More vacation pictures

Here's my brother John standing in front of one of the installations he was commissioned to do at the library where he teaches. They were working on this one to put lighting behind it, but I liked it (no surprise) because of the DNA. What I really liked about it was, although the images were pleasing and interesting, there was an explanation of each panel posted next to it. I'm very appreciative of this sort of thing and think the viewer gets more of what the artist intended her to.


Prairie!! Just a tinge, a smidgen, a wee little bit. Iowa, I'm here to tell you, ROCKS in terms of not herbiciding the native wildflowers on the sides of the highway, at least along I-35 south out of MN. My eye was drawn and I was delighted to see this kind of thing for a couple of hours. We stopped at a roadside rest where I took this picture.

And last, here' s Cap'n W. He was thrilled (is still talking about it) when his Uncle John suggested that we rent a pontoon boat and go around their local lake for a while. This was such a nice gesture. It was weird, living in CO for the last decade, to be around this much water.

Graycie did great throughout the trip. I didn't push her past about 68 mph, so it took us longer than I thought to get anywhere. There is a certain freedom in that, though. I dutifully checked the oil and coolant every fill up (which at about 17 mpg, was several times a day!), and only had to add half a quart of oil the last day. The A/C worked just fine, and was much appreciated - I'm glad I got it. The cruise control was a disappointment, though, and pooped out the first time I used it.

This sort of felt like a working vacation, in that I did all the driving, and had to tend to my mom and pet owner duties such that there wasn't a lot of down time. That's OK, it's what I expected. This time around was a lot easier than in 2005 when Mr W was 5.

I did have time to think about big picture stuff, muddling over career stuff, money stuff, travel stuff. Although I did get renewed for another year at work, I don't like feeling so dependent on something so out of my control. Yes, I have skills, but if I jump careers, I'd likely take a pay cut. Mull mull mull - things to think about. Heavy stuff for another post. The vacation was a success and I'm looking forward to getting my house in order AND planning the next weekend away, where I'd like to stay at a campsite for more than what feels like a few hours.