Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

Nice Bar, right? This was taken at the Hubbell Power Systems (HPS) Guest House in 2000.  Back then I was working in Electrical Distribution. It's all that stuff that sits on the telephone poles.  HPS gives newbies a week-long seminar on different products used in Electrical Distribution. You get to travel to Missouri and stay at this guest house, which is actually the founder's original home.  The founder of HPS is deceased.  OK, so this is the bar.   I remember doing a LOT of drinking in this bar that had no Guiness, Yukon Jack, Southern Comfort, MGD Light, nor Jack Daniels.  I drank Miller ~shudder~ for a week straight.  Oh the hangovers! There was not much else to do after the day's selection of seminars, so I drank. The house itself was beautiful, decorated in a great Mod/Art Deco style. There was a circular breakfast nook: And a large area where we met every day to learn distribution equipment, their uses and manufacture: One hellac...

Today's pic came from our 2009 vacation.  We call it, "Great American Vacation II" and it was a trip to Great Sand Dunes Nat'l park, Mesa Verde, Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. All in 2 weeks.  This picture is taken at Mesa Verde. After going through one of tours to a site, we stopped at a park on the mesa and ate some lunch.  This picture was taken at the edge of the mesa looking towards another site. Mesa Verde was very fun and educational.  I recommend it to families with kids around 10 years old. Younger kids won't grasp the significance of the site, and it's just hard to maneuver around with a toddler. Archaeology is one of my interests, and pre-Columbus native America does capture my attention. There is a museum at the top of the mesa that is must for anyone visiting the sites.

Alex, opening up his present this year.  What do you give a young man, destined to be outta the house in 3 months and going to a place where nothing is needed? I gave up.  He got every trial sized health sample Target had for dudes.  It includes febreeze and mouth wash and wrinkle release.  According to the recruiter, the earliest he can begin Basic Training is March.  After that, who knows? We'll save up the $$ and send it to him for what he needs. Christmas and New Years are over and I am certainly glad to be rid of both of them. My hope is for a better year this year. Perhaps something with a more optimism, lot less grief from both family and friends, and a bit more adventure. 

Randomly chosen from my family file folder, I give you: My Kayak.   And my sandals, and a plastic bag and my paddle.  Beached at some small island off the Chippewa River last summer. Dave and I selected a week alone as our 'honeymoon' and we camped out at Brunet Island State park.  We were fortunate to get a campsite with water access, so we put our kayak and canoe in on Monday and took them out on Saturday.  Each morning we'd get up, get coffee and breakfast and head on out. Dave would fish in the canoe and I would explore on my Kayak. It was like 102 degrees Fahrenheit that week; never got below 80 at night and the only time it was cooler was when it poured on Wednesday. It was best to get out on the water early, beach them at 1 through 5 and go back out after the sun starting going down. Dave has bad luck with Brunet Island. Both times he's been there they have experienced tornadoes.  The first time with his ex-wife.  They ended up spe...

Randomly selected photos from my collection.  Actually, this one is from my FB stash.  My computer had a nervous breakdown and we had to wipe Windows and re load.  All my family pictures are on a separate hard drive way over on the other side of the room. Winter driving in Wisconsin.....hmmm what can you say? Notice the backup of cars in the top one? This happens more than you think. One stupid move by a semi-truck driver and the rig jackknifes' into both lanes. On a wintry day like that one, it's just best to say 'screw it' and stay home.  Not much is that important to risk your life for. 

I had a topic already in my mind but forgot it. Um. Oh well. Yesterday I was parked permanently on the recliner sleeping, shivering or aching.  The dreaded Flu found me.  Today I am much better, but taking it easy just to be sure. Random Monday instead: Hmmm interesting choice.  This is a picture of the display down at the library about a year ago.  Made by one talented knitter, it was great to see.  I remember now that she was standing beside me as I took the photo and invited me to Monday morning Knitting Group.  Unfortunately, I don't have a car to drive into town for that. 

Let's just make this a weekly thing; random picture from my 'family' picture folder.  Don't worry, nothing in there is inappropriate for children/adults/goats. So I closed my eyes and selected this one.  It's a nice picture from my front porch taken in late spring.  There's the marigold bed in front, and the wagon wheel with the bird feeder attached to the fence in back.  The County Road going through the picture is nicknamed "Roller Coaster road" for the large hills that make it a lot of fun to drive down. The field across the road was a hay field, turned to soy this year. Somewhere in my picture files I have a photo of a fox jumping in that hay field. It was just fascinating to watch the fox hunting whatever rodent was in the field.