daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
It was Taco Tuesday at the Fujimoto house! This time, we had carne asada from Trader Joe’s. It was yummy!
And before we feasted on tacos, we pre-gamed it with some Espolòn tequila. A combination for the ages. 😄
Tonight we went to the stadium to watch Koa perform in the marching band for the band parents. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the marching band competitive season and all travel was cancelled, but they still were able to rehearse (both virtually and socially-distanced in-person) and perform at a few home-field football games. The show was redesigned to keep space between each band member, although I have to say there were a few moments were it got closer than 6 feet. But still, it was nothing like past shows, which was appreciated. All students wore masks, the wind and brass instruments had coverings, and many of the kids also wore face shields. Happily, we haven’t heard of any band kids nor band staff testing positive for COVID-19.
New this year, Koa switched instruments from marimba to snare. This meant he was actually marching in the field instead of just up in the front ensemble. I think he really enjoyed it. He was also a drumline captain! Yay, Koa!
The photo above was taken through my binoculars in case you were wondering. I don’t have a long telephoto lens, so this will have to do. 😆
You can watch the show below:
The angle of the camera makes the crowd appear packed, but actually the seats were marked off with tape so that groups would be kept apart at a safe distance, and masks were required. I was reluctant to let Koa return to marching band this year (many of the students attended 100% virtually), but after seeing a few of the rehearsals, I was more comfortable with how seriously everyone was taking it. And Koa has some pretty sweet tan-lines on his cheeks from wearing his mask! 😄
Normally we attend several of the football games to see the band perform but this year we only saw the show once. Hopefully next year the pandemic situation will be over and Koa can enjoy a normal senior year performing at more games and competitive events.
For several years I’ve been mentioning to my family how I used to always order Cherry Vanilla ice cream as a kid when we went to the Thrifty drug store. Since I have not been able to find it anywhere we have looked (and I do always check), they doubted that the flavor even existed and insisted that I must be making it up or imagining it. They even suggested that I should just have Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, which is NOT THE SAME THING! Cherry Vanilla is simply vanilla ice cream with Maraschino cherries added… perhaps too simple a thing for today’s world.
Well, at a recent trip to HEB with Koa, I spotted the holy grail… Cherry Vanilla ice cream! Frankly, I was a bit stunned. And when I showed Koa, he was also in disbelief. 😃 With a huge smile on my face, I quickly put a container in the cart, snapped a photo and sent it to Bay and Mariko. At long last, I felt as though I had been vindicated.
The ice-cream was exactly as I remembered: simple and delicious. The brand (Blue Bell) might be different, and it’s not the fanciest of flavors, but it brings back good memories of getting 10-cent scoops from Thrifty as a child, which is special. 🍦
But the story isn’t over yet because there is a second flavor of ice cream that I am still searching for: Lemon Chiffon. Someday…
Popping open the bubbly to celebrate.
I’ve been wanting to go for a solo camping trip ever since I watched the shows Yurukyan and Hitori Kyanpu de Kutte Neru, which both feature a lot of solo camping. Since I had Friday off, I checked the campsite availability at Pedernales Falls State Park and saw that they had one site open for Friday evening, so I quickly grabbed it and decided to go for my first solo overnight trip!
I actually have a few new items of camping gear I wanted to try out before I head out to Big Bend National Park next month so this would be the perfect opportunity. My original plan was to hike to the campsite, set up camp, then hike some more trails before calling it a day. The following morning, I would break camp, return to the car and then bike around the park.
While I was checking out the cycling opportunities at Pedernales Falls State Park, I found a few videos on YouTube that showed people cycling on the trail that leads up to the primitive campsites where I’d be staying. So then I thought, hey, why don’t I try bikepacking, and load all of the gear onto the bike and ride to the campsite? Most of my camping gear is compact and light which make it easy to pack onto the bike. Even my relatively bulky Nemo Switchback sleeping pad was easily strapped to the handlebars.
The campsite is actually only 2 miles or so from the parking lot which isn’t far at all, but I thought this was perfect, because if for some reason my bicycle broke or I got a flat, I could easily just push the bicycle to the campsite or back to the car. I haven’t ever fully loaded the panniers before, after all.
However, my worries were unfounded, because the bike performed great, even with road-oriented touring tires. I did have to push the bike once when I got off my line while going up a steep hill and lost forward momentum, but other than that, it was 30 minutes of non-stop fun, and so much easier than lugging a heavy backpack on my back.
Now that I know how my gear fits on the bike and how the bike performs, it opens up new possibilities for longer trips on the bicycle. Time to check the map!
Some of the new items of gear this trip are:
All-in-all, everything worked out nicely, and I had a great time solo camping. It was a relaxing getaway, completely unplugged (no cell signal). Highly recommended!
Here are a few more photos from my solo camp excursion, including some from the hiking trail, an armadillo that I came across, and a few from the Bird Blind on the other side of the park. Enjoy!
