Tag: adventure

Uncategorised

Yeehaw.

We all got up this morning and Summer made waffles for breakfast. Autumn drove me to Dollar general so we could pick up some peanut butter for them, and we had a great breakfast. On a bit of a whim, everyone agreed to go to Magic Springs for the day, so we all got up and ready pretty quickly. We had to stop for gas, then by my house to check on the cat. Dad wanted to go with us, so he came over and drove down with Autumn while Eaddie and Noah rode with us.

It was a pretty uneventful drive down, and Dad just happened to get right behind us after we got stuck behind a box truck that was just creeping along. We got to the park in the early afternoon and sent Summer and Autumn off to swim while the rest of us went down the hill for some rides.

We really only had time to ride a couple of the rides. Dad took Noah and Eaddie on the Hawk while I took pictures from below. Then we all rode the Gauntlet. That line experience was the worst we had all day because of all the trashy people cutting in line ahead of us, but we eventually got our turn.

The others tried to ride the X-Coaster, but it got stuck while they were in line. We wanted to ride some more, but we ran out of time before having to meet the others back at the top. It was hot and humid, so we wanted a chance to cool off in the waveless pool before eating. Eaddie insisted that someone else brought her swim suit, and instead learned another important lesson in doing what I tell her to do even if she thinks she knows better. At least we had someone to sit and watch our stuff.

After a brief swim, we went up to the Split Rock Grill and had a bunch of hamburgers. Except Eaddie, who had a sad three little chicken strips. The burgers were surprisingly satisfying, yet devoid of any extras. The kids went off to ride a few more rides while we went to get chairs for the concert. Then we all went down the hill for Lee Brice.

The lawn was absolutely packed with people. It was nearly as crowded as any other popular, non-pandemic concert I’ve seen there. We squeezed in between a few people, quite a bit closer than we really should have, but nobody seemed upset. We watched for a few songs, then left pretty early to beat the traffic out.

We stopped to fill up on some spring water on the way out of town, and decided to do a lap around a few blocks. It was a bit too late to get into any shops, but the kids had fun hanging out together and seeing the night life. Then it was a slow drive following Dad back home for bed.

Lemme hear y’all holler if’n y’er a country bumpkin!

Uncategorised

Model Whee!

Today was our makeup holiday for Independence Day falling on a weekend, so I had the day off with the girls. They slept in pretty late, so I played a little Overwatch before getting ready to leave the house.

Ethan finished training a bit early and came to town to show me around his Model 3. We didn’t waste any time getting to the ride along, and I was kind of surprised how quiet the car wasn’t. Everyone always goes on about how electric cars are so silent, but I think the wet roads made everything quite a bit louder than usual. The road noise, some low music, and the air conditioning made for a pretty normal sounding ride.

He demoed the self driving for me, and I was surprised to see that it worked in town except for lane changing and braking for lights. I don’t know if that has changed for current models, but if it hasn’t, then I don’t really see much need to drop another $8k for the full self driving package yet. We made a pretty big loop around town, and then he said I could drive.

Holy torqueamole.

I expected the driving to be a bit different, but it didn’t take long to get used to the regenerative braking. In fact, I really liked how sensitive and tight the controls felt, and single-pedal driving was pretty awesome. I didn’t wind it up too high, but he let me floor it a couple times and the instantaneous torque was just incredible. It really was like nothing else, and it didn’t even matter what speed I was already going. It just went.

We stopped to say “hi” to Summer, then chatted for a while longer after the drive. We ended up getting rained out by a sudden and slightly heavy shower, so we both dove into our cars and I headed to Mark’s office to do some more work.

We wrapped up pretty quickly, and I got a check made out to the description I wrote for the job. Then I stopped across the street to chat with Robert for a bit. He seemed excited for company, and eventually Felix showed up as well. He gave me a tamale, and then I went back across town to check in with Summer before going home.

The girls were still laying around watching TV. Eventually I started the oven to warm up a loaf of bread for an Everything Sandwich. Summer got home after work, and they watched TV and ate. I poked around at a few things for a bit, and it wasn’t long before everyone filtered off to bed.

BYE401K

Uncategorised

If the Boat’s a’ Rockin, Don’t Come a’ Dokkin

We only slept in a little this morning before trying to get the kids up and at it. Summer took Autumn to the gym while I went home to clean up. I loaded up some camp chairs and empty bottles for our trip to Magic Springs, then stopped by Lowe’s to pick up an order before making my way back up to the girls.

They were still cleaning up and getting ready to go, and I was too hungry to wait and eat after the drive, so I cooked a whole package of Petit Jean pepper bacon and we all made big bacon salads before we left. We finally hit the road pretty late in the afternoon, but I was determined to get us there.

We made it nearly to Centerville when I realized I didn’t grab our season passes. We probably could have gone through guest services to get in, but I didn’t want to drive all that way and chance it, so we made our way back home to get them, and then drove back down into Hot Springs. We wanted to eat at a phở place we saw last time just outside of Magic Springs, but when we got there it was closed and we didn’t even bother to get out to read the sign.

Summer did a quick search for restaurants and came across a hibachi place we had gone to before without the kids, so we made our way to the Osaka Japanese Steakhouse. I didn’t remember loving it the first time, and I felt like it was pretty overpriced this time, but everyone seemed satisfied enough. The service was a bit slow for me since I was already on edge about leaving late, then having to drive back for our passes.

We finished up pretty quickly and headed to Magic Springs to try and catch the main attraction. The park had closed down all the rides, and the openers had already finished their portion of the concert by the time we got down to the amphitheater. Fortunately the pandemic had most of the crowd gone, so we had our pick of where to sit.

I didn’t recognize a single song of theirs, but fortunately Summer did. At least she enjoyed it if no one else did. It wasn’t too hot and miserable out, so I enjoyed just going to a concert at all, but I still would have liked to have some more time in town.

There was hardly any traffic on the way out since attendance was so low. We made our way to the spring water fountain to fill up my bottles, and then hit the road. Summer started having nerve pains again, but she would have gone straight to bed regardless of that. Everyone but Eaddie was pretty tired since she was the only one to really sleep in late.

Wait… the lyric is “lucky!”

Uncategorised

COVID Springs and Corona Falls

I got up as early as I could will myself out of bed this morning and got ready for a day out of town. The girls were ready and waiting for me, so I picked them up and we stopped at Arby’s for lunch before hitting the road. We ate at the park across the street, then I had to send off some pirate mail, and finally we were off to Magic Springs.

The drive always seems faster than Little Rock just because it’s more fun going through the mountains. Summer informed me an hour into the drive that she didn’t bring her swim suit, so we stopped by Walmart in the Village so she could buy another one. They didn’t have a great selection, but we pieced one together that worked well.

The parking lot seemed absolutely packed when we got to Magic Springs, but I got pretty lucky with a spot close to the gate. We made our way through the season pass processing for Autumn, got all of our souvenir bottles, and started down the hill toward the roller coasters. We got down to the bottom and realized that they had signs up on a lot of the rides that masks were required, and they didn’t hand any out at the front, so we had to walk all the way back up to the car.

By that time, we were all so hot that we just wanted to go to the water park, so we rented a locker and got changed, then made our way around to the lazy river. That thing was packed to capacity, and they were limiting people to one loop at a time since there was a line of people waiting for tubes. I never could really figure out why they offered tube rentals, since they have tubes available at all the slides. They weren’t allowed in the wave pool, so I don’t even know where else they were relevant.

Eaddie got a nose bleed on a trip to the restrooms, so I hung out with her for a while, then Autumn and I went to go get some drinks. They loaded two $5 coupons on each of our passes as a means of compensation since they refused to refund anyone due to the pandemic. I assumed it was $10 that spent like cash, but it was a use or lose it in one transaction. The girl at the counter was so nice that she ended up just giving us four drinks for free so I didn’t have to go back for money or burn my coupons.

We spent a little time in the wave pool, then did another water slide before changing and going back to the roller coasters. It was much cooler by that time in the afternoon, and we had a pretty good time. Pretty much nobody was social distancing though, so I’m pretty certain we all have COVID now. We could hear the concert in the background, but none of us had any interest in staying late for some fellow named Zach Williams.

By the end of the day we had all worked up some pretty good appetites, so I found a restaurant called Colorado Grill. We made our way across town and had some of the best chips and salsa I’ve ever had. The fajitas were amazing, and the girls had a couple huge burritos that looked really great too. Our fajitas came with some barbecue ribs on top that seemed kind of pointless. I would have preferred more fajita stuff, especially after I rolled a saucy rib down my shirt and onto my pants.

On the way out of town, we stopped by the fountain to fill up some water bottles. Shelby spotted me and stopped to say hi, and then we headed straight home and off to bed.

I knew we should have stopped for a funnel cake.

Uncategorised

Summer Float

Julie invited us to meet up with them in the morning to go kayaking, but we didn’t get moving quite fast enough to actually make the rendezvous. Autumn was going to work in the yard with her grandparents, but that fell through as well. Summer took the girls home instead, and then returned with some lunch to take on the float trip while I got things packed up and ready to go. My GoPro memory card was taking forever to back up old data, but I had plenty of other things to prepare anyway. Summer even had time to run out for gas and a couple flatbreads from Tropical Smoothie before we left.

I told Suzanne we were going out, so she waited outside a house in Dover and waved at us as we drove by. We got up to the creek about two hours late, and the place was packed. The water was high, and the COVID-19 outbreak had the camp grounds closed, but the park was waiving kayak parking fees. We got the kayaks in the water without too much trouble, and we were off to my usual start.

We made it through the first set of rapids without too much trouble, but the second or third long run of them got both of us. I really expected the high water to fix that for me, but I went up on one giant rock in particular that almost folded my kayak in half. Summer’s kayak got stuck on another rock and she floated by, and for some reason I felt the need to throw my paddle with my GoPro on it to her. I ultimately managed to free my boat, but then I tumbled over the rapids the rest of the way with nothing left of my shoes but the straps around my ankles. Summer didn’t catch my paddle, but I eventually caught up to my boat.

Summer was across water with her boat stuck on a rock upstream, but luckily an older gentleman was able to get it free for her. It was the same gentleman that ultimately returned my paddle after Summer and I cleaned up and got back in our boats. We assumed we were going to have to split her single paddle, but as I pushed ahead to scout for my own, a group of kids plucked it out of the water and got it back to me. It wasn’t until after pulling my GoPro out and recording a video though.

With that spill out of the way, we made our way down the creek without too much more trouble. We did eventually find Julie with her posse at the big sandbar, in what appeared to be a big frat party. Loud music blowing out poor speakers, and teenagers all whooping and hollering about alcohol wasn’t quite our scene, so we stayed just long enough to say hello and then shoved off.

It was a pretty good time with what was unfortunately probably my normal amount of mishaps and bruises. The water was probably higher than I had ever floated, so large parts of the trip were actually quite a bit better than some I’ve made in the past. At no point did we ever have to get out and drag our kayaks across a long, rocky high point. Summer had a blast, and a quick bite to eat along the bank kept us in relatively good shape.

Taking the boats out and packing back up was its usual pain, heightened by my complete lack of footwear. With just the two of us there, I drove Summer’s car back to Long Pool to trade for mine so we could load everything up. Another guy there helped me load Summer’s kayak, but I still had to pull up to flat ground to re-tie it. We headed back to town, completely forgetting to get Summer’s car until we got back to the highway.

After some extra time and extra miles, and a brief stop by the side of the road to pick up a slice of mouse pad I was using to keep the rope off of the hood of the car, we got everything back home. We didn’t die, and that was my usual win. Summer helped me clean off the boats and stowe them away, then went to get the girls while I cleaned up myself.

Autumn convinced Summer to let her stay with the grandparents, so it was just Summer and Eaddie here for the evening. They brought a family meal from Venezia’s, and they ate while watching The Voice. I needed the quiet and sat in my room, watching GoPro captures upload to Google Photos.

After we ate, Summer went to bed and I did some shoe shopping to score a deal. Then Eaddie and I watched one episode of Luke Cage since I didn’t get to spend any time with her today.

Josie likes Tucker! Josie likes Tucker!

Uncategorised

Off Trail

Summer and I got up late today and went to Walmart for the last few things we needed for lunch. They had a bunch of “everything” bread marked down, so we got all of it to freeze, and I took one loaf to make a sandwich. Since it was already late and a bit warm outside, we decided to eat at home rather than take it all to the bike trail. It was a quick lunch in the back yard, and then we loaded up the bikes and headed to Old Post.

When we got there and unloaded, I climbed onto my bike only to find the front tire was completely flat. I loaded it back up and went home for air, and decided that a portable pump is probably a must-have. While I was gone, Summer and Eaddie checked out the trails but couldn’t leave Autumn behind, so they all rode downhill to the main park area. I made it back and met up with them, and we rode all over the flat park area.

We stopped for snacks on the amphitheater stage, then made a couple more loops around the drive before packing up to head back home. The girls left pretty quickly after we got back to my house, and I spent a few minutes doing a major trim in my shrimp tank. Then I loaded up and headed up to their house for the evening.

Summer made sloppy joes with mashed potatoes and corn for dinner, and then I planted all of my trimmings in Autumn’s aquarium. Summer, Autumn, and I played a game of Sorry, and then they went to bed while Eaddie and I started the second season of Luke Cage. We both got bored with how slow the first episode was, and decided to quit there for the night.

Back to the grind.

Uncategorised

Burn Everything…

I didn’t sleep very well last night just because I hadn’t slept in my own bed in so long, but at least I didn’t wake up in pain like I have been. Summer had to work, so the girls and I took our time getting up and around. Eventually I started putting together an everything-loaf sandwich for lunch, and we packed a couple backpacks for a bike ride. We rode to Summer’s shop and had a surprise lunch with her while they were slow.

When we finished eating, we rode over to the city park for just a moment, then took the long way around Detroit back to 4th to get home. The girls did a great job of riding together, and the pandemic has traffic manageable, so it was a great time. It was under an hour total, but my hands and arms were still pretty sore by the time we got home.

I let the girls rest for a little while inside, and then we went outside to start cleaning up the yard. They were both pretty slow to get productive, but eventually we got a little bit of a fire going, at least enough to reduce some of the brush we pulled up. They pressure washed the back patio until they ran out of power cord and hose, so there was a strip of black concrete still on the north side.

Brittany stopped by to give me a few more plants and some guppies she had been breeding. I had too much going on, or I would have thought to send her on with a couple little baby shrimp. I guess they’re a little more sensitive to the alkalinity of the water anyway.

Summer came over when she got off, and brought hot dogs to cook over the fire. We spent a good long while trying to get a decent fire going in the fire pit since the logs weren’t burning well at all. It was enough to get the food warm, but it was a lot of work to maintain. I was pretty upset that some embers blew up and melted a couple holes in a couple of the cushions, but it’s all over now. I would have hoped for something a little more retardant.

As the sun went down and we lost all of our light, the girls filtered back into the house and I trudged back and forth getting everything else put away. I could barely move after being so active all day long, but I had to get a shower before bed.

…the calories too!

Uncategorised

Into the Unknown

I spent all morning learning Wikitext to actually start entering articles for work. The translation took a while because even with a visual editor, the markup text made things look way cleaner. I still didn’t even finish publishing my first article, but at least what I have so far looks nice.

Ben got a Fat Daddy’s gift card for doing some work for someone, so he bought us lunch today. I brought prawn chips to fry since I still had the deep fryer there too. It was a really light lunch for me to choose ribs, but it was pretty good. I think I would’ve been happier with one of my usual orders though.

Ben wanted me to go try to break a touch panel before I left, so I went to the high school to a classroom with known issues. On the way, I had to deliver six iPads to the PAC. They had everyone using the main entrance with a sign-in sheet, but I just snuck in with my Technology superpowers before continuing on to the classroom. I could never get the touch to quit working, but I got so frustrated with how bad the SMART Ink was. I could draw in Paint and it would be flawless, but the SMART software lagged so hard. I hated it.

Autumn called when I forgot about her therapy appointment, so I ran home to drop off some things and then got her to therapy about 20 minutes late. Then I stopped by my parents’ house to wish Mom a happy birthday and chatted with them a little bit. She was outside power washing, and Dad was up on the roof cleaning gutters. I didn’t stick around too long though, and let them get back to work.

When I got home, I cleaned up and played a little bit of Overwatch until Summer and Eaddie came over. Then we rode bikes around the neighborhood, stopping by Allen’s, then going over to the high school. Eaddie wanted to take me to the trail that she and Noah found, so we did that. I tried riding over to Julie’s house too, but the field was so long and rugged with too many back yards that I didn’t want to disturb. We headed back around the new practice facility, then made it back to my house.

The girls headed home and I followed a little later. Autumn had some leftover fish sticks out, so I got the deep fryer going again for some of those, some more prawn chips, and some sweet potato fries for Summer. Then Autumn wanted to watch a movie with Summer, so Eaddie and I went to the bedroom to finish The Defenders. The end escalated pretty quickly, but we were happy with it.

Next up: Jessica Jones

Uncategorised

These Axe Puns Are Bringing Me Down

I got up a little early this morning so we could head up to Bentonville for Brandon’s semi-surprise birthday shindig. Brandie messaged me early to let me know she was bailing on us, so after dressing up and washing the car, I picked up Josue and we headed out of town. We stopped in Ozark at Rivertowne BBQ for lunch, and though the food tasted pretty good, it seemed to lack in presentation a bit. At least the portions were huge, and I boxed up about half of mine.

We still had a bit of time, so we continued up to Fayetteville and stopped at Kohl’s so I could burn my $45 in bonus cash. I assume the slight difference in climate drove up the demand for winter wear, because they had a ton of coats on clearance. I picked up another hoodie and a coat after I couldn’t find anything else compelling. I wish I could have fit into one of the leather jackets better, but they were super tight around the shoulders. Both Josue and the cashier acted stunned when I checked out under five bucks for the two articles, but their rewards program doesn’t have me fooled. Luckily by spending so little this time, I think I’m out of the cycle of repeat visits to spend rewards.

At last, we made the last of the trip to the Urban Forest Axe House and met up with Diana, Brandon and his brother Ryan, and a couple of his other friends. Our coach was quirky and a little awkward at times, but it was a good time. Diana brought snacks, though Josue and I were still pretty full from our big lunch. My second throw was a bulls-eye, but when it came down to Diana and myself for the finals, she won with a killshot that I had never been able to nail, and eventually ignored in favor of the larger and lower bulls-eye.

Once our time was up there, Brandon decided we should go by Dave & Buster’s for some drinks and gaming. We all sat at the bar, and I chugged soda waters as we visited. Brandon talked to me a little about his job, which was the first we had really talked much about anything since we were all kind of busy throwing axes. Eventually we got up to play some games, though I didn’t spend very much. My birthday promo had expired, and the place was kind of busy anyway, so we just mingled for a little while and then left.

Ryan suggested we go to Bariola’s for cheap appetizers and free ice cream, so we made the quick hop down the road and visited some more. It seemed like a pretty good pizza joint, but the cheap appetizers were perfect for sharing and just hanging out. In the end, I asserted my dominance by creating a huge ice cream cone, and eventually it was back to the road to head home.

I really hate that drive… And after all that, I never even got out of the state!

Uncategorised

Little John Mountain

We got up a little early this morning so we could have a day up on Petit Jean. Summer took Autumn to get things to make sandwiches while I went home to clean up. Then the girls and my dad met at my house so we could drive up the mountain. We went up the back way and stopped at the bear cave trail first, where we had lunch in the back of the car. It was cool, but great weather to be out in the wilderness. We climbed up on some of the rocks where we found some chiseled out steps, and I collected a few mosses, and Dad took a bunch of pictures of nature. Autumn didn’t originally want to go at all, but once we were there she insisted that her knee was fine to continue trailblazing and climbing up rock faces.

The next stop was Mather Lodge to clean up a bit, and then we continued to the Cedar Falls overlook. As the day progressed, it seemed to get windier and cooler, but the rain never showed up. Summer wanted to go to a new coffee shop on the mountain, so we had some drinks while the girls played Scrabble. Then it was off to the Petit Jean gravesite. That’s where it was the coldest with the most wind. I don’t think Eaddie really put anything together in her head for the homework she had on the subject, but it was still a nice day to get out of doors. It was personally very aggravating to feel how I’ve aged since I last spent any significant amount of time hiking, and I think Dad felt the same way. I guess the best thing any of us can do is keep at it to maintain dexterity.

We took the interstate back home, which felt quite a bit longer, and definitely more boring. Dad and Summer each went home while the girls stayed with me to watch TV while I started some laundry. Once that was done, Summer came back and we met my parents at Bocadillo for a birthday dinner and ice cream. Mom didn’t seem too happy that it wasn’t the same type of Mexican place they usually visit, but I thought it was good. Afterward we got some dessert and I split a strawberry and cream funnel cake with Summer and Eaddie that was just divine.

With this year’s birthday plans out of the way, I took the girls back to their car and went to Amanda’s to check on her cats one last time. Then it was back home to finish up some laundry before bed.

I’ve really taken a lichen to you.