Commencement Weekend

Daniel and Sarah came down on Friday evening with Jake and Andrew in tow. We started out with dinner at Bruno's (which kind of got broken up when Andrew decided that the root beer he loved so much didn't agree with his tummy and he spewed some serious chunkage at the dinner table). I had to attend institute graduation so I separated from the family and rejoined them about 8:30. We had some serious printing to do (both Daniel and Rosalyn's dissertations) so we spent a fair amount of late night time at the office.
Saturday morning dawned clear a cool and the graduation processional was quite spectacular. Bubby got to her favorite vantage point and brought everyone with her. She captured this great image of Tony as he marched by. He is now the official holder of an MBA degree from SUU. We are proud of him.

Andrew was amazed by the pipe band and contrary to earlier reports he was not frightened but truly enthralled. He talked about the event repeatedly that afternoon. It was fun to be able to take him to see all of the pomp on campus.

Following the march, we slipped back to the Science building and did a little elevator riding. Of course the major issue was who got to push which buttons, and Bubb wanted to capture her boys at the scene of the competition. Jake wanted to look at some rocks, and since we have a few, I took him down stairs to have a look. Of course, he didn't want to leave but Andrew was ready after a few minutes. Jake likes all of that science stuff. He had a great time looking at rocks under a microscope. Maybe he will be a science nerd, too.

Sarah and I went to Tony and Nate Wells' commencement exercises while Andrew had a nap. The festivities seemed unnecessarily long, but that was my second "sitting" so I am probably not a fair judge. We all gathered at UP's afterward for dinner. I was taken with how much Marcus looks like Uncle Dave at the same age. They share the same face shape, skin and hair coloring. It was uncanny, so I had to take this photo. Raymond was telling me they have noticed the same thing. Genetics are really a funny thing.

Of course, one of the stars of the show was Mr. Vince who is so large and very much in charge. He is cute and sweet and doesn't complain much but is so big I am sure he wares his mom out. I got several photos of him and this one is not the best, but it was pretty cute anyway.

Mikey was in charge of the BBQ and cooked some nicely marinated chicken. He posed for this photo while slaving at the grill. We had a lovely dinner of Dutch oven potatoes and beans, salad, and grilled chicken with graduation cake for dessert. It all tasted grand to me and we had a great time visiting. Jason, Mike, Cindy, and of course Tony were there along with Jaye's sister and family, Melissa's parents, and Jaye's Mom and Dad. It was lots and fun and a wonderful way to enjoy the post commencement let-down.

Bubby got a chance to get close to "My Ted", actually "Jasper's Ted", and had a fun time showing him around the garden. He is a really cute, but rather unsmiling, little friend. Since he is a favorite of Sarah's girls, Bubby wanted a photo-op with him.

The final photo is one of purple tulips from our front yard. There is a story associated with them, but I will leave it to Bubby to tell and not post it on the internet. You will just have to ask her.

Buboppy

New Mower

I have no photos to accompany this post, but I thought you ought to know that Bubby and I purchased a new lawnmower yesterday. It is a Honda. You might wonder if a purchase of this kind is blog-worthy, but I maintain that it is. I spend more time with the lawnmower in the summer than I do with my grandkids (that is terrible, but true).

Anyway, got it out the box, put some fluids in, one pull on the starter rope and I was in business. You have to love the technology. It took a couple of tries to get the height right, but we are good. If any one wants the old one, I will donate it. It needs a trip in for a tuneup (I'll pay) but it also needs a new back wheel (part of why I decided to buy new) which I am not spinning for.

If any of our readers are interested, let me know.

Buboppy

BCNHA at Hoover Dam

We drove to Hoover Dam this morning for the tour. There is major activity there because they are building a freestanding bridge across the Colorado below the dam so that traffic will no longer be routed across the dam. It's a homeland security measure. The photo shows their progress to date. they are just starting to extend the lower, arching support out from the anchors on each hillside (lower portion of the photo). It will be fun to watch the progress on this.

Here is a shot from the upper observation tower of the dam itself. Bubby couldn't stand to look down, it gave her vertigo. It always makes me wonder what it would be like to just launch myself out into space. Probably not too bad, except for the abrupt stop at the bottom.

Here you see an unofficial meeting of OFA (the Old Fart's Association), of which I am an honorary member. It is unofficial because the secretary, our Bubby, is taking the photo. We had many executive sessions of the association during our travels. It was fun to look back and see Jim, Larry, and Bubby all snoozin' away. Bubby takes minutes at all of the OFA meetings.

We took the $11 power plant tour and got to see the bank for turbines on the Nevada side spinning away and making electricity. It was pretty cool because we were right down in the dam and diversion tunnels part of the time. This is quite an engineering feat, especially when you consider it was done during the Great Depression and was finished two years ahead of schedule and under-budget. No wonder everyone thought Hoover was a hero. Later they hated him because of the FBI.

Bubby wanted to get her National Park Passport stamped, but she is out of places to stamp in the Western Region. We have just visited too many of those parks. She went down to get an impression on a separate piece of paper after the tour, and she is triumphantly riding back up the escalator with her passport and stamp proudly displayed.

We had a wonderful trip, again. It was very pleasant and relaxing. The weather was outstanding, and we ate at some really fun places. Thanks to Gayle and BCNHA for their 12 year sponsorship of this annual event.

Buboppy

BCNHA Weekend

We were picked up at our home at about 8:45 AM and we joined Jim, Gayle, and the other Larry on a trip south. We drove through Newcastle, turned south at Enterprise, and then west at Veyo. We drove by Gunlock Reservoir and it is at capacity. We noticed that the black brush was in bloom, a very rare occurrence, indeed. Jim is a black brush specialist. He pointed it out to us and told us of its significance. The moisture this year has been good and it has come at just the right time in order to make this happen. By the way, the photo above is NOT black brush. It is the flower of a prickly pear, which we took on the Beaver Dam slope just north of Beaver Dam. It was a glorious day on that sunny slope and once we got out, no one wanted to get back into the van.

We headed to Mesquite and stopped for the buffet at the Oasis. It was surprisingly good although, everyone ate way too much. From Mesquite we drove on I-15 to the Logandale/Overton exit and then to Overton and the Lost City Museum. This looks like a great stop for the group when we bring them on the trip next June. After the museum, we diverted to Valley of Fire State Park and I shot this beautiful image of an indigo bush. All of the wild and flowering plants are either verdantly green or in full bloom. This is a great time to be out in the desert.

We stopped at the visitor's center and did some display and people watching. There were lots of foreign devils with abundant body piercings and tatoos. The Valley of Fire is a popular location for weddings. They claim to host 60-80 each month. It was warm and wonderful there and the shadowed red rocks were very dramatic against the blue sky. We drove on to Henderson, and finally to Summerlin were we stayed at a Hampton last night. We did a Memphis style BBQ last night that was amazing. There were five of us and they offered a BBQ feast for $69 and we asked if it would feed five. The waiter laughed and just said,, "Easily!". It was enough food for eight! We did enjoy it, but took way too much back to the Hampton with us.

This morning's activities started with an early trip to the retailer whose sign is pictured above. We needed water and some snacks and we headed out for the Red Rocks recreation area.

It is a very popular stop for folks from Las Vegas and the park was full of bikers, joggers, hikers, rock climbers, and picnicers. I shot this image of Bubby tanning her legs on the bench in front of the VC. We drove the scenic loop drive and then returned to I-15 at the Blue Diamond exit.

This is a photo of Jim and the flowering black brush. He is properly proud of his favorite forb. The delicate flowers lack petals and are small, but beautiful.

On our way to Mount Charleston, we stopped at a restaurant recommended by Guy F. on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives". It definitely falls into the last category (despite the waitress's denial, we were in North Las Vegas). We were a little frightened to go in, but we decided to take a shot. It was certainly a bar, but the bar area, and its smokers, were behind glass. We ate in a pleasant dining room. The foods of choice were wings and stromboli. The portions were generous, and we all said we would do it again if we get the chance. Maybe we will take the group next year when we come. We have a new place to take any of our readers should we be here with you in the future.

After several hours of a geologic road log of the Spring Mountains, we stopped at the top of Mount Charleston, where I took this photo of bristlecone pine foliage. The trees grew very straight in this location (not the twisted and knotted trunks and branches we are used to seeing). Their bottle brush-like needle clusters are really unusual.

On our way back to the motel, we stopped and I took a photo of Bubby by a joshua tree bloom. She loves these flowers, and during this trip we have seen the blossoms and the fruits that the joshuas bear. It has been a glorious weekend and we have really enjoyed ourselves. We will start home tomorrow after a tour of the Hoover Dam. I think our in-service teachers will really enjoy this trip next year.

Buboppy

Blast From the Past

I was cleaning out some computer files and found this image. It sure made me reflect. Since we have not blogged yet this week, I thought it might make our readers smile and give me an entrance for some ponderings.

As most of you know, Bubby went to the Cousinless Reunion this weekend, and I spent Saturday getting our grow boxes ready to plant. I did such a good job that Bubby planted onions early this week. We went to the Music Department's wind concert on Monday night, Bubby really liked it.

Not much new to report. I am dying to go fishing, but my boat is still in dry dock and I can't get away from the office anyway. We are going on the BCNHA pre-trip Saturday, Sunday and Monday, so we will have lots to show and tell during our next posting. Adieu until then.

Buboppy

Just For Laur

We were able to attend a Williams wedding on Saturday night and here is the photographic proof. Laurie's cousin, Bryce, married his long time girl friend Ricki (in the photo). It was a lovely reception and we saw lots of people we know.

Of course Bubby wanted a photo of Uncle Roland (her current hairdresser) and Aunt Julie.

Peter and Lindsey and their daughter were handling the guest book, and we got this great shot. The baby is too cute.

We even saw Eric and Sombrin and got them to sit for a photo. Eric said he would just close his eyes from the outset (and you can see that he did) because pictures always catch him with them closed. Alas, this is the only immediate family member we saw. Big K said they were really late getting to the reception and we missed them altogether.

Of course Bubby wanted a photo of Lauri's cousin Chase and his family. Chase is our new family dentist. I have an appointment with him on Thursday.

I thought the refreshments unique, along with other aspects of the reception, so I tok this photo. Bubby thought the moose in the rice crispy treat was particularly appropriate to the decor.

One final photo of the kitchen crew. They were slaving away, and having fun doing it.

It was a lazy Saturday for us, but we sure enjoyed it.

Buboppy

Phishing

I realize that not all of our faithful readers are going to really care, but this post chronicles a recent trip to Sandhollow reservoir. The first thing you will note is that we were fishing from shore. Yes, the boat took a dump on us. We had just loaded up the gear. Jon Lee, Uncle Rol, and I started outside the launch area when the overheating light and horn came on. After a tense ride back to the dock and a couple of manly looks "under the hood" we decide that water, which cools the engine was not being taken into the system. We loaded the boat back on the trailer and I took it to Rogers Marine, just a couple of miles away and left it for them to work on. They suspect the "impeller" but I am really not sure what that is. Anyway, with the boat in dry dock, I joined Jon and Uncle Roland on the bank.

It was a beautiful, warm, day (as you can see from the photos). However the water temperature is just a few degrees above 50, so the fish were very sluggish. I have been reading about a new fishing technique designed for just the situation we were in, so I tried it. The bait is called a Senko, and it is produced by Gary Yamamoto in Page, AZ. It is a plastic bait, looks like a five inch-long stick, and is fished dead slow. It took me several casts and moves along the bank to get on to it, but it works.

After I caught my second fish Uncle Roland and Jon both rigged up and Uncle Roland caught one, too. Three fish is far fewer than we had hoped for, but alas, we were hungry. We had a late lunch at Alberto's in Hurricane, and called it a day.

If you want the full story, check out Jon Lee's and Uncle Roland's respective blogs.

I think we are all looking forward to a rematch.

Buboppy