Lemon Tree Very Pretty

We checked into our room at the Biltmore and Pleep was very happy to find a lemon tree right on our patio. He thinks the lemons are the perfect accompaniment to his favorite beverage, Absolut Citron. The weather is perfect - no clouds, low 70s and no snow. We heard there was more snow in New Mexico after we left there.

The entire south side of Chicago appears to have taken up residence at the Biltmore, especially at the pools and bars. The Cubs fans are all dreaming about the possibility for this season. Their consumption of adult beverages is in direct proportion to the number of kids they have with them. Pleep was all prepared to monkey butt White Sox fans but there didn't seem to be any so he had to settle for the few New York fans that were mixed into the crowd.

The Parker family entourage drove over from Santa Barbara to spend part of their spring break with us and the various spring training baseball games. We are certain it will be an interesting evening with them.

Adios To The Land Of Enchanment

Thursday was a perfect day in Santa Fe. The sun was out all day and even though the temp was only in the 50's it felt much warmer. After wandering over to the rail center and more of the downtown area, we headed up Canyon Road to visit the many galleries. Pleep spent some time monkey butting several of the very strange pieces but there were many paintings and sculptures that were very nice. We finally settled on two smaller oils by Spanish artist Pedro Fraile. They are the perfect additions to our home. We spotted one or two of his larger pieces that might also be nice on the large wall in our living room.

After the long afternoon gallery hopping, Pleep insisted we needed to sit at the bar in the La Fonda and sample their margarita menu. Our favorite involved fresh lime juice, two different tequilas, grand marnier, and cointreau. It is one their bartender has concocted himself. The next one was equally good but only involved one kind of tequila. Dinner at La Fonda's La Plazeula was fabulous. We went back to the room where Ed built his last fire and watched the K-State game. The double overtime was nerve wracking but Pleep was very happy when K State won. He thinks it may improve his chances of pulling an upset in the NCAA pool.

Pleep was very sorry to be leaving the Land Of Enchantment until he realized we weren't heading home. Rather, we are heading over to Phoenix where we will be hooking up with the Parker family for their annual spring training break. We will be staying at the Biltmore there and Peggy will be hanging out at the pool while Ed has to work.

Snow In Santa Fe

We woke yesterday morning to a lovely blanket of snow. Pleep wanted Ed to go out and help shovel but Ed told him to bug off. As the morning wore on, the sun came out and even though it was still snowing things began to melt. Snow in Santa Fe is much more enjoyable and easy to deal with than it is back in Olathe.

After playing in the snow to work up a bit of an appetite, we headed to Santa Fe's best breakfast place - Tia Sophias. It is a small, family owned place and has been Ed's favorite place since the early '90s. They only do breakfast and lunch. It gets very crowded with the local businessmen and politicos from the State Capital building up the street. One of their specialties is green chile sauce which you can pretty much have on top of any menu item. Theit menu boasts a large warning - NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TOO HOT CHILE! We think they had to add the warning because too many New Yorkers were complaining & were also lawyers in lobbying for something from the Gov.

After loading up on huevos rancheros smothered in green chile, we headed out to several new galleries that have opened since our last visit. Pleep insisted on stopping in the one gallery in hopes that they had monkey art. No luck but they did have a painting he wanted to buy to hang in either Peggy or Ed's office. It aptly displays a wise adage - 2 heads are better than 1 ass. We convinced him it was too big to fit in the overhead bin and that this shop didn't ship to Kansas.

After a tough day of gallery hopping, Ed felt it would be good to try some other kind of hops. Earlier in the day we spotted a tasting room for a local microbrewery, the Marble Tap Room. We headed over to it and enjoyed several excellent brews. Unfortunately, their double india pale ale was sold out so Ed had to settle for just the regular IPA, which he found to be very good.

Santa Fe - The City DIfferent

Santa Fe is one of Pleep's favorite places. It has everything he loves - micro breweries, art galleries, green chiles on everything, mountains, and plenty of 60's refugees with long hair, beards, funny clothes and strange conversations. His favorite pastime is hanging off the balcony and monkey butting the ones wandering by.

After a thrilling ride up in our Toyota Yaris (we think it may have hit 60 at times), we checked into the La Fonda. It is one of the oldest hotels in Santa Fe and sits right on the Plaza. It was originally part of the Harvey House chain that served the stage coaches and comes complete with it's own ghosts. The room we had reserved was being renovated so we were upgraded to a fabulous room with a wood burning fireplace. Pleep helped Ed build a roaring fire with the pinon logs they supplied. The room overlooks the Plaza and the cathedral with a great balcony. If it gets warm enough we may be able to enjoy sitting out there.

We wandered around the main area and checked out happy hour at St. Francis. Pleep found some very nice art during happy hour. He thinks he will be able to paint something like this for the Florida condo.

Then we ended up at the Sleeping Dog Saloon. Their mac and cheese with roasted Hatch green chiles and linguesa sausage was right up Ed's alley. He paired it with a giant India Pale Ale and was a very happy camper.

It is supposed to be cold & snowy tomorrow so we may hit the Santa Fe School Of Cooking for a lesson. The galleries up Canyon Road are on the list for Thursday.

Pleep Celebrates First Day Of Spring

It's been a big week for Pleep. First he had to organize the house for the arrival of one of his favorite house guests, Mel Carvill. Pleep was very excited because Mel is Irish and was going to be here to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with him. Pleep's primary activity was to make certain there was enough Guinness for himself plus a large steak for Mel.

The St. Patrick's Day gathering at Barley's was great. Tammy & Peggy went to Barley's early to secure the basecamp for the group. Mel and Ed were a bit delayed because they had more work to do. The rest of the group rounded it out by 4:00 pm. We have now established a permanent Generali USA section.

Pleep was very busy the rest of the week sorting out the NCAA March Madness pool and watching all the games. He cheered hard for the Irish and for UCSB but neither team made it through to the next round. As manager of the office pool, Pleep is pulling hard for one of the Parkers to win but the odds are not looking very good.

Pleep has been computing his power rankings of the Ritter guests. The current rankings are topped by Dan Carvill, followed by Mel Carvill and Mike Power. Chris Carnicelli remains at the bottom of the rankings. Chris had been moving up and was close to passing Mike Power. However, he had a major setback when the House Inspector found 2 pairs of trousers and a belt stashed away in the guest room. Carnicelli lost further ground when he missed the deadline for the NCAA tourney. He did make back a bit of ground when the House Inspector found Mel's one shirt in the closet. Winning his bet to do more than 40 push-ups also helped when he made it to 45 push-ups after the Board Meeting.

Today marks the first day of spring. Pleep was very excited to see the large snowfall this morning. Ed was much less happy about having to shovel. We are all looking forward to our trip this week to Santa Fe and Phoenix. Hitting Phoenix will be especially nice after the very cold weather in KC and the cold weather we had in FL.