DAY 94, 95- Thanksgiving, JFK, & a Birthday…

Day 94- A Day off and Thanksgiving… 
I knew that I would have some of these days where because of the Holidays I would be forced to have “days off” and I will admit that I might have needed a bit of a day off.  That in part was the reason I was pushing to get to Dallas.  I found a great rate over the Holidays here and at that rate I could afford to take a day off and not feel pressured to make the most out of my day.  Sometimes, I push myself more because I want to get the most for my money while I’m traveling.  I basically hung out in the hotel room during Thanksgiving after running down for the continental breakfast.  I did find a Walgreens nearby that was open and grabbed some junk food.  It was junk food and movie day.  I also did manage to start a watercolor but it still needs some work.

DAY 95- JFK AND a Birthday…

It was my birthday and also the largest shopping day of the year.  I wasn’t going to any malls so I figured I would be safe going to the 6^th Floor Museum in Dallas.  The 6^th Floor Museum is in the Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald shot John F. Kennedy as his car turned the corner and went by the grassy knoll.  It’s the same floor as they found the gun.  I drove downtown and found a parking lot space for the cheap price of $5 for the whole day.  Then I walked to the 6^th Floor Museum to discover that there was a line out the door and around the corner.  The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for this museum.  They were expecting about 2000 people to go through the museum that day.  Go figure that's the day that I decided to go too.  I got in line and it was moving slowly.  I was told it was about an hour and 15 minute wait from where I was at.  Okay, I didn’t have much else planned and really wanted to see this.

Photo- Book Depository building in background and an "X" marking
on the street where the first shot was fired at JFK.

I finally got to purchase my ticket from a black woman that was calling everyone Sugar.  “How are you today Sugar?”  “Well, thank you Sugar!”  There were two guys from New York in front of me in the line and I asked them if that was a southern thing to call everyone “Sugar”.  They laughed, but the line wasn’t over yet.  There was a line for the audio that they handed just before you went in the elevator and waiting for people to come down the elevator.  There was a limit as to how many were allowed on the 6^th floor because of the fire codes.  No photography was allowed except for the 7^th floor which you could visit.  There’s art and etc. up there I was told.

Up in the elevator I went and arrived among a gaggle of people with audio tour devices on their heads.  Things were moving slow.  I inputted the first number and looked at the photos as they talked about it.  There were excerpts from newscasters and quotes from people used in the recordings.  The museum first went over Kennedy’s family life and then his campaign.  Then they covered the things that were going on while he was first in office.  It was all the background of what built up to the time when he got assassinated in Dallas.  They had televisions with newscasters and video from the time. 

Just before we got to the famous window corner area they did the shots and showed time lapsed photos of the assignation.  Then, they had boxes on display in a windowed off area where Lee Harvey Oswald had been with the gun.  You could look out of the windows next to it and the most of the way down on to the grassy knoll area.  It was all very fascinating. 

Next, it went into the story of what happened and showed video of the aftermath.  Walter Cronkite talked about how he had to announce on the news about Kennedy’s death.  They showed the video of Oswald being shot.  They went on to explain the process of the investigation and why some still believe to this day that Oswald was not the actual man that pulled the trigger.  At the end of the 6^th floor you are given the opportunity to make comments about the museum or your memories of Kennedy’s death.  Kennedy died before I was born but I did write a short comment about my experience and thanked them for the museum.  It was a powerfully moving experience.

Photos- Large photo of John F Kennedy and upclose this large photo
is a series of smaller photo images of him...

I walked up the stairs to the 7^th floor where there were two cool large photos of John F Kennedy and Jackie.  The photos were made up from a series of smaller photos of John F Kennedy.  It was pretty cool but unfortunately my camera wasn’t working right at the time and I couldn’t get photos of them.  I also tried to take some photos from the same window as Oswald shot from but a story up.  I had to figure that the trees below have grown taller since the 1960’s.

 Down the elevator I went and the exit goes through the gift shop, of course.  I’ve discovered that this is common with most museums to have the exit through the gift shop.  I purchased a couple of postcards and asked directions for the Dallas Holocaust Museum which was nearby.  In fact, it was almost right across the street.  I went across the street and around the corner and there I was at the Dallas Holocaust Museum.

I went in and paid the entrance fee and got an audio tour devise.  A gal explained how to use the audio tour and then I was off on a self-guided tour through the Holocaust Museum.  The first picture is one of Albert Einstein and says his quote about the world being too dangerous to live in—not because of the evil men do but because of those that stand by and let them do it.  This was rather the theme of this museum.

 It then started off with an over view of the time period from late 1930’s to the mid 1940’s.  There was an area where there were cement columns to represent how many Jews died during each year.  The tallest cement pillar was 1944.  The next tallest year was about 1/3 shorter and that was 1943.

Photo- Photos from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising inside the Dallas Holocaust Museum.

Then the museum focused on three different events that occurred on the same day during WW2.  The first event was when three men armed with one gun and a hanging lamp stopped a train bound for a death camp.  They saved about 200 lives that day.  They risked their lives for others.  The second event was when the Jews in Warsaw’s Ghetto had HAD enough and rose up in revolt against their oppressors fighting asserting their human dignity with every ounce of their being up to death.  

Then the third event in sharp contrast was a conference by British and American diplomats in a plush Bermuda hotel that was meant to stonewall and placate protesters about the Jews in Germany.  This conference hid their inaction and deflected questions about what they were doing about these poor people’s plight.  This was a show that inaction can do more harm than help.

Photo- You could place a candle or rock in memory of someone that died in the Holocaust.

Next I went into a room where you were invited to take a rock or a candle to place on a large memorial tablet surrouneded by short stone like pillars.  It was very quiet and people were whispering prayers.  The next room was a theater area where they were showing a series of parts of interviews from holocaust survivors.  Some of these I found very powerfully moving; one especially had my heart in my throat when the victim told of how he would eat each day with his dad in one of the camps.  The dad would not eat and wait for his son to finish eating.  Then, he would ask his son if he was still hungry.  The son would tell his dad no because he knew that his dad would give his whole meal to his son.  But the son knew that his dad also needed the food too.  The son said he argued with his day like this for everyday that they were in the camp and he said it was very hard because they (both him and his dad) were very hungry because the Germans didn’t give them enough.  I had to leave shortly after that because I just couldn’t handle it emotionally.

Photo- The JFK Memorial in downtown Dallas.

After exiting the Holocaust Museum, I walked over a couple of blocks to the John F Kennedy Memorial.  It was this strange boxy semi-enclosed area.  The plaque gave the description that it was to symbolize and open coffin like area only with an opening to a life that could never be contained in a box because it affected so many other lives.  Okay.

Photo- This is the place to "cowboy up" in Dallas. 
It has everything a cowboy or girl could ever need.

Next, I walked around the Dallas downtown area.  I went by restaurants, shops, bars, and look at Christmas lights.  The Christmas lights were very fun in downtown Dallas.  I ended up going into a couple of the shops.  One in particular, I found rather interesting was Wild Bill’s Western Store where you could purchase any cowboy or cowgirl gear that you needed from custom leather boots to custom hats; they had you covered.  I grabbed a beer and a steak in one of the restaurants in the area that didn’t run you an arm and a leg.  I enjoyed my steak and beer while watching two different football games simultaneously.  Now this is the life and a wonderful way to end a birthday!

Photo- Christmas Lights in downtown Dallas.

 

DAY 93- Abilene to Dallas, TX…

I woke up to a HUGE loud bang against metal at 5AM in my hotel room in Abilene.  A cowboy had dropped his heavy overnight bag into his huge diesel pickup truck that was parked right out front of my room.  BANG!  5AM in the morning and I already felt like I had a heart attack!  A few minutes later the whole room was vibrating when he started up his truck.  Shortly after that I heard more cowboy boots thudding around and more loud pickup trucks starting up.  These cowboys liked to start their days early around these parts.  I looked out the window and the 75% of the parking lot that had been pickup trucks last night were gone. 

I decided to start a pot of coffee and get ready for the day too.  I got on-line and figured out what there was to do in Abilene before I started my drive to Dallas where I would spend the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I found out a few possibilities and headed up front for breakfast and a bit of assistance for directions. 

Photo- Frontier Texas a FUN place to visit and learn about Texas Hertiage.

Off I went towards historic downtown Abilene; I stopped southeast of it and went into Frontier Texas!  It’s a western heritage center that focuses on the frontier time period of Texas history.  It’s done with a new level of technology.  I went in paid the $8 entrance fee and wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was handed a map of the museum and before I knew it this southern Texas older gentleman was taking the map out of my hands and very nicely explaining what the museum was and how it worked.  He seemed impressed that I was all the way from Salt Lake City and wanted to ensure that I had a good time visiting Frontier Texas.  He was very sweet.

Photo- Inside the Frontier Texas an example of a covered wagon.

I had to wait for a few minutes for the next starting time.  Frontier Texas has a series of holographic spirit guides that take you through the history.  It was an amazing experience where these 6 historical figures took you through the history by telling you about parts of it.  In the first room, a hologram of Buck Taylor briefly introduced the spirit guides that you would be meeting as you went along.  In the second room, Buck Taylor’s hologram gave you a general overview of the Texas history; the big picture as it was called.  Then, I went down a hall where I went on to meet another spirit guide a Native American Indian that talked about the history of his people and what the land was like before all the settlers came. 

Photo- A community tooth brush!!??!  Ewwwwww!!

There were items to read and interactive things that you could along the way too.  I walked through a tepee and then met another two of the spirit guides.  These two were kind of having an interactive conversation with each other and it was very informative.  Next, I turned a corner and met a Captain Marcy.  There was a series of buttons in front of him that you could press to get answers to questions.

Down another hallway you got to meet another spirit guide who was a cowboy that moved cattle on a trail.  Though, there weren’t any real trails at that time.  He talked about the dangerous life on the trail.    Then, across the room on the other side you met another spirit guide who was a former slave that had been freed in hopes of locating his family that had been taken by Indians during a raid.  He ended up finding them and ended up going into the business of delivering supplies to pioneers. 

Then, I waited for a few minutes to get into the theater area where a presentation takes place.  It’s an amazing presentation where you sit on chairs that could be spinned in 360 degrees.  The theater show goes on all around you and it’s a wonderful presentation about the frontier Texas life.  After the theater show there was one more spirit guide that you met that I found interesting in that the woman who had managed to escape from Indian capture seemed to go through quite a few husbands on the frontier. Her first husband had been killed in the Indian raid.  She remarried and the next one went to check on the horses in the barn and didn’t come back.  She remarried again a military man this time that ended up being killed in action with Indians.  Then, I was at the end of Frontier Texas and was deposited in the gift shop area.  It was very worth the $8 entry fee.

Photo- The outside of the Grace Museum which is a restored hotel.

Next, I drove further into historic downtown of Abilene and located the Grace Museum.  I parked the car and walked in.  I paid the $8 entrance fee and was admitted to the Art Museum.  There are three floors of art.  On the first floor there was a featured exhibit called Wild Things.  There were two different artists displayed in this exhibit; one was Billy Hassell who painted colorful oil paintings with wildlife represented in them and the other artist was David Everett who had some amazing three dimensional wooden carved and colorfully painted sculptures.  On the second floor of the art museum there was a Texas Impressionism Exhibit titled Branding with Brushstroke and color, 1885 to 1936.  It featured several local impressionistic artists that had been in the area when Texas was just coming into being made a state.  The third floor featured a black and white photography exhibit by David H. Gibson called Quiet Beauty.  It was a wonderful art museum to visit and quite high quality for such a smaller town area.

Photo- The inside of Cypress Street Cafe in Historic Downtown of Abilene, TX.

I walked next door to have lunch at the Cypress Street Station Café.   It was a wonderful older building that had been remodeled to be a restaurant and featured a white tin punched ceiling.  I had the special of the day which had a beef quesadilla, chicken chimi, and a fresh salad with fresh sweet salsa vinaigrette.  It was a wonderful meal.  After lunch, I walked through a Texas gift shop down the street where it had anything and everything that was Texas.  It was fun going through but I just window shopped my way through it.

It was time to start heading towards Dallas.  It was basically a straight drive east on I-20.  It was a fairly heavy traffic day on the interstate and I think it was due to everyone heading somewhere for Thanksgiving which was the next day.  I set my cruise control for a bit below the speed limit and just went through with the flow.

Construction was a nightmare when I got into Dallas.  The exit that I should have taken was under construction and when I got off the interstate to try to back track the streets were curving every which way that I ended up getting totally lost.  I was lost about an hour and a half amid the Dallas Wednesday night rush hour traffic with construction.  I will say that it was really rather frustrating.  I also discovered that it was similar to driving in Salt Lake City in that if you put your blinker on they wouldn’t let you over.  I started driving like I did in Salt Lake City and just started to head over as a space appeared.  It all kind of reminded me of when the SLC was preparing for the Olympics and we had the Toboggan run going on with I-15.  I finally did manage to find the hotel and I opted to stay in the hotel for dinner.  I had enough of Dallas driving for the day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!  May your cup run nth over and may you be able to work off those extra calories you intake.  I'm off to enjoy a 5 day off in a row.  Yep, I decided to splurge and take an extra vacation day so I can be off for 5 days instead of the 4 days.  I'm planning on doing some painting, running, and maybe even a bike ride.  Have a wonderful day!

My Favorite Time of Year...

Fall is my favorite time of year. The summer warmth has dissipated. Cooler temperatures that call out for the sweaters and light jackets. Images of pumpkins, falling leaves and the landscape turning colorful hues of orange, red, and yellow come to mind.  It’s a time to get and take long meandering walks to enjoy the colorful landscape.  My absolute favorite holiday occurs this time of year—HALLOWEEN! Fall also contains Thanksgiving; which is my second favorite holiday. The only thing I don’t like about Fall is that it’s a signal the arrival ending of cycling season. Darn it! But I guess you can’t have it all.

Halloween Bike Ride- An 2' x 4' Oil Painting I did a few years ago.

For me this season, heralds a time of year to slow down a bit and reflect. But it seems as though, this year the colors haven’t quite stepped in like they usually do. Maybe it’s me “jumping the gun” in anticipating Fall ahead of schedule. After all, today is only the first day of Autumn according to my desk calendar. I tell you I am looking forward to some of that slowing and reflection time. I feel like most of the summer it’s been run, run, run, AND I’m so ready to SL-OOOWWW down.

 

I will say part of that run, run, run is self-induced. It seems as though I’m always trying to do too much. Why do we always seem to do that to ourselves? I know my limits like anyone else but I always seem to be striving to be a Super Hero Human. Then, I feel a bit deflated when I realize I’m not super in anyway and just an everyday ho-hum-drum human. I’ll have to leave the bounding a building in a single leap to someone else and that might be best considering my fear of heights.



Speaking of running, I’m thinking that I may be do for a new pair of running shoes. Now, talk about run, run, run that's self-induced!  But in anticaption of doing more running indoors on the "dredmill".  I've been thinking.  It’s been about a year since I bought the last pair. I’ve been averaging about 25 miles a month and they probably have close to 300 miles on them. Once I was told that you should get new pair of shoes about every 350 miles of running. But I always wonder if that’s really true or if it’s just one of those sales gimmicks.  But I would like to shop around and find a new pair so possibly I could use that as an excuse?  Yeah, that works!

P.S. I'm up one more pound this week.  The night time bike rides have been cut short due to earlier sunset times but I'm still eating the same amount of calories.  Time to pay closer attention to that equation.  Exercise Less = Eat Less Should be the new equation.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I wanted to wish everyone a very

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

I hope its a wonderful day for you and yours.  Outside of my favorite Holiday of Halloween, Thanksgiving runs a quick second; mostly due to the food.  Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and the pumpkin pie!  My mouth is just watering at the thought of it all; much to the chagrin of my waistline!  Is there another Holiday that is SO focused on the FOOD?!  I have to THANKFULLY say No!  One more thing to be thankful for.  Though, I will say there's a great deal of candy & cookies involved with Christmas.  Oh boy!  I think I'm definitely going to need to renew my gym membership!   

Here's a recent painting I did of my mom's cat.  I thought it was appropiate because she often refers to her spoiled and some what chubby cat by the name of Butterball.  Here's Buddy better known as Butterball...


"Mom's 10 lb. Butterball", oil on canvasboard 11" x 14".

Now try not to eat TOO much!

Cold Turkey, No Turkey, & Buns of Love...

Thanksgiving Day arrives clear, and cool. A beautiful day! At the start of the Cold Turkey Run it's a brisk 29 degrees. I can do this I think. I did a 4.25 mile run in 22 degrees a week and a half ago. Hey, this is balmy compared to that, and the temperature is suppose to get up into the low 50's before the day is out. Wait a minute! Low 50's at the end of November in Northern Utah. Freaky weather, but I won't complain.

(Photo: Myself, Diane, and Holly with State Capitol behind us.)

So, Diane, Holly, Luke(Holly's Son), and myself carpool to the start of the run. Parking is always an issue up on Capitol Hill. We arrive a little early and take some pictures with every one's cameras. Then, sit a bit in the heated car to stay warm as we wait for the run to start. We shortly head over to the start and the mass of people. I mean mass in a small place. They had almost 1200 plus runners registered for the event.

(Photo: Mass before the start of the run.)

Before I know it everyone is running. I heard someone with a bull horn talking but as far back as I was it sounded like the teacher in a Charlie Brown cartoon. No sound of a gun to mark the start. Just everyone started running in front of me, and well, because they were I followed suit. ( And no Mom I wouldn't follow suit if it was off a bridge... you taught me better.)

(Photo: Me with my fav hat on before the start.)

So I set a nice even pace and start off. My thighs feel kind of on the heavy side, as I go along. The nearest I can figure is the Boot Camp Pilates yesterday. But I muddled through anyway. Before I know it the run turns and starts going up the City Creek Canyon. The general course is to run up part of the canyon and then turn around and run down all the way to Memory Grove Park at the bottom. I tell you that running up hill is not my forte. At some of the steeper areas, I was just walking a brisk walk because running was too much. As I'm still a ways from the turn around, a male runner is all ready running back down the canyon. Then another male, and another. A gal that was running in the group around me was yelling out cheers and stating," first male runner, second male, third male..." Then, there came a guy dressed up as an Indian. He had to be cold. All he had on was a feathered head dress, and a pair of shorts with a little leather like outfit over it. Brrr-rrrr!

(Photo: The runners run up and down the City Creek Canyon.)

The gal yells out," First Indian!" Then comes a yell," First female, second female..." Then, I see a man running down with a stroller, and me being ever the vocal one. I yell," First Stroller!" There were chuckles around me, and the gal stopped yelling out from then on. OOooopps! Did I do something wrong?

About 1/2 mile from the turn around I see Holly running the down, Holly cheers me on and then about 1/4 mile from the turn around I see my friend Vena, and her husband Mike, running down. Vena gives me an at ta girl. I get to the turn around-- a orange cone that has a sign at the top that states--Turn Around Point. Then, its all down hill from here. YES! I'm half way there. This I can do! I pick up my pace just a bit because it's easier to go down hill. About a 1/4 mile after the turn around I see Vena's friend Leah, who barreled past me at the end of the Chasing Tail run earlier in the month. Hmmmm... maybe I'm improving a bit since that run? I try to pick up my pace a little more and then about 3/4 mile down I run past Diane as she's coming up the canyon. I yell and cheer her on.

As I head down a little further I'm keeping pace with another gal. She ends up taking off her head phones, and we chat as we run down. Before I knew it we were at the end, and I could hear Holly screaming and cheering me on. My fellow runner said," It sounds like you have a cheering section!" I thanked her for hanging out and wished her a Happy Thanksgiving and then picked up my pace. I sprinted across the finish line, as the timer said 48:28. Almost 13 mile minute. But not too bad considering! Then I grabbed some water and waited to cheer on Diane as she showed up. It was definitely a fun way to spend a Thanksgiving morning!

(Photos below: Diane approaching the finishline, and Diane crossing the finish line.)

Later on in the day, I met up with my friend Laura. We had decided to go the low stress way this year and go out to a restaurant to have our Thanksgiving. Besides, I've never been into the whole turkey big meal thing. So, we were hoping to have a local German restaurant open, but nope. No such luck for us. We ended up at Village Inn. They had a Turkey Special meal deal going on but I ended up having an Rio Grande Mexican Omelet with pancakes. No turkey for me, and no pie either. I figured the pancakes were enough of a dessert and let it be.

After dinner, we headed off to the theater to catch a movie. Wow! The theater was packed! I was glad that we had purchased our tickets earlier in the afternoon. There was all ready a line for the seating to get into the theater that was showing Blind Side. We ended up sitting in the third row off to the side. But I definitely would recommend the movie. It was very good heart warming flick. Perfect thing to see during the holiday season.

And oh, if you are still reading this far.... here's those "Buns of Love" as Diane and I named them. If you look closely these cute shorts have Love and hearts all over them. Gee, I wish my buns looked as good as these. Right now I wouldn't be caught dead in a pair of shorts like these...