Christmas 2008

Wake Up Chi Chi, it's Christmas.

I thought I would share what Christmas looked like at our house this year. The only kids we had at home this year were the dogs. They each had their own stocking. Chi Chi got the biggest stocking. Yup! Spoilt dog!

One of our Christmas trees is decorated with Delft Blue Ornaments that we got when we were in Holland. My husband served a mission there so we like to go back there to visit and we decorate this tree as a reminder of those times.

Another of our trees is a tradition from both of our families. It is a Silver Pom Pom Christmas Tree. We don't put lights on the tree because that would be a fire hazard but they have a color wheel that is put under the tree that shines the colors up into the tree and shines that color in the tree. I love to sit at night and watch the tree change colors. It is very pretty and relaxing. Here it is with the red shining on it.

This is our other dog "Simba." He is also spoilt and runs the family with "Chi Chi." He could smell the treats in the stocking and was trying to figure out how to get them out.

I like to make little scenes out of the decorations around the house.

Fasnachskuchlein Making

Today was our family Christmas party. We follow an old tradition of making "Fasnachtsküchlein."



Everyone has to try saying fasnachtskuchleins with the guttural throat sound. They are the Swiss carnival cookie. They are also called "Chnüblätz" as we pronounce it -Kneeblates. They are nick named Kneeblates because you can stretch them over your knee. They are a traditional treat made at Christmas or Carnival.

First we mix the dough and knead it and then divide it into small balls. Then the balls are rolled really thin.



After rolling them thin we take them and stretch them until they are almost see thru. Small holes are good because they make it more crisp when fried.



The Fasnachtskuchleins are laid out on dish towels in layers to dry for about an hour before frying.



We use a deep frying pan to fry them in vegetable oil. The trick is to fry them fast but not get them too brown. We use special paddles to turn them during frying.



The next step is to take a shaker and more than cover the fasnachs in granulated sugar.



We made 3 batches that made 22 plates of 8 each. Each family gets to take home a plate to eat.



The recipe that we use is
1 tsp. salt
2 cups of sugar
6 eggs
6 cups of flour

Mix everything but the flour and then gradually add the flour. Let it mix until well kneaded. We use a bosh type mixer

Wendover, Utah

To see the full Travel Log, Information and Links go to http://www.scattergenius.com

For my 50th birthday we stole away for a night to Wendover, Nevada.



We drove out from Salt Lake City to Wendover. On the way out about 95 miles west of Salt Lake City on the north side of of I-80 we passed a large tree sculpture created by artist Karl Momen, a Swedish-American Artist and Sculpture. It is called by several names but the two most popular are Metaphor, The Tree of Life and Metaphor, The Tree of Utah. The artist drove though that area and saw that the landscape was barren and boring and he decided to build something with color. He bought land and financed the project himself. The tree is 87 feet tall and has 6 balls on branches and several pieces on the ground and the base of the tree. It is cement covered with ceramic tiles, rocks and minerals. It was finished in 1987 and donated to the State of Utah. I love the tree. The plaque says ”A hymn to our universe whose glory and dimension is beyond all myth and imagination.” It gives you something to look at and wakes you up on a long trip of nothing but sand. I think they should allow different artist to create other artwork there or along the way and have it be an outdoor roadside art show. It feels like the sand goes on for a very long way.
A biography of Karl Momen can be found at: http://www.endangeredplanet.net/media/MOMEN_Bio.pdf
http://www.utah.com/amusement/metaphor_tree.htm
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2230


Just before Wendover is where the Bonneville raceway and the salt flats are located. This is where the land speed records have been set. During trials people bring their campers and RV’s or stayed in Wendover and go out and watch the races and time trails. There are races there every Memorial Day Weekend with speeds of over 200 miles per hour reached. http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/bonneville_salt.htm
http://www.roadsters.com/bonneville/#Bonneville




We stayed at the Montego Bay in a Mini Suite. The rooms were great! Our room was decorated in Royal Purple. The room was extra large and had a Jacuzzi in the corner of the bedroom. There were themed decorations of palm trees and even the lamps had a Caribbean theme. The room had a large flat screen TV, a modern looking refrigerator, and the shower was also a steam room. www.wendoverresorts.com

The casino was hopin’. There were a lot of people there for a Sunday night. The next day we went sightseeing. My brother in law is a history buff and has a memory for facts that is phenomenal.. He took us to the Historic Wendover Air Force Base Museum.



It is a small museum that is big on facts. I learned more there in our ½ hour visit than I learned in all of High School about the atomic bomb that was dropped on Japan.
There are replicas of the Air Force Base, memorabilia, weapons, uniforms, planes, pictures, maps as well as information on the Enola Gay and the Little Boy Atomic Bomb.



Also at the Air Force Base on the other side of the parking lot from the museum is a plane used in several scenes in the 1977 movie “Con Air.”
It is a gutted plane that they used in the movie. I could see in my mind all the seats and then there was the cargo bay that I remembered from the movie. It was just open and we could walk around in it.
Here is a photo that I took of the plane.



I did enjoy watching the clouds on the drive back. They were very fascinating and deep in color and contrast.



I took a couple pictures of the Morton Salt Plant. I called to see if they had public tours but was told they didn’t. They would have been interesting.
http://www.utah.com/stateparks/great_salt_lake.htm



Full Travel Log and info at http://www.scattergenius.com

Tours: http://www.intermountianguidenevada.com

Wendover research sites: http://www.elkorose.com/wendover.html
http://www.westwendovercity.com/visguide/visitingwestwendover.php
http://www.nevadaweb.com/cnt/cc/wendover.html
http://westwendover.travelnevada.com
http://www.nevadaweb.com/cnt/cc/texts/wendover.tx

Painting with Chi the Chihuahua

I thought I would share some photos of Chi Dog. She is my guard dog and companion when I go working on apartments. She loves to sit in my lap when I am working on the floor. This time she painted the tip of her ear and painted the ends of her whiskers touching the paint on the wall. I will have some videos of painting tips and Paint Product Reviews posting shortly. -Debj

San Francisco, California

http://www.scattergenius.com

Do you want to go to a place where there is more to see that you can do in a month, new adventures, great music, culture, theatre, something for everyone?

I have loved San Francisco because I can never go there too many times. I still have a ton of things I want to see. There are some things I go back and see every time because they are just too cool to miss. I seem to always have people traveling with me. I have found you have to have a plan and be prepared before you go on your trip so that you can take advantage of the time that you have there, otherwise you will waste time deciding what to do or going from one end of town to the other and you will waste a lot of time on traveling every day. Don’t spend your time planning or wandering around wondering what to do when you should be making the most of your time seeing or doing the wonderful things that memories are made of.

Preparation:

Let’s talk about how I prepared for this trip. I go online and look up “top 10 things to see in San Francisco” Look at several sites as different people have different types of things that they like to focus on. For specific types of travel search for “top 10 romantic things to do in San Francisco” another good source for information is a magazine that can be picked up for free in most hotels. That is great but for planning ahead they have an online version at: http://sftravel.com/pier39/fishermans_wharf_html also for those that are looking to be in just the Fisherman’s Wharf look at: http://www.anchoragesquare.com/


My top ten things to see in San Francisco:

1. Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
2. The Sea Lions and shops at Pier 39
3. China Town
4. The Wharf
5. Union Square
6. Lombard Street
7. Boudin Bakery
8. Musee Mechanique
9. Cable Cars
10. Gharadelli Square

My Top Ten Eateries / Resturants:

1. Street seafood stand at Wharf Square
2. Café Eight
3. Crepe Café
4. Boudin Bakery
5. Rain Forest Café
6. Gharadelli Square
7. Tarantino’s
8. Cioppino’s
9. Pizza Zone
10. Tad’s Steakhouse


Café Eight is a small charming seafood café on the dock at the cross street of Taylor and Jefferson. It is down the boardwalk with all the other little seafood stands. Get a seat by the window and overlook the fishing boats. The food was the best. We had fish and chips and clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl with salad. The bread bowl had a crispy crust and soft center. The food and the service were superb.



Come to my website http://www.scattergenius.com and read the full travel log and all the hints and tips on the best places to see and things to do in San Francisco. There are hotel and resturant reviews, tours, transportation, activities, attractions, and lots of photos. You will find other information that will aid you in your travel plans.

Buying Real Estate

The first thing I consider when looking at buying a rental property is what area I should buy in. I let my real estate agent know what areas I want to look at so that I am not wasting my time or theirs by going to areas that would not fill my goals. I drive through the area at different times of day also. Make sure you go by after 10 pm to get a feet for the area at night. I want an area that the renters are generally long term tenants. Is there employment near by, Is is a place of high turn over, Is it convenient to get to, is the area in good repair, Is the area in high demand for apartments or rental houses, find out what the competition is in the area, What are the neighbors like, Once I determine that I will be able to rent to people who will stay a minimum of a year and will enjoy and feel safe in the area then I start to look at the building.

Denio Junction Lunch Stop, Winnemucca

We stopped at the 140 Junction at the Denio Junction Motel and Café to eat lunch. On our way out we asked directions from a lady and she was just passing through but told us we should stop and eat at this little café because it was very good. We didn’t have time and we had eaten in Winnemucca so we didn’t eat there on our way to Klamath Falls. We stopped on our way back and from the outside it doesn’t look like much but the inside it has a warm wooden interior, it is cute, clean and unique. There are several booths and a sit up bar. Everything is wood. The ceiling and beams, the bar, the walls, and the booths. It is obvious that this is a place frequented by hunters. There are deer, antelope, and elk heads on the walls and pictures everywhere of hunters and their catches. There were even a couple of rattle snake skins and cow hides hanging on the wall. They are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. when the kitchen is closed. They serve breakfast in the morning and the lunch and dinner menu are the same. The lunch menu had burgers, salads, ice cream, a kid meals and drinks. We had the Denio Burger. It looked deliciously juicy and thick. It didn’t disappoint me. It had a thick beef patty with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and onions. My husband and I usually share a meal and told them that we wanted to share. My son and his wife shared a Western Burger. When they brought them out to us they were split in two and served in separate baskets. The condiments were on the table. The service was great. Bobby bought the business three years ago. And he is the cook. As you know when the owner is there the business is generally a good business. I was a salad that someone else ordered and it looked good too. One note is that they only take cash. If you are out of cash there is an atm machine there. They have a little store there. They were watching a football game on the TV and they were all cheering and talking about the fame. There was a chart on the bar counter with everyone’s names on the football betting pool.

We made a stop in Elko to see if we could see any of the damage form the earthquake from a couple years ago. We went by the casinos that we used to come out and stay in on bus tours. The Stockmans and the Clondike. Maverick gas station was our gas stop and snack station in Winnemucca, NV. There are several casinos there too. We had a quiet late night ride back to Logan.

john's stuff: wild donkeys

I found John's blog that had pictures of the donkey signs. He has some good pictures of them. john's stuff: wild donkeys

We pasted on Hwy 140 both coming and going to Klammath Falls. There were road signs with pictures of horses and then donkeys. We didn't see the horses but we did get to see the donkeys. Going up the were crossing the road in front of us and then going home we saw the donkeys again and this time there were two baby donkeys. They were right at the side of the road. I was going to do a video of them when we saw them again but I got so excited about taking pictures of them that I forgot. We saw two other groups of donkeys out further in the distance and one donkey on its own by the road.

See more pictures and infor at:http://jjhbfi.blogspot.com/2007/09/wild-donkeys.html

Lakeview Oregon

My favorite town was Lakeview. The town promotes itself as "The Hand Gliding Capital of the West." Lakeview is localed east of Klamath Falls on Highway 140. It is also known as one of the tallest town in Oregon. It's elevation is 4,800 feet above sea level. Read more about the events, maps, history and the town at: http://www.geocities.com/lakevieworegon, http://www.lakevieworegon.org, http://www.lakevieworegon.us/home.html, http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g51941-Lakeview_Oregon-Vacations.html
The town has a picture of a cowboy that looks a lot like the one in Las Vegas. It is found several places. At the town entrance, at the entrance to the fair grounds and even on the Safeway sign. I searched for a while to get the story on the cowboy symbol and finally found a blog that told all about the contravery over the two different ones. You can read about it at: http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/03/lakeview_to_vote_on_tallman_sy.html

I wanted to go visit this little local museum. I love to explore the small places that make up a town but it was closed. I will check it out next time I come through here.

We ate at the Queen Burger that was next to the museum. It was good and very hometown feel.

The water tank about the city say "1988 Finalist for All America City"

The best price on gas was at the Cheveron Station on the corner of the highway junction. It was hard to get used to the fact that you don’t pump your own gas in Oregon. There are servicemen that fill your tank. They tell you not to pump your gas they do it for you. One of the service men said that in Lakeview alone that created 20 plus jobs. So it was good for us and for them. He said they are one of two states that the service stations service includes pumping your gas. It was kind of fun to be waited on. He cleaned our windshield and offered to check the oil.

Hunters Hot Springs has Old Perpetual Geyser that goes off every 90 minutes or so in the rainy season. It shoots water up of 60 feet in the air. It is the only hot water geyser in the Pacific Northwest. You can stay at the resort and enjoy the hot springs and the Geyser Grill Resturant. Read more about Hunter Hot Springs, Oregon at: http://www.huntersresort.com