daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
Tomorrow, Mariko is flying up to Indianapolis to watch Koa’s marching band perform in the Bands of America Grand Nationals. Since I’ll be home alone for a couple of nights, she made a big pot of beef curry so that I don’t starve. 😀
It’s so delicious! ❤🍛
Today we went to see Koa’s marching band perform in the UIL Area competition with ~23 other schools. But before that, Mariko and I stopped at Krause’s Café and Biergarten for a late lunch with friends. The beer and food were great, and the atmosphere inside the beer hall was very nice. The weather was just perfect! It was so fun to hang out with new friends. We could have probably hung out for a few hours but we had to get to the band competition for the finals.
The stadium was about 30 minutes away from the biergarten and we arrived to find some good seats right on the 50-yard line and halfway up the stands. We’ve seen a few of the bands before, but many were new to us so it was interesting to see the different kinds of shows and music they performed. Texas certainly has an exceptional marching band culture, and we’re fortunate that Koa’s school is one of the best. But what I really think is cool about high school marching band is that all the kids support the other bands and many cross-band friendships are formed throughout the year.
It was a long day, but very fun to hang out with friends and listen to lots of music. I hope you had a good day too! またね～
One of the things we were looking forward to was to eat some New Mexican food in Santa Fe. Last’s night’s meal was yummy, but this morning’s breakfast was off-the-charts! Cafe Pasqual’s is in the historic part of town, so you really get that Santa Fe vibe. The interior of the restaurant is cool and fun and the menu is filled with delicious-sounding treats.
I ordered the Trout Hash with poached eggs. It was excellent. Mariko ordered the tofu-chorizon breakfast burrito, Christmas-style (both red and green sauces) and it was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. It was so good! The burrito was massive but we really cleaned up and ate everything on the plate. Definitely recommended!
After stuffing ourselves, we walked around the area and did a little shopping before hitting the road. Another long drive was in store for us as we traveled into Colorado for an afternoon visit to Mesa Verde National Park. Here are a few more photos from Santa Fe:
Today was the start of our road-trip vacation to New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. The first leg of the journey took us through north Texas (not quite up to the panhandle). We saw plenty of cotton fields and had to stop and take a few photos. The cotton was so clean and soft. Amazing!
After a short lunch (sushi!) in the town of Snyder, Texas, we made our way across the border and into New Mexico at the town of Texico. Of course we had to take a photo of the sign, which was not so pretty, as well as the water tower which was much more photogenic (first photo).
After that it was a long push towards Santa Fe, where we checked into our hotel and then headed to Café Castro for a yummy meal of New Mexican Steak and Carne Adovada. It was served with a side of sopapillas and honey. I asked the waiter how to eat them, and he said you can put honey on (or in) it and have as a dessert, or just eat as you would a tortilla with the meal. The sopapilla was really good and it was the first time that I had it not as a dessert. I highly recommend Café Castro. We left very satisfied.
One of the cool things about the drive was that the sky was full of cloud activity, which is heaven for a cloud enthusiast like myself. 😀
I even set up the GoPro to get a Timewarp “drive-lapse” video. Enjoy!
I’ve been enjoying my daily tea for the past couple of months now. It’s especially nice to drink out of the ceramic cup. It has a great feel to it. 🍵
The only problem is that our cat, Yuzu, also like to drink from it, and when I leave the room I have to put the cup on a shelf, otherwise I return to see her face inside it! 🐱
