own food, harvest it and prepare it on site. In the summer, they do tasting menus and we chose a 5-course meal. There are lots of amuse-bouches as well, and the servings are small, so you can eat a lot before you feel full. I'll post pics when I get them uploaded.
The service is great and the food was excellent! There was a small uproar at our table when 2 different desserts were served-we had no choice as to what we got. A few who would have preferred the chocolate dessert were reduced to begging from their neighbors and some wanted to have had both desserts on one plate. Luckily, a plate of truffles and homemade marshmallows presented at the end soothed some souls. Thanks to the hardy eaters who went on the adventure with me! You know who you are!

The RS heads home soon and will next post about a weekend in the Hill Country!

Cell Phone Woes Again

Ok- how did I lose my cell phone? I really don't know. I used it Sunday evening while we were at an event. It was nowhere to be found on Monday. I went back to the place and looked in the parking lot, in the hallways and in the room where we had been. No one at the event center had turned in a cell phone. I could have dropped it on the floor when I thought I was putting it back in my purse; I could have dropped it on the way to the car; it wasn't in DH's car, either. We both looked there. I called it several times as I walked around the house and never heard ringing. It has vanished into the ether. Or maybe cyberspace. Or someone has a pretty cool phone with photos of the cats and kids on it.

On Monday I suspended the service, but no minutes had been used since Sunday night. On Tuesday I called the insurance co. (remember I had purchased insurance last fall when the previous phone went kayaking). I had a new phone on Wednesday. Pretty fast service.

It's a "replacement" phone as they don't make my phone any longer. (No more Star Trek communicator button-operated flip opening) :( It is longer and slimmer than the previous phone, and has brighter graphics. It seems more plastic-y to me. And I can hear my breathing while I talk on it...
Luckily I had a previous SIM card, so I was able to recapture a lot of my numbers. But not all. I'm still gathering those. If I haven't called you in a while, it may be that I don't have your number, so please call me!

So, I don't know why I'm having trouble with phones this year. I had my first cell phone for a really long time. Really.

And the last thing-since I had a second insurance claim within 12 months, they canceled my cell phone insurance for the next 12 months. I guess they figure they'll be making more money off of me than the 4.95 a month premium when I lose this phone and need a new one....

Just another week in the life!

A word to the wise: keep track of that pesky cell phone!

Kayak trip

The first weekend in June means Kayak Trip! With good friends and some clear water, we have a great time! We start below the dam in Llano and head downriver!

Of course, we have to eat, so we spent Friday evening at the Great Castell Kayak Race Charity Dinner. We had fun with the silent and live auctions, and donated lots of money to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I'm excited about the custom t-shirt quilt I won! Will post a photo when it gets made!

Anyway, we spent Saturday on the river, enjoying the sun and water!
Lots of fish and many birds. It was a beautiful day!

My kayak is the blue one, La Chalupa. (Blog post June, 2007) She's getting a little banged up on the bottom, as she got dragged over lots of rocks this year. (Low water levels and skirting some of the rapids...)
All in all, another great kayak trip!

Tiny Town

We needed to do a separate post for an interesting attraction in Hot Springs, AR. It's called Tiny Town, and it's worth seeing.

Tiny Town is the work of Mr. Moshinskie, now deceased. His son and daughter-in-law operate the attraction. Wanting a hobby after he came home from WWII, Mr. Moshinskie set up his train sets and began building miniature villages and scenes around them. He also animated the scenes with recycled motors from washing machines and lawn mowers, etc. Children see-saw and swing in the park, the ferris wheel carries passengers, the gunfighters shoot it out in the Old West, dancers spin in a barn dance, a farmer on a tractor plows his field, and many more.

In addition, Mr. T, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and other stars promenade in the park. Most things were handcarved or made from cans, caps, just about anything you can think of. The more you look, the more you see!

We really enjoyed our tour, especially when Mrs. Moshinskie made it nighttime! Lights from cabins glowed, and the lighthouse beacon shined brightly over the water! Along the way, there are buttons to push to run the trains and start the animations.

All in all, one fascinating place!

Taking the Waters!

This post has been delayed, but over Memorial Day Weekend, we drove (!) to Hot Springs, Arkansas for a wedding. It was about a 9-hour drive, but we stopped in Mesquite, TX (next to the Rodeo grounds) overnight to break up the drive.





Arriving in Hot Springs by noon, we first went to eat! Had to try McLard's BBQ-a famous local place. There was a line out the door, so we knew it was the right place. DH said the meat wasn't as good as Cooper's, that all the flavor is in the sauce. We had their beef tamales, and the homemade cobbler for dessert. I thought the ribs were pretty good. We later found out that this was President Bill Clinton's favorite restaurant. Hot Springs is his hometown.




This is a photo of a hot spring cascading down a rock face in downtown Hot Springs! This is the town that's also a national park! And one of the first natural places to be protected by the U.S. Government. There were over 100 hot springs in this area and they became very popular with tourists for improving health! You can still take the mineral baths, but they are regulated by the parks service. At our hotel, the Arlington, you can get mineral water-hot or cold- out of faucets in the lobby.

Some of the Victorian Bath Houses are being renovated and one is the park service visitor center. You can see how our modern health clubs came to be. This Hernando de Soto fountain is in the middle of one of the restored bath houses. Cubbies along the walls have bathtubs for soaking, interspersed with needle showers to stimulate the nerves.

We took a dinner boat ride on the Belle of Hot Springs and toured Lake Hamilton. We went shopping along the main drag, and DH even got in a little fly fishing. I had a facial at the spa.
And the wedding was beautiful and lots of fun!

Sunday found us on the road again, back to TX. Spent the night at Santosha-on-the-Llano and had fun playing in the water.

That's all for now!

Wedding and beyond

Just to update! The wedding was great and everything worked! Kids had a great time! Whirlwind rest of weekend in NY and then the Road Show went back home to more fun! Fiesta! The Aussies got to see another part of the USA and meet some of our hometown crowd.

After more sightseeing and shopping and eating it was time to pack and head for the airport! We were sorry to see them go, but hope we can take the Road Show down under before too long!

W-Day!

The wedding day is here! Sunny and warm and a special visit from the Pope makes it all the more wonderful! All the relatives made it to the Big Apple and are having fun meeting and greeting. We have last-minute chores to do, but trust that it will all get done!
Our Friday night party was so good that security was called! It's been an amazing week and finally get to go to the big event!
There's nothing like a wedding in the family to bring everyone together!
Keep smiling!

New York Wedding-1

The Road Show has decamped to NY where we're excited to have a wedding in the family! I hope to get to a museum or two, but with so many things to do, I'm not sure I'll have the luxury of time to sightsee. That's ok, though, as we'll have lots of family, friends, and soon-to-be family coming for the event!

Planning has gone pretty well so far; now it's the execution phase!
I bought a MOB dress at a fancy store at home; It took almost 6 weeks for the dress to come in and then they had it for 2 more weeks to get alterations done. I finally picked it up this week and my dental hygienist suggested I try it on before I left town. I did, and found that the pins were still in the dress; the alterations had not been done! I took it back the next day, and it only took 2hrs. to finish....I felt one crisis had been averted! The salesperson and fitter were apologetic about the mess-up.

Travel today (April 12) was extremely easy, after the horror stories all week. I flew American and flights were full, but not crammed; flights left on time and arrived early. Luggage came out quickly. Couldn't have been better.

Trees are bare here in NY-but some of the early flowers are out and we saw some beautiful weeping willows and weeping cherries in bloom. I also saw a few daffodils (my personal favorite spring flower) and a robin! Sure signs of spring! Hoping for continued spring weather right through the wedding festivities!

Looking forward to a great week!

Cruise Recap

I promised to post more about the cruise, but got so busy that I didn't have time. The internet connection on board was quite slow, so photos were impossible to upload. I have added a few photos to the previous posts, however.

Our day in Cozumel was lovely. We went to Nachi Cocom Beach Park- a private beach that cost $20 pp entry fee. This is a small stretch of beach fairly far south on the island with a roped-off swimming area, pool with hot tub, bar and restaurant. There are thatched palapas with beach chairs. We arrived about 11:45 am and stayed until 3:45. We could have gone snorkeling or on a boat ride, but we just relaxed. The water was cold, but clear. We had great food and drinks!

We felt like we were in a Corona commercial!

We did some shopping in Coz, as well. We hit the restaurant gift shops of Margaritaville, Carlos & Charlie's, Senor Frogs, as well as lots of jewelry and clothing shops across the street from the pier.

Overall, the cruise was a great value for the money and we bunco gals had a blast. The travel agents who put together this cruise have set a date for next year's cruise. You can go to www.buncocruises.com and check out the details. They are doing the 5-day cruise from Galveston instead of the 4-day. Don't know if the Bunco Babes will attend as yet, but there is a title to defend!!! Stay tuned!

Bunco Babes Rule!

Newsflash from the Bunco for Breast Cancer Cruise!!!!

The San Antonio Bunco Babes won 3 of the top 4 prizes!!!!!
Noemi was crowned "Bunco Queen" complete with tiara and boa for winning most games!
Molly came in 2nd place and Melissa won Most Buncos!!!!
We rock!

We've had a great time on the cruise and met a lot of fun gals!
Will post more from the cruise tomorrow, as it's time for the slot machine tournament and I've got to go!

Fun Day at Sea!

We're cruising the Gulf of Mexico and having fun! Embarkation was a breeze, with no lines and easy check-in. Enjoyed drinks with umbrellas in them and got underway about 4:15. Breezy weather, but sunny. Hit the casino as soon as it was open and I won about $35 on the penny slot machines! That will buy a few more drinks!!! Friday is all day at sea; as I write this we are about halfway to Cozumel.

We played bunco this morning and I won the door prize! We have another session this afternoon and 2 on Sunday. We have about 24 women in our group and they are lots of fun!

I went to the fitness center this am to burn some calories and had a hard time finding a machine that was available! Lots of healthy people on this cruise!!!!

Have to get back to the bunco tables, so I will post a few photos next session!

It's really fun sitting here by the window and seeing nothing but ocean in all directions! And still being connected!

The Bunco Cruise

We're getting on the road again, this time to Galveston and Carnival's Fun Ship Ecstasy for a weekend cruise to Mexico! Four people from the Bunco Babes group have joined a larger group to compete in a bunco tournament. We paid extra to join this group and make a donation to breast cancer research. We will be playing several sessions over the 4-day cruise, so you'll want to check back for the latest updates!

What is bunco, you ask? It's a dice game that's hugely popular in the south. And west, I guess.
You can check it out here. I play in a group that meets monthly and has been getting together for years. We play for money. This tournament has a top prize of $250. I hope to win!

DD and I are driving to Galveston to board the ship on Thursday. It sails at 4pm and arrives in Cozumel on Saturday for one day of port fun! Then it's back to Gal. for a Monday am docking. You can check out the itinerary here.

Here are some of the things I packed: highlighter markers (to highlight activities on the daily newsletter), an over-the-door-shoe-bag (to maximize space in the small cabins), nightlight (dark at sea at night....), water bottle, beach bag and towel (for the day in port), 2 bottles of wine (don't tell), extra snacks and food, in addition to a nice outfit for the formal dinner night and regular clothes.

The website Cruise Critic has loads of info on just about everything you never knew you needed to know about going on a cruise. And you can meet people on your cruise, too! I found out there are a group from College Station, TX going to see a Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band that will be playing in Cozumel on Saturday. Not sure if the band will be on the ship or not....Sounds interesting!

Hope to have loads of fun, and will post photos as time (and $$) allow.
Travel safely!

The Last of Solitude

Happily, DH recovered from his illness and was able to have a good time the rest of the trip! Enjoyed sunny weather on Saturday and Monday, so those were our ski days. BAD weather on Friday and Sunday, so we stayed in! We enjoyed friendly poker games, trips to the fitness center, movies, dinners out at nice places (Snow Park Lodge in Deer Valley and Silver Fork Lodge in the canyon). Uneventful travel home, which was nice, and luggage came out quickly, always appreciated! We've never seen this much snow! Hope to come back again soon!

Solitude

We're still in Utah, visiting Solitude Ski Resort with the San Antonio AIA Chapter. If you've been reading the Road Show, you know we've experienced several blizzards the past week... After a sunny morning yesterday, the weather came in again!. The snow is epic! I begged off skiing to take care of ailing DH. If the sun comes out tomorrow, I'll be up on the slopes....or if not, perhaps at the spa. It's not too cold, but the wind is bitter. Stay tuned for more updates!

The Last of the Movies

Well, Sundance is over for another year and the town is now really quiet. It could also be the blizzard that kept a lot of people home yesterday....

We went to the locals screenings called "Best of Fest." 2 movies are chosen on the last night of the festival for this screening. This time it was the Documentary Audience Award winner: "Fields of Fuel" and the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize winner: "Frozen River."
Here's where the ticket strategy came into play. We had sold our Sunday tickets to this movie when we found out what was going to be in the Best of Fest. Not attending BOF because we'd already seen the film was never an option! And we got to see 2 more movies!

"Frozen River," written and directed by Courtney Hunt, is about a single mother with 2 kids whose husband has taken off just before Christmas. She's trying keep things together for her family and desperately wants a new home, but can't make the payments to have it delivered. (It's a double-wide trailer home.) She meets a young Mohawk Indian woman who uses the frozen river between Canada and New York to smuggle people across the border. The two women work together smuggling people even though they don't like each other at first.
It's a good film and the actors draw you in to their worlds. It is not a downer of a movie and has a hopeful ending. What you'd expect to see on the Sundance Channel or the IFC channel.

The "must see" film of the night was "Fields of Fuel" by Josh Tickell. It's about how to get our country free of foreign oil. It's upbeat and hopeful, and that's probably why it won the audience award. Mr. Tickell has been working on this film for 10 years and his passion is contagious. His main focus is on sustainable energy:using biodiesel fuels. We can grow all the fuel we need. We should be able to have conflict-free energy. We seem to have done that with diamonds...

Years ago he converted a van (the Veggie Van) to run on vegetable oil and has logged over 25,000 miles in it, spreading the word. Now that he has this movie, he's taking it and the van on a 50 city tour and will show the film at both party's political conventions.

He was there for the QandA and stayed after the film in the lobby for over an hour talking to everyone who wanted a word.
We learned many new things: Sweden has pledged to be petroleum-free by 2020; there is algae that can be made into oil, not in millions of years, but in days or weeks; any diesel car, truck, van, ship or bus can run on biodiesel fuel immediately, with no modifications needed.

12 films in 4 days. Whew! It was a great experience and an amazing opportunity to see films of all kinds. We were able to get tickets to everything we wanted to see, and getting around wasn't too much of a hassle. Of course, we weren't invited to any of the big parties and events on Main St....

We have to thank our friends who invited us, housed us and showed us the ropes. Early morning coffee, late night pizza and wings, adventures in souvenir-gathering, celebrity spotting, all good times! Would love to go again!

Photo idea thanks to TFOP

Sundance 4

Need to review the 3 movies from Sunday afternoon and evening.

The World Cinema Documentary Jury Prize winner was:"Man On Wire", directed by James Marsh. It is a fantastic movie that recounts the amazing Philippe Petit's wire walking event between the World Trade Center towers in 1974. The movie is adapted in part from his book, "To Reach The Clouds".

Archival movie footage, photographs, interviews and recreated scenes tell the incredible story of Petit's planning and execution process. We thought it was the best doc we saw. The director was there for the QandA and allowed as how Mr. Petit would have been there but had to return to New York. The footage of the construction of the World Trade Center towers is very nostalgic and almost heartbreaking. One of the producers is Discovery, so I imagine this will end up on TV at some point.

The Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner was "Trouble The Water" directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. This movie shows how one New Orleans family from the 9th Ward lived through Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The title comes from a song.

The directors explained that they had planned to film the LA National Guard unit coming home to a devastated New Orleans after being in Iraq. The directors wanted to follow soldiers as they dealt with the destruction from the hurricane, knowing they had not been able to be at home protecting their families. The government forbade filming after only a few days, so the directors went to the convention center and met Kimbery Rivers who told them she had amazing footage of the hurricane and she was looking for a "worldwide" outlet for her family's story. Using her video footage and following up for about a year after the hurricane, we see the family's courage and perseverance as well as their love for their native city. This movie does not yet have a distributor, but it should.

The third movie of the day was the Dramatic Audience Award winner: "The Wackness", written and directed by Jonathan Levine. The director wasn't there for a QandA.

The story takes place during 1994, when Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) graduates from high school with no friends and family problems. He also deals pot and sees a psychiatrist, played by Ben Kingsley. The doctor trades pot for more sessions.

It's a coming of age story with a strong hip-hop beat. The acting is great, and has some funny scenes and lines. The title comes from an exchange Luke has with his almost-girlfriend, Stephanie, played by Olivia Thrilby. She tells him he's too sad all the time because he only looks at 'the wackness" of life. She tries to look at 'the dopeness" which is much better. This might hit a theater near you sometime soon.

After a nice dinner at the Grubsteak Pub, we collapsed back home.

Snacks in the theater? It depends on the venue. Real movie theaters have normal concession stands, but some venues won't allow anything but water in the theater. The large venue at the high school auditorium had a souvenir stand in the lobby, as well as snacks to buy, but they had to be consumed in the lobby. They didn't check purses or pockets, however, so we always had a few granola bars and small water bottles with us.

Sundance 3

Saturday night's movie was "casting a glance." It is an 'art documentary' by James Benning. He made 16 trips to the Robert Smithson's art installation "Spiral Jetty" (in the Great Salt Lake) from the time of its installation in 1970 to 2005. Each time Benning set up a film camera and let it run for several minutes. He also changed the camera position several times on each visit. The movie shows 5 minute segments from each of the visits. We see beautifully photographed shots of the changing landscape-different seasons, different water levels, etc. Ambient sound and some introduced effects create the background. The only problem is that it's hard to watch basically a series of still photos for 90 minutes! We stuck it out, however, and I plan to go visit the Spiral Jetty at my first opportunity....

Sunday: Up at the usual 5:30 am to get to the Gateway Center Box Office early. This time we were #6 in line! Many people selling extra tix and waiting to see what would be shown when. Today most of the award-winning movies are shown. Check out the Sundance site for the list of winners. The schedule was drawn up listing the award for that time slot, but no one knew the movie for that award until Saturday night. So we had to see the final list posted on the box office door before we could plan the day's movies and see what tickets we should sell.

The other wrinkle is that Utah locals have the opportunity to see 2 movies on Monday night(called "Best of Fest") for free, but those aren't announced until today as well. Our hosts had 4 tickets for each Monday night movie, but also had some tickets for Sunday's award winner showings, so we didn't want to have the same tickets for both days. If you are still following this, I'm impressed! We spent our time in line trying to get it all straight.....

It turned out that we had Sunday tickets for one of the Monday night movies, so we were able to sell the Sunday tix to people in line. That turned out to be "Frozen River", which won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize award.
We bought the Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner, which was "Trouble the Water."

We kept the Dramatic Audience Award winner:"The Wackness" for Sunday evening.

We also decided to sell tickets to "World Dramatic Prize winner:" "King of Ping Pong" in favor of "World Documentary Jury Prize winner": "Man On Wire." More on those movies in the next post.


The weather turned very windy and snowy today, with the big storm heading in tonight and tomorrow. My expression in the picture means "Please don't let the camera get wet!"

On to the 3rd movie of the day, so will continue later!