Sights In The Southwest: Day 3

Apparently MH feels that his vacation isn't complete unless he wakes up before the sun at least once, so I kindly let him get his fill while I enjoyed a few more hours of sleep. I guess the early bird catches the worm though, check out his absolutely gorgeous shot of at sunrise in Monument Valley.

East & West Buttes

Luckily, our room had a view of the valley so I didn't miss this beautiful sight entirely. Comfortably snuggled under the bed covers I was able to look out of our balcony window in between snoozes to catch glimpses of this too.

Artist Point

Later in the day, we took a Navajo guided tour to see the other beautiful sights in Monument Valley. Our guide, Tia, told us that old western films were shot in Monument Valley with Artist Point in the background. 

Sights In The Southwest:Day 2

Next on our itinerary was Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. The canyons here are so massive that it is hard to image that the space in between the canyon walls was once filled completely by water.

Spider Rock

In the smallest spaces, cracks, and slots in the canyon walls you can occasionally spot ancient Puebloan ruins. There is only one public access trail in the area. The three mile roundtrip trail takes you 600 feet down to the bottom of the canyon and gives you a distant look at the White House Ruins. The National Park service recommends that you allow two hours to complete the trail, but I think MH and I were able to do it in a little over a hour.

White House Ruins

I wish we could have gotten closer to the ruins to see them up close. It is hard to imagine how these tiny ruins were once bustling homes for the people living in the canyon.

Sights In The Southwest: Day 1

MH planned another action packed road trip for us to explore the Southwest this year. To cut down on the driving time, we decided to fly to Alburquerque, pick up our rental car, and head off from there. The first destination on our itinerary was Chaco Canyon National Monument.

Chacoan Ruins

Chaco Canyon was a central location for ceremonies, trade, and administration for the Four Corners area from AD 850 to 1250. Visitors can walkthrough the remaining ruins of the Chacoan people to admire their stunning architectural designs.

Birds Of A Feather Flock Together

It only took a little over two years for me to finish, but I'm done!!! With all of my geese cut and sewn, I assembled them with columns to accentuate their flight pattern. Here a picture of my finished project.

I folded over the quilt to show the front and back at the same time. I hand quilted around the brown airplanes on the back, but it is hard to tell in the picture.

Dainty Dumplings

I had a hankering for some dumplings, so the first step in the process was to make the dumpling wrappers.

Making them from scratch was more work than I anticipated but I'm glad I did it. The homemade dumpling wrappers have a stretchiness to them that allows you to make your dumplings in a closed satchel.

My closed satchel dumpling technique could definitely use some work, but I think they turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, most of them got stuck to the pan when I was cooking them and ended up tearing on the bottom. What a bust.

Mashed Cauliflower

I can't remember when I first heard about faux mashed potatoes aka mashed cauliflower but I decided to give it a try since sticking to a South Beach Diet can be a challenge.

To my surprise, they turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, they taste like cauliflower and not potatoes, but they have a pleasantly light and fluffy texture.

To try them for yourself, cut up one cauliflower head into small florets and boil them till tender. Puree all of the cooked florets with a tablespoon of butter, tablespoon of olive oil, until smooth, and then season to taste. I added some seasoning salt, granulated onion, granulated garlic, and topped it with some green onions and black pepper.

The San Diego Wild Animal Safari Park

One of the benefits of being a member of the Zoological Society of San Diego is unlimited admission to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Safari Park. So MH and I went to the Wild Animal Safari Park for President's Day. Since we got a little bit of a late start, we didn't make it to the park until after lunch and it was the most crowded we have ever seen it. We had to park in the last row in the parking lot!

Once inside, we headed straight for the Africa tram tour and luckily the wait wasn't too long. It is always fun to see what the animals are up to. This baby rhino was enjoying an afternoon snack with his mom.

Afterward, we hung out in the Lion Camp, watched the Cheetah Run, and MH caught this awesome photo as she passed by! It was a good thing that he has some practice shooting fast animals because there is no way I could have captured a shot like that on my camera.

It was a fun President's Day activity.

Happy Hearts Day!

I was feeling crafty this Valentine's day and made these treats to celebrate the day. Spearing cake bites is quite the challenge and much more difficult than I anticipated. Even though they turned out okay, I don't think I'll be making these again.

Hope someone made your heart happy today!

Shenanigans At The DMV

Since my motorcycle permit expired, I thought it was a good idea to kill two birds with one stone and renew my permit and change my name on my ID at the same time. So I filled out all of my paperwork, stood in line at the DMV, and waited patiently for the gal at my window to process all of my forms and send me on my way. However, when I didn't receive my new ID after two months, I called the DMV to follow up and discovered that since I processed the two requests together, the issuance of my new ID was pending me passing the motorcycle driving test!

I don't drive my Vespa too often and didn't pass the motorcycle driving test on my first go. Thankfully you can take a California motorcycle saftey course (Basic Rider Course) provided by the California Motorcycle Safety Program and obtain a Certificate of Completion of Motorcycle Training (DL389) which waives you out of the motorcycle driving test.

So, MH and I enrolled for the Basic Rider Course with the Academy of Motorcycle Operation last weekend and attended the two classroom sessions and two range days, and then passed the 50-point multiple choice test and skills evaluation. Within 10 business days we should be receiving our DL389 forms. Then, we can head over to the DMV with our forms and hopefully our new IDs with my new last name and our M1 classification will arrive shortly thereafter.

Birthday Treats

Birthday celebrations are always a great reason to bake! I was asked to bring a carrot cake to a friend's kid's first birthday party this weekend and I happily obliged.

Unfortunately, I forgot to tape the cake down to the plate, and when we transported the cake to the party, it slid around a bit and a few of the side crumbs fell off. Thankfully, that was the worst thing that happened and the cake still looked pretty good when we arrived.

Here is my friend's secret family recipe birthday cake. It is quite the treat and has layers and layers of cake and chocolaty goodness inside.

Since my friend was worried there wasn't going to be enough dessert, I decided to bring some lemon ricotta cookies too. I've been holding on to this recipe for a while and was glad to finally have to chance to try it out. The cookies turned out very well and were fluffy and cake-like. I think they would be perfect for picnics or with your afternoon tea. Next time I think I'll add a little bit more lemon zest to the batter to get a stronger lemony flavor though.