We gather together

Happy thanksgiving everyone.  I have refused to participate in the FB challenge to list something everyday that I am thankful for.  Although I have enjoyed reading everyone else's posts.  Instead of being thankful for what I have, I want to be thankful for those around me who allow me to give to them.

"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven. -- Johannes A. Gaertner

Snow in Virginia by Brian Deering

Ray's son Brian wrote this on Facebook in response to my status that it is snowing in Tehachapi.  Snow protocol in Tehachapi is about the same.  Thanks Brian for giving me something to post on my blog.  It's been a little sparse lately.


Here's snow protocol for Virginia.

Snow in forecast - "We never get snow here." General anxiety, a few people panic, some schools close early, Virginia readies its snow removal vehicle.

Snow starts - "Isn't this beautiful?" schools cancel, drivers become incompetent.

One inch - "it's not me that I'm afraid of. It's the other idiots on the road." Traffic inches (really) along the highway, the VA state pick-up truck with a snow blade is clearing the state's 1800 miles of major arterials, 2800 miles of primary roads, 4600 miles of secondary roads, and 8,900 miles of residential roads.

Two inches - "Will this never stop?" General state of panic, some people appealing to their deity of choice for help.

Three inches - "Holy crap! Will this never end? Good social order deteriorates; families collect at home and heavily arm themselves for what will assuredly be global panic. Home emergency supplies are dwindling.

Four inches - "We're out of cigarettes!" Warring bands of high school honor students reduce entire neighborhoods to rubble in some twisted battle of the brains competition. The VA pickup truck with the snowblade is feared lost in a snow bank.

There is no protocol for more than four inches – “Holy deity of choice, why do you hate us so?”

Some pictures from our weekend trip

Well, it was a successful long weekend, fun was had by all, it was good to see everyone and we are glad to be home.

Amazing Race

I was all ready to hate the beautiful volleyball players and the Home Shopping Network hosts, but darned if they didn't win me over in one episode.  They were so nice to each other AND to the other teams too. And no whining either.  The giggling fit about The Watermelon Incident was my favorite part of the show.

 But surely anyone who goes on Amazing Race knows that you don't stop and help other teams.  You say a quick thank you prayer that it is not you changing a tire, make an insincere offer of help and then move on...Those cute little a cappella boys better get their A game going.

And...

Are you a battlement?

And...

This is the first I have ever heard of Stonehenge.

And Mom's favorite...

The country of London.

...Tattoos...

Summer's End

Well, Labor Day is the traditional official end of summer.    We have autumn, with its birthdays and parent conferences and holidays ahead.  But the kids have good memories of hot days with popsicles and toes in the pool.

Vacation food

Here we are at Topolobampo in Chicago...trout escabeche, walleye veracruzano, sunfish ceviche, duck breast.  I ordered a mango mojito that I didn't like and sent back and got a Goose Island Sofie beer instead. 

But the hands down best thing we ate at Topo was the chocolate tart with goat cheese ice cream and homemade marshmallows with sea salt scattered on the plate.  It's all about the salt...

This was the seafood salad we shared at a restaurant on the harbor in Trondheim.

We often ate back in our rooms.  In Oslo we bought bread, chips, beer and that sweetish, soft, brown Norwegian cheese and were good for a couple of days.

Dried fish at the fish market in Bergen

I love my soft serve ice cream cones!  This was an ice cream store  on a corner  tucked into the hilly, windy streets in Bergen.

After taking the ferry on the Sognefjord, we had an hour or so wait in Flam, so we had some pizza.  This picture show the Burger Grill...hamburger meat shaped like a hot dog and served in a hot dog bun.  I thought that was a great idea and intend to try it at home.

Spit roasted pork shanks at Haxenbaur in Munich.

Warm potato salad and wiener schnitzel in Salzburg.

Sacher torte at the Sacher Hotel in Salzburg.

Donnette and I really loved this dish of sauteed saurkraut and spaetzle at a restaurant in Fussen, the town below Neuschwanstein.

Our favorite German meal...pretzels and beer at the Chinese Tower beer garden in Englischer Garden.

We don't eat extravagantly when we are on vacation, but we managed to have some fun meals...from world famous to humble.

Sidewalk Art

I started taking pictures of manhole covers in Spain when I wanted to remember how to spell the Spanish town of Sanxenxo.  Since then I have noticed that they can be quite decorative, and every city has their own design.  Some of these aren't exactly manhole covers, but they are in the sidewalk, so they count...I especially like the butterflies in the sidewalk in front of the Oslo train station.  They are actual butterflies incased in resin.