ALASKA! TOGETHER! FINALLY!!

 Wednesday, August 5 - Fly to Seattle 

Thursday, August 6 - A Day in Seattle - chef led food tour of Pike Place Market 

Friday, August 7 - Cruising out of Seattle 

Saturday, August 8 - At Sea 

Sunday, August 9 - Ketchikan, Alaska - wildlife and waterfall tour 

Monday, August 10 - Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier and on to Juneau, Alaska 

Tuesday, August 11 - Skagway, Alaska, Yukon Pass and suspension bridge tour, and cruising The Inside Passage

Wednesday, August 12 - At Sea 

Thursday, August 13 - Victoria, British Columbia in Canada

Friday, August 14 - return to Seattle 

Saturday, August 15 - Another day in Seattle - Mt. Rainer National Park tour 

Sunday, August 16 - Fly home from Seattle 

Let's Do That Summer Thing Again!

 

Sunday, May 25 - We got home from our trip to the tropics only to find the tropics had invaded our back yard thanks to a lot of rain while we were gone.  Our two-year-old calla lily in the backyard by the patio was booming with blooms.  Top that, Costa Rica!! 

Monday, May 5 - Let's get our hungry, hungry hippo on! After only a day of rest from our trip, the super hostess with the mostest, Ashlee, dodged most of the forecasted rain to throw a darn good Childhood Games Partay today on Memorial Day.  It also served as a milestone birthday party for three of our friends: Brenda (60); Wendy (50) and Lisa (50).  It was a hoot and a holler with this giant version of human Hungry Hungry Hippos blown up in our backyard as the crowning achievement. 

We had great themed food (Sloppy Joes, Hamburger Helper and Beanie Weenies), cakes for all three birthday girls and tons of throwback candy.  Note that these no longer say "cigarette" on them. 

Thursday, May 28 - An inspiration from our recent trip to Costa Rica arrived today in the form of a nice-sized Dwarf Cavendish banana tree that we hope will grow and become part of the household just like our palm tree that we've had now for over 10 years.  

 
Saturday, May 30 - I stopped at the Emeraude Bakery in Mt. Juliet this morning which is also near my current pet-sitting house and picked up some tasty pastries for me and Ashlee.  These chocolate croissants were so big and so buttery!  I also got a giant cinnamon roll to split as well as a huge chocolate chip muffin.

Monday, June 1 - When a new Waffle House opens less than 3 miles from the house, you make the artistic decision to go visit it ASAP.  And we did that tonight for dinner with some tasty grill cheese sammies, Bert's chili, and a peanut-butter waffle!  Yum!  And the staff there were so nice!  We shall return!! 

Tuesday, June 16 - Augustana at the new (and improved) Cannery in downtown Nashville (tour poster pic on phone at 6/2) 

Saturday, June 27 - World Cup game in Atlanta.  FanFest beforehand.

A Quarter Century of Marital...Pura Vida!!

This month we celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary!!  

Saturday, May 2 - We went and saw the new Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, tonight at the fancy brand new Hooky Entertainment venue in downtown's also-new Nashville Yards Complex along with our friends, Todd, Kelly, Toney and Lisa.  The film was very well shot and the sound was killer. A very enjoyable look into MJ's life before he got really weird, accused of some horrible things, and then his untimely death.   Beforehand, we had dinner at Hooky also where you can preorder for the movie too with bottomless sodas, ICEEs, and popcorn at reasonable prices.  The food-food was good too!  Nice place and experience. And four hours of comped parking too in the underground garage beneath it.  We will probably be back (the seating was the only drawback since it isn't recliners, but more like wide couches). 

Saturday, May 9 - We decided to get our own tailgating spot at the Iroquois Steeplechase in Nashville this year and invited several friends and family members to attend with us.  It turned out to be a tremendous time as the weather was great, our space was in a good location, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There's already talk of doing it again next year!

Our set-up at the Steeplechase was pretty great.   We had walking tacos, hot dogs and other snacks to munch on.  Libations a plenty with two Ninja slushie makers going thanks to our Bonnaroo generators.  We did $5 betting on each race with blind draws and only had one repeat winner in 7 races (it was that luck-box, Mollie Majors, lol).  What a great time!! 

New roof, who dis?  We had to put a new roof on our house in Whitwell that my crazy sister lives in.  It was pricey, but a good upgrade to our investment property.  Then we had $1,100 worth of tree and bush trimming/clearing done on the property as well.   Whew, that's enough of that! 

Tuesday, May 12 - We went to Parnassus Books tonight over in Green Hills to hear a talk with author and radio hall-of-famer, Scott Simon, about his new book, "Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I Have Known."  He was interviewed by Nashville radio host, Blake Farmer.  We had a chance to meet Mr. Simon afterwards and have our books personalized, but ironically, we had to get home since we had PETS to take care of. 

Thursday, May 13 - Well, she's back and better than ever!  Our beloved backyard pool got a new dark blue liner this year plus a few leak repairs and she's back in business as of today!  This is our 10th anniversary of the installation of the pool, and we still think it's the best money we've ever spent.   Of course, Sunny was the first one in with a swim first and then a float along with her new elephant friend.   The new liner is supposedly pet-resistant regarding nails and does have a nice, grooved feel to the touch for better traction for dogs and people. 

Saturday, May 16 - We headed over to Brentwood tonight to help celebrate our good friend, Brenda, on her 60th birthday party.  It was a casino-themed party with fun games, great food, libation and laughter.  Ashlee did better at blackjack that I did at poker.  Congrats on being sexy sixty, Brenda!! 

  
Tuesday, May 19 - It's our 25th Wedding Anniversary!! - We flew very early this morning to Costa Rica on Delta Airlines for almost free thanks to points from Ashlee.  After a quick stop in Atlanta, we landed at the Liberia Airport in the Guanacaste Province on Costa Rica's west coast (new country for us! That's # 43 if you are keeping score at home). 

Both flights were smooth and easy despite being an hour delayed out of Nashville.  Our transfer in Atlanta was quick with no issues.  We didn't sit together so we could both have more comfy seats in the emergency aisle.  But we did conjointly watch the new Netflix film adaptation of the wonderful book, Remarkably Bright Creatures, which was excellent and quite the tear-jerker.

We chose to stay at the Esh Hotel and Spa in the Nosara Province, town and Beach of the same name.  We booked a room with a private plunge pool (thanks tax refund!)  They were awarded a Michelin Key in 2025!  The place is beautiful!  

What should have been about an hour's drive here was a three-hour drive south of the airport as we took a private shuttle there that we booked through Viator.   We quickly learned that our theme of "Costa Rica 25" also applied to the average speed you could go in this country due to road conditions and traffic.  A few complimentary Imperial Beers helped some with the trek.  But in the end, it was well worth the effort, because from the moment we stepped into the pretty lobby (photo above) at the Esh Hotel and Spa we were treated with an amazing amount of warmth and welcoming kindness.  

Our room was awesome!  Huge comfy bed with a view of our plunge pool and the jungle beyond and a cool sunken living room.  

We were shocked to see a picture from our wedding and a note card with congratulations on our wedding anniversary from the entire staff waiting for us in our room.  We are not sure how they got this picture, but it was probably off my Facebook or Instagram page after I made a brief comment on their FB page that we were coming there for our 25th wedding anniversary.  So thoughtful! 

Our private plunge pool was so opulent and really hit the spot after such a long journey here.  

We had to dash through a rainstorm to get to dinner at the hotel restaurant, Almar, but again, the journey was worth the destination.  Our food was excellent.  Our cocktails were huge.  We even got a complimentary dessert to celebrate our wedding anniversary that we could only muster a couple bites of since we were already stuffed!  But, again, so thoughtful and nice.  Pictured above with our bountiful adult beverages was our appetizer which we both thought was the best dish of the night:  fresh seasonal heirloom tomatoes with house made hummus and warm pita bread.

The rain had stopped for our walk back to our room.  Every trek through this property is like a walk in the jungle with tree frog calls, bird songs, but otherwise peaceful solitude with every step.  

Wednesday, May 20 - A full day in Costa Rica! Hey, did I mention that our room shower was technically outside?  Yep, in the photo above there is a glass door behind you and then the jungle (and no glass) in front of you.  The double rainfall showerheads made for a delightful and nicely private experience.  Ashlee did have a small gecko visit her on one occasion, but we think he was just trying to get out of the rain.  

With the weather cooperating today much more than the forecasted predictions, we decided to check out the beach while we had the chance.  The hotel provides a complimentary shuttle down to the beach and town areas of Nosara, so we hopped in and arrived at Guiones Beach after a ten-minute ride down from the Nicoya Highlands where we were staying.  The beaches here in this area are still wild and undeveloped.  Nosara is a surfing mecca, and we arrived after the tide was definitely out.  The hotel provided chairs, a sun-blocking tent and some water, but let's just say it's no Destin, Florida.  

We both did a little wading before encountering the pounding surf which looked a bit too rough for us for swimming.  The Pacific water was shockingly warm.  No wonder the surfers love it here! 

It was time for some lunch, so we walked a short distance from the beach and found the Beach Dog Cafe.  What a great little place.  We sat outside on their patio with some breeze and overhead fans to help with the thick humidity.  Our food was simple (tacos and nachos) and delicious.  The libations were flowing including the traditional Chili Guaro Shot of Costa Rica which we both enjoyed.  

After lunch, we walked around the pretty, clean and simple town of Nosara for a bit and checked out some shops, but as stated before the humidity was thick, so a dip in the pool back at Esh was sounding good to us. 

Instead of waiting on the hotel shuttle, we decided to give a tuk-tuk a try for a ride back up to the hotel.  Yep, we spent several days in India without riding one only to come to Costa Rica to give it a try.  Air moved better in it than we thought it would, so it was a pleasant enough ride except the little single-cylinder engine barely got us back up to the steep grade to our hotel.  

Back at Esh, we decided to check out the hotel pool which like the rest of the place really does a nice job of blending into the jungle motif.  Looking more like a series of jungle ponds, this tri-level beauty was fun and relaxing.  

While we didn't see a ton of wildlife on our trip, it were definitely there.  Iguanas were the most noticeable and we saw several.  We saw tons of different birds too.  We could hear howler monkeys outside our room but never caught sight of them.  This patriotic little guy (Costa Rica's flag is also red, white and blue) pictured above came crawling along in front of us while we were at the pool.  He kept to himself, as did we.  

We went to dinner again at Almar tonight and had another enjoyable meal.  Afterwards the evening was occupied with several games of Rummikub and a bottle of champagne that we didn't get to last night for our anniversary but went down smoothly tonight! 

Thursday, May 21 - Another full day in Costa Rica!  Another couple fun things about our room were the giant flowering banana tree plants right beside our pool (photo above) and the kick-ass Costa Rican Britt espresso coffee that was complimentary, and restocked every morning since we drank all we had anytime it was there!  

After some separate time this morning with me in the plunge pool and Ashlee getting a massage (this was actually part of a late Christmas present since we couldn't use the Savannah Bananas game tickets in Knoxville this coming weekend that I had won and given to Ashlee for Christmas, I sold them for a huge profit and gave her the cash), we headed back down to Nosara for brunch at the tiny Elios Tiki Room.  The food was good and bountiful!  As was Ashlee's tiki drink! 
Beforehand, we also had a drink at Chancho BBQ before they were even technically open (did I mention that the people of Costa Rica that we encountered were very nice). 

"Sky blue, bitches!!" (long ago Las Vegas trip shoutout).  It was just too hot and humid to walk around town, so we decided to rent a golf cart for the afternoon to get us to the places we wanted to go at our own pace.  She was nice one, but man, the roads here are just brutal and this puppy had no real shocker absorbers, so it was bumpy afternoon.  

Playa Pelada Beach is another wild. rocky undeveloped stretch on the other end of town from where we were yesterday.  

This is one of my favorite pix from our trip as we were leaving Playa Pelada.  I think it accurately portrays the beauty, and the ruggedness, of this area.  

We did some grocery/snack shopping next at a great little bodega just up from the beach, and then it was on to Blue Zone Brewery where we imbibed in some local beers with the best one being their non-alcoholic house ginger beer.  It was so good, we got a crowler of it to take with us back to the room.  
Our golf cart was not designed to climb the steep grade back to the hotel, so we had to leave it behind and were picked up by the courtesy shuttle.  

It was a little bit of a maze to get to our room # 28 from the Esh Hotel lobby, but we could always count on this beautiful tropical bloom known as a shining bird of paradise to mark our path.  

Friday, May 22 - Another full day in Costa Rica! We spent almost the entire day in our room today just hanging out in the A/C, plunge pooling, snacking for brunch, playing Rummikub, and just relaxing before the long drive out tomorrow and 5 hours of flying.

We did decide to make the trek on foot this evening to Huacas Restaurant at another nearby resort called Tierra Magnifica that I had scouted out on my own earlier today.  As with all trips in Costa Rica by car, golf cart or foot, this one paid off as well with an outstanding view for dinner and delicious cocktails and food.   That's Punta Guiones in the distance beyond our excellent cocktails.  

We acquired a third wheel during dinner who I think was drawn to us by Ashlee's entree of beef but also seemed happy to just hang with us quietly and politely and never left us for another table our entire time there.  We saw the hotel's aging bulldog as we came in, but did interact with him, so his choice of hanging with us was all on his accord.  Such a sweet boy! Thanks to Ashlee for the pic. 

On the walk back from dinner in the dark, a rather large animal with a bushy tail ran across our path.  Our best guess is that it was a tayra (in Spanish: tolomuco) (thanks for the pic, Internet).  It's a member of the ferret/weasel family.  Evidently, they are kind of rare to see in the wild.  Pretty cool!  
We got back to the room before a huge thunderstorm enveloped the area with some crazy loud thunder.  We've been very fortunate with weather on this trip with the only real rain coming in the evenings when we were back at the hotel.  

Saturday, May 23 - Our private shuttle picked up this morning at the hotel since we are flying back home from Costa Rica today.   The route was different than how we came in, about a half-hour shorter, and was much more visually pleasant!  We did the same seating arrangement as we did when we flew in and then conjointly, we watched the next to last episode of the "Hacks" series - a show we are truly going to miss. 
Our flights were both smooth again with a little bit of an early arrival back in Music City actually which got us home around 10 PM.  

Another great trip and one we would do again if we are able now that we are little wiser on how to travel in and around Costa Rica and still enjoy the "pura vida" (pure life) here! 

Please Bring Spring!!

 

2/23 - Well, it looks like this little moocher will be hanging around with us a little while longer.  Unfortunately, Darla's mom lost her job just after moving down to Florida, so she's having to start over down there, and we told her it was no problem for sweet cheeks to stay with us a long as necessary and at no cost, of course.  

Happy Birthday, old girl!  You're still a dandy!! 

[ Work travel for me and Ashlee ate up a good part of late February and early March which was OK since we didn't have any big plans for this time of year anyway.]

Sunday, March 1 - We did get a lot of early spring clean-up and work done around the house this weekend as we both prepared to travel next week.  We happened upon this awesome outdoor storage box at Home Depot today at a very reasonable price.  It fits all six of our cushions for the patio table chairs and all the sofa cushions!!  What a great addition to our backyard oasis! 

We also spent the weekend enjoying this six-pack of giant doughnuts I brought back from Auntie Ruth's in Johnson City where I was for work this past week.  Ashlee had discovered their fame on Tik Tok and sent me on the hunt for them, and they happened to be just right across the street from ETSU where I was working!  They are "sourdough doughnuts" and I am not sure that's why they were still so delicious or why they stayed so moist and fresh even after the long trip and time inside the box.  I sure won't come back from JC without some of them ever again!  

Sunday, March 8 - Well, West Main Street strikes again!!!  I was almost back from being all the way up in Kentucky tonight and made a point not to go down Academy Road due to deer (we hit one on that road years ago) and came down four-lane wide Hwy. 70 instead only to have a large deer run into the side of our poor old Outback and severely damage the side of the car and even tearing off the rearview mirror.  I feel sorry for the dumb deer, but DAMN IT ALREADY!! The Sue-Bee protected me well again which I much appreciate. She's already at the collision center on her way to being mended at least.  God, I hate that road!!  

Monday, March 16 - We were both at home today for lunch but panicked a little when we found out today that our favorite Mexican joint, Speedy Burrito, was closed...luckily just for renovation and expansion!! Yay!!  So, we had to settle for (read this in your best Ron White voice) Guadala-goddamn-jara, a Mexican grocery store and restaurant over on West Main.  And their burritos are solid!! 

Tuesday, March 17 - Happy St. Patty's Day!!   We met up with our friends, Todd and Kelly, at the Burger Republic in Mt. Juliet for dinner tonight.  We chose BR because I found out that they had Guinness on tap (and a bunch of other taps - impressive!) and a holiday menu as well.  The food and libations were great including some boozy milkshakes for dessert.  

Wednesday, March 18 - Well, it was a good 10-year run, but our old pool liner is having to be replaced this spring.  It's time.  It had faded badly the last couple years and even started leaking some last summer.  Time to spend some money because we can't live without our beloved pool.  

Thursday, March 26 - The Empanada Lua food truck was on campus today and I grabbed the "chef's special" of four huge (and delicious) empanadas for me and Ashlee to share for lunch.  We enjoyed them out on the patio in the lovely mild weather.  

Sunday, March 29 - Even though I was dog-sitting on Hwy. 109 today and tonight, Ashlee and I were still able to meet up for two "dates" today.  We had lunch at Cedar City Brewing up on The Square in Lebanon (along with Sunny), and then we had dinner at Red Lobster in Providence with our friends, Wendy and Charly.  Good eats both times! 

Saturday, April 4 - We had some tasty food and libations tonight at the Lebanon Public House with our friends, Curtis and Kate.  We closed with a delicious Polly Sparrow Bakery cupcake (photo above) accented by Ashlee's brand-new shiny fingernails from a manicure earlier today.  

Thursday, April 9 - As we patiently wait for our new pool liner to be installed, somebody doesn't want to, so we got her a $20 kiddie pool at Dollar General to tide her over and she couldn't even wait until we got home and fill it with water!  Sunny is a any-kind-of-pool-loving doggie!

Sunday, April 12 - Since we can't afford to go to the 90th Masters, we brought a little bit of it home with us as Ashlee ordered a pretty cool Taste of The Masters snack box to share with some friends out on our patio in our lovely weather up here in Tennessee today.  The Masters-brand egg salad, barbecue, pimento cheese and chocolate chip cookies were all great.  Masters' libations were flowing as well.  We even had a little putting green to test our skills, and our TV was outside so we could watch some of the final day of the tournament.  I closed things out by winning my office Masters pool for a cool $230!! 

Tuesday, April 14 - We attended a SOLD-OUT live broadcast of the "The Consumers" podcast tonight at Zanies Lab in Nashville.  The podcast is hosted by one of our favorite comedians, Greg Warren, along with fellow St. Louis-based funnymen, Tim Convy and Sean O'Brien.  I am a big fan of this podcast, so Ashlee got us tickets as a birthday gift (thanks, honey!).   They also had a special guest, comedian Aaron Weber, tonight and the brand discussed this episode was Nashville's own, Goo Goo Clusters.  We each got three different kinds of Goo Goo Clusters to try during the show.  We both thought the peanut butter version was the best, but the limited edition Cheerwine one was good also.  They even had the president of the company join them on the podcast.   

Thanks to Ashlee for being a good sport since she probably didn't get most of the inside jokes flying about during the show since she's not a regular listener to the podcast like I am.  This show was part of the larger Nashville Comedy Festival going on here this week. 

  My "truck nuts" joke was probably a little too blue for this podcast and will probably be edited out in the final version, but, hey, it "made Randy laugh!!" 

Friday, April 17 - We went to see the spring semester opening-night production of "Grease" at Cumberland U tonight since it's one of Ashlee's favorites.  Our friends, Toney and Lisa joined us as well.  The show was 
Beforehand, we four also had dinner here in Lebanon at Just Fish which was very tasty.  This was our first time being in the new brick-and-mortar establishment of this former food truck service.    

Monday, April 20 - Earlier today, (on my birthday!) we got a big surprise when the pool contractors showed up almost a month earlier than we were expecting to start putting in our new liner!! 
Tuesday, April 21 - And then when find out it had been measured wrong...womp, womp...another 7 to 10 days of waiting on a new one to be reordered.  

Sunday, April 26 - A couple who pedi's together...Ashlee bought me a pedicure for my birthday (along with a lot of other cool stuff) even though it's "not only for youuuuu" (per comedian, Ron White) since she has to deal with my gross feet more than anyone else! My tech was Ashlee's girl as well for her manis and pedis.