Juneau
by rakeeter

Our ship sailed in the early evening Saturday and Sunday was spent at sea headed for Juneau.  This was a National Review cruise so much of our time when we weren’t in port was taken up with NR activities.  There was a reception Sunday evening and then dinner.   While we ate in the main dining room the NR cruisers were grouped together.  Each night we were assigned a different table so we met different people each evening.  I gotta tell ya, Joyce and I enjoyed being around like-minded people (conservatives).  Everyone enjoyed roundly cussing the libs.  Naturally people talked about who they hoped would be the Republican nominee.  Joyce and I are backing Ted Cruz and he was well-regarded in the conversations we had, as were Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina and Scott Walker.  Several dinners included one of the NR writers.  We drew Pat Cadell (not an NR writer but a recognizable figure), James Lielaks, Ramesh Panuru and Jillian Milchoir.  At one of the receptions I introduced myself to Kevin D. Williamson.  I admire his writing and had read that he was born in Amarillo and grew up in Lubbock.  We had a brief but pleasant chat.  Nice fellow. Continue reading “Juneau” →

Seattle
by rakeeter

We arrived in Seattle two days before our cruise ship embarked.  We wanted a little time to see the town and, since we didn’t go through the cruise authority, we were on our own as far as being in Seattle to board the ship on time.  We spent the day prowling the water front.  It was within walking distance from our hotel downtown.  A seatmate on the plane recommended a ferry ride so we rode the ferry to Bainbridge Island and poked around a little there.  After lunch on the island, we rode the ferry back to the mainland where we intended to visit Pike Place Market, also recommended by the man on the plane.  Unfortunately we petered out and just went back to our hotel to crash until dinnertime.   The evening before we ate at Zeek’s Pizza, which we stumbled on after arriving at the hotel and went out looking for a place to eat.  The pizza and craft beer was so good we thought, “Well, shoot.  We’ll just go back there,” so we did. Continue reading “Seattle” →

Ketchikan
by rakeeter

Southeast Alaska’s typical weather finally caught up with us in Kechikan.  A light rain fell while we were in port, dampening our enthusiasm for visiting the town.  I finally decided to wander around a little but got pretty damp for my trouble.  It would probably be a nice place to poke around in if it weren’t raining but judging from the covered golf carts which pass for public transportation there, I think, and from the locals in their color-coordinated rain gear, that doesn’t happen often. Continue reading “Ketchikan” →

Red River
by rakeeter

After a week in the cool confines of Red River we came home to, well, the cool confines of Amarillo but Saturday was warm and Sunday was downright toasty.  It felt like summer.  There was rain to go along with the cool during the week, some five inches.  If you are scoring at home, that’s nearly six inches for the month.  It was timely, too.  We were beginning to get dry.  After the last few years of marginal moisture, I start getting nervous as the weeks roll by without any rain.  Continue reading “Red River” →

July 4th on SA
by rakeeter

It had gotten a little dry around SA but Thursday night there came a nice 1-inch rain followed the next night by another 3/4’s inch so the place was looking pretty good on the 4th for our little get-together.  It was the usual suspects which meant a lot of kids to take advantage of the water slide and blowup pool.  The afternoon was warm and sunny but pleasant in the shade of the bois d’arc trees.  Those so inclined played volleyball before hotdogs and ice cream and many, though not all, of the same crew played more after ice cream.  The elderly groundskeeper, in a rare moment of clarity, sat out the second session so that he might be able to get out of bed the next day.  Tino the dog was so exhausted by it all he was barely able to take nourishment.  Both managed to live to fight another day.

Sunday we grilled steaks for Abigail’s birthday dinner.  Her birthday isn’t until Tuesday but we wanted to celebrate while everyone was around.  It was nearly mid-afternoon before we sat down to eat.  Dave needed to get on the road home so we didn’t want to wait until normal dinner time.  When that rolled around we just had birthday cake and called it a day.