Summer Road Trip 2014 - 12 Campsites

Weekend Fun at Joshua Tree!

Spring Break 2014 - Valley Of Fire State Park

We had a great trip to Nevada and Utah in Snap, Crackle, Pop (Up).

Our first night was spent at Valley Of Fire State Park, Nevada's oldest and largest state park. I was a little anxious because its campgrounds are first-come, first-served. Fortunately, there were plenty of
spaces still available at Arch Campground when we arrived at about 3:00 p.m. We were in spot 9.

Bodie and Libby had fun playing on the rocks in the campground. Later, we looked at the petroglyphs on Atlatl Rock, visited the Beehives, and hiked the Petrified Logs trail.

It got windy during the night. Very windy! The kids were able to sleep, but Kristi and I didn't do as well. We had the screens open because it was a warm night and we thought it would keep the trailer from blowing over. Fine particles of sand blew in all night, covering everything. By the morning the gusts were so strong I thought the trailer was going to blow away! The gusts must have been 40+ mph! We were supposed to spend a second night, but the forecast called for wind all day. So, we decided to head to Zion National Park a day early. We did a quick takedown, packed up camp, and explored the park. We drove to Rainbow Vista, hiked part of Mouse's Tank where we saw many more petroglyphs, and explored the visitor's center.

Red Rock Canyon State Park, November 2013

Our first trip with Snap, Crackle, Pop (Up)! Claudia drove out to Red Rock Canyon State Park to claim a spot at Ricardo Campground for us. We were in spot 24. We had wind the first day with some gusts. There was a full moon and it was very bright, so you could walk around without a headlamp.

Stats: 2 nights, 280 miles.

Snap, Crackle, Pop! (up)

We are the new owners of a pop-up tent trailer. Yep, you heard me right! A 1994 Fleetwood Destiny Royale. We bought it yesterday from a nice family (and the original owners) in Moorpark. It's in great shape after nearly 20 years -- they took good care of it. It's now in our driveway getting prepped for camping. Today we emptied it of all the goodies left behind and gave it a good cleaning. My first modification was to put some old sleeping pads under the kids bunk for insulation. I got to use the electric stapler, which really doesn't get used enough!

Our first trip will be to Red Rock Canyon State Park in a couple weeks. Bodie and I have tent camped out there before and it is great for stargazing, although the moon will be full on this trip.

Accordion Update

I’ve been playing the accordion for almost a year now and I’m enjoying it very much. In August I bought a professional accordion -- Sano Model 50c -- and it has made a world of difference in my playing.

My lessons are on Saturday and I try to get at least three hours of practice time during the week.

Here’s a weeks worth of practice:

Exercises

Chromatic Scale
Octave Scale
1234 Scale
Hanon Speed Drills (staccato and legato)
Major Scales (including 2 octave G, C, and F)
Chords (major, minor, seventh, diminished) (slide and arpeggio)
Bass (left-hand) C Major scale
Left-hand strengthening exercises

Lesson songs

I’m usually working on one song from my Palmer-Hughes course, one exercise from my bass (left-hand) book, and one or two pieces of sheet music from my teacher.

Repertoire songs

Once my teacher “passes” me on a song, I usually don’t continue to play it. The lesson songs in Palmer Hughes are generally short versions of songs designed to teach one technique or concept.

I do keep playing some of my lesson songs as well as many of my sheet music songs to build my repertoire. With these songs I work on tempo (sometimes with a metronome), dynamics, and expression.

The New Accordion Has Arrived!

Sano Model 50C

The Update

Too many weeks without a blog entry!

Kristi's due date is July 16th and she is now at the point in her pregnancy where she is uncomfortable nearly all the time. The baby's room is shaping up. I painted it last weekend, installed a new, cute ceiling fan, and put up some very pink curtains. The curtains need a bit more adjusting and that will involve some wall patching and re-painting (yuck). We have a nice crib and dresser we bought on Craigslist, but still have to find a rocker and other decor.

Matilda is leading at this point with Lara a distant second!

Bodie doesn't know what to make of it all!

I have a trip to Florida next week for a conference and then I'll be at home with car keys at hand.