The Idea Garden

Roger and I went on our “honeysun” to the Four Corners area for 16 days.  We traveled over 2000 miles in our rented Ford Edge, over paved and decidedly unpaved roads.  Every day brought amazing experiences hiking and camping in the breathtaking environment.  Some highlights include:  the light in Santa Fe, sunsets on Mesa Verde, Dead Horse Point State Park, camping on BLM land at Valley of the Gods, seeing a herd of bull elk and a kit fox, hiking Aztec Butte, the 16% grade switchback descent from the top of Black Canyon of the Gunnison to the bottom, the ruins at Hovenweep, and just about everything at Chaco Canyon.

We listened to an outstanding presentation on the night stars at national parks given by Dr. Tyler Nordgren and bought copies of his new book, Stars Above, Earth Below.  (Here is a link to his website which includes the Powerpoints and his blog: http://newton.uor.edu/FacultyFolder/tyler_nordgren/index.html)

Just about every photo we took (all 400+ of them) brings back a special memory.

Roger discovered “Trip Journal,” a great iPhone app (99 cents) that allows the user to set waypoints, organize and label photos, and take notes.  The output is a nifty map of the trip, including the photos and comments.  The entire trip can be exported to Facebook (yikes!  My friends would unfriend me.), Flickr, Google Earth and more.  I am especially thankful for the ability to take quick notes in my iPhone trip journal.  Next, I plan to put the whole honeysun into a Shutterfly book.  By the fall, I will be able to “thrill” any guest with a variety of media about our trip.

Every regular domestic day with Roger is terrific, but our honeysun is unforgettable.

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We did the whirlwind tour to go see Nicole this weekend — left Sykesville a little before 6am, got to Syracuse around 12:30pm.  Lunch, haircut for Nicole, errands, out to see Michael Moore’s new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, then picked up N’s roomate and went downtown for a great Thai dinner. Sunday morning was incredible waffles at Funk ‘N Waffles, then the sad goodbye.

You could as easily have strangled my heart with barbed wire and it wouldn’t have felt any worse to leave my baby. I wonder will it get easier?  At least she is adapting well to college and seems happy.

I had a hankering to get some fresh local apples, but we didn’t know where to go. Natalie was driving the first leg (she can only drive first, because she falls asleep), and I saw a sign for an apple festival for next weekend. We took the exit anyway, and without much poking around, we found a great orchard. We didn’t take the time to pick, but got some amazing already picked apples, and even more amazing, some fresh-fried apple fritters. Can’t wait for Natalie to make those at home! We wandered the back way to get back to the highway, and at one point passed a farm with 26 acres for sale by owner. Natalie wanted to turn around and check it out, but I thought that was a bad idea. We probably would have bought it.

It was really weird that, when we were driving up Saturday, the leaves were nice and getting some color, but coming back Sunday, the colors were totally striking. Can that happen in one night? Well, I suppose a lot can happen in one night. That’s all it took for Natalie and I to fall in love.

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Even though they’ve been open for eight years, I’ve avoided Go Fish! the British Fish and Chips shop in downtown Rehoboth.  After three days of “maybe,” I gave in to Roger’s persuasion and a wonderful meal that ended with English Sticky Toffee Pudding.  Here’s a link to the Food Network recipe.  It’s first on my list of recipes to try when I get home.  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cooking-live/english-sticky-toffee-pudding-recipe/index.html.

If you’re in Rehoboth, the traditional fish and chips meal is outstanding.  We split an order because I couldn’t bring myself to eat all that fried food; however, when the meal was finished (all too soon), we debated ordering again. . .

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Shirley challenged us to walk to Gordon’s Pond and back, so we took a walk with Nicole (while CJ monitored his video world). These last few weeks before she goes to Syracuse are a bittersweet time.  After this, we spent several days indulging in Rummicube, Canasta, reading, more walking, beach time, napping, and eating.  When Roger suggested fish and chips, I told him that we had plenty of food (salad fixings from home) that God had provided.  He said that God had also provided us with all the food we could eat on the Boardwalk.  Not so reluctant to be convinced, I gave in.  We ate sushi at the Cultured Pearl and Nicola’s pizza, Coldstone Creamery and Kohr Bros. ice cream, Thrasher’s fries and Fisher’s popcorn.  Not all at once!  I hope there’s no weight limit on the Bay Bridge.  Ed and Shirley–Thank you for the beach condo!

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