Hi Pixie, When you posted about Little House on the Prairie I looked some things up and was planning to post but just haven't found the time! I'm glad you explained why you wanted to do the plains! At least now it makes sense! After you posted I looked up DeSmet on google Earth--to get the "lay of the land," and I think your daughter would be really disappointed with the "plains" we have out here compared to the terrain you'll find in eastern SD. The link I posted to a pic of "our" plains up above really is pretty accurate--there is simply nothing out there! If you do DeSmet I doubt that she'll actually be looking at "the land" very much when you do it, and she'll have all the Little House things, which is what she actually thinks of when she's reading the books. (Love it when kids are reading books!) So rather than taking her for a hot, dry, flat drive, and destroying her mental image of Little House, I now very definitely think you should skip the plains and enjoy the extra time in the hills! A couple things about the fishing if you're gonna stick that in. Wherever you do it you'll need a Colorado fishing license, so be sure you plan ahead for that so you're not disappointed. And if you do decide to go to the Poma Ranch near Pagosa Springs, you'd really need to stay there two nites to have time for fishing. Checkin is at 3:00, so that wouldn't leave much time on the day you arrive, and checkout is at 10:00, so there wouldn't be time on the day you were leaving. The Weminuche River that runs thru the ranch flows very gently and it could easily be fished wading or from the bank. Check out their Fishing page at the link below, and there's more fishing info on their FAQs page, including that they rent "basic" and "kids" fishing gear at the ranch. I don't really know anything about fishing so I'm not sure what all that would include, but if you're seriously considering it and have any questions, call the ranch and ask for Karen! Also, since the river flows gently--and is shallow (a "river" out here is not the same as a "river" in the midwest or east!) your daughter might enjoy wading around in it (probably with a pair of cotton tennis shoes or at least flip flops since the bottom will be "rocky")! But she probably wouldn't stay in too long since water in the mountains is COLD--it's melted snow--and the ranch is at 8,000'! Also, if you're seriously considering staying there, PM me and I'd be glad to send you some more pictures of the inside (and outside) of the Hideaway cabin! I've stayed there three times now so I have pics of the outsides of the other cabins too. This is a favorite pic! I couldn't help but smile the first time I drove in there and saw the Welcome Home sign! I immediately knew I was gonna love the place! (The sign is on the back side of the "bathhouse" building that has the "waterfall showers!") And before I got to the welcome home sign (on the small building on the right) I ran into this roadblock on the drive in! (If it looks gloomy, that's because it was raining on and off on the drive from Pagosa to the ranch the first year I stayed there! Then, right after I got there, the sun came out just in time for sunset!) This was a view heading out of Pagosa toward the ranch that year! The ranch is in them thar hills! I also highly recommend the "Cozy House" at Dolores for the Cortez part of your trip, and would be glad to send you a bunch of pics of that place too to help you decide if you're interested. One more thing since Zinnia brought up Dinosaur Ridge! Just a little further down the road, in Morrison, is a place called Tiny Town! Perhaps in lieu of Little House your daughter would like to see some "little houses"---and other buildings! I don't have time to live link these pages, but here's a copy/paste link to their site, and if you google for images of Tiny Town you'll come up with lots of pics of the buildings with people standing by them so you can get the scale. I haven't been out to this place since the late 70's when it was a run down (tiny) ghost town all overgrown with weeds, but it's been all spiffied up and is back in business, and this could be a real fun Kid Thing! You could plan your whole last day to do Red Rocks, the dinosaurs, and Tiny Town, and then head to the airport for your last nite's lodging! http://tinytownrailroad.com/ Out of time for tonite! I can't wait to find out what all you finally decide to do! Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Fishing on the V. A. Poma Ranch!

DeeMarie - PITTSBURGH!! PIRATES!! That is soooooooo close to me. Maybe one of these days you could tag along and we could meet for lunch. I have yet to meet a fellow SS Daily pal. :Speaking of Luna Bars, I always have a stash of them on hand. A Luna Bar and a piece of fruit make a great lunch/snack on the run. My favorite flavors are Dulce de Leche and Lemon Zest. I ran errands all afternoon and grabbed a Lemon Zest bar when I got home to tide me over until dinner. My third bite tasted like PURE SALT! I almost got sick. Couldn't bring myself to find out if the rest of the bar was as salty as that bite. Had to throw the rest away. I emailed the company and filed a complaint, so it will be interesting to see what they have to say. We conducted an interview tonight for the teaching position. The candidate had great qualifications, but I think her salary expectations were beyond our means. I definitely don't do this job for the money and sometimes I wonder if I am nuts because of that. We are still running the ad for a few more weeks, so we hope to get some more good applicants. I am currently reading Expecting Adam by Martha Beck. I just realized that I have seen her many times on The Oprah Show. She is such a witty writer and took a somber subject (Down's Syndrome) and turned the experience into a humorous and uplifting book. I am also reading Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss. The forward alone(written by Frank McCourt)is worth the price of the book. I have been carrying that book in my purse and reading in the waiting room at all my doctor's appts. Tikanas - My gyn. doctor just left the practice at the end of June. I took the first available appointment with the other two docs and hoped for the best. I have decided that as long as the polyp isn't hurting me, it will just have to stay there until my schedule allows me to take time off. I still have hopes that I can get the surgery scheduled in August. My head is pounding and it is too late to take Excedrin (the caffeine keeps me up), which is the only OTC drug that touches my headaches. Would a glass of red wine be in order here?? Or does alcohol make a headache worse? Oh well, maybe I'll just tough it out and hope I can get to sleep despite the pounding. Goodnight, Marci

do Phily-- especially for cheesesteaks. my personal would be to travel along the smokie mts. and drop into cherokee NC and then drive to Tenn. If you are that far, could you manage another 200 miles and see memphis? we enjoyed it greatly-- teens might like seeing sun records (great tour) bbkings club, and graceland (as an elvis hater, even i enjoyed the tour)-- coming back from nashville you might want to go north and hit mamouth caves, and zip through ohio. Canton (football Hall of fame) cleveland (for rock & roll hall of fame) then head home thru upstate NY (rt 90)or thru PA (rt 80). have fun on your trip. what are the kids interested in? diggerb

Thanks Anglophilia! white shorts and white ankle pants are my uniform as well (and black workout shorts :). I seldom wear jeans unless on vacation. We like to walk a lot so stretchy slim ankle jeans come in handy. I guess I'm sort of classic but with a twist. I think I finally found a solution for a long sleeve button down blouse. Normally I can not wear proper button downs due to my large wing span and somewhat larger bust. I'm left with a tent of fabric around the middle after having to go up a size or two. My solution is a real tie front as opposed to one you make into a tie with a bulky bunch of cloth around the middle. The one I really want is pricey for me $154 and is a linen rayon blend. 55% linen 45% rayon. This one below is on sale at JCrew factory (cheap) has good reviews but Is rather thin and 100% cotton so might not travel as well. These will go great with the camel color sweater above or the white denim swing jacket and white pants, shorts or blue jeans. And, also my camel color purse/backpack and natural or nude shoes. Again, having problems with spending as in it seems I'm doing too much. ETA: I'm springing for the first one, Rails Val gingham tie front. It pains me. However, these shirts are meant to be well made and comfortable so it will last me and I don't think it will look dated for a long while. And, it has multi purpose capabilities.