New Mexican sighting

My brother Ryan texted me a pistachio shell sighting he had "on way to work." I like to imagine he spotted it while going down Saint Francis Drive at 45 miles an hour and pulled over just to snap a picture, but I have a feeling this was just in the parking lot.

blues, indie, bluegrass, and rock

In college I went to a lot of shows (well, looking back it seems like a lot, maybe it was just "several") and I loved hearing live music. I barely saw anything when I moved to Richmond, and Raleigh wasn't much better. But now I'm starting to make up for it.

Last weekend Josh and I went to the Veritas Winery in nearby Afton, Virginia, and danced around to Little Freddie King playing the blues.

Last Thursday we heard The Decemberists at the Pavilion on the downtown mall. I saw them in Seattle a few years ago with my brother. My favorite part was the druming during "The Rake's Song."

Saturday we joined Josh's grandparents at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia, for the Fortune Williams Music Festival. We heard some great bluegrass and rockabilly country, and in between sets we got to walk around the various farms that are on display. Historic farms + bluegrass = a great day in Andi's book.

Coming up next...U2 on Thursday!

pistachio in a crag?

I've seen about three pistachio shells in the last month or so but haven't taken the time to get pictures or post. None of them were very exciting. But looky what we have here! Allison sent in this picture of a pistachio she and Sam found on a hike last weekend. It looks a little perilous to me, like she had to climb down in a cave or something to get it, so props go to her for documenting this sighting so beautifully!



After they found this pistachio and finished hiking they joined Josh and me in Charlottesville for dinner. That was the dinner when they basically said I'll never see them again. (Well, not never, but not for a long while.) They're moving to the Pacific Northwest, the land where Allison and I originally met so long ago. It's sad to see them go, but I know they're excited about it so that makes me excited for them.

Good luck Allison and Sam, and I'll miss you!

Sunday dinner

Grandpa is getting better in rehab and he gets to go home on Wednesday! That is exciting. But since he was still at the hospital this past weekend Grandma and Aunt Judy decided to put together a regular Sunday dinner (lunch) with a roast and vegetables and salad and rolls and ice cream sandwiches, and take it to the hospital to eat. It was pretty fancy. We took real plates and silverware and flowers in a vase, too, and we ate in an outdoor patio. It was nice, and great to eat with Grandpa at the head of the table again. See:

this weekend I did more stuff!

Saturday I drove to Richmond (not surprising is it?) because my parents are still in town. After a delicious lunch, Josh and Dad and I went downtown and wandered around the state Capitol, and then we went to the Nascar race! This was my fourth race. I decided to root for Denny Hamlin because he's from the Richmond area and I cheered for him the last time I went to the Richmond race. And he won! Unfortunately, my dad's driver (Matt Kenseth) didn't do so hot. Josh didn't have a driver because he doesn't follow racing and this was his first time at Nascar. I thought we were all doomed when it rained before the race, but luckily that went away and everything else went smoothly.

Today my mom made green chili chicken enchiladas for lunch, and they were so good. Then she and I went to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden to look at flowers and butterflies. Butterflies are pretty and all, but let's be honest. They're still bugs.

After that the whole family (minus Grandpa, who is still in rehab) went to my cousin Leslie's new apartment for tea. Then we just hung out at the grandparents' house more. My parents go back home tomorrow, so it was fun to see them for so long and their visit was a good excuse to do lots of touristy stuff. Not that I need excuses.

old school style

Last night I went to my first drive-in movie theater. They used to have one in Santa Fe when I was a kid, but my parents never took me and then the place closed. But I can now finally say I've been to a drive-in. I went with some people from work, and we ate at a diner before attending the double feature (The Ugly Truth and District 9. Quite the combo, no?) We sat outside of our cars though, which was pretty nice until the end when I was cold. I'm not ready for fall!

a history nerd's vacation

My parents flew into Virginia last weekend, and after two days in Richmond they came with me to Charlottesville for a mini-vacation. My dad and I are both pretty big history nerds, and lucky for us, Virginia just happens to be chock full of history sites.

Monday we visited Ash Lawn-Highland, which was James Monroe's home. Then Josh joined us and we all went next door to Monticello, which was Thomas Jefferson's home.


After all that we needed a break, so we tasted wines at the Jefferson Vineyards, where TJ and Mazzei first tried to make wine in Virginia. From there we took another short break at my apartment (being a tourist is tiring), then headed to the downtown mall for dinner. However, Labor Day was a terrible day to find restaurants open, so we ended up at Mellow Mushroom for delicious pizza, followed by a walk around the University of Virginia campus. UVA was founded by TJ so it's also historic, and we made the obligatory stop by Edgar Allen Poe's dorm room.

Tuesday we headed out of Charlottesville in the early afternoon (after my parents bought me a new TV!) and drove to Lexington. We checked into a hotel, but then drove on to Natural Bridge.


See? There I am in front of it. If you're not familiar with it, Natural Bridge is a big natural rock bridge, and while it's pretty neat and has more history (George Washington surveyed it and carved his initials in the side, and TJ actually owned it), it's also a giant tourist trap. Dad and I visited the Natural Bridge Caverns, which were caverns but weren't that great (have you been to Carlsbad?!), but we passed up on the wax museum, toy museum, monster museum, safari, Foamhenge (we saw it from the road), dinosaur park with a Civil War theme, etc. etc. etc.


I know it's hard to believe we passed this up, but we did.

After dinner, we went back to Natural Bridge for the night light show. I assumed there would be lasers and silly ridiculousness, but it wasn't that bad.

This morning (Wednesday), we woke up in Lexington and went over to the Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University. Robert E. Lee was president of the school right after the Civil War, and they have a nice little museum about the Washingtons and Lees and the school. From there we headed next door to the Virginia Military Institute, where Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a professor. They also have a little museum, complete with the mangy remains of Jackson's horse, Little Sorrel.


Of course after all this we also had to visit the cemetery where Jackson is buried. If case you haven't heard, he's a distant uncle of mine. See the resemblance?


After lunch in Lexington, we drove on to Lynchburg, where I had great hopes of visiting Poplar Forest, TJ's vacation home. Unfortunately they close at four and we arrived at four, so that was a giant disappointment (I'll go back later). Instead we simply drove on to Richmond, but we passed through the Appomatox Court House National Historical Park on the way, so Dad could read more Civil War stuff.

Now we're tired. But it was a good time.

tidbits

Grandpa moved to rehab a few days ago and is slowly improving. So that's good.

I've been working out again. That's good, too.

Since I was in Richmond a lot last week, some of my fresh vegetables went bad. That was no good. But in general I'm still cooking more than I used to. I made some good tomato soup the other day, and tonight I used more of my frozen pesto in a squash and chicken pasta dish. It was pretty good.

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a cute little table to put in my entryway, and maybe a coat rack. Let me know if you find anything good.