Sometimes It's The Hard Thing

I was driving to work this morning, and as I  have been trying to do during Lent, I was saying the Rosary.  Being Tuesday, I started on the Sorrowful Mysteries.  For those that are not Catholic, the Sorrowful Mysteries are:

• the Agony in the Garden
• the Scourging at the Pillar
• the Crowning of Thorns
• Jesus carries His Cross
• The Passion and Death of the Lord

As I started, the thought came to mind.. " I don't want this.  Lord, I don't want to do the Sorrowful Mysteries.  Can't I do the Joyful ones?  I want something happy today."

And... that's the point, isn't it?  Jesus would have liked to skip the sorrowful ones too!  He asked the Father for that.  But it was not to be.

My lesson (reminder) for the day... sometimes it's hard.  Sometimes we have to do the hard thing.  Jesus didn't promise us we wouldn't have hard times (quite the opposite, despite what some preachers say!).  He DID promise us that He'd be with us, and he sent us the Spirit to get us through.  So... a good lesson to renew commitments and keep on keeping on.

4th Anniversary

I drove down to Tucson after work today for Schola rehearsal (we are singing for Good Friday).  I took the Miata, since my Ford is in the shop still.  Normally I don't drive the Miata such long distances -- I have easily doubled the number of miles I drive in a year with this trip :-).

Today is also the 4th anniversary of my Dad's death.  Driving the Miata (it was his car) always makes me feel close to him.  Even though it wasn't on a fun, curvy road, it still was nice.

Miss you, Dad.

Concert...

I was in Tucson today for a concert by the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra . My friend Julie was kind enough to give me one of her comps, and her company when she wasn't playing/busy.

It was a great concert!  Some Walton, some Ravel, and the Faure Requiem, among other things.  I was struck by the connections I had:

• My friend Julie plays with them.  A couple of Sinfonian brothers also sometimes play with them, but weren't there today.
• I bumped into my stepfather at the concert! (his wife plays with them).
• I saw my friends Erica and DeWayne (they were singing in the chorus).
• The piano soloist for the Ravel is a student of our accompanist at SSPP.
• My friend Yelena (who I met at SSPP when she was our accompanist) is going to be their guest artist in November for the Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concert (it and she are both amazing).

It's very heartwarming to realize even though I left Tucson 11 (!) years ago I still have these connections.

Madison's Funeral

I see that I did not comment here on my friend Madison's Defler's illness.  Sadly, she passed away Saturday January 14th.  She was 20.  She was diagnosed in November 2015 with a rhabdomyosarcoma behind her right eye.  She went through chemo and radiation and in August 2016 was declared cancer-free.  Her family and friends rejoiced.

Sadly, 6 weeks or so later followup scans showed the cancer was back, in her brain and spine.  She underwent more chemo and other therapies but this time the results were only good for a time, but the overall trend was bad.  She finally succumbed this Saturday, in the presence of her family and some close friends.

I got the word Saturday night and while I guess I was not actually surprised, it hit me very hard.  I've known Madison since she was 10 or so -- we met at Sherwood, of course.  We spent a lot of time together on the ice and I got to see her grow from a spunky, sweet young girl into a smart, talented, hardworking, beautiful, and still spunky young woman.  She had graduated in June 2015 and had started college at Chapman University, pledging the Delta Delta Delta sorority.  Shortly after she got her diagnosis.

I flew up to Portland Wednesday night and attended the memorial service at her synagogue (Shaarie Torah), then the graveside service.  I had never attended a Jewish funeral.  It was beautiful, but hard. So many skating family were there, though, including coaches Ikaika, Shannon, Krissy, Sonya and Kelli, Zena and Emmy, Karly and her mom, Sierra, Kris C., Casey and her parents, Aziza and her mom, and so many more.  It helped a lot.

My heart goes out to the Defler family and all her family and friends.  She will be missed.

Midwest Trip

Last week I had a whole week off to visit family and friends, and participate in some Fraternity stuff.

I flew out of Phoenix on Saturday 7/2, on Southwest nonstop to Indianapolis.  Got in a little late, picked up my rental car and headed north.  I stopped for the night in lovely Plymouth, Indiana, a small town that is reasonably charming.  Had a nice dinner and looked around a bit -- lovely old homes near downtown.

The next morning I headed north to South Bend and took some time to look at the Notre Dame campus and especially to visit the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.  It's gorgeous!  As I'm still gimpy, walking around campus even to the limited extent that I did was probably not too smart.  I did enjoy it though.  The contrast between the beautiful campus and South Bend was stark -- the town is not the best and seems to be suffering.

After my visit I drove to Ann Arbor and stayed with my cousin Mary and her husband, along with their kids and my aunt and uncle.  We had a cookout that night, then for the 4th more swimming, eating, and hanging out.  My cousin Joe came down from Detroit for the occasion, and my cousins Mark and Martha were there with their spouses and children so it was quite the gathering.  I've always envied the closeness the Rogers clan have -- it's pretty awesome.

Tuesday was a quiet day; I went to noon Mass with my uncle Art at St. Thomas, then came back and hung out for the rest of the day.

Wednesday morning I said my goodbyes and headed back to Indianapolis.  While there weren't any "big activities" during my stay, I really enjoyed it.  With my broken ankle  I wasn't really up to such things, and anyway I really just wanted to spend time with family, which I got to do in spades.  I can't say enough how much I enjoyed my visit.

I got down to Indy around 4:45 and went to my friend Julia's house.  I had not seen her or her husband Todd since their wedding in 2013 (I was gimpy then too!). Since then they've moved into a beyoootiful new house and have an amazingly cute daughter Katie.  We had a great visit (amazing dinner!) and wonderful conversation.

Thursday morning I hit the road for Evansville.  I-69 does not run all the way from Indy to Evansville, there is a pretty substantial gap between the Indy and the end of the freeway.  So Siri took me on a rather "interesting" trip through central Indiana.  All worked well, though and I arrived at Lyrecrest (headquarters for Phi Mu Alpha) an hour earlier than expected -- southwest Indiana, as it turns out, is on Central time, not Eastern, so I gained an hour.

I spent the next several days attending our Province Governors Convocation.  This is an annual gathering of the Fraternity's PGs and deputy PGs.  We learned a lot of good info but the most important was just time to bond as a group and share stories and experiences.  I learned a lot of good stuff which I will take back to my province.  All in all I'm convinced that we are on the right track in my Province.  There is a lot to do, though!

Sunday morning we wrapped up our Convocation and after some extended conversations it was time to head back to Indy.  I hit the road (I took a different route) and got to the airport with plenty of time before my 9 p.m. flight.  After an uneventful flight I got to Phoenix, hopped in a cab, and a few minutes (and $46) later I was home, tired but happy.

Gimpy Again

I broke my left ankle last week during my power skating lesson.  Gaaah!

I know in the great scheme of things, it could have been far, far worse.  For one thing, I tucked my head so I didn't whack it. That's awesome, because I'd rather have a broken bone than a concussion.  And while having a fractured fibula is no fun (but love the alliteration :-) ) at least it's not weightbearing.  A fractured tibia would have been a real problem.  As it is I'm off the ice for 4- 6 weeks, probably, so I'll have a wasted summer as far as skating and getting things done :-(.

Ralph Vaughan Williams "Dona Nobis Pacem"

Tonight I drove down to Tucson after work to attend a concert of the Arizona Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Choir and Symphonic Choir performing Ralph Vaughan Williams's "Dona Nobis Pacem."  My friend Mikey (Miguel) sat with me and was nice enough to get me a free ticket!

It was a wonderful concert!  The soloists (esp. the baritone) were really good, and the choirs and orchestra did a great job.  I had not heard this live since I performed it with the Ventura County Master Chorale back when I lived in Oxnard so many years ago.  It is not performed often, which is a shame.

I was especially struck, as I had not been when I was performing, by the "story" aspect of the piece.  As an audience member I could experience and appreciate interplay between the soloists and the orchestra and choir to convey such a depth of meaning.  It was just beautiful and I couldn't help but cry.  I'm so glad I made time to go.

Arcosanti

I was up in northern Arizona this weekend.  I drove up to Flagstaff Saturday afternoon and had a chance to hang out with my friend Katie.  She's a FOCUS missionary at NAU.  She's done a great job there but her time is short as she will be leaving at the end of the semester.

Saturday evening was Kappa Xi chapter's initiation ritual.  It was pretty good and their new guys are really terrific.  Of course it was a very late night and I didn't get to bed until like 3!  And of course it snowed... it seems like it almost always snows when I'm up there for initiation.  Just an inch or 2 and it was gone in the a.m. so that was okay.

Sunday I stopped off on my way home to tour Arcosanti. I had driven by so many times but never had a chance to visit, so I was determined to take advantage of this opportunity.  I got there just in time for the 1 p.m. tour.

It's ... interesting.  Soleri's vision of a different way to design a city is still a long way from any kind of completion.  It's been a work in progress for over 40 years and I think it will always be that, actually.  That's not such a bad thing, though perhaps it's different from what the original hype was and/or what Soleri and others thought would happen.  As a place to prototype and experiment with different "city technologies" it can do a lot.  I don't really foresee it ever being a "real" city but that's doesn't mean it's a failure.

Fraternity....

A lot of fraternity stuff the last couple of days... and a goodbye.

Saturday morning was a gathering to remember our good friend Tawnya who passed away in December.  I knew Tawnya through skating, but she was a woman of many, many talents and interests.  She was a cancer survivor for many years but alas the cancer came back and she lost her fight.  Seeing the broad spectrum of friends and family that came out to remember her and the breadth of her interests and involvement, it was more clear than ever what a loss this was to so many.  Rest in peace Tawnya.

Saturday afternoon and evening was spent in Tucson for the Alpha Upsilon chapter's initiation.  They had 9 guys enter.  A good turnout, including 2 brothers from Iota Phi (UNM) who made the trip.  A wonderful evening.

Sunday I had dinner with another brother, and we wound up meeting with Province 35's Commission on Standards representative, who was in town to visit family.  The COS is in charge (among other things) of overseeing colonies as they work to become full-fledged chapters of Phi Mu Alpha.  We had a nice dinner and a good conversation.

Tonight I had a rehearsal for our upcoming (Thursday!) concert of the Honegger King David.  Afterwards I stopped off to visit the Kappa Nu colony at their last regular meeting for the year.  After the business was done, they had an impromptu jam session. Watching them having fun making music together and just being sociable, I was really joyous at the effect that Sinfonia is having on their lives.  As I told them, a year ago they were just some guys who knew each other a little.  Now they are a SOMETHING.  An entity, a group with a purpose.  They have come so far!  And seeing them tonight I know that they are going to make it, because they "get it." They are beginning to understand what it is to be a Sinfonian.  Now, we just need to make it official.

Tucson For A Day

I was in Tucson today for a couple of events.  I worked from "home" today, where home was Connect Coworking downtown.  I've worked here a couple of times before while visiting.  Drop-ins are $25/day.  Due to some events they were having, I got to be in the upstairs part of the building which is normally reserved for monthly clients.  It's pretty nice up there!  There are reserved offices and reserved desks, along with clean bathrooms (with a shower!) a kitchen, printers, conference rooms, etc.  It's a pretty nice, quiet space and I could see it as a viable place to work if you needed that and your company would pay for it, or you were a startup.  I paid for street parking, which is $1/hr.

The first event I was here for was the bimonthly NewMonics alumni lunch.  I worked at NewMonics from 1998 - 2002.  It was an awesome place to work, and the fact that we still gather to hang out, eat and chat all these years later says something about what kind of place it was.  There were only four of us today (myself, Evan, Frank, and Bergy) but we had good food and a great conversation.  Awesome.

After my work day I met up with a couple of the guys from the Alpha Upsilon chapter (Danny B and Nick) for dinner on University.  Good conversation and good food, again.  I'm spoiled!

After that I hit the road for home.  It was a nice day and frankly left me rather homesick for Tucson. *sigh*

Road Trip

This weekend I went on a road trip for Fraternity business!

Friday night I left town after work and drove to Show Low.  I stopped off in Payson and had dinner with an old high school classmate and friend, Kathy S.  I drive through Payson all the time and had never had a chance to stop and say hi, so I'm glad I was able to this time.  We had some great Mexican food and a wonderful conversation.  Afterward I drove on to Show Low and stayed the night.

The next morning (Saturday) I hit the road.  First stop was Greer, to look around and reconnoiter for our Province Retreat at Benny Creek campground over Labor Day.  The campground was closed but I was able to take some good pictures of the area and get a feel for what it's like.  I think it will be nice.

After that brief excursion I drove on to Albuquerque via US 60 to NM 36 to NM 117 through the El Malpais National Monument.  It's a pretty desolate area, but I love seeing the lava flow there.  It's so striking and thought provoking to me -- I imagine what it must have been like when the lava was flowing and wonder why it did stop THERE and not somewhere else? Then on to I-40.

I got into town and checked into my hotel with just enough time to shower and change and get to the restaurant for dinner with the Iota Phi chapter and their probationary members.  We had a great dinner and fellowship, including (of course) serenading our waitresses.  After dinner and some post-dinner talking it was off to UNM to get ready for the initiation ritual.  As usual I spent most of my time beforehand sitting with the PMs, getting to know them and hearing about their experience in the PM process.  They are a great bunch of guys, and as usual Iota Phi has done a great job preparing them.

The Ritual was well done and, in a first, starting only 20 minutes after the nominal "knock" time of 9 p.m.  I was impressed!  Afterward we took pictures as usual and then I went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Sunday morning I drove up to Santa Fe to grab some stuff for my friend Olivia (she just moved to Phoenix) from her mom, then back down I-25 to El Paso.  I got in around 3:30, checked in to the hotel, then went over to UTEP to meet with Nu Lambda's vice president and FEO.  We talked for about an hour, I think, and I got a good overview of how things are going for them and gave some insights and advice.  Afterward I hung around writing up some notes for a while, then headed out for some dinner and back to the hotel.

Monday morning I checked out of the hotel and went over to UTEP.  I was at school all day for meetings:

• chapter Faculty Advisors
• FA for the SAI colony there
• chapter secretary
• chapter treasurer
• chapter alumni relations officer
• chapter president
• other brothers

Unfortunately I did not get to meet with the SOM assistant head.  The school is in the process of choosing a new department head and they were actually in meetings that day for more discussions so everyone was very busy.

I did manage to sneak out for some food at the UTEP student union.  It's really a pretty neat campus.

At the end of the day (around 6) the chapter did their "Black Night".  This is normally part of the PM process; they don't have a PM class this semester but did one anyway as part of fraternal education.  I only was able to stay for an hour but I found it very edifying.

At 7ish I hit the road for home!  I had gassed-up the car Sunday night so I drove straight through to Deming, where I stopped for some food and a potty break.  Then back on the road and straight through to Tucson for another food/bio-break, and then home around 1 a.m.   Phew!  It was a good trip though.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game...

Today was a pretty fun day -- Shutterfly took our team out to watch the Diamondbacks - Rockies game at Chase Field.  We got a ticket and $20 of Dbucks for food. 

I rode the light rail out to the game from the park n' ride at Apache and 101.  I'd never ridden the Phoenix light rail; it's pretty much the same as Portland's MAX except the people are not as interesting :-).  Round trip was $4 which beat paying for parking and dealing with horrible traffic, so that was nice.

The game was fun, although we lost 4-3.  I really do enjoy spending time with my coworkers; they are a good bunch and a lot of fun.

Just checking in...

I've not posted here in almost 2 years... geez!  Sorry about that.

I took some time to update the blog template.  Not horribly impressed but Blogger has made a lot of changes since I started this blog in 2002 and the old stuff is not well supported, so it was time. I'll see if I can actually start posting again.

Since I posted last....

• I'm still at Shutterfly
• Still skating!
• In October 2014 I was appointed Province Governor for Province 35 of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a men's music fraternity that I joined in 1983.  As PG I am responsible for keeping an eye on four chapters in Arizona, New Mexico, and "extreme West Texas" a.k.a. El Paso.  In addition we have a colony (chapter in the making) at ASU that I've been working with for 2 years or so.  With a bit of luck we will have them operation by this time next year.
• I'm still singing with the Schola at Ss. Peter and Paul in Tucson.
• I'm also singing with the ASU Choral Union, a community chorus sponsored by ASU and conducted by the inimitable Dr. Schildkret.  It's a lot of fun and we do some pretty good music!  We are performing the Honegger "King David" April 28th.

That's it for now!

One Month!

One month!

Yesterday was my one month anniversary at Shutterfly.  The time is going by really quickly!  I'm enjoying it a lot.  For example today I had my head buried in automation code... the time flies by which is kinda nice.  Got my first regular paycheck today (with all the deductions, health insurance, 401K etc. in place).  I upped my 401K withholding by 3% and I'm coming out about the same almost as at Intel (though I will def. miss those bonuses!).

Unfortunately Shutterfly does not do any matching at all for 401K, so I am going to have to work harder to save for retirement.  To be fair, Intel did not match 401K either, but they had a separate Intel plan that they put money into as well.  Since I was there for 8 years I am vested in that as far as it goes.  I guess this means that like a lot of Americans my age, my retirement income will come from a lot of different sources.

I've pretty much adapted to schedule and so forth, now I'm just trying to get my skating life back in some sort of order AND get my butt to the gym.  So far that's not happening.

New Job

I started my new job April 14th.  I am working at Shutterfly!  My job title is Senior Software Development Engineer in Test.  Pretty fancy-schmancy, eh?  Basically I am doing software QA, back to the kind of stuff I was doing before Intel.  We are using Agile methodology so there's been a learning curve for that as well as our tools  and environment.  Now that I've completed my 4th week I'm feeling like I'm starting to settle in a bit.  I even managed to help one of the other "new guys" today, which was a good feeling.

It's hard to explain how excited I am about this job.  My coworkers are a lot of fun and pretty supportive.  My boss is great.  I feel like I'm learning a lot of cool stuff that will make me more valuable in the future and it's challenging and gets me thinking.

Things I like more than Intel:

• very few meetings!  Most days I have just ONE 15-minute meeting (our "scrum").  I can't tell you how good it feels to have uninterrupted time to get things done
• cool coworkers
• great boss
• good benefits -- free product, they take us out to lunch pretty regularly, we have a variety of treats in the break room
• willingness to spend money on tools etc.
• regular work from home day (Thursdays)

Things I like less than Intel:

• commute -- okay, I was pretty spoiled living a mile from work.  Now I'm commuting into west Tempe/east Phoenix with a million other people.  Still it will get better -- we will be moving in 2015 to a site closer to my house and with a less daunting commute
• no air shuttle -- okay, so now when I want to go to Oregon I have to pay for it on my own dime.. oh well!
• a bit less flexible on scheduling.  I am pretty much expected to be in the office 9-5; I can't really come in much later than that so I am having to get up earlier to skate.  On the positive side I think I am a bit more productive this way so long term it will probably be better for me
• Mac OS learning curve -- I'm sure I'll be over this before long, but having to learn to do things the Mac way has been a lot to deal with.  Of course the upside is I'll be "bilingual" in the future.

Loneliest Road Trip Day 5

Day 5 of my Loneliest Road trip.

I hit the road from Topaz Lake about 9 and headed south on 395.  I stopped at Mono Lake to look around and take some pictures... truly amazing!  I did not take time to go to the South Tufa area, which supposedly is more impressive, but what I did see on the shore and at the visitor center was pretty amazing.

Headed south again... the mountain views were breathtaking.  Got into Bishop and gassed up and got some lunch, then south to Big Pine where I turned east onto CA 168.  This is a narrow, curvy mountain road that goes up and over the White Mountains to Deep Springs Valley, then up and over more mountains to meet up with 266.  It was a really fun drive! It reminded me of 191 in eastern Arizona -- lots of hairpin curves and switchbacks.  At one point, for about 100 yards it was one lane!  Eeep.  A few miles in I caught up to a car in front of me... was thinking Crud! Stuck!  But after a mile or so the driver pulled over and let me pass, which I really appreciated.  Anyway it was a really fun drive!

266 to 95 was not as exciting but it was pretty.  Then I took 95 to Vegas and 93 home to Phoenix as usual.  I got home about 10:30 p.m.

It was a great trip! I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Loneliest-Road Trip Day 4

Day 4 of my Loneliest Road trip.  Today I actually drove the Loneliest Road!

I left Ely, NV about 9 a.m.  Stopped in Eureka and got my Guide stamped at the Opera House.  What a cool building!  I really like Eureka.  It's small but it's really charming.

Onward from Eureka to Austin.  US 50 from Ely all the way to Austin traverses a large number of basins (usually 10 - 20 miles wide) separated by mountain ranges.  The basins are at probably 6000 feet and the mountain passes up to 7500 feet, so you really feel like you are at the top of the world.  While the surroundings will definitely make you feel "lonely" as there are almost no human habitations at all outside of the two towns, in another sense it's not that lonely as there was certainly enough traffic (usually going the other way) that I didn't feel particularly lonely.  It's true that I very rarely caught up to anyone in front of me or saw anyone behind me, though, in spite of setting a new GZ land speed record (classified).

Austin is on the western slope of a mountain range -- well, really in a ravine.  It's pretty narrow and US 50 is the main street and all the other streets are on the hill on either side.  I stopped for lunch and got my Guide stamped again, took some pictures of some quaint buildings including three pretty impressive churches and the Stokes Castle.  Then on into a verrrry wiiiiiide basin that went on for ever, seemingly.

Austin to Fallon is about 110 miles (further than the other towns which are spaced 60-70 miles apart).  A bit after Cold Springs (a Pony Express station and there's a little store there) the landscape changed pretty quickly as the road descends from the previous 6000 ft or so average down to more like 4000 ft.  So instead of a slightly green high desert with snowcapped peaks all around it was a very brown desert with mostly brown peaks (some had a little snow, but not much).  About 20 miles from Fallon I stopped to look at the remains of the Sand Springs Pony Express station (kinda cool!) and also Sand Mountain. Sand  Mountain is very very cool and I took some video of the crazy people driving their buggies and even cars up it.  Yikes!  Also saw several Navy jets from Fallon flying overhead returning from the range.

Coming into Fallon the last 10 miles or so the road is going through a somewhat residential area and it's slower.  Got into Fallon and got my Guide stamped at a Chevron station, yay!  I originally was going to stop at the Chamber of Commerce but it was closed?  What the heck?!

On from Fallon and I almost missed the turnoff as 50 turns into Alt-50 to Fernley; you have to make a left to stay on 50 to Carson City.  A fairly uneventful drive although I was surprised at the suburbs (I guess that's what they are) like Stagecoach where they are building houses left and right even though it's like 20 miles from Carson City.  Weird.

Got into Dayton and I wanted to get my Guide stamped (even though I already had the requisite 5 stamps) but couldn't find the Chamber of Commerce.  There was a roadsign but I couldn't find it.  I decided to go for the other option, the Dayton Museum... only to discover it was closed.  So I went looking for the C of C again, and even stopped at a nearby store and asked for help.  Finally  I found it hiding in plain sight -- it was where the sign was, but it was inside a bank building.  There was a very small sign outside not visible from the road.  Of course with my luck, it was only open MWF 9-2 so I missed out.  By now it was like 4:30 and I hit the road and hightailed it to Carson City hoping to get one more stamp, at the C of C there.  I got there about 10 to 5 and though it said it was open M-F 8-5 it was, of course, already closed.  GRRR!!

Continued on to Topaz Lake, where I had gotten a great deal on a room at the Best Western.  It's really a pretty place although, like every lake in CA (-ish) the level is quite low due to the drought.

Tomorrow I'm heading south on 395 to Big Pine, then over to 95 and back home (if I have enough energy) via Vegas and Kingman.

Loneliest-Road Trip Day 3

Still road-tripping!

Today I left Ogden about 10 or so and headed down I-15 to Nephi, where I took Utah 132 west to the junction with Highway 6.  From there I headed to Delta where I gassed up again and had lunch.

The drive from Delta to Ely was quite striking.  Delta is a cute little town with one stop light. From Delta to the Nevada border was mostly flat with a little bit of mountains and a lovely view of Sevier Lake, a mostly-dry lake that does have some water in it now it looked like.  Right after I spotted a small flock of sheep in the road, about 15 or 20 of them.  I was rather surprised to see them since I thought it was mostly a cattle area. I did set a new land speed record for me of 111 mph.  Not going to do that again but it was rather exciting. 

At Baker (on the Nevada border) I stopped at the Border Inn and got my first stamp in my Loneliest Road Survivor's Guide.  Yay!  From there I went on to Ely, going through a couple of mostly deserted valleys separated by snowcapped peaks that were just breathtaking.  Gorgeous, really.

I got into Ely just before 4.  The motel is not the greatest, but it's clean so that's enough.  I ran over to the Nevada Northern Railway Museum.  Way cool!  And I got my Guide stamped for Ely.  The deal is you have to get it stamped in 5 different towns to get your "I Survived" certificate.  Ha!  I think it's fun.

After the museum I gassed up the car and wandered around Ely a bit, then came back to the motel and relaxed and surfed the web a bit.  About 7:30 I went and had dinner at Racks Bar and Grill just down the street.  Not bad. 

I'm going to relax and do some reading and try to get to bed early so I can get an early start.  Tomorrow it's all the way across Nevada to Carson City and a little further, down to Gardnerville.

Loneliest-Road Trip Day 2

Still road tripping..

Today I got up, checked out of the hotel and went over to the Carl Hayden Visitor Center and toured the Glen Canyon Dam.  It was really awesome!  I love dams.  I've seen Hoover (of course), Grand Coulee, Bonneville, and the Coolidge Dam.  There are a number of dams in Arizona that I've not seen since I was little so I don't count them.

After the dam tour I gassed up and got some food, then hit the road up 89.  Pretty country!  At one point I was heading up a hill and saw a passing lane open up with a (slowish) truck so I hit it to get around him before the lane ended... got the Mazda6 up to 97 (going uphill!).  Seemed like it was capable of more but there wasn't space or time and anyway I worry about getting a ticket.

Got stuck for 15 minutes or so in Panguitch waiting for a pace car to take us through construction... then on up until I got to the highway 20 turnoff.  20 is fairly short but it was fun with some nice curves.  Then on to 15 and boring driving -- although the speed limit was (usually) 80!  That was nice.

Coming into SLC I almost got rear ended... traffic got really busy and all of a sudden the traffic in my lane (left lane!) stopped short, and I stopped, and the guy behind me stopped (phew!) but then I hear screeching/squealing and I was waiting for the impact... which didn't happen, thank God.  The car behind the car behind me couldn't quite stop in time but he was smart and lucky and pulled over into the HOV lane and stopped about half a car length alongside the car behind me.  Smart to have pulled over, and lucky that the lane was empty.  Geez!

Got into Ogden and had dinner with a friend, then websurfing and off to bed soon.

Loneliest-Road Trip Day 1

I'm on a road trip!

 Here's the route..

Today I left about 2 p.m. and drove up 17 to Flagstaff, then on up 89 toward Page.  I love the scenery north of Flagstaff; it's a huge volcanic field with more cinder cones (similar to the area east of Springerville).  Due to a road outage there's a detour  (Navajo 20, signed as "89T" (Temporary)).  A landslide took out part of 89 so ADOT got $ from the Feds to pave N20 (it was dirt/gravel).  It's pretty nice, really.  Got into Page just before dark and found the hotel, then took my friend Kirsten's recommendation and went to the Dam Bar and Grille for a really awesome steak.  Yum!