Cumbres Toltec train

For our anniversary, we decided to take a short road trip to southern Colorado to ride the Cumbres and Toltec Train

We actually decided to ride from New Mexico, so we took a bus down to Chama NM and then road the train back to Antonito CO. 

 Here we are on the bus....we are ready to go....

Our train car had nice tables that we could sit at and look out and the decor was fun too.   

 We saw great scenery. 

 Went over a couple of bridges

 This little car followed behind the train to put out any fires that were started along the track.  Kevin called it our "stalker"

 Some great canyons to see

We went through a couple of tunnels

 And we even saw a group of cowboys

Jekyll Island

Once again I was accepted to present at the Distance Learning Administration conference, held at Jekyll Island.  Since it was close to our anniversary and we didn't go last year, we decided to take a couple of extra days and spend the weekend before the conference and enjoy ourselves.  That we did. 

Jekyll Island has an interesting history, as a retreat for the very wealthy, from 1888 to 1942.  We did get to stay at the club house and it was so much fun.   

 

The beach was nice.....so clean, clear and soft

Entering the island....

 

Cool bridges

We visited Horton House as well on the island

 

 This Cemetery was haunted...I am sure...we were here, and I heard a dog howl from far off, and it got cloudy and I said to Kevin "this place is haunted" and as I said that, the thunder came and it started pouring rain, so we ran back to the car. 

  

One evening we even took a boat ride and went to find some dolphins

 First we found other wildlife

 Then we saw the dolphins, tons of them....at one point we could see about 20 around the boat. 

J.D. Gross Mousse au Chocolat

I am working my way thru the mammoth box of chocolate from Germany, and one of the items in there was the J.D. Gross Mousse au Chocolat "bar". I use the word bar loosely as the package includes several individually wrapped mini bars a little larger than a Kit Kat stick. What these bars are is a rich chocolate mousse (38% cacao) enrobed in a layer of dark chocolate (53% cacao).

One of the bars in the package

The outer coating is a slightly hard chocolate that has a strong (slightly bitter) chocolate favor. Think of it as a way of containing the soft mousse inside. The mousse inside is very soft, similar to what you may find in many truffles. Without the outer chocolate container the mousse would not hold any shape. The favor of the mousse is good, and has a slight grit, but the favor of the outer chocolate hides some of the flavor of the mousse. Overall I am glad I got this bar, and I am having a hard time rationing out the servings. The package recommends 1 or 2 bars per serving and I have to agree that it is plenty as the bars are quite rich.

Sweet Sweet Wine.....thanks Kari

This past weekend, my friend Kari came to visit.  We had a really great time and had a chance to catch up.  We hadn't seen each other for what seems like a very long time (a few months).  Anyway, Kari brought me my birthday present, that she made herself: 

And inside?.....yep a nice bottle of wine....

And when I open it, the cork will go in this nice large jar I have on display.  

High waters

We had an above average year of snow fall in the mountains of Colorado this last winter.  With warm weather and some rains recently we are once again watching the water rise and some places further upstream from us are getting flooded again. You may remember the flood story from last year.  Well Kevin and I noticed last Sunday the water was raising again and spreading back out.  So we took a little walk across the bridge: 

We see this new path under the bridge being created again, this was not there a few days before. 

 Even Mobi stopped to sick her head through the bridge supports and take a look. 

Here you can see the water is rising.  Remember last year when we had the flood, the water was over a mile wide and up above this bank flooding into the park beyond those trees.  It would have a LONG way to go to get there again this year, and we don't anticipate that, but still it is high for our area.  

 Here you can see how close to the road bridge it is.  At this time on Sunday it still had quite a bit of room to spread out so it hasn't really risen here, but the river is much wider today. 

I think how nature provides for us and the power of the water is truly amazing to see what it can do. 

Pheasant hunting?

We seem to have a small pheasant family (3) living at the logs at the end of our property.  So no, they are not hunted (unless Chip and Dale decide to try to hunt and they are quite the killers).  But it is fun to see the wildlife we have and enjoy them. 

Guittard NonPareils

There is something about NonPareils that I love. Maybe it is the memories of my mom getting them for me, albeit rarely, from the Sears candy counter as a kid. Maybe it is the crunch of the white dots when you eat them.. anyway I just love them. So when I was at Costco and they had a bag of them, into the cart they went. There was a look from Jody that said to me "Do you really need that?", but I left it in the cart anyway.

So the brand that they had at Costco was Guittard, and they are a pretty well known chocolatier, so I expected something good. Needless to say I got what I expected. The discs are a little over 1" in diameter and are just the right thickness and snap nicely when you bite into them. I'll be sad when the bag is gone, but such is life and maybe Costco will have them next time I am there. :)

Next up... working on the sizable stash that arrived from Germany...