WY Road Trip - Day 2

We awoke in Richmond, IN and had breakfast at IHOP.  I never realized how useful those kids menus with games really are...

1st stop - Indiana High Point (1,257 ft)...

2nd stop - Indianapolis Speedway...I didn't know you could go on a bus tour of the track, so we did...

Next up, Springfield, IL - capitol building, and lots and lots of Lincoln stuff and trains...

Kid C was sooooooo excited to see a train this close up, and the train conductor waved at us!

We visited Abe's Library and Museum, 1st law office, house, and tomb...

(I will update with more pictures and stories soon)

Kid C's favorite thing today - seeing the Amtrak train of course! But second was the bus ride around the Brickyard
Kid B's favorite thing - the train also

WY Road Trip - Day 1

Departing with our activity books... 

We covered a lot of ground today. Five states, three of which were new for the boys (no new ones for my car yet though). We did not make too many stops, but did take in the view at Sideling Hill outside Hancock, MD. I don't think I had ever stopped there before.

And we saw a cool centipede of some sort...

Before we left West Virginia, we passed through our 1st tunnel (do not worry, traffic was stopped when I took this)...

Pit stop in Ohio, and a little frisbee playing...

Highlights:

Eating at Hardees for the first time

Crossing the continental divide

Seeing a car with the front smashed in, and the kid driving was texting as he passed us going 80 mph (wonder how he messed up the front of his car...)

Kid B's favorite thing - being in new states (WV, maybe PA? (at least for that long), OH, IN)

Kid C's favorite thing - seeing the big mountains in western MD (and the centipede)

Auntie's favorite thing - besides very well behaved boys, spotting a wild turkey on the side of the road

Columbus

I had been by the capitol on another road trip to take pictures (2005), but didn't have time to go inside.  So on a road trip with a friend to celebrate my bday, and to cheer my brother at the Flying Pig Marathon, we stopped in Columbus.

 

Richmond Road Trip

Itching to go on a road trip, my friend Mandy and I headed to Richmond for the day on Presidents Day Weekend.  Amazingly, we did not hit ANY traffic on I-95 (unheard of!).

Richmond's art sculpture of choice was the fish:

We walked by John Marshall's house...it was not open on Sundays so I will have to go back:

We then headed to the Museum of the Confederacy, which had a cowboy(?) themed fish:

We skipped the museum, but did the tour of the White House of the Confederacy.  It does not look that white to me... 

This is actually the back, but looks grander than the front. We had an excellent tour guide who knew a ton about President Jefferson Davis.

Next stop, the Virginia State Capitol.  I had been to this one before, but do not remember going inside.  So we checked out the new fancy visitors center. Well worth the visit!

Every capitol needs a statue of George Washington...

...or two

Senate chambers:

House chambers:

Me trying to be artsy: 

4

The Bell Tower, I am pretty sure that is Virginia's Liberty Bell up there, but could not confirm it:

We also drove down Monument Street, to see all the huge mansions and civil war general statues (and one of Arthur Ashe)

Here is my brother's namesake...Stonewall Jackson:

Driving around at sunset, we stumbled upon a little park overlooking the city, I thought this was a pretty nice view:

February Recipe - Onion Rings

I had a few friends over for the Superbowl (congrats Coach Harbaugh!) and decided to try out a new recipe - Crispy Baked Onion Rings.  Now I must admit, I am not a huge onion ring fan, but thought if I made them myself and was able to cut them thin enough and coat them with a lot of batter, that I would like them.  Which I did, but they were definitely best still hot, right out of the oven.

Here are some pictures of the prep work:

 

Coated and ready to be baked:

 Hot and fresh out of the oven: 

Close-up:

Recipe credits to Oh She Glows and can be found here.

Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas

Before I run out of days in January, I am posting my first "new recipe" entry.  I decided that one of my new years resolutions (I had many this year) was to try 1 or 2 new recipes a month, and then blog about them here (for accountability).

For my first post, I decided to go easy...and what's easier than enchiladas!  Well, at least using this recipe I found on a blog I recently discovered called Vegan Heartland.  (It also has lots of yummy desserts, so I'll have to try one of those recipes too!)  Except for not having any tomatoes, I actually had all the rest of the ingredients on hand (which made it easier as well).

[Note, I only had reduced fat Kaas cheese, and it doesn't shred that well.  The regular version shreds much better, so I'll be sure to use that next time.]

Here are a few pics:
Before...

After...

 Not super pretty, but they tasted good...

Recipe credits:  Vegan Heartland (http://www.vegan-heartland.com/2011/12/black-bean-and-rice-enchiladas.html)

National Day of Service

This past Saturday, my friend and I participated in the National Day of Service by heading to the DC Armory to help stuff bags with toiletries and whatnot for our troops and emergency first responders.  Lines were long to get in and you had to go through security, so we speculated at who might show up.  When the speakers started, they introduced Janet Napolitano (Secretary of Homeland Security, and former AZ Governor when I lived there) and so we figured that was it.

(bad cell phone pick of Napolitano from a distance) 

We made one pass through the assembly line set-up, filling up some bags.  Our line took quite awhile, so we decided to pick a different line for our second pass (there were about 8 lines total).  And boy did we pick a winner!  After awhile, the line stopped and they told us there would be a delay, but it was worth it.  It turns out Dr Jill and VP Joe Biden showed up to help hand out the goodies for the bags.

Thinking we wouldn't get up there before they left, I got up as close as I could and snapped this picture:

But then we started moving again, and my friend and I realized we were going to get to meet the Bidens!  I apologize for the really bad cell phone pics...but you can tell who it is, and I was trying to keep moving, fill my bags, and still get a few pics...

Getting closer...

Almost there...

I exchanged a few words with Joe...of course in hindsight I've thought of a hundred things I could have said or asked. Oh well, maybe next time I run into him.

Cannot forget to mention that we also got to see the target dog :-)