Just a brief post as we try to figure out what time it really is, and adjust to the fact that tomorrow is a work day.

Seattle is just a bit cooler than the places we have been.
At least 20 and closer to 30 degrees cooler.

The trip home was pretty uneventful.
Normally I read on the plane, but today our trip coincided with the UEFA Cup Semi-final match between Spain and Portugal. (Soccer) The game started shortly after we took off, but did not quite have time to be completed before we landed. This was because after the Full 90 (minutes), the score was tied 0-0. They had played most of the 1st overtime half, but not the 2nd.

Watching futbol really makes the flight go quickly. The game could have been better. Lots of starting and stopping. I usually root for Spain, but I would have taken either team after the end of regular time. Towards the end of the game I was being distracted by scenes like this.

Mt. Rainier

This was after watching Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens pass by in the somewhat further distance.

I did not get pictures as we were taking off and heading north from Denver.
Initially we could see the huge clouds of smoke rising from the Colorado Springs area. As we went north we were able to catch a bit of the Ft. Collins area smoke. On the shuttle ride down we could see smoke rising above the Flat Irons outside of Boulder.

[We watched the remainder of the game once we got home, on replay. SPOILER ALERT: Spain won in penalty kicks. As I said, I thought had stopped rooting for Spain, but when Portugal’s Bruno ?, hit the post and his shot went wide, I was happy. This could be because I did not particularly care for his style of play throughout the game. Or perhaps I just never stopped rooting for Spain, but simply disappointed that their play was not up to par.]

Yesterday we saw an Osprey nest just off of the road.
So this morning we took a short side trip to get a closer look.
At least one osprey was in the nest, and moved about a bit, but not enough to provide a really good picture. (We did note a more determined photographer setting up a tripod.)

Osprey nest – obviously next to a road

The more interesting feathered friends turned out to be the rather large flock of swallows that inhabited the underside of the bridge adjacent to the osprey nest.

Swallow Nests

The cheaper homesites – no sun.

Full line of nests

The pictures of the flock are anything but in focus. But what do you expect when you pair a smart-phone camera with darting and diving fliers. But here is one anyway. There are birds against the sky, the foliage and the water.

Check out the lower left corner of the picture

This is all adjacent to a wildlife preserve area.

Poudre Trail area preserve

The heat was again warmer than Seattle is likely to see for several years.
When we left at around 8 AM to check out the osprey it was 79 degrees.
When we arrived at the nest a few minutes later it was 84 degrees.
When we got back to the hotel, a total of about 30 minutes later it was 90 degrees.

The next step was to gather with family once more.
Here is a parade of Harms as we left for lunch. (99 degrees)

Doris, Bob & Carl the enforcer

Lunch was at the Island Grill – pretty darn good food. And entertainment – natural style.
There were a few planter boxes on the outside dining area (we ate inside – it was almost 100 degrees after all).

The boxes were full of pretty flowers. And a butterfly. And two bees that kept bugging the butterfly – essentially attacking it from above or the rear. Their goal did not seem to be to hurt the butterfly, but rather to drive it off of the flowers, so they could get the nectar for themselves. This went on for quite a while. And there were other flowers in the box that could have been tasted.

I did not venture out in the “heat of the day” to see if it topped 100 degrees again. But I assume it did.
Carl did venture south – to the Colorado Rockies game.
When he left there was some rain, associated with a thunderstorm.

This was likely the same storm that had just graced Boulder, a little more than 20 miles to the south.
Unfortunately in Boulder it touched off yet another fire – one ridge away from the City.
I will be curious to hear what they may have seen as they drove south, east of Boulder. Or later tonight on the return trip when it is dark out. For those that know Boulder – the fire is close to the NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) facility.

The Fort Collins (High Park fire) has been usurped in the local news by the new Boulder (Flagstaff) fire and the Colorado Springs fire (Waldo Canyon fire). The Colorado Springs fire is perilously close to neighborhoods near the Air Force Academy. As I have been writing this we are jumping back and forth between the ball game and fire coverage. The Colorado Springs area is just amazing, coming right into neighborhoods with likely homes burning as we watch. There is a ridge that is keeping the camera from seeing exactly what is burning, just a wall of black smoke.

And tomorrow AM we will be leaving this triple digit heat. We hear the high in Seattle was about 65 degrees.
For those that wonder about the difference between a humid heat and a dry heat. A dry heat is easier to take. In Tennessee it was in the 90s with high humidity. In Colorado it has been in the 100s with extremely low humidity. I can stand the Colorado heat more easily.

The motel we are staying in advertises its nice bathing facilities.
This would be true for the room we are in. And they added some unintended humor this morning.

 Carl almost always takes baths.
So I told him that this bathtub had jets he could use.
After he had filled the tub, he was turning the silver bits on the side of the tub, and announced that he thought they might not be working. I had seen a timer on the main room wall earlier, so I turned the timer.

I felt as though I had thrown an electrical appliance into the tub.
The jets blasted off, making quite a noise and generally startling both of us.
After he calmed down, Carl enjoyed the bath.

 When it was my turn I opted for the shower.
Got the water going before I removed my glasses and got in.
When it came time to use the conditioner, I shook the bottle like I usually do. The conditioner is thick, and needs some assistance to get out of the bottle. In addition, I unscrew the cap, instead of trying to squeeze thick liquid in a stiff bottle through a small hole.

Did I mention we are at altitude? After being at a significantly lower elevation.
If you have ever travelled to a significant elevation, you may recall that the lower air pressure means that liquids are anxious to leave their containers, now lightly pressurized.

 Let us just say I ended up with enough conditioner for about four hair washes.

And when I was done, I tried to turn off the water. I managed to make it colder, but it took me a while to figure that “off” is not in a vertical position, but horizontal. Those nicely embossed words on the controller mean nothing to an almost blind person.

 The rest of the day? Well, we got to spend more time with family, going through pictures and sharing stories.

Carl’s Grandmother

We ventured out into the heat for lunch, but generally stayed close to home.

 OK – this may have seemed like TMI, or not worth sharing, but it was a amusing way to start the day.

We started the day (Sunday) in the Eastern Time Zone, and ended in the Mountain Time Zone.
Keeping no particular schedule and changing time zones has made it very difficult to know exactly where we are in a day. When we sat down to dinner (see below), I had no idea what time it really was.

Travel
An airplane full of families was the main implement of travel. Most planes have a few kids, but this plane had a really high percentage. (I believe many of them were from the same church based group. They sang Happy Birthday to one of their members as we were taxiing down the runway to take-off. Not a bad flight, and the van ride to the fun Fort was smooth as well.

Food & Family
The focus of this visit is family (as was the last leg). In this case the Fort Collins Harms.
We had a chance to start catching up, and to eat some really good food.
We received the benefit of a food club meal the prior evening. Ribs, coleslaw and baked beans.

Fire
The fire just west of Ft Collins is of historic proportions. I think the tally of homes lost is at 191.
It is not near the family house, but it can be visible.

Smoke from ribs in the foreground, and the big fire in the background.

Weather
The fire has been assisted by hot dry weather. It was in the 90’s as we got off of the plane, and was over 100 degrees before the evening turned cooler.

We kept saying we needed to bring some of the Seattle rain to Colorado.
Apparently we succeeded at least in part, but next time we need to be more specific.
First we were treated to a spectacular lightning show (which was the cause of said fire).
It was raining (to the ground) when we left to our night-time headquarters. In fact it was raining so hard, including hail, that we waited in the car to leave. Finally got back to the hotel, and hit the sheets.

Softball
Luckily for us we reserved the hotel room a few months ago.
There was some concern that fire-fighters or displaced home-owners could be competing for space.
There may be some in the hotel, but the main contingent is softball players.
Apparently there is some big tournament in town. The Colorado Sparkler.
The teams are from all around the country – and there are about 8 teams staying at this hotel.

We watched the Spain vs France quarter-final Eurocup game at Soccer Taco on Market Square in downtown Knoxville.
We had been here at least once previously to watch a Sounders game, followed by Shakespeare in the square. Today’s game was OK. Spain won 1-0, but it was lacking in the continuous crisp passing that Spain is known for. There was some, just not as much as we had hoped.

The Square was jumping today. It is Pride-Fest Knoxville style. I am glad to see it in this area, where just a few days ago I read an editorial about “their lifestyle” being forced on everyone else.

Back home long enough to split a few games of Bananagrams.

Then off to a school yard for a game of soccer-basketball.
The boys that is. I did not have the head or feet for it today.

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Home for dinner and a conversation with the fourth member of our little family.
I love Skype.

Furniture – 1st half

This really was a continuing theme of our time at Rey’s place.
First up was a bookcase. Rey had completed the lion’s share of this construction.
However, the quality of the raw materials had resulted in one failure and more frustration. Some glue and clamps solved the immediate problem, and we completed the construction. Yesterday’s events included loading what could be the most important type of furniture for Rey.

The happy bookcase

For those that don’t know, Rey has lived a spartan life style, with little in the way of furniture to weigh him down. But there are times when a little comfort would be nice. This year we finally managed to get him a couch. Yesterday involved construction of said couch.

The happy builder

It has been so long since he had a couch, he is not sure which side to be on.

It generally went well, and we were able to utilize the finished product at the end of the day.

Helping the mattress to lay flat

Ready for action

(I don’t believe anyone has tested it yet for sleeping, but both Rey and I made brief attempts at being the first.)

Off the beaten path – 2nd half

We had a few destinations in mind when we left Rey’s domicile.

The first was Cherokee Lake. This is a lake formed by a dam (not a damned lake) on the Holston River. It is quite large, but does not have the rounder shape of a natural lake. We would encounter its shores several times as we drove through the area.

Cherokee Lake – one small arm

Next on the list was the Ebbing and Flowing Spring.

The Ebbing and Flowing Spring
An old inlet works piece is visible

We found this little gem in a book that Pooh and Mark got for Rey a year or so ago.
It was really off regular path. The description of the location provided in the book was not 100% accurate. However, the folks with the broken down truck in the middle of the ford, that was full of the flow from the spring, were very helpful in pointing out the spring’s location.

Ebbing and Flowing Spring flows crossing the road

The spring is one of only two known in the world to regularly ebb and flow. This is caused by the hydraulics associated with a chamber just before the spring’s point of exit.  Wikipedia’s description of the Ebbing and Flowing Spring calls it “tidal”. This link has a better physical description of the likely siphon involved, and this one has a few more historical facts of interest.

Cabin next to the Ebbing and Flowing Spring (not feeding the creek in front however).

We even got to see a snapping turtle, pointed out by a young girl at least loosely associated with the truck. And it is her naming of the species – we are not turtle experts.

Snapping Turtle

The efforts to this point had made the boy hungry, so we set off in search of some non-chain restaurant along the road. We were rewarded with El Portrillo, a mexican restaurant in Church Hill. [I am not sure why this place got to claim the name of Church Hill. It seems almost every burg could claim the same.] There was a wide variety of dishes to choose from, and the  food was good. One of the waiter’s put on a show of carrying 6 plates on one arm as he arrived at a table. He even had oven “mitts” extending up the full length of his arm. Rey picked a good one. [This was after our first stop, which was closed because the proprietors were on vacation for a week.]

Eastern Tennessee – Hills and Ridges

Our final destination for the evening was Hunter-Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tennessee. Home to the Kingsport Mets, a rookie league team. The Mets were playing the Braves, the Greeneville Braves that is. We had box seats with a good view of the field. The game got underway with temperatures at a reasonable level, finally. The first time since we arrived that I have been really comfortable without the benefit of air-conditioning.

Kingsport’s Hunter-Wright Stadium

The game was eventful. Hits, runs, steals. Some flashes of real speed. It will be interesting to see if any of these players make the climb to the majors over the next few years. And Carl’s scorecard raffle number was called. He’s a winner!

The prize was a business card sized coupon for a free hamburger at Hardees. Of course the Hardees on the list were not close to Rey’s place, and a closer examination of the card revealed an expiration date of July 6, 2011. Carl took it back to try to exchange for a t-shirt. He came away with a set of last year’s Appalachian League prospect baseball cards. For those that know Carl, this was much better than the hamburger, or the round of golf he was also offered. 

The game tied 5-5 in the top of the 6th inning when nature intervened. It had been thundering with lightning in the background for the past few innings. The umpire (Dale Ford – not called back to the major leagues after a failed 1999 strike attempt) wasted no time in clearing the field when the lightning strike was visible beyond the centerfield fence.

Dale Ford – former MLB umpire, calling balls and strikes, and eventually – the game.

We hung around under cover with several other fans. The rain seemed to diminish at first, but then regained strength and came down hard. Since they had only tarped the mound and home plate, Rey thought the infield would not be playable. We decided to make a run for our spot in the parking lot, and home.

This decision was helped by our desire to see the 2nd half of the Euro-Cup game between Germany & Greece. We had watched the first half before we left, and knew the end score (Germany 4 – Greece 2). But there were 5 goals we had not witnessed, and the game had been entertaining. Germany was by far the better team and controlling the game, but Greece had a counter-attack that threatened to score on several occasions.

Rey did a masterful job of getting us home. We had rain, hard rain and harder rain, and hail.

One more day and it will be on to Colorado.
I had thought that Colorado would be our escape from the southern heat.
However, I happened to see a Facebook post from a Coloradoan. It included a picture of their smart phone with the current temperature of 100 degrees, and predicted temperatures in the 90s for the rest of the week!

Don’t worry, it’s a dry heat.

I looked at my last post, and it was about Tuesday.
So it should be Wednesday.
But it is not – it is Thursday.

We lost a day somewhere.

The last bit of this vacation has been running errands and hanging out.
And eating.

The errands have dealt with immediate needs (food), and the kind of errands that just need to be done (wiper blades), and some that are a bit more fun (birthday presents for the boy).

This morning we ended up going out for breakfast. BONUS. One of my fun things to do, and we don’t do it all that often. Of course, then it would not be so special. Today’s special was brought to us by the power company. Or Not the Power company. We found a cafe in downtown Dandridge. A burg that dates back to the 1700’s. Our visit included a stroll around the Revolutionary War graveyard. There were Civil War veterans buried there as well.

The cafe had a quilt block on the side wall. When we were here last year (was it last year?) we saw several quilt blocks here and there. Frequently on barns or other structures. If I had myself better prepared, there would be more pictures.

Stars Over Tennessee Quilt Block

Next up was some shopping for a couch.

The first of many couch try-outs

This took us far and wide. We found malls that don’t carry couches. Order and they will make it storefronts. Furniture stores that are a bit more like a used car dealer. And Wal-Mart. Guess where they had the winning couch. Tonight or tomorrow we are going to do some assembly.

The Car Furniture Dealer really surprised me. There were no real price tags on many of the choices. When I asked the range, the conversation when something like this.

“How much are the couches?”
“Tell me which one you are interested in, and I will get the price.”
“That one?, it is $175/month.”
“Really? What is the real price – if you pay all at once?”
“Wait here, I will go look it up.”

At this point I discovered that some of them had a price, the monthly price, and the full price with interest.
But even these did not seem to be correct. Apparently there would be some sort of discount if we paid cash.

And when I realized she was speaking with some other customer, and I still did not have the actual price, we left.

Customer service does seem to be a hit-and-miss idea around here.

Yesterday we went out to dinner with several of Rey’s friends.
There were twelve in our party.

The first restaurant we went into was heavy on the booths.
Since the idea was to get to know these folks a bit, using three booths did not seem like the best idea.
When we asked if we could pull a table onto the end of a booth, we were told, “NO.”
This restaurant was not crowded, and it would not have infringed on any other customer’s space.
So we left. I wonder if the Manager was aware of the loss of revenue that walked in and out of their door.

Restaurant #2 was considerably more accommodating, and we closed the place down.

This evening we have added some game-playing to our fun.
Bananagrams so far. Rey is the usual winner, but I have taken at least one game.
He protested my use of AD, but I said if he was going to use QI, I could use AD.
He didn’t argue too much, but the scorecard in his head may have a different tally than mine.

Tuesday was the big day.

It was so big it was Wednesday when we returned to our home base away from home.

The day started as many others could – late.
The real start was a walk. Given the season and location, starting earlier may have been wiser. As one local that we passed said, “You’re going to be hot.” But we persevered, getting about 3-1/2 miles, and running a few errands to boot (in a boot).

Fully-Developed Child

After a short stint cooling our heels (literally) at Rey’s place, it was off to the stadium. The Southern League All-Star Game was finally here.

The first event was regular batting practice.

All-Stars batting practice – Southern Team

Carl got four balls in batting practice, and gave at least one away.

All-Star Carl

Next up was the formal autograph session. We get an autograph here and there, but there are some really dedicated folks. They looked positively serious. I am sure the elation comes when they review their tally for the afternoon (and into the evening). The truly serious do not limit themselves to the formal sessions. Carl met one who was in town from Maryland.

NEWS FLASH – UPDATE

literally

The Home-Run Derby followed. Eight players get 8 outs. Matt Davidson was one of the contestants.

Matt Davidson – Home Run Derby

Carl did catch one – from Hunter Morris, of the Huntsville Stars (Brewers).

Then the top two (5 each) got 4 more outs. Then 3 more outs as they were tied after the second round. The winner was future Mariner Joe Dunigan. The home-town favorite, Justin Bour, made the finals, but Dunigan’s home runs were certainly the most majestic. I think all but one cleared the 2nd fence, which was out of bounds to the fans.

The game was finally underway. The starting pitcher was future Mariner Danny Hultzen.

The wind-up

In the bottom of the 1st inning, the 1st batter – future Mariner Denny Almonte, led off with a home run.

The initial scorecard is a jumble of numbers and substitutions. We will really need to find the official scorer’s version to truly make sense of all of the substitutions. (Final Score, South 6 – North 2. The first time the South has ever beaten the North. And our 8th consecutive loss.)

After the game there were more fireworks, and finally the after-parties. There was a semi-private party in the cafe for the players and team personnel. We hung out at the public party with the Chillbillies.

The Chillbillies

When the day ticked over to tomorrow, we were invited in to the private party. Some good food for fourth meal, and another chance to view some of the players in their environment.

You can just see those that you might be reading about in the tabloids at some future time. There were several girl-(friends?) hanging with the players. When the announcement of the last bus back to the Wilderness Inn (kind of like Great Wolf Lodge) was about to leave, the player’s group started gathering beer. I watched one of the girls drying off cans and putting them into her bag purse. Rather amusing. Good thing nobody has a game until Thursday.

We finally left. Not sure of the exact time, but it was at least 2 AM when we hit the sheets. And Rey had to go into work today as well.

All-in-all I think the All-Star Event was a success.
Rey and his co-workers have been working really hard, and I hope they get a bit of a rest as their team is out of town for the rest of the week.

First – the Church. Not quite fire and brimstone. Just a bus.

Father’s Day Catch

The boys

The boy

Rey working and playing at the same time

Postgame, waiting for the boy to finish up work.

The father

The mother

The day was ended with a pizza. Papa John’s Jefferson City. They stay open until 10 PM. We got there at about 10:00, maybe 10:01. Since we had ordered ahead this was OK. “Bang on the door if you don’t see me.” I think we did this last year too. Looong work hours for the kid. And he is back there today. I don’t expect to get home much before midnight tonight.

Luckily, we have been able to be in the shade most of the time.

Rey’s work schedule is something like mine, only more so.
And his is largely dictated by – the team is in town, or the team is out of town.

Right now – the team is in town.
Today was the 10th game of the homestand.
There is no game tomorrow, but the Smokies are hosting the Southern League AA All Star Game on Tuesday. So – tomorrow is all about finishing getting ready for that event. And a Gala in the evening.

The Gala is not supposed to be a press or fan event. It is for the players and coaches, etc to gather, enjoy each other’s company and relax. The Smokie’s staff also gets to participate, er work, er be there. The staff are allowed to bring their spouse. We are standing in for Rey’s spouse.

One of Rey’s duties is to be in charge of Bus #2. This will be taking the players and other associated folks from the Wilderness (some sort of Inn) to the Neyland Field Stadium (at University of Tennessee). Part of the reason we are being allowed to help him with this duty is that we have a smart phone. Maps, it appears, may need to be accessible to assist the bus driver.

We are more than willing to take that role.
There is also a possibility that if the Smokies closer is on Rey’s bus (leaving at 10:00 PM), we will be ferrying him from the Wilderness back to his long stay hotel.

This would be in Vinnie, the 1998 Corolla, we purchased for Rey a few years back. Vinnie now has almost 200,000 miles, and is showing her age. But I guess being chauffeured in a ratty old car are part of the dues you pay in the minor leagues.

I was going to post some pictures, but cell phone service in Rey’s apartment is almost non-existent, and they haven’t made the 20 foot trip from my phone to the computer. I will add them when they become available – so stay tuned for updates.

The most interesting picture is from Rey’s church. Carl & I attended with Rey this morning. (Stop laughing.) And we almost brought the building down (needs a picture here).

Turns out that a bus being used by the church took an unauthorized trip across the parking lot one night last week. Bus met the wall, and a few of the pews inside. What the bus managed to do was aim well. It went right between two stained glass windows.