A Kansas Bimbo; Terri Survived! Wind Breaks; Portmanteau; A Sugar Beet Dinner? Jump Starting the Brain

While departing our campground in Kansas the other day, I noticed this sign... 

Then I tried to visualize the sexy, voluptuous blonde farm girl who would appear in the TV ads to promote the bakery... my warped mind ran wild... 

but this is reality! (I think that some of the guys may be disappointed...)

Speaking of blondes, we have good news from Terri of the Frozen North; she survived the “unseasonable” early May blizzard, but was trapped in her car for a week under 12 feet of snow on I-94. She was rescued in time, with only minor frostbite injuries, and has recovered sufficiently to return to work. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Terri is now complaining (dare I say “whining”?) about the unseasonable heat wave that Minnesnowta was enduring, with temps in the high 90s. Terri, you can’t have it both ways! Hasn’t this past winter convinced you that you need to move to central Florida? Our lakes haven’t frozen over in several millennia, and Sunday’s 89F in The Villages was much cooler than Minneapolis’ 98F!

Weather, weather, weather... on the Great Plains, they talk about the weather a lot! Western Kansas was less windy today than yesterday, but the photo at left shows a sturdy line of cedar trees set to the west of this farmhouse to help cut the vicious winter winds. 

The last town in Kansas, just before crossing into Colorado, is named Kanorado. This is an interesting name, because it is a portmanteau word, a combination of two or more words or morphemes, and their definitions, into one word, such as smog (smoke and fog). The name is derived from the French, portmanteau luggage, which has two compartments. Kanorado’s 2010 population was 153, but there were 276 residents in 1990. One may assume that real estate prices are a bargain here...

We arrived in Longmont, Colorado, 25 miles north of Denver, amidst thunderstorms and lightning. We are staying in St. Vrain State Park, where I will do some fishing and get some work done on The Bus. We’ve been out for about 2 weeks, and almost 2,000 miles later, we’re just a few minutes from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. This Canada goose in the foreground is probably wondering if he should have flown farther south and wintered in Cancun.

It’s bizarre to see so much snow on the mountains in mid-May, and sobering to see signs on the Interstate requiring truckers going west to have chains ready for snow conditions. The temp tonight should get down to 48F. I get to stay here and freeze while My Lovely Bride goes to the beach...  

“The beach?” you ask... Colorado is a long way from the beach! Yes, Suzanne will fly out on Thursday to Virginia Beach, VA, where she is a presenter at the “Our Soul Life Conference” sponsored by the Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), the organization founded by Edgar Cayce. The conference is fully booked with 250 attendees, and her fellow speakers include Dr. Eben Alexander, John Van Auken, and mediums Robert Brown and Maureen Hancock. 

But surely being stuck here won't be too egregious... we had dinner tonight at a local place called Sugar Beet. Doesn't sound too appetizing, does it? Well, don't judge a restaurant by its name... look at these dishes:

We shared a delicious arugula salad with almonds, lavender honey vinaigrette, shaved cheese and tasso ham...

I opted for appetizers instead of a main course: fried Hama Hama oysters from Washington State with a scrumptious sauce over some purple leafy thingees...  

and large shrimp with applewood bacon, drizzled with a passion fruit vinaigrette, again with some leafy green fodder that was actually quite tasty...

A glass of quite palatable Block Nine Pinot Noir complemented my meal nicely.

My Lovely Bride selected sea scallops on purple potatos with a carrot ginger puree, with a side of Dungeness crab on avocado:

I may have to check out the chef's other specialties while Suzanne has Chesapeake Bay crabs....

I mentioned yesterday that our car battery had died... here’s the rest of the story. When we stopped for our daily run at Ft. Riley, Kansas, I had to jump start the car, with My Lovely Bride at the wheel to turn the ignition switch. We then drove the car over to the Cavalry Museum, with Your Faithful Correspondent in the passenger seat. Just before getting out of the car, I said, “Love of My Life, please leave the car running while we’re in the museum.” You can see this coming, right? 

Yep, you guessed it, she turned the car off ten seconds later (she claims it was force of habit), requiring me to find a nice passerby to park next to us to get our car started again. “Short memory span” doesn’t quite describe it... So here’s my solution to jump start Suzanne’s brain...