Nashville

On Saturday, we hit the road and headed to Nashville in pursuit of the Great American Eclipse, a trip we have been planning for two or three years. Before we left Dallas, we stopped at Chick-fil-A and bought a 200-piece party tray to nourish us for the journey. We had never catered a meal through the drive-through, to be wholly consumed in the car, so it felt like a pretty big deal. Ten hours later, with the nuggets long gone, we arrived, road weary but excited.

Road Trip!

On Sunday morning, we decided to explore Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, where I had my first true handicapped experience. The kids were pleased that, because of my situation, we were able to catch a golf cart out to the mansion rather than having to walk. Then, I transferred to a wheelchair for the actual tour but was only able to see the first floor of the mansion, since there wasn't an elevator. The mansion and grounds were very beautiful, but it was a hot, humid day and the crowd was great, so we didn't hang around too long after we had seen the main house. Later in the day, my parents, who were also in the area for the eclipse, came over to our hotel to hang out. We all thought it was pretty funny to meet up in Nashville, since we all live in the same state.

Andrew Jackson's Hermitage

How would you look on the 20?

Monday was the day of the Big Event, and we drove a little north of Nashville to the small town of Gallatin so we could be in the true center of the path of totality. We found a nice park with a playground where the kids could play and burn off some energy while we waited for the celestial show. It was such an amazing experience to see the sky darken and dusk fall in the middle of the day! The sky presented its sunset colors, the streetlights sparked to life, some stars and planets became visible, and the cicadas fired up their evening songs. And the vision of the moon blocking out all but the sun's corona is not one we will soon forget, even though my inadequate phone camera was powerless to capture the image. The entire event lasted no more than a few minutes, but it was powerful, and we were thankful to be a part of it. Back at the hotel, we rested for a while before heading out to dinner at Cock of the Walk, a fun place, with plenty of atmosphere, serving good ol' Southern food.

The Big Event
(The bottom left shows the streetlights coming on and the sunset colors;
The bottom right shows a star or planet just to the lower right of the sun)

Cock of the Walk

Tuesday was Jeff's and my 19th anniversary, which just doesn't even seem possible. I can tell you, it just gets better and better all the time! I'm so thankful that we chose each other to do life with. We spent the early part of the day hanging out around the hotel and lounging around the pool. Later in the day, we headed over to the Gaylord Opryland to look around and to have enjoy a nice anniversary dinner at Ravello. After dinner, we were off to the Grand Ole Opry. The boys sat in the balcony in the seats we had originally booked, while Ruth and I, making a last minute change, sat on the lower floor, in the handicapped section. It was such a fun show and so neat to be a part of something with such a long history.

Fun at the hotel pool

Anniversary dinner at the Gaylord Opryland

The Grand Ole Opry
(Clay was fascinated with the bass player and tried to imitate him.)

Yesterday, we made the long trek back to Flower Mound, though it seemed an easier trip than going, even with the absence of a large tray of chicken nuggets to keep us occupied. We had such a great time in Nashville and hope we will have occasion to return in the future.

From Denver to Boulder and back again

Our day started around 5:30 this morning, because we really wanted to visit the Mint, and we had heard that you pretty much had to be in line by 6:30 to have any realistic chance of getting tickets for any of the day's free tours. As luck would have it, we did get tickets for the 8:00 tour, and by the time we were done around 9, the ticket office only had a few more tickets available for the last tour of the day, which was to start at 3:30. It was a fascinating tour and a nice complement to our recent tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Ft. Worth.

Early birds at the Denver Mint

In order to make the idea of getting up so early more palatable to the kids, we promised them we would take them out for breakfast. And we made good on that after the tour by taking them over to Dozens.

Dozens

Most important meal of the day

After breakfast, we drove over to Boulder to take a tour of the Celestial Seasonings tea factory. We were able to go out on the factory floor and get very close to all the machinery, which was really interesting to see. We also thoroughly enjoyed the tasting room! But the best part of the tour was the smell! Heavenly fragrances wafted up from every corner of the property, both inside and outside.

Celestial Seasonings

Clay with the iconic Sleepytime Bear

Enjoying a cozy seat

The tasting room

When we were finally able to pull ourselves away, we drove over to the Scott Carpenter Park, so the boys could burn off some energy on the playground, while the rest of us either napped or just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Having a blast at the park

View of The Flatirons from Scott Carpenter Park

Finally, we headed back over to Denver for an early birthday celebration for Ruth, which started with dinner at The Populist and ended with rolled ice cream from Chaos and Cream. We also managed to toast National Wine Day in the process. It was a full and fun day, and we loved every minute!

Dinner at The Populist

Seared Scallops

Cheers to National Wine Day!

Rolled ice cream for the birthday girl

Improptu Field Trip

One of the places on our DFW bucket list was the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Ft. Worth. But since they are only open on weekdays until 4:30, we were having a hard time figuring out when we could go. Then, Ruth's riding lesson for this afternoon had to be rescheduled, so we took advantage of our opportunity and planned an impromptu field trip. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the money being printed and learning about the process, from beginning to end. Plus, we had the entire place to ourselves, which made it even more fun. Afterwards, we had dinner at a local Mexican food place, which is a great way to end any field trip, in my opinion!

Pre field trip flowers from this sweet boy!

The BEP is serious about security, so this is as close as I could get with my camera.

This is how you know it was a good field trip!

Putting the "fun" in queso fundido

Sovereign Hill

We spent the day at Sovereign Hill, a replica of an 1850s gold mining town. We loved seeing the period buildings and costumes and learning all about gold mining and life during that time.

Sovereign Hill Gold Mine

We enjoyed learning about candle making in the candle shop

Nine Pin Bowling

Getting around town

Here come the Red Coats

~The Welcome Nugget~
The second-largest gold nugget in the world
(largest at the time it was found)
was discovered at the Red Hill Mine and was
truly a welcome sight for the miners who found it.
The nugget was sent to London and melted down and
made into sovereigns, which is how Sovereign Hill got it's name.
The nugget weighed 69 kg (152 lbs) and would be worth about
$3 million in today's U.S. dollars. 

Panning for gold

Hoping to strike it rich

There were so many interesting low-tech machines to enjoy

Clay was happy to find a friend in the Gold Museum

I could get used to this

After our Trans-Mongolian train trip, I made a post in which I mentioned that our travel lifestyle is a far cry from being all glitz and glamor, and that is absolutely true. But here on Koh Samui, in our large beach house, I must admit, life feels pretty glamorous. The American dollar goes pretty far here, so we've been able to indulge in a bit more luxury than we are used to. First of all, we have been working our way through the beach restaurants, eating the most amazing Thai food, for almost nothing. Tonight, we decided mix things up a bit by having a Thai cook come to our home and prepare a fantastic meal for us here, for about $50 USD, which included the price of the groceries, the preparation of two appetizers and four main dishes (of which we had leftovers), and, most amazing of all, a thorough cleaning of the kitchen and washing of the dishes afterwards. Earlier in the day, a housekeeper came to the house, whose twice weekly services are included in the price of our house. And, we received our laundry back from the laundry facility down the road, all washed, dryed and folded for about $1/kg. All this in addition to living ten steps from a gorgeous, quiet beach in what can only be called "Paradise." It's definitely not my usual lifestyle, but I don't think it would take me long to get used to it! 

Many of the beach restaurants have bean bag chairs scattered around,
which the boys absolutely love hanging out in!

Pool Time
(Our house is in the background--20 steps to the pool and 10 steps to the beach,
according to Weston's undoubtedly accurate calculations.)

Sunset in Paradise

Chicken Satay and Tempura Vegetables, with dipping sauces

A fantastic meal, prepared in our home, and not by our hands
(From the back: Sweet and Sour pork, Massaman curry,
Shrimp Pad Thai, and Pineapple Fried Rice)

Sofia

We wished for more time in Veliko Tarnovo, especially since it was raining too hard this morning for us to explore the fort. We did get some drive-by pictures before we left town, but we would have loved to walk around and really take it in. But, aside from that, we just really loved the city and would have enjoyed being there longer. If we are ever back this way, we will make it a priority to visit again.

After a nice drive, with a pretty interesting lunch stop, in which our order was conveyed entirely by pointing and nodding, we arrived in Sofia, which is a large capital city, but nice. Our penthouse apartment is overwhelmingly purple and teal and a little on the gaudy side for me (with its various mirrored and brass surfaces), but it's certainly not lacking in character, and it does have a lovely view of the city and Vitosha Mountain. We walked down to a nice shopping area for dinner, and, though the sidewalk cafe where we ate wasn't fancy, our entire dinner for the six of us was less than US$20.

Tsarevets--The Place of Tsars

The wall of the fort, even in its ruinous state, is truly impressive

The patio reading nook, which the little boys absolutely loved.
They picked up every Bulgarian book from the outdoor bookshelf and "read" them all.

The master bedroom in our purple palace

bedroom patio doors

This is the view from the patio.
I love how the mountain is ringed in clouds,
as the rain moved out and the sun started to shine.

A public service announcement at a nearby hotel

Sidewalk cafes are so cool!

Nothing makes this guy happier than statues!

Taking a break from our walk to play