A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{August 19, 2014} It was a very, very, very, very, very…long drive

I drove about 9 hours yesterday and thought I only had about 10 left today, not so.

The day started off about 7:30am, I woke leisurely, well as leisurely as two cats let you wake. Nose on face, nose on hand, head pushes, ‘c’mon mom, time to get up, wake up, c’mon, c’mon”. Anyone with a cat will know what I’m talking about! This video screams it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrq03XENSdY

I got up, got breakfast and was ready to get on the road at 8:30, which I did, cats and all. I decided I would leave them in the carriers for a while so I could keep the top down on the car. Contrary to popular beliefs, cats do not find riding in cars with their heads hanging out the windows as entertaining as dogs, go figure.

As soon as I got on the road, the tire pressure indicator came on, I wasn’t sure what it was, so I had to Google it, I now know what all the symbols on my dashboard are, so if you need to know what any symbol for a VW Beetle are, here you go!

There were no service stations in the downtown Omaha area, so I got on the highway and pulled off for the first gas station I could find. When I got there, luckily, I found the air pump and got out of the car and lo-and-behold…the rear drivers side..almost dead. I started inflating the tire and it looked like it was starting to bubble and might possibly explode and again, contrary to popular belief, I’m smarter than I look and stopped pumping. I went inside to ask for help and guess what, the woman who worked there pointed me across the road to Paco’s Tires! Wahoo! Saved!

I went to Paco’s and they said, yup, flat and it could have exploded! There was a screw in it and then 30 minutes [total] later I drove out with a new tire and peace of mind!

I had the top down on the car for about two hours and then decided it wasn’t fair to the cats, or my ears as they were crying intermittently, so up went the top and out came the cats. No! Don’t sit on my feet, I still have to drive! I finally got them situated and was on my way again.

I listened to the radio, some pandora radio and then…I plugged in my phone and then iPad to the stereo jack and played a movie, putting the device on the floor, of course! But I listened to a movie, and since I know the movies so well, it was like listening to an old radio serial! One of the movies was even Haunted Honeymoon, which was based on a radio show! Clever me!

When I wasn’t listening to something, I got to chat with a few people, MM, Dad, JCT, JFT, SR, BD and BG, it was awesome, I had lots of time and could only concentrate on the road and my friends!

I drove and drove and drove and enjoyed myself, most of the time, the country is beautiful, boring in some places, but beautiful. I understand why JASC loves to drive so much, but honestly, I would rather have been on a plane getting there faster, unless I had company, then it would have been even more entertaining, but I wouldn’t have gotten to talk to so many people. Go figure.

I finally got to Debra’s house to drop off the cats, she so generously offered to keep them for me this week until I leave on Sunday. She even sent a picture of Jymy cuddling with her as I was heading to the hotel.

I finally got to the hotel about 12:30, after driving forever. I wish I knew exactly how many hours as I went through a few different time zones today! [Omaha, Nebraska, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, yeah, I think that’s it!]

Goodnight!

{August 17, 2014} Warrior Dash…Go!

Today, I participated in the Warrior Dash at Copper Mountain, CO and had a blast!

I participated in the Warrior Dash two years ago in Georgia, actually, my first obstacle/mud run. Then, as I’m thinking about it, I’ve participated in 11 obstacle/mud runs over the last two years! WOW! One of the tag lines for The Warrior Dash is “The hardest, most fun you’ll ever have” and it was!

Admittedly, I skipped 4 of the 11 obstacles and I’m ok with that, I’m the only one who has to live with it! The obstacles that I skipped involved steep drops on the other side and I don’t trust what happens with my ankles in those cases. The first one I was already waiting 15 minutes to do because there was a bottle neck and it would have been another 15/20 minutes before I had the opportunity to go. But…it was awesome the way everyone was helping each other, especially on that first obstacle, either push or pull over the top and then the cheering was fantastic!

The last obstacle I skipped was the last one, which i would have enjoyed a lot. It was a cargo net climb and then a slide down into a pool. There wasn’t enough water at one point, so they had to shut down while they pumped water in so it would be safe. It was already a 30 minute delay and it would be another 30 minutes, maybe more, no thanks! Although, it did make the end of the run a little anti-climactic!

I will say, there wasn’t enough mud or barbed wire, like the first one I did, but…it was Colorado and there was SNOW! Before the mud pit, there was about .20 running through snow! What? Too cool!

All in all, it was a fun run, lots of people encouraging each other and just having fun and getting down and dirty, what more could you want!

After the run, it was time for a KILLER veggie burger and yes, you can say that, but only after I finally donated my sneakers, they had seen at least 6 of the mud runs for the last two years and it was time. I guess I’ll be calling RG to hook me up with a new pair of sneaks so i can turn my current ones into mud ones!

Hmmm…what’s next?

https://www.warriordash.com/location/2014-warrior-dash-colorado/

{July 24, 2014} Wow, my friends are AWESOME!!!

I cannot tell you how amazing my friends are! Especially during this past week! WOW!

I know I’ve told you how great my friends are, last year when I was packing my house to move to Colorado, I had friends help me at different stages.

CA, SDL and CKM helped me paint the bedroom and bathroom so the house would be sale worthy. CKM also helped me pack boxes a few times and was with myself and DCM when we were having the yard sale and packing the truck in the same weekend. TS was there a few times to help me pack. It was a team effort and if I have forgotten someone from last years events, I APOLOGIZE!

This week was crazy too! And without my friends, I would probably not have gotten half as far! I got in Friday morning and got a few things done, but it was Saturday and Sunday that rocked! The first person to show up was TS, who brought her packing abilities and food! As she was leaving, RJS was came to help me pack boxes and move things around the garage. After she left, BG showed up and helped me move boxes and pack more stuff. This is just Saturday!

After BG left, I continued to work, moving boxes, packing and moving stuff around. About 9:30, I messaged DG across the street and he and his wife, CG were kind enough to let me shower at their house, as I had no hot water. It was FABULOUS! I talked to them for a while and then headed home to get some sleep, early day Sunday.

Sunday had me up early to get started on the yard sale. About 11, who drives up but TS, what? I wasn’t expecting her, but welcomed her! She came ready to pack and move and feed me, wahoo!

We went crazy on the garage, getting everything set up for the movers and packing her SUV to take things to Goodwill and that vehicle was packed to the gills! Eventually she left and DG came over to get his ladder and I asked if they could keep my artwork and plant and helped me find my house key, very important!

Now all I had to do was find movers, a storage unit and someone to be there to greet the movers, RS to the rescue! She was able to get the lock and key for the storage unit, meet the movers, take them to the storage unit, lock up after they go and supervise, thank you!

Tomorrow, my good friend CMD is going to be cleaning my house top to bottom so the new tenants can move into a clean house on Friday, as well as getting the rest of the stuff out of the garage for donation.

Do you remember the saying “it takes a village”? It really does! And without my friends, I would have been absolutely LOST!

To my friends, I say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I am so lucky!

{July 6, 2014} Another busy day! Gravestones, Cars, Dinner

Ready for another crazy day? Are you still keeping up? Did you take a nap after my last post?

Today started early for a Sunday, but we had things to do! I woke up before my alarm was set to go off at 8am and leisurely got up, which is the best way to wake up, meandered out and met TS preparing some coffee and tea, we made breakfast and had a nice sit down meal.

Then we got in the car and headed down to Oakland Cemetery for the tour at 10am. I have always wanted to tour the cemetery, “Less than a mile from the heart of downtown Atlanta, a hidden treasure, a secret sanctuary, welcomes you. This garden cemetery, founded in 1850, is the final resting place of many of Atlanta’s settlers, builders, and most noted citizens like Bobby Jones, Margaret Mitchell, and Maynard Jackson. It is also a showplace of sculpture and architecture, and a botanical preserve with ancient oaks and magnolias. Here in this peaceful place the full scope of the city’s rich and fascinating history unfolds before you.”

They also have some great events, like ghost tours, music events, 5k races, so many events.

We enjoyed the tour, saw some fantastic works of art that are actually grave markers, touching tributes, amazing statuary, stained glass. We learned about the foliage, how it is selected based on times in history, history of the different sections of the cemetery, tributes based on wealth and age of the loved on. One day soon, I will give you full photographs and information that I learned. Until then, here are a few pictures to enjoy. http://www.oaklandcemetery.com/

After the full two hour and so worth the money tour, we went across the street to Six Feet Under. I had been wanting to go and…if we showed our receipt would get $5 off our meal, what could be better!

We had a great lunch and for dessert, some fantastic white chocolate, banana bread pudding with whiskey caramel sauce! Let me just say Y U M!!! http://sixfeetunderatlanta.com/

After lunch, we took our coasters to the High Museum of Art, they had $3 off coupons, how could we resist? This was an amazing event, there were cars from the early 1940s to new cars from the 2000s. These were some sleek, beautiful and amazing looking cars, a beauty and a joy forever. I will post a full album very soon, here are a few to get your gears shifting! http://www.high.org/Art/Exhibitions/Dream-Cars-Innovative-Design-Visionary-Ideas.aspx

After the exhibit, we drove back to TS’ house to relax and I headed out at 5pm to head to Buckhead to meet my dear friend LGR and her husband MR and their adorable daughter, CR. We met at Farm Burger for some good food, conversation and laughs, it’s always a good time. LGR and I have known each other for almost 20 years, I met her my second year in Georgia and when we get together or talk on the phone, it’s as if no time has passed, don’t you just love friends like that? I know I do.

http://www.farmburger.net/buckhead/

After dinner, I headed to my house to have a peek around and now I am writing you and tomorrow, I will head back to Ann Arbor, MI. What might be my next adventure?

{June 18, 2014} Day 4…Fun in Chicago and back to A2

Tee hee hee, if you didn’t know, A2 is how people from Ann Arbor refer to it and since I’ve been there for a few months and will be there a while longer, I’m jumping on the bandwagon!

Today I was awakened way too early, 7:30am, by some texted pictures, not naming names, very happy to have them, but too early and my fault that I didn’t have the phone on silent. But…it was a good thing and I’ll tell you why soon.

I stretched and tried to go back to sleep but we both know me and that wasn’t happening, so I got up, showered, dressed, started packing, had some breakfast, chatted with Ernest, the nice gentleman that works the breakfast area at the hotel, saw pictures of his grandkids, talked about Father’s Day, back to the room to finish packing and headed out.

I dropped my bags at bag storage, headed out, took a right and began walking down South Michigan Avenue. The past three days, I had been staying primarily on North Michigan Avenue and South Michigan Avenue has so much to offer. Good thing I’m going to come back some time, more exploring!

It was about a mile and a half from the hotel to Shedd Aquarium. Someone told me I needed to be there by about 9:30am or the line would be ridiculous and when I left about 2:15, the line for tickets was probably about a 1.5-2 hours wait, no thanks!

The website said the best days to go, Wednesday and Thursday, well, now it know why. Teenagers and wee tots, class and camp trips and there were a lot of them, not to mention families, good thing crowds don’t bother me much.

When I talked to people from Chicago, they said that so many class trips every year were to Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum of Natural History and Adler Planetarium. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_Campus

For my entry fee, I got entrance into the aquarium and all the sections including Oceanarium, Wild Reef, Jellies, Stingray Touch Experience, Aquatic Show and Sea Monsters, oh my!

I got to see the different sections including Caribbean Reef, River, Ocean, all great with frogs, snakes, fish, spiders, you name it, they had it. The Jellies were amazing, such beautiful creatures that can be so deadly. I got to pet stingrays, so soft and sleek, watch the aquatic show with dolphins, seals, a dog and some beluga whales, fascinating and touching, hang with some penguins and watch a 4D movie about sea monsters. That was fun! You sit in the seat and watch things come at you, get sprayed with mist and feel things touch your back, the audience reaction is the best.

I really enjoyed myself and could see myself possibly going back again, if I had people with me. I saw some beautiful creatures that I might never see on my own and learned a lot about them and how I could help, how we could all help.

I hope you enjoy some of my pictures.

http://www.sheddaquarium.org

{June 16, 2014} Day 3 in Chicago – Time to Get Cultured!

Day 3 brought more sunshine, I was ready for the new day and looked at my suggestion list.

The Art Institute of Chicago it would be! http://www.artic.edu/

When I got there, I found out it didn’t open until 10:30, so I walked around a bit, talked to dad and then headed across the bridge to the entrance, paid my entrance fee and headed in. I’ll post a few pictures from the group I took, somewhere around 100.

I went through some Photography, mixed media, Modern, then Impressionists, some sculpture, American Classics finishing up with Modern again, what my dad and I love. They had pieces by some of my favorite artists, artists I don’t know and several of my favorite pieces and I learned a few things about some pieces I never knew.

Art is so many different things to so many different people, how it affects them, what type of reaction it elicits. Some pieces are created to do just that, make you react, other pieces are created that will make you wonder, question, but no matter what, art is supposed to make you feel and that’s all an artist can ask for.

I know that I enjoy the impressionists more than any other period, as much as I love modern art, some of the things you scratch your head at, make you laugh, revolt, I get the biggest surge of emotion when I look at pieces by Monet, Manet, Degas, Pissaro, just to name a few. I smile, I feel happy, well most of the time, some of the subjects are just too disturbing and sad, but when I look at something like Monet’s ‘Water Lily Pond’ I feel at peace.

I look at certain pieces and there is just so much perfection in each brush stroke, not a hair out of place, almost like a photograph, or a portrait by Jean-Etienne Liotard and while I love those pieces, the grand strokes of Van Gogh or the hurried, seemingly crazy strokes or a Manet or Money make me feel warm and welcome and invited. I had a Ferris Beuller moment, staring at Seurat’s ‘A Sunday on La Grand Jatte’, staring at it for a long time, getting lost in the scene. I want to be a part of that world.

I will always be grateful to my parents for introducing us to an amazing world of wonder and opening or eyes to all the beauty the world has to offer and how to appreciate them and a love of art and museums that is unparalleled.

I would love to sit and talk to you for hours about the works of art that I love and when you have time, let’s do that, right now, I’m just going to share a few pieces with you that captured my attention and my heart. You may know some of them and if you don’t, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

{June 16, 2014} Chicago: Day 2. Didn’t think I could keep going did you?

The day started leisurely again, woke up when my body said so.

I missed breakfast in the lounge, but it was all good, I showered, got dressed and headed out. I’m going to brag, but I looked adorable in one of my new dresses from Old Navy and new white skips, I felt very summery. I stopped at Jamba Juice for a Tropical Greens drink and it was yummy! Green goodness to start the day right!

I walked up Michigan Avenue heading towards the John Hancock Building to see the 360 view from the top. I knew I was in no rush, so I took my time and walked in and out of some stores, some that I hadn’t been in a long time, picked up a few things here and there and kept on walking. This part of Michigan Avenue is where the shopping is at! Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstroms, just to name a few.

I went into a few museums, like the McCormick Bridgehouse and Chicago River Museum. http://www.chicagoriver.org/get-involved/attend/mccormick-bridgehouse-chicago-river-museum. It was very cool to be able to walk to the top to get a view of the river and to learn about the workings of the bridges and how the city has worked on the problems with the river water.

Along the way, I passed several pairs of seats from Wrigley Field, painted with different themes, donated by different groups, how much fun are they!

The next was a gallery, the Chicago Water Works, with some great pieces by Jason Reblando. http://www.jasonreblando.com/

I finally got to the John Hancock Building and used my ticket from my new friends last night to go to the top. It was quite a view! Amazing how many rooftop gardens and pools there are! And the beaches along the shoreline, too cool! So many buildings, still a lot of green space, really enjoyable to see. http://www.360chicago.com/

While I was there, I paid a few extra dollars to stand on a platform, hold the handles and look out and down while you are tilted forward, looking 1000 feet down. It was quite the experience, only eight people at a time. I recommend it! http://www.360chicago.com/tilt/

Check out the Lego rendition of the John Hancock Building, very cool!

As I was walking back, I found a sweet little church courtyard I went in and had a seat and enjoyed myself for a while, thinking about everything and nothing. The nice and interesting thing is while you are sitting there, in this beautifully tranquil courtyard and look up, you see the buildings of the city, reminding you of where you are.

On the way back, I passed The Chicago Tribune building, which was founded in 1847. Look at where some of the bricks that are part of the building were brought from!

I went back to the hotel for a much needed rest to the feet [don’t tell my podiatrist what I have been doing to my feet for the sake of looking cute!], phone and person re-charge.

I headed out after six for Grant Park and the Blues Festival again for Aaron Neville and Dr John! Fantastic!

Check out the nod by the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Building to the World Cup!

I can’t wait to see what adventures tomorrow will bring!

{June 13, 2014} Taking Amtrak to…

I have a few days off after working 12-14 hour days over the past week and it is most welcome!

With this much time off I decided to take myself to Chicago! I’ve been a few times for work and an interview, but never for pleasure so I think it’s time.

Chicago is about 4 hours from Ann Arbor and after three hours sleep and twelve hours of work, who wants to drive? Yeah, not me.

I looked at flights and then I remembered Amtrak! KS and I have passed the station many times and we’ve talked about taking a trip and train travel. It always makes me nostalgic for when I was a kid and my grandma M, my dad’s mom, would Come to NYC, meet my family at Penn station and she and I would get on Amtrak and head to Philadelphia.

It was always so much fun- being on the train, going to the snack car, all of it, and I thought this would be like that, not so much.

Now, I did take the train from Buffalo to NYC when I was in college, to go home, but it’s been a long time and I was worth friends.

It’s incredibly reasonable. The roundtrip ticket was less expensive than what I would pay for parking at the hotel, if that tells you anything. Someone else gets to drive and I just sit back and relax.

Or so I thought.

There are three sections- Coach, business and quiet. Business is what it sounds like, get some work done the quiet car is just that, quiet, no talking, no cell phones and music or movies with headphones only. Guess where I am…

Let’s just say going back will be Business or the quiet car. No talking, mouthing off, obscenities, especially with kids on the train, drunks, showing off, screaming kids, parents screaming at their kids, so happy to have headphones!

I also forgot how much the train cars shake. It’s definitely been an experience and I’ve enjoyed it, no matter what the trip and fellow passengers have been like, watching the scenery go by while the sun was still up.

I have a feeling the hotel will make up for all of that. Tell you more tomorrow!

{May 9, 2014} It’s ladies night!

Tonight, downtown Ann Arbor hosted Ladies Night.

It was great! KS and I headed down to find a place to eat and decided at Blue Nile, an Ethiopian restaurant, it was fun and tasty. They bring everything out on a platter and you eat it with bread and/or your hands. (I don’t normally take pictures of my food, but here you go!)
http://www.bluenilemi.com.

After dinner, we headed out in search of ladies night activities! We started at the first store and got our “passports”, a card that had about 30+ stores on the back and as you go to each of those stores, you get a stamp or sticker and after 15, turn the passport in by 10pm and be entered to win a prize!

We also got a blinking ring, who wouldn’t love that? Shopping, discounts and bling, bring it on! The cool thing was to see all these blinking things all over town, especially when there were little groups together, very fun!

Each of the stores and restaurants participating stayed open late and offered at least 20% off the entire store, great incentives! The thing we enjoyed the most was getting to go into the stores we don’t normally get to go in because by the time we go out to dinner, the stores are closed.

The only thing I bought was at a book store, 2 brown paper wrapped books “Blind Date with a Book” there are three clues to what the book is about, but you won’t know until you open it! I got one for me and one for my sister, I can’t wait to find out what they are!

We had a great time, and made the decision that since we couldn’t get to all the stores, we would get together Sunday, go downtown, find some food and then go to all the stores we didn’t get to, anyone want to join us?

What a great idea! Opening up the town, giving people access to wonderful shops, getting people downtown who might not normally go into stores they might not normally go to and it felt fun to walk around and enjoy the evening. I think all smaller towns should do this every few months.

{April 26, 2014} It’s Spring…ahhhh gnats!

It’s Spring, finally! and with that comes new life and growth and… gnats!

I have started going for walks outside, which has been great except for the gnats. As you walk, they swam around your head almost following you as you try to enjoy yourself and swatting as you go. I passed one woman swatting her own swarm. We nodded hello to each other and said “It’s Spring!”

Ok, enough complaining, here are some of the great things I witnessed on my walk. I tried to get a picture of the gnats but every time I stopped moving, they flew away.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

New blossoms and growth beginning

Green grass… No snow

Trees on full bloom. I’m imagining the Cherry blossom tree in front of my dad’s house is in full bloom.

This made me think maybe even the forsythia in the back (one of my favorite plants, the entire back fence line beautiful in yellow).

Spring flowers; tulips in all colors, daffodils, crocuses.

Children’s toys in the yards.

Weeds starting to come in or as with with this dandelion… the flower every child picks as a bouquet for their mommy.

People starting to work on their classic cars.

Robin Red Breast show up.

See, even most of the mountains have no snow. (Which was one of the weirdest things to me when I moved here, shouldn’t they have snow?)

Ponds and lakes no longer frozen.

Boats ready to be put in the water and enjoyed.

In full bloom.

Go ahead…make a wish. (Please don’t make me sneeze?)

Not the usual sign you see when going for a walk…though your neighborhood.

There you go, half the mountains have snow.

Such color. Wait, that doesn’t count, (get your groan ready) because it’s ‘for’ever green. Ugh.

Happy Spring, I hope you enjoy it!

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