After the delicious discovery of Steel City Pops, I decided to make my own. I have a second popsicle mold on order so I can make even MORE! Now serving: Whenever and whatever I want.
Friday, August 28, 2015
Finding new places to cool off used to be our past time when we first moved here. I miss having those adventures with just the two of us. A few Saturdays back we found ourselves with a free day and I exclaimed my want—nay, my need—to float down the Brazos river with my man.
The drive is only about an hour away from home. And here's what you can expect:
You park and wait your turn, dripping in the heat to ride a prison looking bus with a door that swings open every time it turns left. Everyone crams in and "enjoys" a jolty, bumpy, sweat squeaking against the plastic seat kind of ride. People on board have already started drinking so you sit back and listen to the good natured conversations of adults who are looking forward to getting wet. You look around outside and it feels like you are in the boonies. After all, the company that's transporting you have named themselves Hillbilly Haven.
So, upon arrival you go get your hillbilly tube from the leathery tan lady whose cigarette is about used up, and off you scurry to splash down into the tepid brown water.
The Brazos is wide and slow. Not too deep, especially this time of year. You'll have to lift your bum and stiffen your body like a board in a few places to make it by safely without scraping bottom. It will take about three hours to float 2 miles. For us, the sun was behind clouds most of the time making the day quite lovely and kept our skin from getting burned on the BLACK tubes.
If you get lucky you may see an armadillo swimming across the river, hear Mexican music for a while until you float toward twangy country music, or perhaps you'll overhear the loud conversation of 3 smashed friends who had 20 minutes ago beat one another up, or maybe even smell some sweet Mary Jane wafting your way. And for sure, you'll enjoy the company of whomever you are with.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Do the Flamingo
As a reward for meeting company goals, Adam's bosses sent everyone and their significant other to Las Vegas for a weekend. I'm not even sure you could call it the weekend…it was more like a day. We arrived at the Flamingo and by the time we checked in it was already 5pm on Friday. (We left at 6:30 AM Sunday morning.)
The hotel was alright. Evidently we stayed in an updated part of the hotel. Everyone else was complaining about how run down the place was.
Our party wanted to meet in the lobby and then walk somewhere for dinner. Adam and I had an hour to kill before meeting and I couldn't resist escaping to explore a bit—it was 104° out, so We stopped for some yummy all natural Murash Turkish Ice Cream. I nursed it as long as I could. It was flavorful and sticky. Yum.
Finally we all met up to head out for dinner. Directions to the place took us off the strip and was about a mile and a half away—our reservations were in 20 minutes! So we sped walked, and sped walked, and sped walked—in the heat, passing all kinds of adult businesses and a not so great part of town—the whole time doubting the directions. As we approached the building it became apparent the restaurant was part of a strip club. (Jaw drop with big eye-balls.) Luckily after a few jokes and "you've got to be kiddings" we discovered the place was only just next door with its own entrance. Whew!
The food was good. (Mexican…as if we can't get that here in Texas? Oh brother.) It had a 4.5 rating on Yelp. However, as the evening wound down the person who recommended the restaurant confessed it wasn't the place he was thinking of, he'd remembered the name wrong! We pulled out our maps and found the right building, which was only about a 1 minute walk from our hotel. Errrrrr.
Because of the two hour time difference, we were tired after dinner.
We took a Taxi back (money well spent) and went to bed.
Now, I hadn't realized we were expected to stay with the group. So I'd done research on places to eat and things to do. So I was feeling a little disappointed when I realized it was more of a company retreat rather than a "here you go…go have fun" kind of a thing. Which was fine, but I did not want to give up my breakfast plans and eat the hotel breakfast. (Though I heard it was good.) I KNEW we could do better. Instead, Adam and I walked through a casino and rode an escalator up to Hash House A Go Go: Twisted Farm Food.
It was so delicious! Adam requested an apple cinnamon buttermilk flapjack—in which he barely made a hole. A chocolate breakfast drink was calling out to me along with griddled french toast dipped in banana cinnamon cream with pecan maple syrup, fried bananas, strawberries, and dusted powdered sugar. I almost made it through all 3 of those fantastically large slices.
Do you get excited about fun, delicious looking food? I do. I'm glad we went. We need a Hash House in Texas!
After our early breakfast we walked around—as it was much needed—for four hours exploring some of the casinos and architecture until we were hot and grumpy.
The Belagio is quite something to see, with its LONG walkways, fountains that dance at night, Chihuly glass installation, and flower arboretum.
Later Adam wanted to join the group who had been at the hotel pool since breakfast. I took one look at it from our window and thought…"really?" But down we went.
Vegas is loud. Music assaults you from every hotel, inside the casinos and outside on the street. It's all vying for attention. The pool was no different. Loud music, loud people—I hear that's a side effect of Vodka, heh heh. So you can imagine how the rest of the afternoon was. Still, the business paid for bottomless drinks so someone ordered a virgin piña colada for me which I enjoyed! And I kept cool for the rest of the day dipping in and out of the pool—which is about all a person could do in THAT pool anyway. I promptly took a shower after.
Dinner took us to Guy Fieri's Kitchen and Bar. We had burgers cooked smash style—I ordered the Triple B Burger ($19) seasoned with creole blackening spice and topped with crumbled blue cheese, ancho bacon LTOP and donkey sauce on a garlic-buttered brioche bun. And also ordered the Triple T fries to share ($14 ). Oh the fries! The description reads: Truffle, truffle, + more truffle! Julienne cut fries tossed with black truffle, truffle infused gouda cheese + a creamy white truffle dip.
They were some of the best fries I've had. I'd go back. Everything was delicious.
After dinner we went to the Belagio to watch the fountain performance. And then to bed. Adam went down to the hotel bar and hung out with the guys for another couple of hours (no drinking of course) and then vacation was officially over. We left early the next morning and flew home.
The great thing about this weekend—it was free! All of it! Because we stuck with the group and were around when Adam's boss was handing out cash, no meals came out of pocket. It was great! (Vegas can be fun if you have a lot money to burn.)
You might be wondering what some of the other food locations were that I had wanted to hit?
Well, let me tell you:
There's a Secret Pizzeria hidden in the Cosmopolitan with pizza slices for just $3.00—which is great for the strip. It would have made a lovely small lunch had we not been so engorged from breakfast. (We ended up skipping lunch altogether which was a good thing.) But we DID go looking for it during our walk. It took some exploring and internet searching for hints since it's not listed on the Cosmopolitan directory. We finally found it at the top floor down a hallway!
The other place is Café 6 at the Palms Casino. We actually made reservations twice and cancelled both times. We just couldn't make it happen. We wanted to get there for dinner and dessert. Oh well. Next time!!!
I actually think the best way to do food in Vegas—since there are SO MANY options—is to get to your hotel and then use yelp to find the close restaurants. Because really, on the strip, it's pretty much all good and you're going to want to find something within walking distance if you don't have transportation.
The hotel was alright. Evidently we stayed in an updated part of the hotel. Everyone else was complaining about how run down the place was.
Our party wanted to meet in the lobby and then walk somewhere for dinner. Adam and I had an hour to kill before meeting and I couldn't resist escaping to explore a bit—it was 104° out, so We stopped for some yummy all natural Murash Turkish Ice Cream. I nursed it as long as I could. It was flavorful and sticky. Yum.
Finally we all met up to head out for dinner. Directions to the place took us off the strip and was about a mile and a half away—our reservations were in 20 minutes! So we sped walked, and sped walked, and sped walked—in the heat, passing all kinds of adult businesses and a not so great part of town—the whole time doubting the directions. As we approached the building it became apparent the restaurant was part of a strip club. (Jaw drop with big eye-balls.) Luckily after a few jokes and "you've got to be kiddings" we discovered the place was only just next door with its own entrance. Whew!
The food was good. (Mexican…as if we can't get that here in Texas? Oh brother.) It had a 4.5 rating on Yelp. However, as the evening wound down the person who recommended the restaurant confessed it wasn't the place he was thinking of, he'd remembered the name wrong! We pulled out our maps and found the right building, which was only about a 1 minute walk from our hotel. Errrrrr.
Because of the two hour time difference, we were tired after dinner.
We took a Taxi back (money well spent) and went to bed.
It was so delicious! Adam requested an apple cinnamon buttermilk flapjack—in which he barely made a hole. A chocolate breakfast drink was calling out to me along with griddled french toast dipped in banana cinnamon cream with pecan maple syrup, fried bananas, strawberries, and dusted powdered sugar. I almost made it through all 3 of those fantastically large slices.
Do you get excited about fun, delicious looking food? I do. I'm glad we went. We need a Hash House in Texas!
After our early breakfast we walked around—as it was much needed—for four hours exploring some of the casinos and architecture until we were hot and grumpy.
Later Adam wanted to join the group who had been at the hotel pool since breakfast. I took one look at it from our window and thought…"really?" But down we went.
They were some of the best fries I've had. I'd go back. Everything was delicious.
After dinner we went to the Belagio to watch the fountain performance. And then to bed. Adam went down to the hotel bar and hung out with the guys for another couple of hours (no drinking of course) and then vacation was officially over. We left early the next morning and flew home.
The great thing about this weekend—it was free! All of it! Because we stuck with the group and were around when Adam's boss was handing out cash, no meals came out of pocket. It was great! (Vegas can be fun if you have a lot money to burn.)
You might be wondering what some of the other food locations were that I had wanted to hit?
Well, let me tell you:
There's a Secret Pizzeria hidden in the Cosmopolitan with pizza slices for just $3.00—which is great for the strip. It would have made a lovely small lunch had we not been so engorged from breakfast. (We ended up skipping lunch altogether which was a good thing.) But we DID go looking for it during our walk. It took some exploring and internet searching for hints since it's not listed on the Cosmopolitan directory. We finally found it at the top floor down a hallway!
The other place is Café 6 at the Palms Casino. We actually made reservations twice and cancelled both times. We just couldn't make it happen. We wanted to get there for dinner and dessert. Oh well. Next time!!!
I actually think the best way to do food in Vegas—since there are SO MANY options—is to get to your hotel and then use yelp to find the close restaurants. Because really, on the strip, it's pretty much all good and you're going to want to find something within walking distance if you don't have transportation.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Girl's Camp in June
June was a long month for me—it was exhausting. I had came down with symptoms of…
BRONCHITIS.
I couldn't believe it. I was hoping I wouldn't but I caught it from one of my young women who should have been kept at home, whom I give regular rides to...so maddening.
I had fevers, chills, sensitive skin, raspy airways, and a deep seated cough that almost a month later has finally cleared up. The evenings were worse than the days when the fever was highest—it caused my back pain to flare up. I haven't slept on an ice pack for two years and suddenly I needed it again. Poor Adam, between my coughing and his snoring, my shifting in bed, both of us taking turns sleeping on an air-mattress, neither of us got any rest.
It was awful. I'm mainly recording it here so I can remember…I'm sure none of you want all the details, not really. Just don't catch bronchitis. You will HATE it.
While dealing with this I was preparing for girls camp (which was almost more than I could handle.) A week and a half later I finally asked Adam for a blessing so that things would clear up faster and I could make it through camp without keeping everyone awake at night with my coughing. It worked. The first night I had to suck on a cough drop but that was it. I was relieved all other nights went well. Camp is no fun on no sleep.
Which brings me to my next big thing
GIRLS CAMP
(Above: the t-shirt design. The girls wanted icons that represented the elements of this year's THEME, D&C 4:2)
This year, I believe a few tender mercies were extended to us last minute, and though it was still a little hard, things were calm. I enjoyed being with the girls and had time to get to know some of the adults better. I didn't come home in tears this year!
Really the only difficultly was the weather. The rain from a tropical storm didn't relent for three days. I think it was disappointing and at times frustrating for the girls but we did our best to have positive attitude and fun anyway!
Our camp leaders didn't shut down the day activities. Our youth leaders have been preparing for camp since January—so we still had flag ceremony in the rain, canoeing, archery etc. I wish we could have spent more time as a ward in our cabin but some wards have SO MANY girls, if there had been cabin time there would have been chaos.
(Last year there was so much drama that during our first flag ceremony this year, one of the leaders read a story to the whole camp about a "Drama Llama." No drama llamas this year girls! Posted in the center of the cabin circle was a big banner with the word DRAMA and a big red cross through it. My my.)
Though it was windy and pouring, half way through our long hike to the archery range we gave in to the wetness of it all. That's when the girls started having fun—walking through the muck, finding frogs, etc.
It was the highlight of our day. (The girls told me so that night. Which by the way is when the power went out and the toilets stopped flushing. THAT was a fun discovery…not.)
I only wish I'd brought an extra pair of tennis shoes. Having wet feet for three days in a row put me in some pain when I got home; pins and needles, sensitivity, and numbness. Ug. So now I know what happens if you walk around with wet feet all the time. Don't do it.
The rain effected our cooking as well. We were to have a couple of meals cooked in a camp fire, foil dinners and a paper bag breakfast that somehow gets cooked–I never did receive the instructions for it…but those didn't happen. We turned to the dutch ovens on the wet porch making a lovely berry cobbler and breakfast burritos in the morning.
Thanks to my Father-in-law for lending all the supplies to me!
Below is another method of cooking—hobo stoves. We made quesadillas over them. We also made ice cream in tin cans. It was great!
And here we have yet another little stove made from the bottom of soda cans, you fill it with alcohol and lite on fire. (You should have seen the mess we made assembling these before camp. I am very grateful to my adult leaders for helping the girls stay on task and picking up the slack. Marlex made my stove for me! Oh thank you, thank you.)
Everything being wet meant no bonfire for smores so each ward brought out their dutch ovens, put them all in a circle and we roasted mallows over charcoal instead.
Below is Marla who was asked by the stake to come and help supervise all the first year girls. When she wasn't at her station she hung with us and also bunked in our cabin. It was nice having a third hand around. On the right is Carrie who is our new Camp Leader! I have a deep deep gratitude for her. Our old camp leader wasn't able to attend so Carrie accepted the responsibility THREE weeks before we left…saying this was her dream calling! Without her I would have been in deep panic. She is an example to me, she was calm, fun, and positive. She found good teaching moments to help enlighten the girls, having the right thing to say in a difficult situation. I need leaders with parenting experience at camp—and she's good at it.
It was a success!
Then, the next week our youth had a three day Service Youth Conference. I had delegated the chaperone responsibility (since I'd done camp all week)—but it fell through last minute and I got to go spend another 12 hours with my girls doing service! We cleaned up a HUGE public park area by the river, made blankets for an animal shelter, braided emergency bracelets for soldiers, and participated in a few other activities.
I do enjoy hanging out with my girls. I spend so much time thinking about them, praying for them, planning lessons and activities with them in mind that I call them my friends. (Maybe they don't see me that way…after all, I am OLD…but that's okay.)
I am glad June is over though. All the sickness, and planning and preparing and meetings etc. etc. are over! (At least until January rolls around again.)
BRONCHITIS.
I couldn't believe it. I was hoping I wouldn't but I caught it from one of my young women who should have been kept at home, whom I give regular rides to...so maddening.
I had fevers, chills, sensitive skin, raspy airways, and a deep seated cough that almost a month later has finally cleared up. The evenings were worse than the days when the fever was highest—it caused my back pain to flare up. I haven't slept on an ice pack for two years and suddenly I needed it again. Poor Adam, between my coughing and his snoring, my shifting in bed, both of us taking turns sleeping on an air-mattress, neither of us got any rest.
It was awful. I'm mainly recording it here so I can remember…I'm sure none of you want all the details, not really. Just don't catch bronchitis. You will HATE it.
While dealing with this I was preparing for girls camp (which was almost more than I could handle.) A week and a half later I finally asked Adam for a blessing so that things would clear up faster and I could make it through camp without keeping everyone awake at night with my coughing. It worked. The first night I had to suck on a cough drop but that was it. I was relieved all other nights went well. Camp is no fun on no sleep.
Which brings me to my next big thing
GIRLS CAMP
This year, I believe a few tender mercies were extended to us last minute, and though it was still a little hard, things were calm. I enjoyed being with the girls and had time to get to know some of the adults better. I didn't come home in tears this year!
Really the only difficultly was the weather. The rain from a tropical storm didn't relent for three days. I think it was disappointing and at times frustrating for the girls but we did our best to have positive attitude and fun anyway!
Our camp leaders didn't shut down the day activities. Our youth leaders have been preparing for camp since January—so we still had flag ceremony in the rain, canoeing, archery etc. I wish we could have spent more time as a ward in our cabin but some wards have SO MANY girls, if there had been cabin time there would have been chaos.
(Last year there was so much drama that during our first flag ceremony this year, one of the leaders read a story to the whole camp about a "Drama Llama." No drama llamas this year girls! Posted in the center of the cabin circle was a big banner with the word DRAMA and a big red cross through it. My my.)
Though it was windy and pouring, half way through our long hike to the archery range we gave in to the wetness of it all. That's when the girls started having fun—walking through the muck, finding frogs, etc.
It was the highlight of our day. (The girls told me so that night. Which by the way is when the power went out and the toilets stopped flushing. THAT was a fun discovery…not.)
I only wish I'd brought an extra pair of tennis shoes. Having wet feet for three days in a row put me in some pain when I got home; pins and needles, sensitivity, and numbness. Ug. So now I know what happens if you walk around with wet feet all the time. Don't do it.
The rain effected our cooking as well. We were to have a couple of meals cooked in a camp fire, foil dinners and a paper bag breakfast that somehow gets cooked–I never did receive the instructions for it…but those didn't happen. We turned to the dutch ovens on the wet porch making a lovely berry cobbler and breakfast burritos in the morning.
Thanks to my Father-in-law for lending all the supplies to me!
Below is another method of cooking—hobo stoves. We made quesadillas over them. We also made ice cream in tin cans. It was great!
Everything being wet meant no bonfire for smores so each ward brought out their dutch ovens, put them all in a circle and we roasted mallows over charcoal instead.
Below is Marla who was asked by the stake to come and help supervise all the first year girls. When she wasn't at her station she hung with us and also bunked in our cabin. It was nice having a third hand around. On the right is Carrie who is our new Camp Leader! I have a deep deep gratitude for her. Our old camp leader wasn't able to attend so Carrie accepted the responsibility THREE weeks before we left…saying this was her dream calling! Without her I would have been in deep panic. She is an example to me, she was calm, fun, and positive. She found good teaching moments to help enlighten the girls, having the right thing to say in a difficult situation. I need leaders with parenting experience at camp—and she's good at it.
It was a success!
I am glad June is over though. All the sickness, and planning and preparing and meetings etc. etc. are over! (At least until January rolls around again.)
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