Italian Opera on the Road

Stan and I had a great Christmas with Ben, Jocelyn, Kristian and his family. We had three snow storms while we were in Colorado and had the pleasure of watching Kristian barbeque tri tip in a blizzard for Christmas dinner. No big deal!!! Kristian's dad Murray was a wonderful host and we felt right at home with 20 people, all cooking,laughing and eating up a storm. With festivities over, we saw Jocelyn and Kristian off to Chile, then Ben to Santa Barbara and left to return to New Mexico. We stopped for the night in the Colorado border town of Trinidad. It's claim to fame was coal and Batt Masterson as sheriff. Apparently he would go out to the bars after work, get hammered and shoot out the lights over the store fronts on the way home. Being a gracious person, he would go back the next morning and replace the light bulbs. We checked into a hotel and decided to go have an Italian dinner at Rino's. It's in a really cool old stone building with lots of velvet drapery and old wooden arches. We walked in and the hostess asked us to wait a moment before taking us to our table. There was a man singing Italian opera, with all his heart and soul. Not only that, he was good! It turns out that all the waiters, owners and owners' sister sing. We had a fabulous dinner and every 10 minutes of so, someone would grab the microphone and sing Italian, country western or one of the old standards. We finished our dinner and hung out until everyone had sung. So if you're ever in Trinidad.......

When wings don't fly

We are currently visiting Jocelyn and Kristian in Broomfield,Co for the holidays. It is cold but perfect weather for this time of year. We had a really nice drive up the east side of the Rockies, with a stop in Los Vegas,NM along the way. Unluckily for us, we found a great bakery and indulged in humongous pastries. Sigh.... Many crumbs later we arrived and have spent the last few days taking in the current show at the Denver Art Museum (Artists and Kings, on loan from the Louvre) and getting our fix at REI's flagship store. Meanwhile Ben hopped on a plane Friday night, with a stopover in Pheonix and on to Denver. The stop over in Pheonix became a full stop when his flight got canceled. After a looong time in line he got to the counter and asked what his options were. Their best offer?? He should probably rent a car and drive, maybe back to Santa Barbara, it being closer. Or he could wait until Sunday night and try to go standby. He called to let us know what was happening and after much disbelief and despair, Wonder Sister (Jocelyn) got online and got him a ticket on another airline that went out the next morning. All well and good, other than no sleep, no food and no checked bag. All's well that ends well though. We now have Ben and his bag (they can't find it, he has to pick it up, we go to pick it up, they are delivering it!!!!!) and Ben and Stan are up skiing for the day on fresh powder.

A New Vista

After a long week and many hours on the phone to India, we are finally back online! Just a little problem with the new Vista program. You all understand I'm sure. It's a good thing there was no sledge hammer handy. We probably better make sure we don't get one because it's bound to come up again a time or two..... Meanwhile, 5th wheel life is great. We have biked and hiked our way through Death Valley and Sedona, Az and are now in Albuquerque,NM. The weather has been outstanding, although quite cool. Lots of nights in the 20s and beautiful red rock canyons with patches of snow sprinkled over the top for that winter affect. Stan is very happy to be in chile pepper land. Next stop, Colorado for Christmas.

Sunday afternoons and bbqs

Having successfully moved from Ventura to Casitas Lake near Ojai, we decided to try out the new weber go anywhere bbq. Stan barbequed some Cajun spiced salmon, which we had with bread, salad and risotto. All came out well, except the risotto. I can truly say that risotto is not my forte, however the wine and the company (Jim and Leah Cushman) made it go down just fine. It is absolutely beautiful here. We are backed up to a bluff overlooking the water. We can look out the picture window and watch the ducks and other birds on the water while the sun rises. Who knew??? One of these days Stan will download some pictures and maybe I'll figure out how to actually show you some of these places.... Thanks to all who have visited us while we've been getting ready to formally take leave of the Santa Barbara area. You are the hardest part of leaving and the best part of coming back. Cheers!

moving out, Moving in...

So yesterday was moving day. Got up, got out of bed, went outside, felt the raindrops on my head. That was the beginning...... It's a funny feeling to move out of the house that we have been in for the better part of 30 years, designed by my dad and built by just about everyone on Mountain Drive. Luckily it will be there waiting for us to come back to, along with our neighborhood. Our new home is quite a bit smaller but a lot more mobile and the gardening is a lot less intensive.

Being our first night ever in the 5th wheel, we decided to go to a place that had hookups so that we could learn this stuff in a leisurely manner. Ventura RV was the nearest so Stan took off and I followed a couple hours later. Stan arrived unscathed and the fun began. First he was told that his pull through spot had been given away and they were giving him a back in one. OK, good practice... Then he found out that a transformer had blown and the electricity for the park was down. Well, we can live with 12 volt. Then we discovered that we only had 10 feet of hose and drain lines and we were 20 feet from the hookups. You know, there is nothing that a good bottle of wine and a place to put your feet up can't cure so that's what we did and life is good!

A Beautiful Evening

Muchas Gracias to all our friends and to Gloria for creating a wonderful evening in a spectacular setting. I can see we will have to go away more often. It was so great to be able to see so many friends all together. What more could you ask for? A beautiful setting, perfect weather, good food and drink and the best group of people! Thanks again to all of you...

Close to Going Somewhere

One week left and we should be getting on the road. What with getting the house ready to leave and all the other things you need to do when you take to the road, we have no idea how to work anything in this huge 5th wheel. It will be learned by trial and error...... I'm sure the 5th wheel will get small pretty quickly!