THAT just happened.

On Friday morning, Jay picked Steven and I up right around 5:45am, leaving just enough time for us to catch our 7:20am flight out of BTV. We arrived in Las Vegas a few minutes late but, with no agenda in place for the afternoon, the mood stayed light despite the delay. We picked up our rental car, (a Ford Focus-silver) and headed down the strip…the long way. We hit every red light and watched the masses cross the street in front of our car. We were entirely entertained by all of the unfamiliar sites and sounds that make Vegas so unique. We finally arrived at our hotel, (The Stratosphere) to find a huge line of people waiting to check in. We were in line for 10 minutes or so until we got our keys. We checked out the room, freshened up and were off.

Our first stop was the observatory deck of our hotel, which was located 113 floors up. Getting to the deck involved a quick, dizzying ride up in the elevator.  As I got off the elevator I had to grab onto a wall to keep from swaying. The view was magnificent but, made both Steven and I a bit queasy. Then, we inspected the thrill rides located on the tippy top of our hotel. We decided not to pay to dangle ourselves 850ft off of the ground…especially when we struggled with the elevator. 

So, off to lunch we went. We decided to stay close to home and hit up the rotating restaurant 107 floors up in our hotel. We ordered 3 appetizers (grilled shrimp-Steven’s first taste of one!!!, steak and foie gras) and three mini desserts. We enjoyed the view while we took care of every last bite of food in front of us.

white chocolate macadamia nut crème brulee

do-it-yourself good humor cheesecake balls

 

 fudge topped brownie

Then, we walked... and didn’t stop for 3.5 miles. We hit practically every hotel on our side of the street! We watched a volcano erupt with fire across from the Venetian (met some new friends and in the process and came up with the trip's catch phrase, "THAT, just happened"), saw the tale end of The Treasure Island Fireworks, enjoyed The Bellagio Fountain's perform their dance and even managed to lose a bit of money gambling! Our last stop was the MGM Grand to see the lions. Unfortunately, they were asleep and at that point, I was on my way too.  We hopped in a cab and fell into our beds during the 22^nd hour of the day.

We woke the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to go!  After check out, we hit up the nearest breakfast place and mapped out the day. We decided to take a detour away from the famous Route 15, that traditionally takes people from Vegas to LA, and instead drive into the Mojave National Preserve. The temperature was going to reach near 120 in the desert so, we took the necessary precautions. We bought 20 bottles of water, snacks, more sunscreen, hats and a few other items to get us through the day. Then, we were on our way.  We travelled through an area with a huge number of Joshua Trees. We would later learn that the area we were in was more densely populated with trees than Joshua Tree National Park! We made a stop in Kelso where there was nothing more than a well-equipped visitors station, an abandoned post office and a retired outdoor jail on display. We chatted with the ranger about our options given the 120+ temperature outside. We decided against a hike to the sand dunes but, went ahead with the volcano cones, lava beds and lava tube located on an unmarked road we saw on the video at the Kelso Station. With that, we set our odometers and headed out to find the lava tube.

A bit of background: Lava tubes are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow, expelled by a volcano during an eruption. They can be actively draining lava from a source, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like channel.

We finally found the road, deemed it safe enough for our Ford Focus and headed 4.7 miles in on a dirt road past the volcano cones and through the lava beds. It was a quick walk to the lava tube. We found the ladder and headed in. It was a little eerie as Steven and I were now the only ones visiting. The only other person there was on his way out just as we arrived. The cave wasn’t deep at all. There was one dark corner that we couldn’t see into. I ended up taking a picture of Steven with my flash on. It was only then that we discovered an opening to another, much larger cave that was lit naturally by the light beaming in from the opening in the earth above us. Amazing.

Before we knew it we were on our final leg to LA. We arrived in Santa Monica at around 8:30pm where Rochelle, a good friend of Steven’s, had an Italian dinner waiting for us. We gobbled it up and then took off for The Santa Monica Pier. We walked past the vendors, looked at the ocean and rode the ferris wheel. Finally, we called it a night just before 11:30pm.

Sunday was our relaxing day, well, at least our relaxing morning. We had brunch at a super cute little place around the corner from Rochelle’s place that offered, to our surprise, all you can drink mimosa’s for $4.99. Rochelle and I enjoyed what we could leaving one ½ bottle on the table. We had places to go…

We were off to The Getty were we saw endless amounts of artwork including the photography work of both Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance and Jo Ann Callis: Woman Twirling, the latter being my favorite part of the show. We also took some time to walk through the outdoor gardens that had grown so much since my first visit to The Getty a few years ago. So pretty!

After our visit to The Getty, we grabbed some lunch, put on some cooler clothes, and picked up Rochelle’s husband Jim and headed to the shark exhibit at the aquarium. What a treat it was to look at these rarely seen creatures! The highlight for me was touching one of the smaller sharks. They were not as smooth as the sting ray.

Right around the corner from the aquarium was a restaurant called, The Yard House. Why, you ask? Well, they serve beer by the yard and ½ yard. I wasn’t bold enough to go for the yard but, the half yard equals about 2 beers which was plenty for me. The Yard House also has the world’s largest selection of beers on tap! Their taps ran all they way around the bar, one right after another. Hopefully, they’re alphabetized. I had a peanut, ginger salmon dish for dinner along with my yard o’ beer. Delicious. We made two stops before the night was done. The Queen Mary Ship/Russian Submarine and the In and Out Burger by LAX to watch the planes fly in. We were right beneath them as they approached the runway. Cool!

1/2 yard of beer

Our flight home was easy. I find I rarely get to say that these days. Yesterday, everything was on time or EARLY. We arrived into Burlington 30 minutes before our scheduled arrival time and I was in bed by 11:40pm. Finally, sleep.

What an adventure! Thank you Steven, Rochelle and Jim!

Well, here is something…

My friend Steve and I have decided to take an impromptu trip. A big-ish one. Tomorrow. It’s completely spontaneous and entirely exciting! 

We’ll fly out of Burlington tomorrow at 7:20am. We should arrive in Vega$ (via Phila) by noontime. We plan to pick up our rental car, check into our hotel and then...well, there has been lots of discussion about what we could do on Friday afternoon and evening whilst in Vegas but, who knows, really. That is the beauty of this trip. Pure adventure. 

Saturday morning we’ll hop back in our air conditioned rental car and drive for four hours to Los Angeles, stopping on the way to see lava beads, joshua trees and perhaps even to make the, “sand boom!” We’ll be staying with Steve’s friend Rochelle, (who lives in Santa Monica) on Saturday and Sunday night. There may be a really special treat on Sunday evening but, I’ll wait to disclose those details until I know one way or the other.

Our flight home leaves LAX at 12:45pm on Monday afternoon. We’ll be back in Burlington late on Monday night. I’m guessing I won’t feel relaxed and refreshed but, I’ll most likely have a smile on my face!

PS. Dad, I haven't forgotten about your summer travel ideas! See you soon. 

Stawberry Jam

On Sunday morning I ventured down to The Charlotte Berry Farm to pick some strawberries. Once I arrived and checked in, I drove to the fields towards the back of the property. The farm opened at 10:00 and I was there at 10:03 so, the field I was in was fairly empty and very peaceful. It was breezy and really, really warm. I had a slow start only finding smaller, dark red berries to pick. It’s early in the season to be picking so, I was concerned that it might take me all day in the hot sun to find 50 berries that were ready. Then, one of the other pickers directed me to a good spot. She was right! There, nestled underneath the canopy of larger green leaves, I discovered some plump, ripe strawberries. Since they were larger and heavier they were harder to spot. They dipped down below the leaves. I adjusted my picking strategy accordingly. Soon, my box was full and I headed back to the farm to pay. I weighed my box (just over 10lbs!) and was on my way. 

 

I got home and changed into some cooler clothes before getting started on my first batch of jam. I was working with a very simple recipe. The ingredients included a whole pile of strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Simple. Many of the recipes I found prior called for pectin, which is used as a gelling agent in jam. I used lemon juice instead. Lemon juice adds pectin as well as acidity, and will help the jam gel later in the process. So, I cut up 8 million strawberries and started the stove. The entire process took just under two hours. It was my first time “canning up” anything so, it was fun to create a water bath and finally to hear the jars popping when they were sealing themselves. 

 

I did learn that the jars themselves are supposed to BOILED to eliminate any possible chance of bacteria growing. The recipe I used called for a hot water bath. EEK! I went through about 15 minutes of total panic thinking the entire batch was a bust but, I’ve learned that if the jars stay refrigerated once they're opened it should be just fine. But, this step is crucial to know for next time. 

 

The ten pounds of strawberries created 12 small jars of jam, 2 strawberry shortcake desserts and 3 fruit plates for breakfast. Mmm…delicious.

Meet Hedi Slimane.

Hedi Slimane (born July 5, 1968 in Paris) is a Tunisian-French fashion designer of Tunisian and Italian-Brazilian origins. He studied political sciences, and Art History at the École du Louvre, and was also educated as a tailor. From 1992 to 1995 he worked for Jean-Jacques Picart, notably on the centenary exhibition of Louis Vuitton's "LV" monogramme label.

Having a background in furniture design, fragrance, store design, and photography, Slimane is noted for the slim silhouette of his menswear. In addition to his work as a fashion designer, he has been involved in various other projects, including becoming editor-in-chief of Libération and designing album covers for artists such as Phoenix. In 2004, he published Stage, the first book ever published on the new rock scene, a collection of his Rock photography. Slimane has published several other books of his photography and has contributed writing and photography to many style and fashion magazines including Vanity Fair. Slimane has many connections to the British indie-rock scene, notably his close friendship with controversial Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty, or Amy Winehouse. In 2004 German documentary-makers Christina Trebbi and Gero Von Boehm made a documentary about Slimane, entitled Hedi Slimane, ma vie ("Hedi Slimane, my life").

Check out his diary of 1,285 images. Hedi's photography takes my breath away.

http://www.hedislimane.com/diary/index.php

Warm welcome.

It’s 80 degrees today. The sun was shining through the haze until just a few minutes ago when the rain finally came on the tail end of a light breeze. It smells like summer. The rain is cooling off the warm pavement and the air is a little thicker. It slowed me down to my summer pace during my walk back up Maple Street earlier this afternoon.

I have a glass of chilled white wine in my hand and I’m thinking about what a wonderful day I had yesterday with friends. We explored, discovered, anticipated, planned, shared, realized, sang, danced, laughed, ate and drank together throughout the day and into the wee hours of the morning. A day when you decide to do all of those things (and get to do them with such amazing people) is an extraordinary day. I feel lucky.

Now I'm off to start one of my new books and to snack on a few strawberries I picked hours ago at the Charlotte Berry Farm. Thank you for the warm welcome, summer!

A costly trip...but, worth it.

Last night, I headed out of Burlington right around 6pm to have dinner with some family including my Grandmother, “Grandkee Clair” and my Dad, “Eagle Nose” who were visiting from Indiana. It was a lovely, sunny evening but, when I arrived the light was already low and dusk was settling in. Uncle Tuck and Aunt Susan are tucked away in Lincoln, VT and the hills rise up around their property. They lose the light quickly there.

The five of us caught up on all sorts of things while dinner was being prepared. Before sitting down to eat, I spent some time admiring Susan’s extensive owl collection-some (like this guy below) in almost every room!  

Susan cooked a wonderful salmon dish with maple syrup drizzled overtop and homemade strawberry rhubarb pie a la mode for dessert.  

Yummy!

After dinner, Dad and I attempted to take a few quick pictures before the light outside was gone entirely. Here are the results. I’m not so good with such a powerful flash.

After our shoot, Dad and I  went back inside to join Susan, Tuck and Grandma. Post-dinner topic: Travel, to places like China, Switzerland, Antarctica (although Tuck thinks Antarctica would be boring with no mountains and all of that snow) and Newfoundland as it's close-relatively speaking. 

Newfoundland has a special place in my Dad's heart. He used to fly in and out of Newfoundland when he was in the Coast Guard years ago. He tells stories about how he used to hang out of the back of C-130's to take "measurements" of icebergs (?). Finally, the maps came out and I learned how big Newfoundland actually is and what part of it makes the most sense to visit-if I'm lucky enough to travel there someday. Fun!

My 94 year old "Grandkee Clair" is getting more grand with each year that passes!

At around 9:30 or so I decided to head home. I said my goodbyes for now, and hopped in my car. The roads between Lincoln and Hinesburg are dark. I used my high beams while driving over the hills and around the corners. All was well until...blue flashing lights.!!! Hmph. Yep. I was pulled over for going 61 in a 50. The man cop was very friendly. When he returned to my car to deliver the verdict he said, “I’m not big on tickets or lectures. Tonight, you’re getting both. You said you were visiting your Dad. Well, I’m a dad. Last night on this road, a Suburban hit a moose. If you had hit a moose in your car your best case scenario would be, a visit to the hospital. Do you have questions?” I said, “No. Thank you.” He was right. So, I continued on my way, driving slowly and carefully back to Burlington feeling thankful that the moose had other plans on this occasion.