Color Me Mine

Melissa had a bad day today. It started with forgetting the key to her bike lock and ended with a bicycle wreck. She needed some help! So... we took her to Color Me Mine.

Color Me Mine is a place where you can buy pieces of ceramic (bisque) already in the shape of a plate or vase or pitcher, then you color it, draw on it, or whatever else you want to do to it.

She's done a lot of painting but, unfortunately for her, it's been the walls of her house. She seemed to have a good time and made some nice-looking plates which later went up on her kitchen wall.





Mark made a vase and Heather made a sushi plate.






The trip there seemed to help. Regardless, WE sure had fun!!

Alpine Slide

Today we decided to go ride the Alpine Slide in Park City. We drove up at about noon and got tickets. Here we are on the lift to the top.



On the first run, Marley and Heather raced Ethan and Melissa... It was neck and neck the whole way down, and we ultimately tied the race!



The second run, Mark and Marley rode down together. They had a slow sled, but still came in for a strong finish.


After that we decided to ride the zip line. Since it wasn't there when we were kids, none of us had ever ridden this one before. It's 2,300 feet long, almost half a mile, with a top speed of 50 mph! The average grade is 23%, and it's the longest zip line in the continental United States.


We decided to take turns with Marley and Ethan so all of the grownups could have a chance to ride down. Mark and I went first. We rode the ski lift up to the top and had to wait in line. Every time someone else went down, I noticed how steep the cables were, and how long people screamed as they went down the hill. My heart started to race a little.

Finally, it was our turn... We had watched several people make it down to the bottom - screaming but unscathed. (or, at least as far as we could see - by the time they were at the bottom you can no longer see them) We sat down in the harnesses, got strapped in, and placed our feet straight out in front of us against the retaining gates. Then the gates opened and we were free falling! It was a blast! Here are Scott and Melissa coming in for a landing.



You can see the Alpine Slide in the background.



Here's a picture of Melissa and Ethan as we were leaving the park. Ethan is trying to be incognito so no one will ask for his autograh.



That evening, we had a picnic in Scott and Melissa's backyard with some of their friends while all of the kids played in the inflatable pool. Ranger showed some of his tricks to Marley.

Arches National Park

On the drive from the Motel 6 to Utah, we took a two-hour detour through Arches National Park since Mark had never seen it before. It's a beautiful park, one of Utah's five National Parks.

Balancing Rock




It was well over a hundred degrees, so we couldn't really get out of the car to go hiking. Since dogs aren't allowed on the trails we would've had to leave Ranger in the car. The Spring and Fall seasons are the best time to go - there are fewer tourists and it's not as hot, but the scenery is spectacular regardless of the temperature.

The Motel 6 Incident

We left Mark's family in Texas and started the drive to Utah to visit Heather's family. After driving all day, we needed a place to spend the night. This can be complicated when traveling with a dog, as many reputable establishments do not allow pets in the room.

At around 10:30 pm, we decided to stay in the Motel 6 in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, which is about halfway from Bryan, Texas to Orem, UT. We have stayed in this particular motel before, and although it's pretty basic, it has always been a clean, cheap place to spend the night.

The room was $43.99 a night before taxes, not bad! For another $2.99, you can add 24 hours of unlimited wireless internet. The hotels where we typically stay charge $10 to $15 a day for internet access, so this was a great deal.

We got up to our room, only to find that there was no wireless signal. I called the support number and was told that particular room, #229, didn't have access. So then I called the front desk and asked for a new room. No problem. They moved us closer to the router.

Upon entering the new room, I noticed a mostly-dead cockroach next to the desk. For those of you who know me well, you know that I am very uncomfortable with sharing living quarters with a roach. Mark kicked it away and I decided to just deal with it and get some sleep.

I pulled back the sheets and noticed this stain in the middle of the sheets...


I looked closer...


This is not a good picture, but trust me that this appeared to be raised - not just a stain, but actual DIRTY sheets! SO GROSS!!! What is it? Blood? Something WORSE???

I froze. I couldn't sit down. Could not possibly sleep in that room, in that bed. Asked Mark "will you call this time to get us another room?" "No." Crap! (literally??)

I called the front desk again... "Um, yeah, hi. You just switched us to another room, there's a blood stain or something on the sheets, and it's not just a stain, it's CRUSTY!!!"

They sent someone up to examine the sheets of the next room prior to giving us keys. It was clean enough, but I didn't touch my bare feet to the carpet, or even the shower. I was too grossed out. I think that might be my last Motel 6 stay. Ever.

Americana: Donuts and Livestock

Mark’s favorite donuts are from Shipley’s, and he wanted to make several trips there this week. He noticed a sign there that you won’t see in too many places around the country:

Just around the corner was another sign. Move over diamonds, here’s the REAL gift that lasts a lifetime.

As has been our custom since being unemployed, we slept late. We also managed to squeeze in a nap today. Tim, Wanda’s boyfriend, invited us over for dinner. He made a feast of pan-fried fish, barbeque chicken, green beans and mushrooms, salad with homegrown tomatoes, hot rolls, and strawberry cake, with M&Ms before and after the meal.
After eating we went outside to see Tim’s animals. He has three cows, a young bull, a few ducks and chickens, a golden retriever, and a pond full of catfish. Samantha gave a bottle to the calf and fed the fish.



That evening we watched the 4th of July fireworks in the small neighboring town of Kurten. It was a very impressive fireworks display for such a small town. Several times we thought they were doing the grand finale, but they just kept going.

Magnetic Poetry

Wanda was quite excited to bring home some magnetic poetry for her refrigerator. Her first poem was reminiscent of Helen Steiner Rice. “I love music and gardening. It is a beauty gift from heaven.”


Brandon, Tim's son, added a nice sentiment: "I like Miss Wanda."


Heather wrote a nice haiku to commemorate our vacation.
"We are road tripping
Languid summer, lazy love
Hot sun on bare skin"


Of course, the other relatives wrote less like Helen Steiner Rice and more like Charles Bukowski. It started with “I lick the wet butt boil, then screaming with madness smear waxy purple blood on my raw ass” and quickly deteriorated.

“The gorgeous girl beat him delirious yet he has not run but she pounded his ugly head full of delicate rock but you men are weak & she is a bitter iron knife.”

“The sordid drooling man with the enormous sausage sprayed milky produce in the drunk woman’s sweaty pants.”

Poor Wanda....

Tex Mex

Today, we went to Caldwell, where Wanda works, and she took us to eat at La Bamba Mexican Grill.


You can tell how good a restaurant is going to be based on what decorations are hanging from the rear-view mirrors of the cars in the parking lot. We use the "fuzzy dice" rating system, which is much more reliable than Fodor’s or TripAdvisor. This was a “four fuzzy dice” establishment. It scored bonus points because the pictures we took were of cars on either side of us.


It was authentic, flavorful Mexican food. They brought out queso and two types of salsa with handmade chips. It was all good, but in particular, the fresh green tomatillo, lime, and cilantro salsa was fantastic.

While we were in Caldwell we saw J. Lyle’s home, which had a number of his sculptures in his yard. According to Wanda, his real name is Dr. Joe Smith. He used to work at the Caldwell Clinic until his retirement, when he began creating some fascinating pieces of artwork. Many of his pieces are large-scale, mixed media, and include sculpted faces. Heather’s favorite was a large yellow reclining nude, reminiscent of Henri Matisse.


We took Mark’s parents to a ceramics shop so they could try glazing some bisque pieces. Dolly and Heather made vases with a peacock glaze, which is green with blue crystals that explode in the kiln. It looked grey when they were finished. Sterling made a huge mug with a Ming blue crackle glaze. Mark made a mug with a crystal glaze called blueberry, which has purple and green exploding crystals. We can’t wait to see what they look like when they are fired.