The Garden

Just so y'all don't think I have nothing to do this summer.

to do list:

Our kitchen ceiling when we moved in.
Recessed lighting is about the most unimaginative one in home decorating, in my humble opinion.


We lived with it until last month. Then it had to go.

My new kitchen ceiling is not only prettier, more open and gives us more light, but it is highly energy inefficient. We went from 120 watts to 320 watts. Nothing like being green....

BUT!

It is not flourescent so we do not get cancer. Not from that light anyway.

More projects...

So. We are buying this ranch. In case we run out of projects to do around the house, we will always have plenty more waiting for us on the

"Roads' End Ranch".

It is 10 acres with beautiful views. We see our San Jacinto Mountains and the San Gorgonio too.

If you feel like you need to do some work, you are always welcome on the ranch. We have a long to do list there too.

Next on the list is the fireplace. Stay tuned.

Chapter X. "The Dopp Stop"

Anabel was home and waiting for us in Mesa.

She showed me how she can ride her pony and how she can talk and walk and her other new tricks.

Avery is not pet friendly at this point in her life, so she chose to pick roses with grandma Val instead of playing with Buck and Spitz. Anabel followed to get some roses for herself.

Spitz is getting all the attention.

Anabel wants to see how Buck is doing.

Caitlin still loves her little red dog.

Noelle is wondering what is with all these new activities.

Spitz sneeking up on Anabel.

Ethan loves Spitzers too.

Later in the evening, we all went out to have a wonderful dinner. Anabel is watching her figure, so she just had water.




Good times, good food and good laughs with the Dopp Family and all the little ones was the best way to finish our 25 days and 7000 miles trip.

Chapter IX. "Leaving the East Coast"

Good buy beautiful, industrial coast,

good buy red barns and rolling hills,

good buy neat, little European looking, historic towns.

Loaded with ticks and antiques, we are leaving the prosperous east.

We had a great time, but let's face it... rednecks belong in the west.

We will be back though, because I need some time to pick through Ohio.

When we return, I must do some historical studies in the Ohio antique malls.

This is outside of Columbus, OH.

On the way to Champaign, to see Stephanie Price, we had to take a detour from the freeway. Not just because I wanted to see the home of Indi 500, but because the traffic did not move.

So here it is.


The entrance to the racetrack for Formula I.



We had a very short visit with Stephanie Price, because she had two students coming for their weekly lesson and we were pressing to make some miles. She made us a delicious lunch and let us continue our journey.





Is that the Mississippi again?

Oh good. They have good BBQ around here. Let's go shape our waiste lines.

St Louis, MO is where we spent our second night.



Spitz is wondering which one is the lunch stop. He can almost smell it.

And there it is.

Springfield, MO. Good bread, lunch meat, lunch cheese, fruits and pastery on the tailgate with the view of the Springfield City Hall.

On the road to Branson, MO.

Ready to tour downtown Branson.

Through Arkansas on a rainy evening, we settled in Shanee Oklahoma for another night. Texas, New Mexico, long day and the night in Gallup, NM.

We took this picture in Arizona, rolling down from Heber toward Mesa.






















In the hills north-west of Phoenix.

One more stop before California.

Chapter VIII. "Working again"

Part 1.
Emmitsburg, Maryland

Mount St. Mary's College campus corn fields

Above is James, Mark's helper.

Mark was out here in January to do the pile driving and testing. What can I say...it was cold, snowy and very very muddy back then.

Part 2.
Emmitsburg, Maryland 4 months later

Conditions improved somewhat by April. It is raining and hailing and it is cold and very muddy, but no more snow. The backhoe will not be stuck that's for certain.

Mark is digging trenches and I am logging the soil. In technical language, we are playing geology in the mud.

On our second day, the sun came out and the fog lifted by 11:00 am. It actually warmed up nicely to do some soil sampling.

The Mount St. Mary's College Campus
A little hazy, but there is Mary on the hillside looking over her pupils.

Here I am looking over my ring sample.

Driving the rings down to pull up some soil

The muddy clay makes the driving the sampler easier, but walking in it is a different story. The truck didn't exactly stay clean after this one either.