Tanglewood

We went to Tanglewood this weekend. We made the trip out to the Birkshires to see James Taylor perform. He does concerts there every year. But this time as a fundraiser, he performed with Sheryl Crow and Yo Yo Ma. Actually, it was only through a bit of luck that we got tickets. Some friends of ours had a pair of tickets and then found out they couldn't go. They put word out that the tickets were available, and several people wanted them. They decided to randomly pick who would get the tickets, and we were the lucky couple. When we found out, my wife actually screamed with joy.

We hadn't been to a concert in 19 years. This one was worth the wait. Here is a sample of what it was like to see JT and Yo Yo Ma perform together.

Flying W Ranch

While we were in Colorado, we spent some time in Colorado Springs. My wife's father and his wife took us to an authentic cattle ranch for dinner. The Flying W Ranch is located near the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. They serve a Chuck Wagon style dinner and are able to feed over a 1000 people in under 20 minutes. Everyone gets a tin plate with a choice of BBQ Beef or Chicken, cowboy beans (they called them Whistle Berries...), a baked potato, corn bread, apple sauce (chilled to keep one corner of the tin plate cool enough to hold) and a little piece of spice cake.


After dinner the Flying W. Ranglers performed Cowboy Music. We really felt like we were in the West.

Rocky Mountains

For the second half of our vacation, we visited family in Colorado. We took a day and visited Brainard Lake. At 10,000+ feet, I ran out of breath just strolling around the lake.

I brought fishing gear and did some fishing with my dad and son. We had fun but didn't catch anything. While we were there, we saw people walking lamas. I'd never seen a lama close up before.

White Mountains

Here are some final pictures from the New Hampshire part of our vacation. We drove to the top of Cathedral Ledge just outside of Conway. You can park near the top and look out over the White Mountains.

There were a few climbers who were going up the rock face.

The picture below is near Emerald Pool. The sun was shining through the woods, and the water level was higher than normal because of all the rain this year.


And finally, while I was out on the lake (not catching fish), I did see a lot of loons swimming. You really understand the expression "crazy as a loon" when you hear them call to each other.

Strolling in North Conway

It is time to catch up on my blogging. I have lots of pictures from our vacation that I need to write about.

While in New Hampshire, we visited North Conway. We found a place to park on the street and took a walk past the local stores.

I like the small shops more than the outlets which are closer to Conway. There were New Hampshire gifts and a "Five and Dime" with lots of candy options.


There were also several New Age shops with collections of mystical gifts and treasures. My older daughter liked the shop with Egyptian replicas. My younger liked the expensive jeans.

Fishing but not catching

This week, I really felt like fishing. I tried in the morning and in the evening. My son and I went out on the canoe at dusk and fished until dark. There was a full moon, and the lake was very still. We passed some loons but didn't get any bites.

I had dreams of catching a brown or rainbow trout. But, I only caught little fish like the one below. Maybe next time...

Emerald Pool

We decided to take a little hike today and visit the Emerald Pool.

You reach the pool by taking the Baldface Circle trail located on 113 north of Fryeberg, ME.

The pool is surrounded by granite walls and is so deep that you can't touch the bottom. My son was the first one in the water. I followed and waded in. The water was frigid.

I took a deep breath and dove in. When I came up, I couldn't breathe because of the cold. By the time I could stand it, my son was jumping off a 6ft granite ledge.

Evening at the lake house

We left this morning for New Hampshire and our annual lake house
vacation.

After a quick drive, we arrived and set up the house. Then after
dinner, my son and I went for a swim.

Statues in Kobe

While I was in Kobe, I kept seeing statues that I thought were interesting. Here they are in order of smallest to biggest. The picture above was from Sumadera Temple. It looks like a kind of dog that is guarding something.

The picture below must represent a religious teaching about how the world is suspended. I need to do some research about that. This statue was also at Sumadera Temple.


Next we move on to a bigger statue. This one is at the entrance to Chinatown in Kobe. I like the earlobes, and this is one happy guy.


And finally, a statue worthy of a fish story. No really, the fish was the biggest one ever.