Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Work and Play - January 13 to January 17, 2016

After three days of walking and movies, it was time to go back to work. I worked four ten-hour days at the RV park which is work I absolutely love. We make reservations for incoming guests, check people in and out, sell items from the store, and talk to people about all there is to see and do in San Antonio and the surrounding Hill Country and Gulf Coast.

Bob spends his days at Southwest Electric as the Controller, making sure budgets are in line, doing tax preparation work, quarterly statements, financial statements...as he puts it, "Just accounting."

The Austin Marathon is on Valentine's Day, so Bob is training for that. His training run on January 16 was 18 miles. On January 24 he will do his longest training run at 20 miles, then taper down until the marathon. Last year he did only the half marathon, even though he had signed up for the full marathon. He didn't feel well part-way through the race and decided not to do the full. This year he hopes to conquer the full marathon.

Saturday night after work, I made a bow tie pasta salad to take to Susan M.'s house on Sunday. She invited us over to watch two football games: Seattle vs. Carolina and Pittsburgh vs. Denver. As usual, she made wonderful food: vegetarian chili, crescent rolls, veggie platter, chips and spinach dip, and chocolate-peppermint cookies. We enjoyed the food, the games were exciting (except the Seahawks lost), and I got to reads lots of magazines (I'm not into football). Whenever we go to their house, we have a good time.

Tomorrow Susan and I are doing another 10k Volksmarch from Mission San Juan to Mission Espada. This walk is sponsored by the Selma Pathfinders Volksmarch Club and it's actually the third walk they're sponsoring this holiday weekend. All three walks highlight the UNESCO World Heritage Site Missions. After the walk, we plan to see "The Revenant" with Leonardo DiCaprio.

That's all for this blog. We are looking forward to tomorrow's walk.




Leon Creek Walk and a Movie - Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016

It had been rather chilly in San Antonio and night-time temperatures were in the upper 30s so we dressed rather warmly for our walk today. I had on a sweatshirt and heavy winter coat along with a hat. When we started walking around 11 am, the temperature was probably about 58-60. The thing is, this trail may have shade in the early morning when shadows are long, but midday is a different ballgame. The sun was out, there was minimal shade for 6.2 miles. We had on dark, heavy clothes.

About 1/3 of the way, we were feeling the heat. By the time we made it half way, we had our coats off and were carrying them. On the way back, we were grousing about how much we were sweating. We vowed never to walk this at midday again if it was sunny out.

After the walk, we decided to see the movie "Sisters" with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. First we had lunch at Panera Bread which was yummy.

I should have known better than to see this movie. Don't get me wrong, I love a good comedy. But this wasn't one of them. For one, I think Amy and Tina are way over-rated as comediennes. Second, this movie was just plain stupid with more cursing and expletives than I have ever heard in one place in all my life. I didn't even know what some of the swear words were! Awful movie. As soon as it was over, I put it out of my mind. For me, this movie was pure torture.

Walking and lunch were good, even if it was warmer than expected outside. I felt i wasted $7.50 on a terrible movie. Some days are like that. C'est la vie.


Museum Walk and Fur-Kid Photos - Monday, Jan. 11, 2016

Susan and I met on Monday morning to do the 10k (6.2 mi.) Museum Volksmarch. The museum in question is the Toilet Seat Museum. Unfortunately the Toilet Seat Museum was open on Saturday, not today. However, a couple of years ago we did the Volksmarch on the day the museum was open, so I will post some of those photos.

The walk today was much nicer than yesterday's walk. We walked through some beautiful neighborhoods with huge live oak trees sheltering the houses underneath.

Our route took us past a large dog park. Then we took a short detour to Olmos Park. We decided it would be nice to change next year's Museum Volksmarch to include the nature path in the park.

My only photo from today is of an adorable mailbox.


The next few photos are from the walk two years ago, showing the Toilet Seat Museum and part of the walk.
Neighborhood sidewalk in Alamo Heights


 
Toilet Seat Museum
Here's one travelers can relate to!
Pez dispensers

Boy Scout memorabilia and Native American decorations
As we were finishing the Museum Volksmarch, we stopped to have lunch at Canyon Cafe in the Quarry Shopping Center. Canyon Cafe is an upscale restaurant. After you order they bring fresh-made chips (potato, sweet potato, and corn) to your table along with excellent salsa.

For lunch we had fish tacos that were actual whole sides of fish, not chunks. Our plates came with beans and Spanish rice. That filled us up nicely and we walked the rest of the way back to our cars.

From the Quarry Shopping Center, we headed north to Santikos Embassy 14 Theaters to see "Carol." Neither of us cared much for this movie about a 1950's relationship that formed between an "older" wealthy socialite woman (Cate Blanchett) and a younger store clerk (Rooney Mara). The acting was good, but the story didn't engage us. Susan M. called it an odd movie.

After the movie we each headed our separate ways. I went shopping at Rack Room Shoes and found a pair of khaki Skechers I could wear to work, then headed home.

Tomorrow we will do our third 10k in row, so that will be 18.6 miles in three days. Stay tuned.

I have a few cute kitty photos to share...

Bob emptied his gym bag - Bowie jumped in
He slept in the gym bag for hours.
Bowie and Sunny
Bowie and Sunny

Travel Bug out.


Sunday, January 10, Part 2

How do you follow-up a class on guns? We followed it up by eating at The Corner Cafe. We were very hungry because it had been hours since breakfast. Bob had a big salad and I ate soup and sandwich. Lunch was so tasty.

As we finished lunch, Susan M. met us at the restaurant to do the 10k (6.2 mi.) Quarry Volksmarch. The walk was good, but not great. Most of the walk was along busy city streets. I'm more of a country girl.

Sculpture in front of a business.
Alamo Quarry Shopping Center
Bob and Susan M. - you'd think it's autumn
in the middle of January.
After the walk we headed home to watch 60 Minutes. Time to relax after a busy day.


Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Firing New Synapses in Our Brains - Sunday, January 10, 2016

Shoot-out at the OK Corral it was not: no Wyatt Earp, no Doc Holladay, no Clanton-McLaury gang. We weren't in Tombstone, Arizona. But there was a blaze of gunfire with approximately 500 rounds being fired by ten people. It happened in San Antonio, Texas.  Thankfully it was friendly fire and no one was hurt.

What happened? For my birthday in November, Bob bought us lessons on "Introduction to Handguns" at Nardis Gun Club. This past Sunday morning we went in for our 2-1/2 hour lesson. Upon entering the gun club, we filled out registration forms and signed all the requisite disclaimers. Gun safety, philosophy, classroom instruction, handgun rental, and experience in the firing range were all included.

Bob and I had almost no experience shooting guns. When I was a around 14, my dad showed us how to use an air rifle and a BB gun. That was my only experience with guns. Bob had even less experience, I think. We wanted to take the class to help us make a decision about whether or not we would like to become gun owners.

The class was very well taught. Our instructor was very logical and thoughtful in his teaching method. First we had to know about gun safety. Do not point a gun at anyone during class, especially the teacher.

He taught us the parts of the 9mm handgun, how to cock the chamber, how to load the bullets into the magazine, how to insert the magazine into the gun, how to hold the loaded gun, how to prepare the weapon to fire, how to align the sights, our stance when it was time to aim and shoot at the target, how to re-load, and how to lay the gun down when we finished shooting. We did practice our aim at a target with a laser gun he had in the classroom.

After the 1-1/2 hour classroom session, we went to the firing range. After explaining how to enter and exit the range, and giving us ear and eye protection, we went inside where he led us in drills. We learned how to use the automated target mover and sent our target sheets out 15' from us. Then he told us exactly what to do and we got to shoot our handguns. What a trip. Even with the headphones on, it was very loud in the shooting range.

Instructor running a drill with Bob
Bob at indoor firing range
Me at firing range with ear protection
Each of us were required to buy 50 rounds of ammunition for our rented 9mm Sig-Sauer automatic pistols. On his command, we stepped into the firing booth, loaded our weapons, cocked the chamber, checked our stance, lined up our sights, put pressure on the trigger and fired. I loved it. When we finished, our hands were covered in gunpowder so the first thing we did after turning in our ear protection was wash our hands thoroughly.

My target about half-way through
My "booth" at the firing range. (Note: My 9mm
Sig-Sauer is facing the wrong way...should be able
to see into the breach when it's laying down!)
Final target after all 50 rounds fired.
Bob's final target after all 50 rounds fired.
Both Bob and I did very well. I'd like to go back to learn more about the different types of guns and which fit our grips the best. Plus I'd like to continue with our training and shooting so we don't forget what we learned. Very educational 2-1/2 hours for us.

The day isn't over yet, so stay tuned for part 2.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Finishing up 2015 (finally) - Monday, January 11, 2016

Christmas Day we slept in, then checked to see what was in our stockings. There was a new luggage tag for our new luggage, movie candy, gift card to the Red Lobster, lottery tickets, tangerines, apples, and chocolate. As I was finding the gifts in my stocking, I asked "Here's a luggage tag, where are we going?" and when I found the movie candy I asked where the gift cards were for the movie theaters. LOL. I knew the answer. We didn't have room for a tree and our big gift this year was the cruise to Cozumel, Belize and Honduras.

I cooked yams for our RV park's Christmas Dinner, and we took a can of jellied cranberry sauce. The park provided turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, coffee, iced tea and water. The rest of the meal was potluck. Everything was wonderful. There was an abundance of food and fellowship.
The Christmas dinner buffet line

Lydia, Pam and Paul

Sue, Dick, Clari, Tony, Lyle, Norena, and Shirley
My dinner! Mmm.
Bob was ready to dig in.
Margaret, Steve, John, Pat, Stan, Lanora, Fran

The Neville's


Peter and Rene
A very Merry Christmas, indeed.

Sunday, December 27, we went to see "Spotlight," a movie about the Boston Globe's Pulitzer-Prize-winning investigative journalism team known as Spotlight. Stars are: Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci, and Billy Crudup.

The movie starts with the team trying to decide what their next major exposé should be. As they toss around ideas, a new editor starts working there. The new editor (Liev Schreiber) suggests re-opening a story from years before about Roman Catholic priests abusing young children in Boston. Much ado is made about how the Catholic Church will sue the Boston Globe if they try to publish the story.

As the reporters on the team look into prior allegations against priests, they find more and more priests who had been involved only to have their transgressions covered up by the Catholic Church. Priests were being re-assigned and their records showed they were on leave, sick, and other vague classifications of their status.

As the reporters delved deeper into the investigation, they interviewed some of the victims, searched archives and met many dead ends in trying to get information from the Church, lawyers and government officials. Public records were missing. The Spotlight team suspected the Cardinal knew what was happening but did nothing to punish the priests.

We loved this movie. The acting was excellent. The story was maddening. The facts during the closing credits were appalling. How could these atrocious acts go on for so long? Why did the Catholic Church cover up/hide the abuse of power against children? Very good movie.

Thursday, December 31: We both worked today. For New Year's Eve we decided to listen to Arrowhead, our favorite rock 'n' roll band in San Antonio. They were playing at Tonic the Bar, a place we hadn't been before. The vibe was odd there. There weren't many tables but there was a huge dance floor. As the band played, we sat and listened, loved the music, but no one was dancing. I think one couple danced. Then a lady danced by herself. We finally got up and danced one dance by ourselves, but mostly people just drank and listened.

One lady who had been sitting at the bar was totally drunk and decided we were her best friends. She came over and was talking to us. We could barely hear a word she said because of the band. She came over on our side of the table and was hugging on me.

We left the bar at 11:50 p.m. As we were driving home, we saw so many fireworks all throughout San Antonio. The big fireworks show was going on over the Tower of the Americas. We pulled over on the side of the freeway to watch with a bunch of other people until a police cruiser went by blasting something on their loudspeaker. We couldn't hear what they were saying, but figured we'd better move on. We were up on an elevated freeway so we had a great view of thousands of neighborhood fireworks. Wow!

Happy New Year!