Garden of the Gods

We stopped to visit Andrew in Colorado Springs this week. It was a beautiful spring day in Colorado! So we went to the Garden of the Gods and hiked around.

Roger and I with Pikes Peak in the background.

The rock climbers were out in good numbers today!

Pikes Peak, third highest mountain in the continental U.S.: 1. Mt. Whitney, 2. Mt. Rainier, 3. Pikes Peak

I've been to Mt. Rainier and stood on top of Pikes Peak, but have not made it to Mt. Whitney (yet).

If you look closely above the summit, you can see a contrail from a jet. Andrew told us that Jane often goes on pilot-training flights from Texas and flies up here and goes around Pikes Peak!

Branson, Missouri

I really enjoyed Branson, Missouri. We arrived on Monday afternoon and just settled in. The next day we hung around downtown and at the Landing late morning. Here's some of the things we did:

We took in the Dixie Stampeded Dinner Show. That was awesome! All those horses and trick riders, and great food and lots of people.

It reminded me of what a Buffalo Bill Wild West Show must have been like (with Annie Oakley shooting and Indian fights and the like). This one was a North vs. South presentation, along with all the other acts. Here is the short YouTube video of highlights: DIXIE STAMPEDE

We are seated in the right-hand side that is circled in white. We were the South. We lost the competition.

The next day we visited the Titanic Museum. That was quite an experience, especially the exhibit where you could time how long you could keep your finger (or hand) in the 28 degree water that the passengers fell into after the accident. There was a young man playing the piano and explaining about how the "band played on" until the ship finally went down. This was a very moving museum. We must have spent over 2 hours there.

Next we went to a magic show. Well, an "illusionist." Rick Thomas. He was great! Awesome. Hey, I went up on stage and I watched that girl go into the box, lying down. And I saw and touched the blade and listen . . . I could not figure out how he managed to cut her in half! But he did! And then she vanished. And then she came back. I was six inches away, along with 3 other audience volunteers, and this guy was GOOD! And it was about a 2 hour show. Lots of fun and we were up close.

That night we went to see the Sight and Sound Museum's presentation of Jonah. Wow! I took this picture of the stage and screen. It was a stunning musical presentation. Roger liked the settings and staging. He's not much into musicals. There was no picture-taking after the theater darkened, so I could only take pictures before.

Now, we're in Kansas City for the MPE homeschool convention. Alas, I have to go back to work. 

St. Paul, Minnesota

Our next stop on the homeschool convention circuit was the MACHE (Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators). You gotta love all the acronyms. Here are a few:
OCEAN (Oregon Christian Educators Association Network)
WHO (Washington Homeschool Organization)
HEAV (Homeschool Educators Association of Virginia)
The list goes on and on . . .

But back to the MACHE. This is what 2 booths looks like after it is given a make-over. It usually takes 2+ hours.I had a picture with me standing by the books, but it's disappeared. So that's all there is for this convention.

The MACHE was a great convention too. We had a lot of return customers, who wanted the next books in the Andi saga: Thick as Thieves and Tales.

We left St. Paul, headed for Branson, Missouri, to kill a few days before going on to Kansas City for the MPE (can you guess what that stands for? It is Midwest Parents Association). If you guessed it, congratulations. You win . . . nothing.

Next up . . . Branson!

Ohio Stop

The GHC (Great Homeschool Convention) of Cincinnati was a record-breaker! The vendor hall was  huge: two "halves," with our booth being underneath the skyway from where the pictures were taken.

Donna and Me in Cincy

We had a couple of days to spare, so I visited with a friend in Cincinnati, Donna Patton, and the next day went up to Dublin, near Columbus, to hang out with Stef Reed, a fellow Kregel author. We explored a trail along the Indian Run Creek, which dumps into the Scioto River (the one from Follow the River, an Indian captive book). That was fun.

At Indian Run Creek

Stef and me on our hike. Love your "shades," Stef!

This is blood root, Stef says

These umbrella-like plants have a name, but I forgot it.

Next time: St. Paul, Minnesota . . .

The Blood Moon

About 4:45 am, PT. Nearly total

 It was dark. It was cold. But it was the night. The night of the blood moon, and I was hoping for clear skies. The weather map showed a finger of clear weather for central Washington State.

Armed with a warm jacket, a fleecy blanket, and a pair of binoculars, I made my way out onto the deck. Roger had already gotten up and snapped this first picture, but it was hard for the camera to focus on it.

I peeked at the moon, but it was the stars that overwhelmed me. It's dark up at 3,000 feet with no city lights! Since I'm never up at this time of the night, I didn't even recognize the constellations. Orion had set hours ago.

I didn't last long for the first peek. "Not total yet," I said and crawled back under the warm fleece sheets and blankets of my bed.

5:00 am. Total lunar eclipse. April 4, 2015

I watched the clock for 4:53, supposedly the first of the whole 4 minutes the moon would be totally eclipsed and "blood red." Well, it wasn't blood red, but a beautiful dark orange. It looked amazing through the binoculars too!

I sat in a porch chair this time, wrapped up in my fleece blanket, but I didn't last long. I didn't have to. Four minutes is a very short time for a total lunar eclipse. I saw it. Roger took pictures. We went back to bed.

I went back to sleep.

I believe there is another "blood moon" scheduled for September. It is amazing to me how mathematicians can calculate an upcoming (years, even) lunar or solar eclipse to the very minute it will begin and end, and yet they can't make the obvious conclusion that an ordered universe--precise to the second--demands an orderly Creator. It boggles the mind to hear their convoluted explanations.

Thanks. I'll pass and stick with Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

I'm Back!

After a two-year break, I finally figured out how to combine all of my blogs under one user name. It took some doing, but now that I don't have to "sign in" and "sign out" every time I want to post something about the homestead or our road trips, I might even post more often. Pay no attention to the "posted by Andi Carter" signature. I consolidated my blogs under the Andi Carter blog, since that is my major blog--pretending I'm the character in my books.