Happy New Year! The last supper of 2011 was Jarion’s excellent steak and veggies, eaten by the light of a camp lantern on a picnic table. We spent the last night of 2011 in a tent near the top of Mount Magazine. It’s a windy, windy place.
We were up early, in the cold. Jarion had lost the lighter the night before, so I loaded up the early risers to obtain a replacement (and coffee) at the Lodge. Then we drove back to camp for pancakes and eggs and sausage before loading up the dogs and the gear and driving back down the mountain.
Continue reading “New Years Hike”
Petit Jean Campout
This is our niece, Emma. What a sweet face! Who wouldn’t agree to a post-Christmas campout with these eyes?
Bryan’s brother Kevin, his wife Julie, and their little girl had plans to camp at Petit Jean State Park over the holiday break, so we joined them. We had short dayhikes, lazy afternoon naps in camp, and good Dutch oven food. It was a nice break from rougher weekend trips. Continue reading “Petit Jean Campout”
Priorities
We’re done! We’d been way behind on the blog again. Our excuse is just that it was a busy autumn, and I just didn’t make telling stories and posting photos a big priority. In many cases, we would have the photography but no story, or we’d have the story but the photos weren’t finished. Or we’d be finished with one post but an earlier one wasn’t ready and we hate to publish things out of order.
We’d like to thank all our readers (yes, all three of you!) for your patience. We’ve spent chunks of our holiday vacation finishing up posts from the last 5+ months.
And now we’re operating in real time. Everything that happens now, is happening now. We’re at now now.
–Bryan & Aly
Latest Posts:
- Festivus (12/26)
- Guest Bathroom (12/26)
- Holiday Decorating 2011 (12/26)
- Mandy’s 14th Birthday (12/26)
- Jingle Bell Jubilee Parade (12/26)
- NOLA Pukefest (12/26)
- Ouachita Trail, Section 6 (12/26)
- Caddo Valley Rail Line (12/26)
- ASMSA Open House (12/26)
- Ozark Highlands Trail, Section 2 (12/26)
- Bike Fair 2011 (12/26)
- Bikes Vs. Zombies (12/26)
- USGS + MUC (12/26)
- Obedience Class for Dogs (12/26)
- Arky 100 2011 (12/26)
- Clinton Park Bridge Opening (12/26)
- Lake Catherine (12/26)
- Traffic Safety 101 (12/26)
- North Georgia (12/26)
- Bike Commuting (12/26)
- 2 Rivers Bridge Dedication (12/26)
- Diamond Bear (12/25)
- Goodbye, Fencing (12/24)
- The Amazing Giant Cat Tree Palace Sniper Tower (12/24)
Festivus
This year we added an official Festivus celebration to our holiday calendar. (Wikipedia has a well-written and comprehensive article about Festivus, and you should read it if you’re unfamiliar with this winter holiday.) Bryan made a Festivus pole for the house (under $10 DIY or you can buy one here –Bryan), and our friends Kathy and Jarion went with us to a movie (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol; worth the IMAX surcharge –Bryan). After the movie, we ate supper at our house and participated in an extended Airing of Grievances session (she’s holding a Grievance form against his chest, above.) We went to their house for carrot cake for dessert, and the dogs took care of the Feats of Strength portion of the customary Festivus celebration.
Guest Bathroom
When we bought our house, we knew that our second bathroom was sort of terrible. The fixtures were nice, but the room was painted bright yellow with a sort of multi-layer brown/gold spongy finish. I suppose the previous owners had thought that the effect would be rich and elegant. I thought that the effect led one to believe that a large mammal had been smeared in its own poop and then had seizures in the room, blotting the excrement all over the walls.
A second problem involved the sink. It was a nice Kohler pedestal, but its lack of a cabinet meant that there was no storage at all in the small bathroom. This was a problem for our teenager – even a low-maintenance girl like Mandy needs a place to store a few bathroom things. Since the room doubles as a guest bathroom, there was no way for her to store her own lotions and potions that still allowed the room to be presentable for guests. It was getting more and more frustrating for all of us.
So this year, one of her holiday gifts will be a remodeled bathroom.
On the Saturday Mandy left for her annual winter trip to Tulsa, Bryan and I shopped for and bought a new vanity, counter, and sink for the bathroom. Sunday was spent removing the fixtures, repainting the room, reinstalling the toilet and adding the new vanity.
We all wanted a brighter orange wall color, but it would have clashed with the granite countertop. It’s actually turned out rather more classy and grown-up than we’d intended, but it’s very pretty and I suppose we’ll manage.
Holiday Decorating 2011
When we pulled up in front of Bradbury’s Christmas Tree Farm, a boy in a red ball cap met us at the truck with a smile and a saw. Bryan and Mandy choose our tree based on height, color and even-ness; I have veto power because I’m the one who notices when a tree’s trunk is so crooked it won’t fit well in the tree base.
Then it was home to put up the tree. This year we recorded another time-lapse video (that’s it up top) of decorating the house. And now we’re ready for the holiday season, full of music and food and naps and presents and friends
Mandy’s 14th Birthday
Mandy’s fourteenth birthday’s come and gone. For breakfast, she got homemade waffles with strawberry syrup and whipped cream. Her presents were practical this year – some clothes and shoes and a new bag for school.
Fourteen years into this, I have to say she’s a good kid for the most part – a little disorganized, a little lazy, a little thoughtless. But when we think about the other teenagers I see, with their skin-tight shirts and their sneery attitudes and their noses in their text-phones, we’re glad we have her. She’s smart and funny and wise and cheerful.
Happy birthday, Mandy. Let’s make this next year a good one, too.
Jingle Bell Jubilee Parade
Our Unicycle Support Group decided to ride in the Little Rock Christmas Parade this year. Since we hadn’t thought to register separately, we just rode with the cyclists from BACA. But we all wore green shirts and we made a sign. (We forced the non-unicyling member of the Vire family to carry the sign, and he handled the task with aplomb and grace once we removed most of the tinsel.)
The parade was fun. I rode a bike with panniers to hold the green and red beads (leftover from Mardi Gras 2010) we passed out to the people we rode past. Mitch and his kids and Mandy and Luke did stars and hopped around and played tag and were just generally goofy. Since we were between a float sponsored by a windshield company (complete with a grumpy-looking old lady in a plywood sleigh) and a handful of Quakers with “Peace on Earth” signs, people enjoyed having something funny to watch. The parade was a success and we’ll do even better next year (when I can ride, too!)
NOLA Pukefest
We always look forward to our visit with New Orleans family at Thanksgiving time, and we always enjoy our time there. Almost always. Maybe not so much this time. But we’ll get to that.
We arrived in Metairie at our usual 2am on Thanksgiving morning, after the long after-work drive from central Arkansas. Hayduke and I got up early on Thursday for beignets and a trip to the dog park while Bryan and Mandy slept in, and then Hayduke went down the street to stay at Kevin’s house while the family enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner. It’s such a treat to spend the day with family. Continue reading “NOLA Pukefest”
Ouachita Trail, Section 6
Ivy the Poodle has never gone backpacking, so we thought we should fix that problem. Our unicycling friend Alyssa decided to make it her first backpacking trip as well. We chose section six of the Ouachita Trail because it’s an easy hike with accessible water. And on beginner trips, it’s nice to use a trail shelter and leave the tents at home.
What a pretty, pretty weekend! It was warm and pleasant hiking; in fact, we had to stop along the way so that Jarion could adjust Kathy’s pants by cutting out the too-warm linings. Continue reading “Ouachita Trail, Section 6”