New Year's Day

Quiet night in Atyrau.  A few beers at the Worley bar (oh, the excitement!) and then trudged home in 6" of snow.  Fortunately the path to Iranida was not too snowed over.

Today, relax, read, cook special perhaps. I have bacon, wOOt!

Considering thru hiking the Continental Divide Trail.  I've hiked and backpacked, but I don't have too much in the way of orienteering or camping skills, so I'm doing a little reading. I'd thought about doing the Appalachian Trail, and there are advantages to that, but it is crowded, and I'm looking for something a bit less travelled. The CDT certainly meets that criteria, as only about 200 people attempt a thru hike each year.

More Waiting

Turns out my visa will not be returned to me here until Tuesday of next week so I'll have a few more days in paradise.

Jackie's got the new kitchen appliances coming so that means I'm probably on honey-do detail for installation of the automatic washing machine. Not a big deal but it does mean a lot of crawling under cabinetry and wrenching on things for which I'm not so flexible any more.

We had rain last night pretty good so all the plants on the lanai are looking happy.

Also, we are pushing forward on the conversion of the laundry room to a combination laundry and powder room.  Dream Maker of Bradenton is doing a nice job with the design.  It's a bit more money than I had originally anticipated but I'm a bit impatient to get this project started, and cost is less of an object.  An additional toilet will be a real plus for this house whether or not we are entertaining guests, but when we do have company, it will really make things more pleasant and allow both us and our guests just a bit more privacy.

Waiting Mode

Waiting on my passport with new! improved! Kazakh visa to show up.  So I can climb on a plane on Saturday and make back for the salt mines.

Updating our Shared Photos on iCloud.  Fun times looking at all the places we've been, friends we've made and (only a few) awful photos we took.