Texas Summer Visit

June 28 - July 6
Yes of course we went birding. See the July posts on BlueRaven https://blueravenbirders.com/2021/07/. But we also hung out with family.

Nan's cat lurking up high

We finally did it. Went to a Buccees. Shanna's online friends insisted that since they couldn't go she had to. We did look for them on the way to and from Corpus Christie. In the end we had to make a targeted trip to the one near Italy TX. Super entertaining. It's a chain of oversized stop and go's selling everything from food and souvenirs to gas and clothing.

Shanna trying on hat at Buccees

And we got to spend the 4th of July with the family. Mike hosts a barbque picnic and pool party then he and his kids set off super high quality fireworks.

I loved the safety measures and watching teenagers run back and forth to set off the rockets safely was super entertaining. I don't have any pictures of that since it was complete dark. Here are a few images of the sparklers that started the party.

Lumos

Sparkler interpretive dance

Hanging Out and Driving Home

Journal Entry March 2010 (Written December 2010)
Friday March 26th - Monday March 29th

Photos are from the Santa Rosa NM to Price UT Drive.



FRIDAY MARCH 27 - Shopping and Hanging out
Our last full day in Italy TX. First we went shopping at a little place in Waxahachie that sells my size clothes. Wonderfully it was chock full of white, yellow and turquoise blues. I couldn't believe it. I love yellow and rarely find it. After shopping we went home and played games and hung out. Sydney beat all of us at a strategy game, which was the cap to the evening. Went and visited Nan & Gary's house, it's lovely with the new paint, walls, shells, and rag rugs.

---



SATURDAY MARCH 28 - Departure
I talked with dad a bit in the early morning before he left for work again. Nick and I stopped by Melinda's to see what she'd done with the place, then took a tour of Tessa & Mike's menagerie. We then took to the road heading back towards Santa Rosa. We started listening to our book and realized that we didn't have that much more of it to go. I called the Barnes & Noble in Amarillo and arranged for a copy of the next book 'Blood Rites.' It was waiting for us when we arrived. It was the perfect time for a break. I then started reading that book out loud in the car. We did not finish the book and I ended up reading it aloud at home to both Nick and Shanna. This started a new tradition of reading while cleaning up after dinner. As the reader, I think I got the best part of the deal.

---



SUNDAY MARCH 29 - Driving home day 2
And we drove and drove and drove and tried to take back roads and got turned around and the wrong direction and then back on track and it was stunning, the red rock and evergreen trees dusted with the power of snow. Gorgeous. We stopped again in Price for the night.

---



MONDAY MARCH 30 - Home
We've aged. No longer are we willing to drive 12-20 hours in a stretch. It just wasn't happening our bodies didn't want to and neither did our minds. It just takes a long time to get to or fro Texas. We had a great trip and really enjoyed being together.

For more photos of the drive home see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157624106927164/

Domes

Nick & Jenny drive to and visit Italy Texas
Journal Entry March 2010
Written December 2010
March 22nd (Monday)

In Texas, time to show Nick a few more domes. :) Dad took us around to the nearby Gymnasiums, apartments and around the business complex. He then took off with Nick to show him more plans and stuff. Me? I took a nap.

Mom and I did some shopping then we made Mexican food for those who wanted to come visit. This was pretty much the only day we spent with Dad. He was always out and about working for some big shot in Dallas.

For more dome photos I've taken see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157623903629464/
For more on monolithic domes, including plans, photos and other information see: http://www.monolithic.com/

Sisters & Birds

I left work a few minutes early and headed home. I was still not certain if I would drive down to Salt Lake City that evening or the next morning. As I started packing and getting things together I got more into the idea of getting there Friday night and NOT trying get up at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday. With the car loaded I took off, arriving at Rebecca's downtown apartment at 8:00 p.m. She met me downstairs and we headed for Sawadee Thai Food.

Sawadee has amazing food. For the first time I really, REALLY enjoyed the tofu parts of my pad thai. Rebecca says the trick is to drain the tofu, chop it up in cubes, and let it sit for awhile to finish draining (approx 1hr). You then fry it and add to whatever you want.

If you want to go to Sawadee it is located at:
754 East South Temple
Salt Lake City UT
http://www.sawadee1.com/

Hung out with Rebecca and her daughter + friend for awhile before going to sleep.

Woke up early, had too. Really wanted to go birding with the Great Salt Lake

Audubon group http://www.greatsaltlakeaudubon.org/ on their Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve (Kennecott Mitigation Property) field trip. It was really amazing the area is HUGE and normally off limits to people. I didn't count, but it seemed like hundreds of Avocets were present, along with the trifecta of teals and more:

American Avocets
Cinnamon Teals
Blue Winged Teals
Green Winged Teals
Great Blue Herons
Western Meadowlarks
Sage Thrashers
Northern Harriers
Northern Shovelers
Coots
Willets
Savannah Sparrow
Yellow Headed Blackbirds
Red Winged Blackbirds
Canada Geese (surprisingly few)
Eared Grebes
LEsser Scaups
Long Billed Curlews
Logger Head Shrike
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Golden Eagle

And best of all a new species for me: Barn Owl!!

Outside of the field trip I also saw:
American Robins
Red Tailed Hawks
Starlings
Rock Doves
California Gulls
House Sparrows
Trumpeter Swans

And the cutest Wood Duck.

For Mammals, there were Pronghorns on the reserve and dozens of Mule Deer along I15.

I met some great people and ended up carpooling with a Yvonne from the Utah County Audubon group http://www.utahbirds.org/. She was very congenial and interesting. She has a spotting scope and so I got more information about them from her. The best surprise was the fact that there are Bird Festivals where there are field trips and classes and vendors and I gotta go to one!!

After birding I cleaned up and headed for Jessica's.

Jessica is very pregnant right now. She's having a girl and the little baby Rachel is expected to make her debut within the next few weeks. Thank heavens for Rebecca, she let me pay for half of a great present. She found a gorgeous sterling silver necklace with coin like monogram charms for each member of Jessica's family.

It was one of the best baby showers I have ever attended. Jessica's friends had set it up as an open house so people could come and go. There were presents and cake and veggies and it was only friends and family. I wish I coulda stayed longer.

More later...
Jenny

Thanksgiving in Sacramento

DSC07443
Originally uploaded by J Semenza

Shanna moved to Texas in August to work for her grandfather. She started out as part of the grounds crew but ended up as an interior house painter.

The weather was good and we were missing Shanna so we loaded up the car and headed for Ellisa's house. Wells NV makes a good place for an overnight stop.

On the way down we stopped at Winnemucca for the best Mexican food. Melinda and I found this restaurant a couple of years ago.

Ellisa decided not to do a traditional Thanksgiving feast and served Italian food instead. Yummy, though I did miss the turkey. It was really nice to hang out with them for a few days! I volunteered to watch In Bruges, a show which is totally ridiculous. There are some truly funny bits, and some terribly tacky bits too. Not my cup of tea, but certainly something I'll remember. I definitely like to stretch my cinematic point of view now and then. This qualifies as the stretch for 2008.

I started and mostly finished the book "Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise" by Ruth Reichl. It was a fascinating look into food criticism, restaurants, food, newspaper publishing and New York.

We didn't get out and do any bird watching. I was still fighting with the chronic migraine issue.

Loved hanging out with the family though.

Church, Birds and Chaos

I haven't been to church in a very long time. I wasn't sure this morning if I wanted to go, but I got up and got ready. I was rewarded by seeing a Eurasian Collard Dove on our way to the car. The drive to the church included more birds. The service itself was nice. Kinda fun to watch Dad officiate.

The best part was on our way home we saw two strange birds in a field. Mom and I both guessed common and wrong birds. Melinda turned the car around and was right there were two Crested Caracaras. WOW! (see list below for full birding info)

I made dinner (with assistance from Nan and company) and Mike, Tessa and their 4 kids came over. Chaos ensued. It's a good kind of chaos that only 5 small children (Mikey, Sydney, Katy, Evie & Frankie) can make. Of course it didn't help that Nanette the instigator was egging them on to louder and funnier antics. I have the cutest nieces and nephews.

After later
Jenny

Eurasian Collared Dove (new)
Dicksissel
Cardinals
Painted Bunting
Barn Swallows
Turkey Vulture
Mourning Doves
Mockingbirds
Common Grackles
Great Grackles
Eastern Meadowlarks
House Sparrows
Scissor Tailed Flycatdcher
Western Kingbird
Crested Caracara (new)
Green Heron
Starlings
Cliff Swallows
Red Bellied Woodpecker (new)
Red Tailed Hawks
Black Vultures
Snowy Egret
Great Egret

Sleep and the big dinner

Spent most of the day hanging out, catching up on sleep, and talking. For dinner we went up to Waxahachie to a place called Fire Mountain with all of the family. In attendance were:
Mike & Tessa + their kids: Mikey, Katie, Evie, and Frankie
Nanette + her kids: Sydney and Erika
Mom & Dad
Melinda, Myself, Andrew, and the guy from Bulgaria who's visiting to talk about Domes
I'm pretty sure the Bulgarian hadn't seen an american all-you-can-eat place before. I hadn't seen anything like this either. It was PACKED! And they had a huge variety of food. So Mikey could have pizza and Frankie could have pudding and all the rest of us could eat whatever we wanted.

Go me, for having small portions and no seconds. :) :) I gotta say I'm proud of myself.

After Later
Jenny