Images from Dallas

Checklist:

Toothbrush (ck)
Toothpaste (ck)
Lotion (ck)
Contacts/case/solution/eyeglasses (ck)
Makeup (ck)
Hair Products (ck)
Socks (ck)
Shoes (ck)
Underwear (ck)
PJ's (ck)
Jewelry (ck)
Camera/assorted camera equip (ck)
Coat (ck)
Scarf (ck)
Gloves (ck)
Me (ck)
Rick (ck)

Hmmmmmmmmmmm -- what's missing? Can you say clothes for two days?????? Duh, where are they. Oh, back home in the closet!!!!!! Drrr,deee, ddrrrrrrrrrr, drrrrrrrrrrr!

Yep, got to Dallas, and then, remembered my clothes hanging in the closet. Sweet Rick told me don't worry, we'll go shopping tomorrow. Me -- unnnnnnhhh, unnnnhhhh! It's the weekend before Christmas in Dallas. I hate shopping, I really hate shopping a week before Christmas, especially in Dallas!

I am sooooooo glad I didn't run into the same people three days in a row -- because I sported the same outfit for three day! Looking on the bright side -- I have clothes ready for next week's trip to Big D!

Anyhoo -- Rick treated me to a fun weekend of basketball! We watched the Mavs/Rockets on Friday, and the UT/UNC game on Saturday. The UT game was the inaugural basketball game in Cowboy's Stadium.  Words cannot describe how grand the new stadium is.  It's something you have to see for yourself.  It's Vegas baby, Vegas!

On the food front, Rick found a wonderful Italian restaurant in Highland Park called Patrizio's.  The food is fantastic!  The great thing about Patrizio's is if you don't see a pasta or sauce on the menu that you want, they'll whip it up for you!  They made me a wonderful pink vodka sauce with crispy bacon, and spinach.  It was fabulous!  Rick and I are making plans to have dinner there again soon.

Ok, enough chatter  -- on to the images from this weekend!

Coming out of the tunnel into Dealey Plaza. The Texas School Book Depository is  the bldg on the left.

Looking out from our room at the Fairmont

 

 Zooming the lens, view from our hotel

 Yet another image from our room at the Fairmont

Christmas lights in Highland Park  outside Patrizio's

That's all folks! Have a great week!

;~'} Frances

Peaceful Saturday

Am I a lucky girl or what? I mowed the front yard today (yes, you can hear the neighbors cheering) when lo and behold, Rick shows up with his weed eater in hand. He looked like a knight in shining armor. He knows that I'm allergic to yard work (really, I am allergic to grass), so he wanted to edge the front to keep me from going over the allergy edge today! Now, you can hear the parade that my neighbors lined up after Rick edged the yard!

Because of this very kind gesture, I can have a much more relaxing, less wheezy, peaceful weekend.

Which brings me to my picture. This is a peace sign I captured while we were driving around Philadelphia.




I hope you all have a wonderful, R&R, peaceful weekend!

Love Frances

Colorado R&R

Hugs and kisses to Rick for taking me away from the 100 degree temps of Texas to the beautiful, lush green (and much cooler temps) of Lake City, Colorado. We spent a very relaxing week -- fly fishing, four wheeling, and my favorite -- eating!

I would guess that during the summer months, Lake City is inhabited by about 70% Texans. It's quite amusing to see so many Texas license plates!

The fishing was great for Rick and his Uncle Dub -- as they caught quite a few large trout -- for me, not so good. I caught one teenie, tiny trout on my first day of fishing, and the big goose egg from there on out. It's really not a big deal for me -- as I enjoy the practice (sounds like I'm in denial or something).

About four years ago, instead of taking a 4-wheel drive jeep on the mountain backroads (Alpine Loop), Rick has opted to doing the drive on a four-wheeler. I prefer the four-wheeler as it makes the day less scary. Jeeps just seem too wide for these narrow roads -- so I'm glad we've made the change.

We saw two moose while there. The first moose sighting was at Lake San Cristobal. We were driving around the lake when we noticed about six cars pulled over to the side -- and the car's occupants were out of the cars looking out toward the middle of the creeky area of the lake (not sure what you call it). The crowd had spotted a huge bull moose eating! We had a lot of fun chatting it up with the onlookers while watching the feeding moose.

Our next sighting was of a cow moose at Deer Creek. If you click on the moose picture below, you'll notice that there is a sign that has "Deer Creek" imprinted on it. I thought it was funny -- but, it doesn't take much to amuse me. Another moose watcher told us that the cow had two calves with her earlier. Rats -- how cool would that have been to see the mom and babies??????

Lake City has a number of wonderful restaurants. We love Poker Alice's (Pizza), Lake City Bakery (breads, sweet rolls, you name it -- they bake it), Cannibal Grill (hamburgers, hot dogs), the Sportsman (gas station that serves great BBQ), and an Italian Restaurant which I can't remember the name. We always end our trip with Rick's Uncle Dub and Aunt Sidney at Bruno's Restaurant. Bruno and his wife -- serve the most amazing food. It's five star dining -- I kid you not. We always look forward to the soup, bread -- and the main course. If you like wild game or a good steak -- Bruno's is the place to go.

Wow, it's not even 10:00 a.m. and I'm getting hungry!

If you'd like to learn more about Lake City, Colorado, click on today's post title (Colorado R&R).

Enough of the gab -- it's picture time! Enjoy and have a wonderful week!

Click on image for a larger picture.

Shot taken out the car window, somewhere in New Mexico.


Moose at Deer Creek (hey, who said moose can read?).


Dumpsters are locked to keep the bears out.


Garden shop (Pottin Shed) located behind our cabin (notice the sod roof).


Lake City Bakery (our first stop every morning).


We love shopping at Dan's Fly Shop. Dan and his wife are the best!


Photo of umbrellas at Kip's Gill in Creede, Colorado.


Rick soaking in the sun at Kip's Grill in Creede, Colorado.


One of the private streams we fished (Rio Grande)


Pssst -- what's the password? Had to get by the cattle before we could hit the Rio Grande for fishing.


Headed home, leaving New Mexico.

Frances 1 Fish 1000

We're back from Lake City, Colorado -- and the fish are happy to report that they managed to elude me once again! The only fish (actually around here, we would call it a minnow) I caught was up at Big Blue. I kid you not, the fish I caught could have been mistaken for bait! Fly fishing takes skill and practice. The fish are alot smarter than you think. If you're not careful -- the only thing you'll do is scare the fish off (yes, that is me).

The rest of our fishing was done at some private streams -- huge thanks to Rick's friend!!! The weather was beautiful, the company was terrific, and for Rick and his Uncle Dub, the fishing was great. They were catching 10-14 lbs trout left and right.

I caught more lbs (on my body) from all the good food! Lake City, Colorado has a number of great restaurants for such a little town.

Well, off to the the Y. Got to work off my vacation!

This is a picture I took of Rick and his Uncle Dub strategizing.


click on the picture for a larger image.

Wow, am I ever behind!

We returned home around midnight Saturday from Lake City, Colorado. The fly fish(singular)ing was great. Well, it was for the fish. Over the three days that I fished, I caught one, itty, bitty, fish. And -- no, I don't have a picture of it!

Rick did much better. I think the biggest trout he caught was 14 inches -- or was it 17 inches????? Honestly, I lost count of the number and size of the trout Rick caught. It kindof made me crazy looking over at him catching fish after fish, and all I managed to do was to snag my fly on rocks, branches, my skin, you name it - if it was close, I snagged it! Evidently, my crappy casting was giving the fish the heebie jeebies -- and they stayed far, far away from me. I think Rick should thank me! I bet the fish I scared went straight over to him. Yeah -- that's the ticket! Oh, to live in my delusional world!

I digress. It was warmer than I expected -- hovering in the high 70's and low 80's the entire week. But, when you compare it to the weather we left behind (100's) the temps were much, much cooler.

I still need to catch up on photos I took in Boston a couple of weeks ago -- but alas, it's Hotter N Hell 100 week -- and I've got to get ready for it. Oh, don't worry, I'm not riding, I'll be working!!!! I know some of you were getting ready to take out a quick life insurance policy on me!

Anyhoo -- here's a photo I took outside of our hotel in Boston - The Royal Sonesta Boston. I'm hoping you find that it looks aged and worn. The photo itself was rather drab, as it rained almost everyday we were there. So, me and trusty Photoshop went to work and made it look even drabber!


Click on the picture to enlarge.

I hope to get caught up on work -- and then I'll start looking at the 1000's of pictures I've taken over the past month to see if there is anything worth sharing.

I hope you all have a great week!

;} Frances

PS -- I now have an additional 5 lbs to tack on to the previous 5 lbs to work off. I need to take a healthy vacation sometime (the kind where I have to live off the land). Can anyone assist me in giving me a good kick in the rear to get me started on the road to working out??????

There's no place like home!

We're baaaaaacccckkk! It's great to be back home -- and be welcomed by Green! We've had rain showers here and there all month which has turned the vegetation from a yellow-brown-green color to a lush green!

I know -- it's(Summer) not over, but it is a lovely sight to savor!

We returned from Boston on Saturday, so I'll be slowly going over pictures from Kansas City and Boston over the next few weeks (I've got to go to the Y and work off the 5 lbs I gained from the good food we ate while out of town!!!).

These are just a few shots I took on the KC tour. More to come as time permits. Have a blessed Sunday!

Frances
PS I am going to stop resizing the images as I believe it may degrade the picture quality on some monitors. You should be able to click on each picture for a larger image (fingers crossed);}


View from my seat on Southwest Airlines.


Missouri State Capitol Building - Jefferson City, MO


Kansas City, MO


Kitty Plane Passenger (it was fun flying back with a kitty!!!)


Missouri State Capitol (aged with textures)

It's a Small, Small, World

Cheryl and friends (Cheryl is in the center)





I'm still amazed at what happened on Friday night. Rick and I were at the Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City for the Rangers/Royals game. We were in one of the shops buying some ball caps -- when a voice from behind me at the register said "what are you doing here?". I turned around and it's my friend Cheryl Smith from Wichita Falls, Texas. She had flown in that morning to visit some friends - and decided to take in a game!

Rick and I were just blown away that we actually new someone in the stadium! We talked about how a variety of events could have caused us to not meet that evening!

Anyhoo -- we had a great time, the Rangers won, and we were treated to fireworks after the game!

Our stay in Kansas City was fantastic (I even got to have Chick Fil A for breakfast -- mmmm, mmmm, yummy) and I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will make a trip out again. We are getting ready to head out to Boston next week, so pictures of KC will have to wait until I get back from bean town.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love you - Frances