New York II

We're going to see A Little Night Music with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury for the matinee on Sunday.

We may try to get standby tickets to either SNL or their dress rehearsal. The host that weekend is Tina Fey so it might be kind of difficult (as if getting there by 7 am won't be difficult enough!).

I'm worried about being poorly dressed for the restaurants and such. I bet they're used to shlubby tourists though. However, I think Kurt and I are better behaved, dressed etc than the usual clueless tourist.

It's only 3 weeks away! WOW!

New York State of Mind

Yep, that's right! I'm finally going to see the bright lights of New York City! Kurt and I have booked tickets for the second weekend in April! It'll be a whirlwind. I'm already over planning but we've got the hotel, Statue of Liberty tix, and theater tickets!

Anyone have any suggestions of things to do? We're going Fri-Mon and seeing the show Sunday afternoon.

I'm soooooo excited!!

Typical

Well in our typical chaotic way we've got way to much happening at once.

The plumber is coming. Kurt and I need to shower. The dog needs to go to the kennel/pound for the weekend. I need to start laundry but probably shouldn't since the plumber might need to turn off the water.

Oh and the dishes need done and the dishwasher run. Did I mention all of this is at 7 am? I DETEST morning!

Plus it's payday Friday so I need to pay bills and run errands. I should probably look at Minnesota weather, too. We're headed there this weekend to see Young Frankenstein on stage. Mom and Dad are going, too. Which means I also need to pack.

Serenity NOW!!

National Equality March

We spent the weekend in Washington, D.C. where we took part in the National Equality March. We flew to DC with our friend Rikki, Amy, and Sherry. Randi and Matt also joined us. It was one of the coolest, most meaningful experiences of my life. I'm so proud to have been a part of it. We all must continue the fight so that ALL people are treated equally EVERYWHERE.

John Oliver from the Daily Show was there. The segment aired last night Oct 13th.

We marched from the White House to the Capitol.

Here's our Iowa group!

There were so many great signs! There were only a few haters along the way and we peacefully and respectfully drowned them out!

Heading up Pennslyvania Avenue. The estimate of the crowd was 200,000!

We marched right past the White House.

To learn more to donate or to learn how to lobby for equal rights check on http://www.nationalequalitymarch.org/ on the web or on Facebook.

Westward Ho V

We have our National Parks passport book that we like to fill. Another stop we made was at Grant Kohrs Ranch in central Montana. Rain was threatening and we still had a long ways to go, but it was a nice place to get out, stretch, and have yet another ham sandwich!

The ranch has a ranch house and out buildings, cattle, teepees, and a railroad running through it. It is a working ranch.

We peeked in here.

The blacksmith lady made us nail puzzles which kept the kids occupied for a while. Then we piled back in the truck and continued on our way to Idaho where we'd rented a cabin for the Yellowstone portion of our trip.

Westward Ho IV

As we headed south out of Glacier toward Yellowstone (an 8 hour trip!) we stopped at this Indian built Mission. There's not much else to the town. We listened to Clive Cussler's "the Chase". Flathead Lake is featured in the novel and we got to drive right past it!

We love our little off the beaten path guide books!

The murals were gorgeous!

Westward Ho III

In Glacier we spent a night each in two of the historic park lodges. (They were the only 2 of 5 that were open). The Lake McDonald Lodge was smaller - more like a private hunting lodge. It had animal trophies and really cool chandliers. The room we had was teeny tiny. The bathroom was miniscule. The location, however, was great!

The first lodge we stayed at was the massive Glacier Park Lodge.

This is one of the Jammers that you can take on a park tour. It was WAY to expensive for the four of us especially since the Going to the Sun Road wasn't open all the way yet. We later learned the road was 100% open until June 30th!

Nick is reading in the lobby. These logs are 40' tall! You can see the marks from the chains that strapped them to the trains that brought them to the building site.

Catch up and Arts on Main

Marnie and Ryan were up a couple of weekends ago. Marn caught this "whopper:.

Ryan was really good when we were visiting Big Grandpa in the hospital. He and I hung out on the floor and marveled at Grandpa's hospital gown.

Kurt and the kids with the Flying Car from Harry Potter. The rest of the exhibit was cool, too. They're both wearing Tshirts we got on Westward HO. They wear them constantly!

The flower is on my desk.

The painting is above my desk. We got them both at Arts on Main last weekend.

Scrap Retreat Weekend

My sister and I and the other sisters went on a scrapbooking retreat weekend at the Craft Cottage over the weekend. It was lots of fun, lots of laugh, and lots of creativity. We've always wanted to go an do that! Now we have...I don't know that we'll need to go again though. It was a long time to sit and do that! The place could have used a couch or something to be able to take a break and relax. I got a lot done! I made a card, altered a hideous picture frame, and made lots of pages. I even got in 5 hours for my Master Gardener volunteer time!

Kurt is still in the Philippines. He's scheduled to get home Wednesday night. I can't wait!

Thanks Facebook

Been spending way too much time on Facebook which leads to blog neglecting. (It's a lot easier to upload photos to FB). We've been gone again. This time Kurt and I went on a Baltic Cruise with my parents. We got back the 3rd and I promptly succumbed to sinus infection. Urgent Care opened at 8 am on the 5th. We got there at 8:15 and I was patient #5!

We've also be slaving away on the Dear Birthmother letter and profile. I think we finally got the letter approved. Now we have to pick the photos for it and for the online profile.

Kurt has to go to Indianapolis for work next week. Then the week after that he's off to Manila for 2 weeks.

I've got to volunteer at the Fair next week for my master gardener hours. I've also go a scrap weekend with the sisters coming up and the coochie campout. Summer is FLYING by!

More stuff on the way to our Destination

and the world's largest talking penguin



Stave Church in Moorhead, MN




Near Mandan, ND where Lewis and Clark wintered

At the Lewis and Clark Center

Steele, ND home of the World's Largest Sandhill Crane

Road Side Oddities in Minnesota

The World's Largest Crow in Belgrade, MN

The Sign says it all!

The Vikings landed in Minnesota ya know! The Kensington Runestone.

Dividing his snacks (and candy from Cinqo de Mayo) into daily allotments.

New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas

Well thanks to Blogger these are out of order.

I was standing in Colorado when I took this one:



We drove up and around the side of this volcano in Northern New Mexico. It was scary too! You can see the road going around it.



Typical "home" in the Grasslands of SE Colorado:



The ruins of Ft Union in Northern New Mexico.

The Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert

Storm clouds as we are racing toward the parks



The Painted Desert

Petrified Wood! The rangers were watching everyone VERY closely! As if we could have lifted it!

Another Scary Drive - Salt River Canyon

I had lots of other cool images but turns out my film camera was worn out :( I've got nothing.

It used to be this was the only route through Northern AZ to Phoenix. It was terrifying!

Biosphere 2

Anyone know what Biosphere 1 is? Answer below!

My husband is a geek. We were in the neighborhood. We HAD to stop!




I have to say - it wasn't awful.

I'm glad we went.

**EARTH is biosphere 1