The 2019 Tuscaloosa Tinsel Trail is now open!! Tuscaloosa’s One Place, our local family resource center, organizes the Tuscaloosa Tinsel Trail every year with a grand opening at the Tuscaloosa River Market. The trail is divided into 2 sections. These trees are located along the River Walk at the River Market. The second trail begins …
Travel
We made it back to the Cape! We try to get to the Forgotten Coast of Florida every other year. We love the Cape with its seclusion, pristine white sand, and dolphins! However, last year we had to cancel our trip due to Hurricane Michael. Michael devastated the panhandle of Florida. Mexico Beach is still …
If you are looking for a perfect fall field trip, the Tuscaloosa Barnyard is the place to go! For the past 13 years, students from all over Tuscaloosa county and beyond have enjoyed a fall field trip to a quiet place out in the country. The Tuscaloosa Barnyard started out with 4-5 stations including a …
Morning in Frisco usually includes brunch at the Butterhorn Bakery. They have this gluten-free French toast that I enjoy once a year and only in Frisco. This year, I added a hot chocolate since the weather was cold! After brunch, we explored the town. The wildflowers were out with the snowy mountains in the background. …
Early morning coffee at the base of a mountain. I could do this every day and never get tired of the views. And I greatly appreciate the giant stein collection at the condo. The Christmas scene just made it taste better. We spent the next few days going up to Mt. Evans, Independence Pass, and …
The first stop in 2019 was Colorado Springs. We crashed for the night and got up early to try to get to the summit of Pike’s Peak before the summer rush. We have found that getting to 14,000 ft for a little while helps with the altitude issues. We stopped by the Catamount resevoirs on …
We made it from Alabama to Colorado Springs in one long drive! This year, as a family of 3, we left Alabama at 8:30pm and rolled into Colorado Springs at 7pm the next day. Atlas slept most of the way and we just kept driving until we got here. Year 9 out west! We had …
See that? That’s snow ALL AROUND TUSCALOOOSA. This model had us at 2-3 inches hours before the big show. See that? That’s a 60% probability of accumulating snow. ACCUMULATING…not just a flizzard. Not just an inch of sleet. Serious blanket of snow that sticks. 60% chance and 70% chance line is just a few miles …
Some of the best Christmas traditions are the ones that just happen by accident. Painting ornaments is probably one of our most favorite things to do for the holidays and it began many years ago by accident. I’ve posted the details several times here over the years so these are the $.97 ornaments that started …
It’s time to say goodbye to the beach. We got up for a last sunrise with Atlas. We had to pack up and check around the condo before leaving. Here are a few pictures of the Moorings. We had a pet-friendly unit with 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a large kitchen/living areas. We had a …
This morning, I woke up early to drive over to Savannah for the Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon. I’ll have a race report up later. For dinner last night, we drove over to the Rockfish (previously known as Bomboras grill). They had a fantastic happy hour with oysters and steamed shrimp. Stephen got some …
Back in the summer, we made plans for our yearly fall trip to the beach. In years past, we’ve alternated between the Florida pan-handle area of Cape San Blas and with Hilton Head, SC. We chose Cape San Blas again because it’s very secluded and very pet-friendly. But those plans changed. The aftermath of Hurricane …
This year at our school, we have been challenged to do more things together as a faculty. These social events are meant to bring us together outside of the school walls and be real people with each other. Often, we get boxed into these little categories of teacher-hood and we decided to try to branch …
Several years ago, I managed to drag Stephen to the beach in the fall. He has always loved the mountains and never wanted anything to do with the beach. His visions of the beach included sitting outside in scratchy sand in the middle of the hottest part of an Alabama summer. But then we went …
It’s no secret how much I love going to farmer’s markets. In my childhood years, my grandmother visited the local market in Jackson every week in the summer for whatever was fresh and looked good enough for her family. She would buy bushels of peas and beans for us to shell, blanch, and preserve for …
This morning, we loaded up the truck and traveled south to Telluride! For the next week, depending on the 416 Fire in Durango, we will be camping up above Telluride at the Matterhorn campground. This morning, we ate some granola bars and left the wide open spaces of Crested Butte behind. We stopped in Montrose …
Yesterday was market day in Crested Butte. Their Sunday market is perfect for an afternoon of walking the town streets and supporting local farmers and businesses. This is one of our favorite pickle vendors. If we could have hauled back all these jars, we would have. I picked up a gluten free cream cheese brownie …
Breakfast scramble for the win. I shall take this idea back to Tuscaloosa. Bacon is a must. Breakfast view from our condo. After breakfast, we went exploring. I think the views from the Crested Butte area are fantastic. Wildflowers are definitely blooming here. After checking out the scenes, we had lunch in town at Teocalli …
Leaving the Rocky Mountain National Park is always bittersweet. I have a ton of new memories but I know it might be a couple of years before we come back. Since we still tent camp, the odds are good we will be back next year because this campground has flushing toilets. I have no shame …
Yesterday was a slow and easy fishing day. That means I got to see some great water/mountain views and read some books while Stephen fished for trout. There is nothing as relaxing as reading by a stream in Colorado. We saw more elk and another moose playing in the ponds. We ate dinner at my …