Quite the trooper

Sunday we went off-roading with a few others; we've run Coyote Falls a few times before, but this time Frank made the S-curve without a tow strap. We were proud!

From coyotedevil

From coyotedevil

We bent the bumper this time.

From coyotedevil

We busted our shock at the same place as last time. The rock in front of this Jeep is the culprit.

From coyotedevil

Frank removed the shock and we continued onto another trail, Devil's Canyon. We've never done it before. All I heard, it was a short trail with a GREAT view. I missed the part about it being downright gnarly.

Heading to the trail

From coyotedevil

From coyotedevil

Yeah, this is the way

From coyotedevil

Frank had a challenging time making it up the first ridge, but he managed.

From coyotedevil

Onto the canyon

From coyotedevil

Crazy, I tell you.

From coyotedevil

From coyotedevil

From coyotedevil

We keep on climbing

From coyotedevil

Until we get a flat, punctured the side wall. Then, to make matters worse, we busted our U joint.

From coyotedevil

What next? Pose until a plan is formed, he's isn't a small guy, either, he stands about 6'.

From coyotedevil

We get ourselves down, and use a tow strap to get us to a semi-decent place to change the tire, and assess the damage.

Broken U joint

From coyotedevil

Punctured tire

From coyotedevil

Conditions were terrible at this point. It was the hottest part of the day, full sun, about 100 degrees, and we were running low on water. Not just us, but the whole group. The tire was a bitch to change because of the angle, height, whatever, you name it. They got it done, though. Since we busted the U joint we no longer had 4WD, we had to hope and pray 2WD and help of the winch would be enough to get us out. It took a lot, of everything, but we made it out. No one passed out, thank goodness! We relied on melted ice, and a gallon of water I stashed in the Jimmy, months ago.

We finally got to the top! Hooray!

From coyotedevil

We'd have to go a little further to get the great view

From coyotedevil

From coyotedevil

Despite the hassle, the near heat exhaustion and dehydration, and hundreds of dollars needed in repairs it was one helluva great time.

Can't wait to do it again.

Still sick, no longer worried

Thankfully, Nicky improved and he was sent home late Friday. He was still experiencing tremors, but they believed they'd wear off. They continued through Saturday, but he was 100% back to normal on Sunday. The best Mother's Day gift ever.

Allergies are still kicking my ass. I think my backyard is killing me. Gardenia recently bloomed and I've been miserable since then. I did get relief yesterday in the desert while we were off-roading. As soon as I got home, I started back up like a leaky faucet.

We celebrated Mother's Day a day early with my mom. I didn't do too bad in Pahrump, but the hay and animals didn't do me any favors. We had dinner at Mountain View Casino and stayed to play for a bit. I lost at everything, but keno. For whatever reason Caveman Keno has been incredibly generous to me. I've played it three times and made money each time, this time, I cashed out a cool $50 by hitting four numbers with twenty cents bet.

Yesterday, we had an interesting day off-roading. We ran two trails, Coyote Falls and Devils Canyon. I'll get to those details later today or possibly tomorrow.

Worried and sick

My nephew, Nicky, is in the hospital. He possibly took Jeff's stepbother's ADHD medicine on Tuesday (he mistakenly left his pill case in Nicky's reach). My sister took him to the ER. They ran an EKG and observed him for a few hours and then sent him home. Yesterday, he was not himself and had slept all but an hour or two of the last twenty-four. He was having trouble swallowing and drooling a bunch. They went back to the ER. The asshats there were still not giving him adquate care. His condition was worsening, he was showing signs of dehydration, his heart rate was high and he needed oxygen. Bloodwork and two EKG returned normal before they ran a toxicology report. I'm no doctor but I'd think they would've been the first thing done. I wait patiently for updates, but I haven't heard results of that or other tests. Fortunately, though, he has improved today. He grasped my sister's fingers, asked for cereal and was able to recite what all the animals say and sing, You Are My Sunshine. Amy was so relieved to see signs of improvement, Nicky is finally beginning to act like himself, but he's still not 100%. They plan to keep him a few more days. I pray the worst is behind them. I can't imagine how scary it must be.

Tuesday my allergies started to act up, they only got worse yesterday, and now today, I'm pretty miserable. I can't breathe, yet my eyes and nose run like crazy. I hope it passes soon.

In lighter events, we saw the San Gennaro Feast Fireworks last night. They do two display each year, one in May and the other in September. It's always a nice display.

San Gennaro Feast Fireworks from kellee on Vimeo.

Morels at Palazzo

Last week, my company was awarded a dinner at Maggiano's for exceeding our 2008 sales goal with one of our suppliers. Dinner was very good. I really like the family style menus, even though their regular menu fails to thrill me. At any rate, we were all given gift cards in appreciation for our efforts. What do I do with free money? Eat, of course. I suggested to Frank that we should try Morels for dinner since we had such an enjoyable lunch there before. He was game.

Our reservation was at 8:00 on Sunday. The weather was perfect so we sat on the patio. We had a nice view of the strip, I could see the Pirate Show at TI and the Volcano at Mirage from my seat. We started with warm bread, butter with sea salt and olive tapenade; our cheese course followed.

We had a lull because they were sold out of two of the three cheese we selected, we had to chose two new ones. Said and done, we sampled Majoreo from Spain, Camembert from NY and 10 year aged Cheddar from WI. We didn't like the Camembert. We've had other varieties before, it seems we just haven't acquired the taste for it. Now we know to avoid it in the future. The other two were excellent.

Next, Frank had French Onion soup, he shared a few bites with me. It was just as good as last time. Then, we moved on to the tableside Caesar. It was pretty good, just not as tasty as the one served at Delmonico. For the main course, Frank had Rack of Lamb and I had Halibut. Both were excellent and prepared to perfection. We wrapped up the meal with a peanut butter and chocolate dome for dessert. It was scrumptious.

Our server was new, a bit akward, slow and obnoxious at times, but service was standard. However, it was a bit of a disappointment since service was stellar on our last visit. Dinner was pricey, $172 before tip, but it was enjoyable and the patio seating was great for such a beautiful evening. Overall, Morels has won us over with its tasty eats and excellent cheese selection. I have no doubt we'll be anxious to return again soon.

Potato Ridge

We normally do Potato Ridge from Red Rock to Lovell Canyon, this time we started at Lovell. Since we went out with Vegas Valley 4-Wheelers this was also the first time we were able run many of the rock gardens/washes. We stopped near the end to BBQ, visit and take in the beautiful views. It was a great time!

First rock garden

From Potato Ridge

First obstacle in the second rock garden

From Potato Ridge

From Potato Ridge

Another rock garden

From Potato Ridge

From Potato Ridge

The unimog could go places the rest of us can't

From Potato Ridge

Nice to see a hummer offroad as intended instead of just being a grocery getter.

From Potato Ridge

It suffered damage in one of the rock gardens, though.

From Potato Ridge

So did this Jeep Cherokee

From Potato Ridge

Our biggest run yet 19 rigs, mostly Jeeps

From Potato Ridge

Our damage from the rock gardens

From Potato Ridge

and a bent tierod

From Potato Ridge

This really is the way, the fun way, anyway...

From Potato Ridge

Looking back at the Jeep behind us

From Potato Ridge

From Potato Ridge

From Potato Ridge

From Potato Ridge

Scenic views

From Potato Ridge

From Potato Ridge

Pretty Purple bush beginning to bloom

From Potato Ridge

Parked for BBQ

From Potato Ridge

More scenery

From Potato Ridge

From Potato Ridge

Summertime! And the living is easy

Grilling, margaritas, swimming, offroading, fine dining outdoors... Can life get any sweeter?

We had a great taste of summer this weekend. The weather was perfect. The pool was 75 degrees Sunday afternoon, Frank jumped in, if he heated it today, I'll get my feet wet after work. We had a great day with Vegas Valley 4 Wheelers running Potato Ridge. We were able to conquer rock gardens that we can't do solo. I'll share those photos tomorrow. Along with dinner details, we went back to Morels at Palazzo for a wonderful meal on their patio overlooking the strip.

Friday we went to M Resort to bet on the derby. We hung around, played video poker, blackjack, had a few drinks and I tried my luck on Cavemen Keno on our way out. I had two nice wins that brought me back to even. Frank lost, but we had fun. I Want Revenge scratched so we need return and get our money back. Another visit to M, ok, twist my arm... We love M, I hope things over there don't change - Frank has a theory that everyone is friendly and customer service is great because they're all on probation. I guess we'll find out in a couple months.

Saturday, we fired up our new grill. It provides us with much more room and a even heating surface. We'll get good use out of it this summer.

From House photos

It was an ordeal getting it, but in the end it all worked out. See, we originally bought a grill from Sears. They had free assembly so we opted to do that. A few days later, they called to say the grill was available for pick up. We went to get it, only to find they tried to pawn off the floor model. We were under the impression the grill would be new, we did not want to pay full sales price for a grill that was dirty and dinged. We met with a manager who offered us 10%. We wanted more, she didn't budge so we returned it. We headed right over to Lowe's. They had a grill on clearance outside, it was just what we needed, actually larger than the one at Sears. We asked to have it marked down because it had been outside for sometime. They took $55 off the price. Sold! It wouldn't fit in the Suburban fully assembled. We considered rolling it home, we're close. But the guy helping us didn't skip a beat, he wheeled it over to a pay by the hour truck that was getting loaded for the morning, and they loaded the grill and followed us home, unloaded it and they were on their way. We were happy as can be. Talk about Customer Service, Sears should take note. We'll gladly shop at Lowes in the future. We tend to buy things there every now and again, but now they've earned priority in our home improvement shopping.

We also broke in a new blender I purchased from Amazon. After seven or eight years our old one died. I shopped around for the most powerful one I could turn up, an Oster Professional Series.

Frank's margaritas just got better. Amazing what can be done with a proper tool. This blender finely crushes ice in seconds. I have a feeling, it too, will get plenty of use this summer.

Grilled Lemon Thyme Chicken

We bought a new grill, it was a bit of an ordeal, but it all worked out last night. I'll fill you in another day. We can't wait to break in the new one. We'll fire it up tomorrow because tonight we have plans; I have a work dinner at Maggiano's fortunately Frank will be able to join me.

Back to the chicken, I tried this recipe on Tuesday, it was a weak last hurrah for the old grill. We liked the lemon-thyme flavor, but it was way too salty. I even cut the garlic salt back to 1 1/2 tsp. If I make it again, I'll cut it back to one teaspoon tops.

4 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 lb)

1. Heat gas or charcoal grill. In small bowl, mix all ingredients except chicken. Sprinkle mixture over chicken.
2. Place chicken on grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F).

Nutritional Information

1 Serving: Calories 170 (Calories from Fat 40); Total Fat 4 1/2g (Saturated Fat 1 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 85mg; Sodium 560mg; Total Carbohydrate 1g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 0g); Protein 31g

White Sox and Fun in the Sun

We're going on vacation! Next month, we will catch a couple White Sox games in Anaheim and then we're going to drive down to San Diego and spend a few nights there. We are looking forward to good times, yummy Mexican food and plenty of Cadillac Margaritas.

I was able to secure great rates for both hotels on Expedia and Orbitz. The Orbitz reservation even included a $50 restaurant.com voucher. We'll happily put that to good use.

Now I just need to research new things to do and restaurants to try. We've been to SeaWorld and the Zoo, we've done a Harbor Cruise and toured USS Midway, we've gone to Ocean Beach, Sunset Cliffs, Point Loma, Fort Rosecrans Cemetery, Seaport Village, Old Town, the Gaslamp Quarter and last trip we found a couple great breakfast spots. We've covered a lot of ground, but I have no doubt we'll find plenty to keep us busy. I want to see the Botanical Gardens, visit Coronado, La Jolla and maybe Mission Beach. If you happen to have a recommendation please share.

Spring Babies

My mom has her hands full with all of her animals, and newest additions.

Chicks

From Spring - Babies

Geese

From Spring - Babies

My mom has three adult goats, Mindy, Clarise and Billy. The girls both had babies recently, their kids were born a week apart. Mindy went first, she had three kids: two girls and a boy. Clarise is a first-time mom, she also delivered three kids, but only one survived, she is a girl.

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

From Spring - Babies

They liked to nibble on my jeans

From Spring - Babies

We brought one of Mindy's girls to Clarise's pen for a playdate, it's fun to watch them play.


play date from kellee on Vimeo

The geese go outside to play for the first time.


Baby geese from kellee on Vimeo.