St Louis | Peaches Prattlings

{May 29, 2021} It’s Saturday, what shall we do?!

The weather is supposed to hold out for the rest of the day, what’s the plan?! Well, it’s Saturday, we have to introduce SDL and Miss A to The Shack of course!

Before that, after yoga, it’s Saturday, what else would we be doing!? we picked up bagels at the Bagel Factory, they only take cash and I didn’t have any, guess what…the woman behind the counter, I think she’s an owner, told me to just come back later to pay them. That’s the second place we’ve encountered that since moving to Missouri, that’s what I call hospitality! Back at the house, shower and off to The Shack.

We got very lucky, it was about 9am and we got a table pretty quickly! Wah to the hoo! The first booth we go, I’m not exactly sure how they expected us all to fit! Needless to say, I asked for a table instead of a booth. I kind of wish our server had gone with us, the server we got was less than…it happens. The food was good, as always, PSM and I both tried something new, SDL enjoyed hers and Miss A! Let’s just say first, SDL’s eyes were as big as saucers when she saw the size of the pancake, the entire plate! Second…she wasn’t sure if Miss A was going to eat it all. Well.. guess what…the eggs and the entire pancake…also mixed in with some yogurt for more liquid…g o n e! The girl can eat! What a champ!

We headed home to drop off our leftovers, get whatever we needed for the day, and potty breaks, of course! PSM had something else going on today, so it was just the three of us, girls day out! First stop…The Bagel Factory, paid my $10 and away we went.

First place was the Arch! How could we not! It’s the main iconic representation of St Louis, you can see it so much advertising and logos, it’s a landmark! Now, due to some restrictions we weren’t able to go up to the top, which is fine, we took pictures in front of the arch, from the side, you know the drill. Then we walked inside, went through security and down to the museum level, which is very interesting. We learned a lot while we were there, from concept, to funding to construction and completion. After learning, it was time for the gift shop, St Louis Arch souvenirs! SDL got a few things including postcards to send to family and friends back home, and of course, Miss A. I love that she does that, I do the same thing, I send post cards to PSM whenever we’re on a trip to tell him what a great time I was having!

After souvenirs, it was time for a bit of lunch, and luckily, they had a veggie burger! Not the best, but they had one, wahoo! There was lunch, pudding, bananas, and peanut butter, and dancing, what more could you want!

After lunch we headed out to walk the grounds a bit, we had just missed what looked to be a reenactment, bummer! But some of the costumes were fabulous! Eventually we headed to the car and off to Union Station, which was about a 4 minute drive, love that! Union station is a retired train station that now serves as a meeting spot with restaurants, shops, a pretty good candy shop, the St Louis Wheel, the Aquarium, which we will get to one of these days! Miniature golf, a ropes course, dancing fountain, actually fire and lights!, and so much more!

We walked around and they actually had a mini carnival with game and prizes, and a petting zoo! What?! I got to feed the goats, they tickled! PSM, please, please, please, can we get two pygmy goats?! OMG! They are SOOO cute! Imagine the savings on lawn maintenance! HA HA. They had goats, of course, an alpaca, a camel, Flemish giant rabbits, donkeys, and some other things I can’t remember! It was so much fun! I think I had more fun than SLD!

After petting and feeding, we headed over to the St Louis Union Station Hotel just in time for the 3D Light show in the Grand Hall, which runs on the hour from 5 to 10pm every day. There’s music and lights and just like the name, it’s all in 3D. There are birds flying, aquarium scenes, just wow! So worth it!

When the show was over, it was time to head out and find some dinner! Since it was Memorial Day Weekend a lot of the restaurants had a long wait if you didn’t have a reservation, and Italian was the request. We actually found one not far from the hotel, no wait!

The atmosphere was nice, the staff great, the food was ok, but the company, excellent! We talked, laughed, ate, danced, wash, rinse, repeat, what more could you ask for!? It wasn’t quite warm enough to put the top down on the way home, but the drive and conversation, as always were good, sounds good to me!

At home, it was time for a bath, spinning, laughing, and just being silly. And making plans for tomorrow, what adventure awaits us?!

{May 27, 2021} Our first overnight visitors!!!

We have our first overnight visitors and I am over the moon! It’s…wait for it…wait for it…SDL and Miss A!!! Ok, now you know and you knew how I felt as soon as I said it!

We had a visitor last year, our first! DLP was in St Louis for a family event and came to see us, we went out to breakfast, then she came back and saw our house, but sadly, had to go after a few hours. Today, SDL and Miss A arrived for a long holiday weekend visit!

They left Atlanta Wednesday afternoon, after school and an appointment and they were off! It is about an 8.5 hour drive if…you make no stops! Well, for me, when I drove to Atlanta was about 9.5 hours, I factored in at least four 15 minute breaks for gas, food, and bio breaks. For them, it takes a little longer, so they cut the trip in half, keeping me posted along the way.

I worked most of the day, they got here about 4pm, just in time to take the dogs for a walk, in the rain…where did that come from? Seriously?! When I checked the weather a few days ago, it was going to be warm and sunny with very little chance of rain and now…more chances of rain for the weekend. Ah well. They were here! Hugs, hugs, hugs, and more hugs! A tour of the house, where are they staying, all that good stuff, then it was time for a walk. Well, Miss A, SDL, Ruby, Bee, and I started on a walk, water came from the sky, they went home and the pups and I continued on our walk.

We got home and PSM was just about finished with work so…instead of sitting too long, SDL said if she sat too long she was done! It was a long two days! We headed out to the food Miss A, SDL, and I always do when I visit them, Mexican! We went to El Maguey, where PSM and I went to celebrate Cinco de mayo. It was great! We talked, ate, laughed, caught up, reminisced, laughed, talked, ate, you know, wash, rinse, repeat. It was like no time had passed, just as it always is when we get together!

After dinner, we headed home, it was time for a bath, cuddle, running around like crazy people, then off to bed. I’m just a happy Auntie G! I love family visits! We have so many options for the weekend, let’s see what we can get in to, I’ll keep you posted!

{May 2, 2021} A visit to the flutterby, I mean Butterfly House!

Ok, first…yes, I call them flutterbys, I did as a kid and I still do. Second, I love flutterbys, they make me happy, and third…this is a warning, if you do not like other things found in the insect world, I will let you know when to skip a paragraph and photos, I do not want anyone wigged out. Yes, especially you DLP!

Not much was going on today and PSM had to work, so, after errands, I headed out to the Sophia M Sachs Butterfly House and it was so worth it! I cannot wait for visitors so I can share it with them. I don’t remember if I told you about the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in New Orleans, which I found out today was permanently closed, but…it’s moving to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas on the river, not sure when it will be finished, but if you’re in the area when it’s open, GO! Yup, go! Ok, back to the Butterfly House here in St Louis! Also…so worth it! Tickets were $8, so reasonable!

It’s in Faust Park, which also has the St Louis Carousel, which I didn’t go in/on, cannot wait though! Who’s coming to visit first?! Parking was free, bonus! It’s a nice big park, there is a playground, lots of people picnicking, hanging out. There were two people with a dog hanging out when I got there and when I left, they were all still there, must be a really nice place to hang, I’ll let you know next time! Just a tidbit…The park was created in 1968 through the generosity of Leicester & Mary Plant Faust who donated the property, which today contains nearly 200 acres in the heart of Chesterfield. It was their intention to forever preserve the original estate of Missouri’s second governor, Frederick Bates.

In I went! I had my ticket scanned, you have to have a reservation and purchase your tickets in advance, easy! I was told what to expect when I went in and away I went. Ok…if you are woogie about crawly things, bugs, this is where you should skip this paragraph and photo, move to the next set.

I asked if this was similar to the Insectarium in New Orleans, the person at the desk didn’t know, but it seems they are all set up similarly. You are introduced to different species of bugs, I only took pictures of the ones I thought were cool and could look at! We started with the Taxicab Beetle, very cool, they have faces on their backsides so predators avoid attacking because they think the beetle can see them! Derby’s Flower Beetles, beautiful green and shiny, and interestingly, the males have a horn and the females don’t. Then there were Caribbean Hermit Crabs, they are H U G E!!! Then came some things most people don’t like, I think they’re cool and MM absolutely loves! Brazilian Salmon Pink Tarantula, Trinidad Chevron Tarantula, Mexican Red Rump Tarantula, Brazilian White Knee Tarantula, Curly Hair Tarantula, so cool and not as creepy as you might think! And lastly, Black Beauty Stick Insects, cool!

Before you go into the butterfly conservatory, you have to watch a short film, it’s less than 3 minutes, about how things work at the butterfly house when they get shipments of chrysalis, it was very cool and I learned a lot. They even call it a butterfly mardi gras! It’s when they release 1,500+ butterflies into the conservatory, it’s fascinating! Are you ready to go into the conservatory? I am!

When you walk in, it’s a little toasty, think tropical, muggy, a little sticky after a while, perfect for the flutterbys. There were trees, trees, and more trees, lots of foliage! and waterfalls, and ponds, and lots of places for the butterflies to land…if they wanted to! There were plates of food, hanging from branches, on stands, and the food consisted of bananas and pineapple slices, sounds good to me! Every so often you would catch a glimpse of a butterfly having a sip or bite of something, do they bite anything?

Everywhere I turned, something was happening! There were even paper lanterns with fun facts about butterflies. They move so fast! It was hard to get pics, but there were a few fabulous moments and I was able to snap a pic. I even got a selfie of one, that was choice!

I just kept snapping pics! The butterflies were so beautiful, so many shades, colors, patterns, speed, areal stunts, soaring, floating, just amazing and if you’re lucky, one might land on your head, hand, foot…I got lucky with a moment on my foot! In addition to the butterflies, there were amazing flora and fauna, orchids, hibiscus, and so much more, it was awash with color! I was in the conservatory for about 35/40 minutes and it was so worth it! I cannot wait to share this with PSM and others!

I walked out of the conservatory and back onto the grounds, it was lovely, butterfly benches, a pond, places for classes, and there was even a Mad Hatter Tea Party going on, it was fun! There were mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, all sorts of combinations, and everyone was dressed up and wearing great big hats!

You know I love flowers and there were some fabulous flowers throughout the grounds.

At the entrance, well, exit at this point, sculptures, art installations, a pond, and lots of greenery.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience and so worth it. If you have the time, I recommend it, I’m ready to go back, maybe with a picnic lunch! Fly, flit, fly away flutterbys!

{April 24, 2021} Yoga…brunch…hair…dog…movie…

Yup, that was my Saturday, what’d you do?! Details, details, coming up!

We started with hot yoga, of course! New instructor, for this class, for us, and for her, this was her 6th class ever, very cool. The nice thing…it was a a 730am class, so…even though we set alarms for it, just to be on the safe side, and also we are tired of missing class and getting charged $15-$20! If you cancel less than 12 hours before the start time, they charge you $15, if you just don’t show…$20. I get it, you’re a business and there could be people who weren’t able to attend because there might not be spots available. They are pretty good about it if unforeseen circumstances happen, they don’t charge you, but if we oversleep, that’s on us, and that’s happened, pook.

Overall, it was a decent class, she’ll get there. Listen to me…ha ha! I did like her playlist, all the instructors have different taste in music, I’ll tell you about it some time. Most of the time, it’s us and one or two other people, this morning there was a decent sized class. And it was pretty even, there are some classes where it’s me and a few guys, but more classes are a whole bunch of women, and PSM! We’re also starting to get to know people, recognizing them when we’re in class together, which is impressive when you actually can’t see their entire face because of the mask! One of the guys, who we now know, was taking the next class, it’s a restore class, he’s a beast! wow! PSM said we’ll do that one day. Huh? My response this morning [of course we’ll do it, you know I’ll take the class with him!] was “Breakfast will restore me…now!” ha ha.

That seemed to work…off to The Shack we went! I’ve told you about one of our favorite breakfast places a few times. We shared a veggie omelet with french toast and an english muffin. Beauty…seats at the bar! We have sat at a table only twice in this particular location. Once because DLP was with us and once because there were no seats at the bar, go figure! At other locations we can never seem to get a seat at the bar! But…our favorite bartender was there and we’ve become friendly with her, she’s really nice and a lot of fun to talk to. We talk about life, kids, and now, she’s getting married! She and her fiancé have been working out and you can really tell! She is doing much better than I did before our wedding! You go!

Today we told her we just came from hot yoga and she said she always wanted to try it, she thinks her fiancé would do it with her. Lightbulb! This coming week is customer appreciation at the studio, all the St Louis studios and…we can bring a friend for free! We asked if they wanted to come and try a class! She said definitely! Wah to the hoo! She was telling us her child’s drop off schedule, we figured evening class…And…we told her there is usually sustenance after, especially if we do an evening class! She perked up even more on that one! Score!

After breakfast, we headed home. PSM went to run an errand with the trailer and I decided it was time for some color in my life, so I pulled out my latex gloves, just looked up latest gloves and it turns out they are called medical gloves, which makes sense since they can come in different materials, and went through my color options. Since my hair is short, I haven’t used the entire bottle of anything I used last year. It’s funny, I was just thinking I should have done this two weeks ago when we had the dog’s Gotcha Day! I had just started coloring my hair around then, too funny! My go-to right now is still Splat, it seems to work for me. I decided to go with Midnight Blue, well, I think that’s the color it is, who knows, this one isn’t on the bottle like some of the others! Either way, I think it came out great! Matches my bike, ha ha!

Then we had a doggie scare! I happened to walk into the living room, with about 15 minutes left to go on my hair and I see Bee, the beagle, sorry for what comes next…eating her own puke, ugh, ick, and everything else you can think of. By the way…they do that, fact of life, still gross! I stopped her immediately and cleaned it up, as I was cleaning it up, she started licking things. Licking things is not unusual for our dogs, they lick our faces, we love the kisses, they lick the grass, Bee licks the street for worms, they lick the area rugs, mostly checking for food, the beds they sleep on, the ones in the living room sometimes have crumbs from their treats, they lick our legs, pants, arms, that’s a little odd, but that’s them.

What this was…different. She was licking everything as she was trying to clean the entire house, licking incessantly, like she had an insatiable thirst. She licked the floor, not just the floor, the corners of the kitchen, the crevices, the area rugs, you name it, she licked it. I watched her for a few minutes, then I put her in the crate to see if I could stop her from going crazy and making herself sick. She proceeded to throw up in the crate and then try to eat it, I stopped her, was able to clean it up, get the bed out of the crate and when I closed the gate, she proceeded to lick the tray in the crate and the crate itself. At this point, I am on the phone with the vet. I had first called PSM during all of this to see if he had any ideas, nope, so vet it is. Turns out…dogs will do this when they get nauseous, trying to help whatever is making them nauseous go away.

While I’m on with the vet, she stopped, then started again, then stopped. They told me to bring her in, even though I thought she was done, better safe than sorry. I told them I had to get the dye out of my hair first and I would be up there. Of course this happened! I proceeded to go as quickly as I could to get the dye out, let’s just say, it looked like I murdered a Smurf in there! OMG! The one thing I always forget…wear gloves when you’re getting the dye out of your hair, just like when you put it in…my finger tips were a little blue!

Ruby is now running back and forth from our bedroom to Bee, very sweet and worried sister she is! I got leashes on both of them. By the way…Bee is now sitting in the crate looking at me as if she had not a care in the world! Got them in the car, luckily the vet is only a 5 minute drive up the road. I called and eventually they came out to get her. Then Ruby and I waited, and waited, and waited. They finally called, she was acting like her normal self, sniffing the ground, not licking, and sounding like a pig looking for truffles! The vet said they couldn’t find anything wrong, didn’t feel anything in the way, she even lost a pound! Go Bee! They gave her an injectable, to be on the safe side, and sent me home with a 4-pack of pills in case this ever happens again! I wish I could have gotten a video so you could know what it is if it happens to you! While Ruby and I were waiting, PSM showed up with a smoothie for me, he’s so sweet! He took Ruby home and after a while, Bee came out, happy as a lark and we went home!

Bottom line…Bee is FINE! Wah to the hoo!

But wait…the day’s not over! We got home, we were hanging out and I thought someone deserved a little something’-somethin’ and for me…the dog mom, is not an extra goodie, but time on the bed, snuggling with me and it worked like a charm! I got Bee, then Ruby on the bed with me and they snuggled while I played games on my phone and watched some Midsomer Murders! What more could you want.

If it was me, and it was, I wanted more! PSM came in and asked “What time does Mortal Kombat start? Ooh? Movie date? I’m in! I found a showing in the AMC IMAX theater, purchased tickets, selected seats, and put the dogs up, even before you can say ‘popcorn please!’

We got to the theater, ordered popcorn, water, and a box of Butterfinger Bites. Did you know Butterfingers were introduced in 1923?! Wow! I can tell you my box of treats was fresher than that! ha ha. PSM got a beer and we were ready to go! We found our seats, settled in and watched previews, which…I looked at PSM and asked him if Mortal Kombat, which I’ve seen the original movies and knew the answer to my question, was a horror movie, to which he replied no, and my next question…”then why are all the movie previews for horror movies?!” That made zero sense.

The movie started, and I will share details on the movie in another post, but…all I have to say is WOW! La La La LOVED it! I can’t wait to see it again! More details later.

After the movie, home to walk, feed, and hang out with the pups, grabs some dinner and chill, tomorrow’s another day! And we have a motorcycle ride in our future! Cannot wait!

{April 20, 2021} Mother Nature…really? Were you having a personal summer?

If you have’t guessed it, today…in St Louis…we had…SNOW! in APRIL! It can happen, or so I had been told and here we are!

A personal summer is what someone once referred to, for women of a certain age, which I happen to be one, a hot flash, if you catch my drift. I love the term personal summer, instead of hot flash! That being said, apparently, Mother Nature was having one of those today, so she had to turn up the AC, to the point it snowed! Actually, when we were walking the dogs, I said to PSM, it looks like Mother Nature sneezed really hard and all the stuffing got knocked out!

When we were in Chicago this weekend, we heard it was going to snow this week and when we got back to St Louis, guess what! We live in the middle, so that can happen. It wasn’t very cold this morning, the usual 45, we went to yoga, came home, walked the dogs, it was just overcast. The snow was predicted about noon, and around 11am or so, it started to rain, it was only 39 at that point and then the rain started to become flaky. Next thing I knew, I looked outside my office window and falling were those giant fluffy snowflakes, the ones that look all pillowy and so cute when they land on my nose and eyelashes…

When I texted my dad and sister, GES said ‘we had that Friday, have fun!’, gee thanks! It was pretty, but not enough to make a snowman, oh well…

It’s interesting to walk through the neighborhood and see the trees in bloom in pink laden with snow, or snow on the roof behind it. I hope our flowers don’t suffer too badly. We had snow piled in the backyard and then for our evening walk about 5p, it had already started melting, but…we’re getting a freeze tonight, wahoo.

But…with the freezing weather, we noticed smoke coming from some chimneys in our neighborhood, so guess what we did…yup…PSM built us a nice fire and eventually, everyone was sleeping by the warmth of the fire and they all looked so peaceful with lit up by the light from the fire. It’s ok if it’s freezing out there, tonight, all is right with the world!

{April 16, 2021} And we’re off…Chicago here we come!

Having a moment…can’t remeber if I told you…semi surprise for PSM. And it worked! Wah to the hoo! I’m hoping you know that PSM reads this so I can’t tell you stuff like this!

It ‘s Friday, so a regular work day, to start…one big thing that happened…we got a doggie door! Soooo excited! More about that another time. About 430p, just after the installer left, the Uber arrived and we were off to the airport!

We got there just in time to get on the flight, there was traffic on the highway, so our 20 minute drive turned into closer to 40. Don’t get me started on our driver! If he didn’t drive the way he did… we may have actually missed our flight! I do miss flying… and first class no less, gotta love it! Settled in, headphones in, movie on, let’s go!

Less than an hour flying time, we’re there! It reminded me of inter-island travel when we lived in Hawai’i, there were never any flights longer than 45 minutes, can’t beat it! We headed for CTA, the train into the city, it was a heck of a lot cheaper than $72 for an Uber! Then a 10 minute walk to the hotel. If we had driven from St Louis, we would still be on the road!

We checked in, dropped our stuff and headed back downstairs, there was a Thai restaurant, Thai Spoon, I remember ordering from there when I was here on my project a few years ago, you may remember some of our conversations about my time on a project in Illinois, maybe! The food was good. We had tofu satay with peanut sauce and cucumber salad, fried tofu with sweet and sour sauce with peanuts. I had vegetable soup, then Cashew Nut with tofu and PSM had Tom Kha soup, then Massaman Curry. I haven’t had Cashew Nut anything from a Thai restaurant before and I love Cashews and I didn’t want my typical go-to Pad See Ew, when I don’t know what I want. The cashews were tasty and I liked the tofu and veggies, all cooked well, but the sauce was waaaay too salty for me. Thank goodness for rice! Everything else was fabulous, I would go there again!

While we’re at dinner, we’re talking about everything and nothing, per our norm, ha ha, just the way we like it! Up until tonight, I asked PSM if he wanted to know what we were doing in Chicago, he kept saying no. He sort of knew what we were doing because the original plan was to do it in July, when I could get tickets! The Immersive Van Gogh Experience, which I will tell you all about it tomorrow, because that’s when we’re doing it, and there’s so much more! So that was the only surprise for this weekend. He took care of booking the flights and hotel…points baby! I got us to the airport and took care of getting the surprise set up.

So…while we’re eating, and we’re enjoying it, he looks at me and says…”I’m not doing yoga tomorrow” “What?” and he looks at me and I say “you are” and he gives me another look and I say…do you want to know? “ok, tell me…” We are doing yoga IN the Immersive Van Gogh Experience! Yes, I said IN!!! Again, I’ll tell you all about it after we do it, but…we are going to be doing yoga while immersed in the exhibit! And then we get to check out the exhibit.

He looks at me and you can see the lightbulb going off over his head! But I don’t have any of my yoga stuff with me. And then he looks at my Cheshire Cat grin…why do you think my bag is so heavy…for a 3 day weekend? If we weren’t doing this, I would have brought a much smaller bag! ha ha. “Oh, that’s why you insisted on getting our yoga stuff washed last night!” Yupper! I am so sneaky like that! ha ha. Then I fessed up why I needed to go to Walmart after yoga on Thursday! I bought a travel yoga mat! It’s hysterical! I’ll show you tomorrow! It has the primary poses on it! So…I got a travel yoga mat, it folds up nicely, I snuck into the closet in his office, after he went to bed, of course, and grabbed his travel yoga mat and yoga towel. I also grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt so he wouldn’t have to wear what he brought to do yoga! I then packed all that, my yoga mat, my yoga towel, and my yoga clothes! ha ha! Surprise! The look on his face…absolutely the best! so worth it! He said it was a good surprise!

That’s about it folks, it’s been a long day, up early to take care of the pups, work, flight to Chicago, dinner, surprise! and now, talking to you! I’m beat, how about you?! I cannot wait for our experience tomorrow and to tell you all about it!

‘Night!

{April 8, 2021} I just realized…it felt a little like date night. Now I’m smiling.

PSM was a bit under the weather today, he’s fine, just one of those days. I told you about the storms we’ve been having, Mother Nature doing something to his sinuses, go figure. That being said, he’s been resting and after I took the pups for their evening walk, we were trying to decide what to do for dinner.

Then the conversation begins, you know…”What do you want to do?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” “Oh, anything.” “Really?” “Sure”. Lies! lol “How about xyz?” “No, not in the mood for that.” “How about zyx?” “Nope, not in the mood for that.” I know, I know, you’v never experienced that, we’re the only ones! ha ha

“Comfort food!” perfect, what does that mean? To me, comfort food, especially after being sick, was always from Steak n’ Shake: Grilled Cheese, Cheese Fries, and a Cherry Coke no ice in their fabulous plastic to-go cup [MUST be a soda fountain drink!]. Everything on that list is a killer for me, but oh so comforting when it’s going in! sigh… Growing up, my mom would make us noodles with creme cheese. And not just any noodles, maybe it’s my own recollection, but it was the wide kosher egg noodles, with the creme cheese melted and smooth, I even make it for myself every so often, in fact I did a few weeks ago, vegan creme cheese! I don’t have a death wish! And with a touch of salt, wow! Enough about that!

For PSM, comfort food is breakfast. We have eggs and cheese, but nothing else for a good breakfast, which involves eggs, toast, and pancakes, some other stuff would be bonus. And who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner? That was a favorite of ours growing up and it felt like that was a Wednesday meal quite often. Those were some of the fun times when my dad would cook, he can cook a mean breakfast!

We tried to order from a restaurant to deliver, all good, then…message from Grub Hub, the order was cancelled, what? Ok, let’s go out. We jumped in the truck and discussed where to go and ended up at…Waffle House! Or, as we would sometimes affectionately call it in Georgia, the awful waffle! I have never turned down Waffle House and the fact that they are all over St Louis, happy am I!

We picked the Waffle House that was next to the hotel we stayed at when we were house hunting back in 2019, so I have an affection for that one. Aside from the three people working there, just us…was that a sign? The food was good, as always, but the service was a wee bit…let’s just say, I don’t think the waiter had worked there very long.

Decaf coffee for PSM seemed to be a challenge and oh brother, I ordered hot tea. Yes, hot tea. Hot water, tea bag, some sugar. His first question…do you want ice for the tea? Huh? In my hot tea? Next question…do you want sweet or unsweet, as he is in front of the two iced tea dispensers…HOT TEA! We laughed about it, but, c’mon! Then, PSM told me they had to call someone to figure out how to make hot tea. Huh?

Let’s order…One All-Star Breakfast, hold the waffle, that means, for those of you not in the know, hold off making the waffle until we’re ready, that way it comes hot and fresh and doesn’t get soggy. It also means, don’t make it the second you drop our food off, give us a few to get there! Eggs, toast, grits for me, bacon on his plate, thank you!

One thing I can tell you, aside from the service on occasion, the food at Waffle House almost never disappoints. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal there and that’s saying something. I used to go to Waffle House almost every weekend I lived in Georgia. It’s a staple and they’re on every block! The eggs were cooked perfectly, the grits were yummy and I didn’t put sugar in until I was about three quarters done with it, that is saying something. I will say, hash browns are always hit or miss, but what can I say, I like them done and crispy! Food, check!

We talked, caught up on our day, laughed, joked, and had a really good time, despite that fact that PSM was under the weather. As I sit here telling you about it, it was like an impromptu mid-week date night and I’m really glad we decided to go out, it felt nice. I like having a permanent date for everything, but this was a date with my fella, I had a good time. I might be blushing.

I hope he calls me for another date.

{March 26, 2021} Vegan Pho! Wa to the hoo!

We found a new place to go in St Louis that is not vegan, but has vegan offerings and guess who’s happy about it! Well, both of us! First, the food was really good and second, there is something or lots of somethings for both of us! Almost all of their offerings had a non-meat version! Wow!

We were looking for some grub and I went to my happy place, Happy Cow, and found something that was still open, not too far and had vegan options. The vegan restaurants were not close enough, and everything was closing in about an hour, and…dine in isn’t everywhere. So…I found DD Mau: Vietnamese Eatery, not far from where we live and we both wondered why we don’t go to that area very often, we definitely will rectify that.

The place is simple, a bunch of tables, spaced out socially distant, the centerpieces consist of a glass with three pieces of realistic looking, small fruit, an orange, lemon, and a lime. On the walls, now, that’s my favorite part…there was a mural of St Louis, hand drawn, but the other things…right up my bad pun alley…frame pictures of food items with cheesy puns. Two burritos dancing “Epic Wrap Battle”! A bowl of raman with two eggs on top “We are so eggcited to see you!” A head of lettuce “Romaine calm: There’s plenty to go around!” Have you met me?! I La La La Love that! The menu looks hand drawn and super simple and classic.

We each had a bowl of pho, mine was vegan, with vegan beef and PSM had seafood. We also got spring rolls with vegan shrimp and peanut sauce. These were the spring rolls made of rice paper. Now, don’t think I thought either of these vegan options tasted anything like the real thing, it’s just fun to have protein based options and why not. I do wish they had mock duck, one of my favorites.

The food didn’t take too long to come out, the spring rolls did come out a few minutes before the soup, which was nice. As we were eating, we enjoyed chatting, talked about some upcoming motorcycle rides and trips we are hoping to take, if…we can ever travel again. And…we remarked how good the food was, how close it was, and how we will definitely be going back. I am definitely looking forward to it, they have bánh mì, bao sliders, and tacos, how can we go wrong!

Overall…Two thumbsup!

{March 7, 2021} First group ride of the year…ahhhh

I think I told you last week, while I was in Colorado, that there was a group ride on Sunday, and here we are! I told you that PSM and I went out on the bikes to get some dinner last night, after we both got home and it was brrrr…chilly! Today, the official group ride. Wah to the hoo!

We belong to the St Louis Indian Motorcycle Riders Group, or IMRG. When we lived in Hawai’i, we joined the IMRG HoloHolo chapter, well, we actually still belong to the group, we have the 2021 patches to prove it! Man, I still need to get a vest to put my patches on! At this point, I need two vests or something to put the patches on. I absolutely LUV my motorcycle vest so much, I don’t want to put anything on it! Is that terrible?! I’m looking, I’ll do it eventually, promise!

We got up, took the pups for a walk, had some breakfast, geared up, well, you have to put your gear on, every super hero does! ha ha. Because we’re riding, we start with jeans, I’m sure you’ve seen people wearing shorts on a bike, not me, ever. Ok, I can’t say that…the last staycation we had in Hawai’i, we went to the Big Island and rented motorcycles. The last morning, when we were returning them, we both wore shorts the 2 block ride to return the bikes, but I promise, there is no way I would ever ride in anything by jeans. Short sleeves, definitely, especially when it’s hot, and I’m usually wearing a vest that helps protect my chest, but my legs, no way! I have to tell you, I was so happy to be completely covered the day I wrecked my bike, years ago! Wow, digressing now! You wanted to hear about our lovely ride!

So…back to our apparel. Jeans, long sleeve shirt, thin sweatshirt I got last summer at the Looney Bin Bar & Grill. I will be telling you all about it this summer when we go on our annual motorcycle ride with the guys in New Hampshire, cannot wait! Then, I have a heavy denim Indian Motorcycle jacket, it’s quilted on the inside, so it keeps me warm, but it’s not too warm to sometimes wear in the summer. Yup, I wore my Chucks, and got grief from our Ride Captain, it was awesome! I showed him the picture I shared with you from KN, “How to spot a biker chick”, he still rolled his eyes at me! I had my black gloves with red trim that I got at Harley Davidson in Seattle, WA, I had to go a long way to find those and those…saved my hands when I wrecked, I will never give them up! Neck sleeve that I got with sunflowers that got at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, headphones, goggles, and helmet…we were good to go!

We met the group at the designated QuikTrip, gives us a chance to greet each other, this is the first time a lot of us have seen each other since the last ride in the Fall, I think it was October, get something to drink or a snack, gas up the bikes, and get our riding instructions. When you’re riding in a group, it’s important to know the rules and hand signals, all that good stuff to keep everyone safe. There were about 25 of us, it was great! There are male riders, female riders, as you might guess, couples, Indian motorcycles and two Can-Am Spyder Roadsters.

After all that, we were off. We ride side by side to get started, then we ride in staggered formation, you’re on the left, I’m behind you on the right, and so on, and in some places, depending on the road, we ride single file. It’s quite the site to see a line of bikes coming down the highway. We try to stay together, when we’re at stop lights and stop signs, acting as a tractor trailer, so to speak, trying to keep any cars from getting in the middle of our group. That’s common for most group rides.

We rode to Sandy Creek Covered Bridge Park, a beautiful park with, you guessed it, a covered bridge. It looked like a great park for walking, together, with the dogs, a picnic. There were signs telling you the history of covered bridges and where to find Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites, something to strive for. And every ride…a group photo, have to commemorate the ride!

After the ride…lunch! We rode to Cafe Smok N Pi in De Soto, MO. I always look up the restaurant we are going to go to that day to see if there is anything I can eat, I finally got smart! This time, I really got smart, I had made myself a sandwiche to bring with me. It was a cute place with character and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Cafe Smok N Pi was our final destination and some people took off after lunch. The rest of us went to the Dew Drop Inn in Bloomsdale, MO, PSM said they were known for their bloody mary‘s, but did he have one? Nope, but the ones I saw, wow, they were like a whole meal! Celery, bacon, pickles, olives, pulled pork, really? Wow!

We had a great time, drinking, laughing, telling stories, getting to know each other, making new friends. The biker community is like no other, when you have a bike, you respect each other and look out for each other. If a biker is on the side of the road, other bikers will stop to help. I remember one day, I was coming out of a gravel parking lot and my bike dropped, immediately, bikers pulled out and stopped traffic in each direction and two bikers helped me pick up my bike and made sure I was set and the bikers stopping traffic waited until I was back on the road before they started moving again. It really is something.

After the Dew Drop Inn, we got back on the road and headed home. I have to tell you, it was a little chilly in the morning while we were going to meet the group, then it started to warm up when we got to the Park, some people started taking off their jackets as we were heading to lunch, and progressively, it headed up to almost 70 degrees, it was fabulous! It started to even out my sunburn!

How fabulous, skiing on Thursday, convertible Friday and Saturday, riding a motorcycle on Sunday, my life is full! I can’t wait for the next ride!

{March 4, 2021} Outlook on the weather

Or, maybe attitude towards the weather. Today was my last official in Colorado for this trip, heading home to PSM and the pups tomorrow, I have seen them in over a week, very much looking forward to that!

Since today was my last day here that I could ski, I made a reservation at Keystone, mostly because it’s a 12 minute drive from the house! What?! Awesome! I had a few meetings in the afternoon, so I decided to do first run of the day, spend a few hours, come back and work. I know, you’re thinking, what does this have to do with the weather JJ? I’m getting there.

It started snowing, see…sometime last night and went on for most of the day, actually, I don’t know if it stopped yet, I know it was still going about 730 tonight, it will be an interesting drive tomorrow…but it’s been close to 60 in St Louis, so there’s hope.

When I pulled out of the driveway to head to Keystone, I said to NM, “if this was happening in St Louis, I would be saying…again? seriously?” but…since we’re in the mountains and I’m heading out to ski and they’re going to snowboard, I was quite excited about the prospect!

Isn’t it interesting how we think about things, perspective is situational, and from today’s perspective, oh yeah. Tomorrow, I might be like, oh joy, dripping with sarcasm, because…if you recall, last Wednesday evening/Thursday very early morning, the snow was not exactly a welcome site.

That’s about it! I’ll keep you posted on my drive tomorrow!

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