Trip to Telluride I

Today marks our 4th day back in the valley of the sun since our trip to Telluride CO. It would be foolish to pretend re-adjusting to consistent 111 degree dusty days, and returning to work has been, but being home with Jackson and the kitties sure helps the transition.

Taking a few steps back, this past Christmas I gave Jonathan two, 4 day passes to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride Colorado as well as set up our room reservation in Mountain Village, a resort area just a Gondola ride away from town. There were options for camping but the thought never crossed this non-camper’s mind. Simply seeing the images of hippie crowds from festivals past had me a little concerned as to what I was signing up for.

Our trip started on this past Wednsday after we dropped Jackson off at his vacation home in Scottsdale and settled in for our 8 hour road trip. The drive to Flagstaff is quite pleasant, because it includes several transitions in cactus varieties as you climb in elevation, and reaching the pine forests provides a nice break from the desert scenery. But then came a good 4 hours, best described with the sound of a heavy sign. From brown to beige to lighter beige, the landscape fizzeled from scattered brush to inhospitable sand. Few and far between red rock and distant canyon sightings became a highlight, and a dull one at that. For a time it appeared we were driving through ubiquitous emptiness, until we neared the four corners.

My expectation for our stop at the four corners wasn’t set too high, and I certainly wasn’t going to be detoured by the $3 a person entrance fee, even though it was a little annoying. It did cross my mind, that it wouldn’t really be the 4 corners of US states seeing that it was located on Navajo land, which is technically another country, but I digress. Enjoying time out of the car we walked about the monument and stood in line to take our turn, and our picture, standing in 4 states at once. Here we were provided a little comic relief from a man insistent on spreading the word that this wasn’t really where the states met. Every person that came within earshot, whether they wanted to be or not, was informed of this unproven “fact”. When I playfully informed him that he was crushing my dreams his daughter, in line ahead of us, joked that she had been traveling with him for the past 7 days. Lucky girl.

Back on the road we didn’t have too much farther until we were greeted by a Welcome to Colorado sign. It sounds odd, but crossing the border was like literally stepping over a dashed line on a map into a new world. No sooner had we entered Colorado were we greeted by trees, green fields, nice little homes with landscaping, and a river that hadn’t already turned to dust! As the green continued and we enjoyed driving in the day light without being fried by direct sun we both realized we finally felt like our vacation had started. It took me several photos to remember that this wasn’t the first time I’d see a forest and that there was going to be plenty more peaks, lakes and forests where we were headed.

Not having been provided any check in information, I’ll just leave the negative saga out of the post and simply compare the situation to the annoyance of being hungry while staring at food you don’t get to eat. After much rigmarole and many a phone call to a snippy attendant we got our keys, and off loaded ourselves and our luggage from the Gondola. Here is where we experienced an amazing phenomenon of being invisible. I’m not sure how we did it, but seeing that the flood of high, drunk, sun fried concert goers were walking the opposite direction of us, and never bothered to scoot to one side or another we must have pulled off our invisibility talent quite well. Yes, we were starting to become unhinged and the scent of cheap hot beer and confused resort workers wasn’t helping, but we semi painlessly managed to get dinner, drinks, then a few more drinks and settle into the start of our very first, official, vacation.

Chinese/Mexican food?

 After an interesting work week, and seeing that I was still on call, we kept our weekend activities pretty close to home this past weekend.  Our primary task was to start transferring all kinds of tools, equipment, and various odds and ends from our existing shed to our newly installed shed.  The transfer and organization would require some peg board accessory shopping as well as some shelving construction.

We began Saturday with a short run with Jackson before the temps starting climbing too high, then made our way to the Habitat for Humanity's Restore to donate the sink, faucet, and sink cabinet that we had installed in the master bath as a temporary fix when we first moved in. I didn't think about it at the time of the drop off, but typing up this post makes me realize just how far we have come with various house projects and improvements.  When we interviewed for our first appearance in the Arizona Republic the reported chuckled at how Jonathan had managed to make me see the true value in the bones of the house vs. its original appearance.  I agreed and didn't think much of the comment, but looking at our smooth "oyster", "mango madness", "Honeydew" and turquoise walls I realize we're a considerable amount of sweat, tears and long days away from our smurf-blood-blue foreclosure.

We made some pretty good organizational progress on the new shed, but it is a bit scary how quickly it has filled up.  We have a ways to go, but are certainly on the right path. The heat got the best of us on Saturday which served for little motivation to continue to the organizational project on Sunday. 

Sunday we made a trip back to HD for a few random supplies and to investigate the materials needed for the redo of the shed that is attached to the house.  Since we were out and about and hungry we took the opportunity to try out a restaurant that we saw reviewed in one of our PBS favorites, check please Arizona.  We got to Chino Bandito just in time since we managed to order ahead of a large crowed that followed.  A little back story on Chino Bandito.  Its a restaurant that features a "flavor infusion" between Chinese and Mexican.  Admittedly the first time I heard about it, I wasn't too gung ho to give it a try, but being hungry and having no real culinary reservations, we made the trip.  Turns out the food was quite tasty. Nothing designer, but flavorful, different and entertaining.  I ordered the combo with ginger chicken, plain rice, re-fried beans and carnita meat.  The ginger chicken was pretty tasty, a little salty, but not too heavy like some of the breaded options.  The re-friend beans were good and the carnita meat was a little different, but also flavorful and a good choice.  Jonathan really mixed it up with one of their famed favorites, Cuban style black beans which had hints of spice as well as sweetness, as well as pork fried rice, jade chicken and carnita meat in a quesadilla.  Satisfied with the unique flavors of Chino Bandito, we headed home for an afternoon to just chill out.

 

Seeing that I've been wanting a purse for quite some time but have yet to find the one that I'm really excited about, I opted to sew myself a little bag.  Sydney was keen to assist as always with any project that involves string.  Per usual the bag is not perfect, but who needs matching seams, not this lady!  Having come up with the purse on the fly I'm quite happy with its look and functionality.  And yes, it does have a small extra pocket on the inside!

                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                   

Jerome and weekend work

While my mom was still in town  we decided to take a quick trip to Jerome.  Jerome has been featured on Huppdates before, but was new to my mom, and provided an escape from the 104 degree Phoenix heat. We left mid morning and made it to Jerome a little after 11.  Per the usual Jerome routine we walked up and down the main streets stopping in various shops and galleries. As usual I found a few things I wanted to buy, but did a good job of not making any impulse purchases. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant Jonathan and I had seen reviewed on one of our trusty PBS shows and, unfortunately, were very disappointed.  Not only could the portions of one menu item serve about 5 people, but the food was flavorless.  My mom ordered tacos with carnita meat and instead of carnitas got boiled, flavorless pork chunks the size of golf balls.  Fail on all Mexican cuisine accounts.

We finished up our time in Jerome with a few more stops before picking up some candy at a tiny little local candy store, then heading back to Phoenix.  The trip back went well and Jackson was glad to see us upon our arrival.  We had intended to go to the Botanical Garden the following day, however with temps expected to be around 111 we were a bit hesitant.  Seeing that we would have had to be there by about 8:00 AM we decided it was an adventure best suited for the next winter, fall or early spring visit.  Despite toasty weather we very much enjoyed my mom's visit and certainly look forward, not only to the next Comicon, but also another Caetano adventure.

 



"My spoon is too big"...



After my mom headed back home it was back to the weekend routine, aka, house projects.  On Saturday I got  in a nice run before the heat had a chance to settle in, then started a little touch up priming in the master bath.  Since the completed install of our new exhaust fans in both bathrooms and some minor plumbing modifications made in the master bath, some touch-ups were needed befpre the final paint color application.  Then came the usual home improvement errands, this time starting with the purchase our new 12x8x7 (depth/width/height) shed for the various tools and home maintenance equipment we've managed to accumulate.  We already have a concrete slab in the backyard with an existing rickety shed, but the shed was pretty small and not very secure, considering the screws attaching the door's lock were on the outside. In prep for our new shed's install, which happens to be this Thursday, about a week and a half earlier than expected, we needed to clear the rock pile that we had built a make shift container for, as well as tear down the existing shed.  Since Sunday was expected to be a good 6 degrees cooler, which really does make a difference when temps are in the triple digits, we waited to to start the cleanup/demo till Sunday. 

Sunday we aspired to go for a ride, however with plenty of work ahead of us and little motivation, my front flat tire served as the final straw to cancel. We took Jackson on a pleasant walk before getting to business and starting the quasi-Sisyphean task of moving pebble from the back yard, back to the front yard. Two loads were used to fill in the remaining un-rocked bed in the front of the house where we have a variety of succulents and small cactus.  We continued shoveling and distributing another 4+ wheelbarrow loads of pebble back to the front yard to thicken some thin coverage before we deconstructed the three block high pebble pen and piled the remaining pebble in the back yard. creating a small pile of remaining pebble. 

The tear down of the shed provided us the opportunity to clean out and donate some various items that had been stored inside, which is always a relief when you're limited on space.  The deconstruction ultimately took a little longer than expected, but seeing that we managed to finish sans abrasions or cuts from the rusty aluminum I consider it a success. Having sweat in the heat for hours we called it a day once we piled up the broken down shed and enjoyed lunch out before dropping off our donations and heading home to relax.

As difficult as Sunday's tasks were, it was quite refreshing to have made so much progress in expectation of our new shed!

Comicon part 2



Jonathan and I with R2D2



Add caption

On Sunday, day three of Comicon, my mom and I returned to the convention center for a Star Trek, The Next Generation discussion panel. The Next Generation series is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, which is darn impressive if you ask this little Trekie. I've never been to one of these panels and wasn't sure what to expect, but found it both interesting and a little odd. Some of the actors were mighty full of themselves, and borderline rude, while others were very well rounded and thoughtful. There seemed to be a notable rift between some of the characters which was somewhat awkward, but again, it was fun to see the characters of the show I'd grown up watching. It was also interesting to hear some of the questions asked by fans. Again, I'm proud to admit that I'm a fan and certainly do know my Star Trek characters and series specifics however, when a tearful fan began their question with "you guys are a heroes to a lot of use..." I couldn't help but think, really?  Granted the ingenuity of the series and the positive lessons/moral campus it provides is to be applauded, but these people are actors, paid actors. After the last question was answered we shuffled out of the conference room with the hundreds of fellow attendees.

 

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Bad ass predator



    We didn't spend any additional time walking about the convention center on Sunday, mostly because I was a bit burnt out from the crowds. I admit, prior to actually attending, and even during the various circles about the convention center floor I was confident that I'd have an arsenal of clever things about the experience, but Comicon threw me a but if a curve ball.  The be-yourself-spirit, freedom to obsess on sci-fi and fantasy, and genuine costume pride, no matter how obscure, was pretty amazing.  In addition the friendly nature of most, if not all attendees we came across was very impressive.  Using the Star Trek panel as an example, even with hundreds of attendees all funneling through 3 open doors back into the main hall, each person's personal space was respected.  No pushing nor shoving in this crowed and despite the opportunity for elbows and rudeness, we all simply moved about in our personal space bubbles, respecting one another and safely traversing among fellow nerds, and various staircases and escalators.



Not sure what this guy was, but his costume was awesome!



Perhaps its the nature of the Comicon beast that since attendees have paid for their ticket and are attending on their own accord its become somewhat of a safe zone.  Honestly, which individual would be stupid enough to pick on a fellow attendee for their nerdiness or their costume, seeing that they too are in attendance!  Jonathan, my mom and myself all very much enjoyed our Comicon experience and I personally look forward to attending next year's event, hopefully with some sort of entertaining costume.  Can't say I'll sign up for all three days again, but only time will tell.

 

Retirement isn't always kind.


To the right, you can check out more pictures from the event.  Most are thanks to my mom's appreciation of the plethora of costumes.  Thanks mom!


Mom with the DOZD
Department of Zombie Destruction



                        

The beautiful irony of this poster is that
across the way was a "Jesus Loves Gamers" both.



















Comicon Fri/Sat

Since my first post I've decided any additional follow up would be rather mundane, so I'm jumping to more recent happenings. 

This past Monday my mom flew in from CA to spend a little time in Phoenix, including 3 days worth of the 12th anniversary Phoenix Comicon.  Jonathan, my mom and I were all non-costumed, Comicon virgins, and attending was quite the experience. Thursday evening was the official start of the event but we waited until Friday to make our initial debut.   About mid day Friday my mom and I headed to the downtown convention center to pick up our passes and tour the event floor.  Friday's attendees were far less in number than Saturday or Sunday but this is not to say there were no costumed characters present.  As we circulated about the vendors, trekies, sexy fantasy artists, storm troopers and animme characters my mom snapped pictures of willing characters like a giddily little shutter bug.

 Later that day we met Jonathan at home before heading back downtown to whiteness the Zombie walk and the Zombie pageant.  Both turned out to be mildly disappointing.  Despite the crowd, the Zombie walk was a bit sparse in Zombie attendees and they were far too "live" as many barely shuffled during their rapid travel down the parade route.  As for the pageant, well it was a little odd, but semi entertaining.  Most zombie participants were far too talkative and non-zombie, but what really made the show entertaining was how uninhibited participants were. Doing their zombie pageant thing, each contestant seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their time on the cat walk shakin their thang and putting themselves out there.  And darn it, more power to them!

Saturday morning we headed back downtown to join thousands of fellow attendees, and would be making out first visit to the scheduled discussions.  With such an increased crowd, the number and creativity of costumes multiplied exponentially.  Captain Americas, Boba Fetts, Sailor Moons and a variety of  paranormals all carefully and courteously intermingled about the massive convention center.  At noon we went our different ways since my mom and I had some scheduled events we were looking forward and Jonathan preferred to roam the showroom. While my mom attended the discussion about whether Zombies move quickly or slowly I attended a particularly disappointing Star Trek vs. Star Wars debate.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the panelists and the back and forth was weak to the point where I walked out about a half hour early.  The most interesting part of the situation was observing the general behaviour of the different sides, made possible by the rooms divide of Trek on the right and Wars on the left.  The Trek fans were far more docile, respectful, and overall a bit more interested in the perspectives and general discussion, whereas the Star Wars fans seemed to have a little something to prove.  They tended to be a bit cocky as they rudely interrupted the Trek panel speakers, and, well, just kind of obnoxious.  I was hoping for more of a thoughtful discussion/debate, not a who is better finger pointing contest.

 We briefly departed the convention center for a quick lunch at a nearby Carri bean festival before returning for a bit more people watching and a few more purchases before calling it a day. There were a few events later in the evening that we were interested in, however, the hustle and bustle of Comicon has a strangely exhausting affect and we did not end up returning downtown until Sunday.

Sunday's wrap up and more photos to come...