Hiking Zion, and other painful pursuits

Zion. I'm not sure there is any more beautiful place on earth.

Going west...

Today... the adventure began. the kong awaited trip west.the culmination of months of researching, planning, reserving and anticipating... finally came to fruition today. but not without a few bumps in the road.
As you Athenians know, last night was the wild RumpusParade through the halloween streets of Athens. We could not resist heading down to check it out, I mean, it only happens once a year and we were really looking forward to it. We both promised to be home in bed early,so we would be ok getting up at 5 am to head into atlanta for our flight to Las Vegas. We had such a time, running from Flickr, to the Theatre and all up and down west washington. There were so many amazing, creative costumes and everyone was having such a good time.
We ended up at Go around 12:30 and finally left for home about one. Got in bed at 2 am, with several clocks set for 5 am. and let me tell you, 5 am came waaaay too early for me!
Was shooting to hit the road by 5:30, but didn't make it out until a little after six am. Luckily traffic was verify sparse early sunday morning so we made good time to the airport, but not good enough. Got off the shuttle at curbside baggage check and they told us that we'd missed cheek in for our flight. Oh crap. I looked at my phone and we'd missed it by THREE MINUTES. No exceptions either, so we head to the Delta counter to figure out what we could do. When I booked the flight, the only other options that day were evening flights, getting us to vegas around 9pm, and after that a several hour drive to Zion. Boy were we screwed.
But the guy at the delta ticket counter was so nice, he said had could get us on a flight at 11am but not seated together. Good enough. He charged us a $50 fee each for the ticket change, but waived the $55 increase in fare each, I was very grateful for that. We made this flight with no problem, and the gate agent was even able to change our seats to sit us together.
The flight was uneventful, we landed at McCarrens on time, gathered our bags and hit the shuttle to the rental car lot. I was very pleased with Dollar Rental Car; I had reserved the cheapest car (and had got a really good rate). When we got to the garage they offered us a Kia but I asked if they had any American cars we could choose from and they gave us a choice between a chevy HHR and a 4WD Jeep Patriot. Wow. A 4WD SUV for less than $20 per day including all the taxes and fees and everything. That is a phenomenal deal.
First stop- Walmart. haha We bought a little cheap cooler and some food, drinks and stuff. We might grab a restaurant meal a couple time, but plan to eat cheap as often as we can.

Not much to look at on the drive north on I15, just rocks, rocks and t hen some...rocks. There was one stretch where we drove t hrough some mountains that was pretty cool. Hurricane UT was not much tp speak of. We finally arrived at the little town of Springdale, which is the gateway to Zion. It was absolutely lovely. I expected a commercial strip but we were halfway through the little town before even realizing we had arrived. All the lodges were beautiful and so well built into the amazing landscape.
We arrived at Zion National Park after dark and really couldn't see much of what makes this place so amazing. The people at the Lodge were very nice, and the little cabin we got is small but cozy. It has a gas fireplace in the corner that we burned all night. it was pretty cool watching the fire light dance around the room.

Last chance to join the 2012 Sketchbook Project Tour

Last chance to join the 2012 Sketchbook Project Tour! Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Last chance to join the 2012 Sketchbook Project Tour! There's just one week left to sign up for the 2012 Sketchbook Project Tour and we'd love to have you on board! We wanted to give everyone a full seven days of notice, so please note that the final deadline to join the Project is extended to Wednesday, November 2nd. Several themes are nearly full, so snag yours now to avoid missing out on your first choice. We're excited to see what you create and looking forward to filling the Brooklyn Art Library with wonderful new work. Select your theme and join the community today! From all of us here at Sketchbook Project HQ, our deepest thanks for being a part of the experience. We're constantly inspired by the creativity, diversity and collaborative spirit of this amazing community — here's to you all! And last but not least, please stay tuned to the website and our Facebook page next week for a special announcement... Trust us, you'll want to be the first to know. See you in the stacks! Love, Art House Co-op

Better Together We love groups: Want to get your class, club, organization or workplace involved in the Sketchbook Project? We offer group discounts for orders of four or more projects, because sketching is more fun with friends. Just drop us a line at groups@arthousecoop.com and we'll set you up with a super special promo code.

Sketchbook Blog Daily inspiration: We just launched a new blog to showcase all of the incredible work contributed to the Brooklyn Art Library and archived in the Digital Library. We'll be adding several spreads every day to display the talents of our community and provide a little visual inspiration for your future projects. Please let us know what you think and help us spread the word!

Our mailing address is: Art House Co-op 103A North 3rd Street Brooklyn, NY 11211

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Less than one week to go...

Vacation.  For months now I've planned, saved, dreamed, researched, reserved and anticipated the day when Darlene and I will jet off to live our western adventure.   Keep your eyes peeled, we are off into the sunset in four days.   I'll post pics, when I can. 

This is where we'll be on tuesday and wednesday. 

 

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And then comes Halloween in Athens...

The Wild Rumpus Halloween Spectacle -

October is probably my favorite month. The air is cooler and crisp, and somehow even smells a little fresher. The sky takes on the particularly vibrant shade of cyan, and the sun shines golden. October brings the Harvest Moon, probably the prettiest full moon of the year.

Then comes Halloween in Athens.

Athens is a writhing hotbed of creative energy, chock full of musicians, writers, artists and 30,000+ University of Georgia students who are drooling eager to taste all the frivolity and carnality that life can offer. Their seething spirits cannot help but erupt from the simmering cauldron of creativity every Halloween, transforming Athens from small southern college town to a raucous run through the street spook-tacular. Artists, musicians, townies and thousands of University of Georgia students take to the streets, in their sexiest, most outlandish and creative attire. The throngs take over the town, meeting, greeting, drinking and dancing long into the blackest night, until the first pink rays of dawn touch the sky and beckon all the monsters to seek shelter from the coming day.

 Local favorite musician Timi Conley has again  brought us the Third Annual Wild Rumpus Halloween Parade. Envisioned as a wild-in-the-street spectacle parading through the wicked streets of Athens, organizers are inviting those with a creative spirit and daring sense of fun to come and join the party.

The parade will consist of groups of people organized as Brigades - groups of paraders with a common theme. At intervals the parade will stop and the various Brigades will perform their music, dance or whatever craziness they have conjured up. The Brigades already committed are listed on the Wild Rumpus website. People are invited to join an existing Brigade, or gather their friends and form their own.

If you are in the Athens area on Sat. October 29th, join the freaks and geeks on the west side (40watt area) around 8pm for the beginning of the festivities.  We'll march around town, acting fools, then end up at the Georgia Theatre for the AfterParty to end all.  

The only thing that even remotely sucks about this whole deal...we have to catch an 8.15am flight out of Atlanta the next morning.  Guess I won't be running the streets all night after all. 

Wild Rumpus Halloween Parade and Spectacle.

http://www.wildrumpus.org

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My doggies.

Quick snap of Gizzy.

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I get to design a custom halloween costume...

So this rich cat comes to me and wants me to draw up some playboy bunny artwork to have embroidered on a shirt for his own original halloween costume.  He scribbled up the layout, but it's up to me to flesh out the sexy ladies for the shirt.  i can't think of too many things I'd rather draw for anyone. LOL

I'd love to show you more, but since this is his project, I think it best to wait until after his own unveiling to share the artwork. 

I'll share pics once halloween is over, it's going to be a good one!

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Car Show & Carnival this Weekend

There is a car show and carnival this Saturday at The Varsity in Athens GA 5-8 pm. Sent from my iPhone

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Call for Artists!! - Athens, GA

The Moonlight Gypsy Market is a (free) festival celebrating Outsider, Erotic, Macabre, Weird, Dark, and all things far from the Ordinary!! Starting at Sundown the Market will come alive with artists, crafters, and performers of all kinds. 

 

http://carnivaleofblackhearts.com/

 

Posted via email from The Art of Cynthia Pendley

The Sketchbook Project - 2012 World Tour

I got my sketchbook in in the mail today.  I am very excited to get started on it.  I am glad it arrived before I go on vacation, I was hoping it would so I can take it with me.  I might like to sketch out some of the grand landscapes I am about to visit. 

 

If  you would like more info about getting your own sketchbook and being a part of the Art Co-op 2012 Sketchbook Project, please visit their website http://www.arthousecoop.com/

Posted via email from The Art of Cynthia Pendley

The Sketchbook Project - 2012 World Tour

I got my sketchbook in in the mail today.  I am very excited to get started on it.  I am glad it arrived before I go on vacation, I was hoping it would so I can take it with me.  I might like to sketch out some of the grand landscapes I am about to visit. 

 

If  you would like more info about getting your own sketchbook and being a part of the Art Co-op 2012 Sketchbook Project, please visit their website http://www.arthousecoop.com/

Posted via email from The Art of Cynthia Pendley

In a blue October sky...

Today I visited the Oconee County Fall Festival in beautiful Watkinsville, Georgia.  Here we celebrate community, family, fall  harvest (we are an agricultural county, after all); it's just a big slice of hometown Americana.  
Didn't have to look hard for a vision of small town livin'. There were two tractor pulled  hayrides bringing folk in from satellite parking, and all the kids seemed to love it.

I bypassed all the traffic by sneaking in the back way behind the courthouse on an old dirt road I know. There's only one house on the road, and it is a beautifully wooded path.  I take it every chance I get just for the scenery, but it works soo well in bypassing the traffic when Watkinsville holds some sort of Main Street event.   I zipped in right behind the bank and managed to get a space right up front.  Cost $5 but totally worth it. I only had to cross Main Street to get to the action. 

There's just something about a big blue October sky. I guess it is  the dryer air that doesn't hold water molecules and dust and smog etc.  It seems like the sky just glows blue and sometimes gold like pure sunshine. 

First I wandered around the front vendor area, happy to see that the festival favorite Kountry Kettle Korn tent was in its usual space, right up front.  And, as usual the line was a mile long.  This family  from south GA is an annual favorite and  honestly, probably one of the main reasons I got out and headed downtown today.  I'd have to come back and hit that line when I was ready to go. 

There's lots of craft booths, although very few of them seemed to have really handmade items. In fact a lot of the stuff looks like cheap china dollar store imports. I really think that the staff for this show needs to vet their applicants more thoroughly.  I always thought one of the criteria for this show was handmade only.  Apparently that is not the case.  

One vendor even had some terribly racist artifacts, under the guise of 'antiques'. Honestly, the "Whites Only" and "Colored to the Rear" signs did not look old; they looked like new merchandise. I'm going to google and find out if someone is really still making and selling these. I can't imagine why no one complains about it.  He (she? there was no one at the booth)  has been there every year I have gone. 

Next I found the Oconee County animal control booth.  I was hoping to buy a few discounted microchip vouchers from them; I need three more for my Morgan and the two pups.  The Animal Control people  have always offered discounted rabies shots and microchip vouchers at their booth. But, no such luck today. They had a few dogs for adoption, and people were petting them. The poor doggies got a lot of attention today, I hope some of them found a  home.

Rocket Field was filled with  food vendors, craft vendors, pony rides and stuff for the kids and even a petting zoo.  I was reminded how rural a county I live in when I spied a young teen girl, wearing blue jeans and obviously well worn cowboy boots (the kind of wear you get actually working, not paid for in a boutique) sitting in the hay in one of the cattle stalls.  She was playing on her phone, and had a calf lying beside her, its head on her lap. I thought of my own daughter and how she'd never, EVER be caught sitting in that dirty hay, with the flies buzzing all around those animals and I smiled.  These are real farm and cattle families, and sitting in the hay with big smelly animals is as normal to them as anything.  I don't know who that young lady was, but I am proud of her.  She and her family and those like them are the backbone of America. For true. 

I bought me a big ol' smoked turkey leg, a  hand dipped corn dog, and a homemade sweet potato pie from a couple of ladies. They assured me it was the best pie I'd ever eaten. I took the turkey leg wrapped to go but ate the corn dog right away.  Funny thing, I have always wanted to try one of those big turkey legs you see at so many festivals, and now that I have... bleah.  The meat is salty and has a weird texture.  I dont think I 'll be getting one of those again.  

They corn dog however, was absolutely delicious.  I know most think a corn dog, even a hand dipped fresh one, is not really the pinnacle of high dining, but I got to tell you, I haven't eaten many things that were  more tasty.  Sometimes something as simple as a wienie wrapped in corn batter, fried on a stick can be a little slice of heaven. 

I wandered around, looking at a few craft booths, animals, smiling families and laughing kids, until  I'd about had  my fill of all this small town celebratin'.   Time to  head home, got an e-book to finish tonight anyway. Shouldn't  have put off that task so long.  Time to go stand in line for kettle corn. This kettle corn is made right on site, in small batches, one kettle at a time. The line is always dreadfully long, but we still wait for it. Everyone in the county knows this for a fact, waiting in this line is 100% worth it.  Once you get a bite of this sweet and salty treat, you'll gladly wait in line year after year for the chance to buy some more.  I waited in line 50 minutes today, bought two large sacks and crunched happily on it all the way home.  

popcornmakin.MOV Watch on Posterous

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Wish my Sketchbook would arrive.

Some of you guys are well aware that I draw frequently when I should be sleeping. I have been posting them on InstaGram, but thought maybe my blog was a good space for a snap of my ongoing sketchbook. This is my own book, not the one from The Sketchbook Project. It has not arrived yet. I hope it gets here before I leave for vacation. I chose my theme with some ideas relating to our travel itinerary. I've filled at least six sketchbooks now. Some of them are fair, some not so much. I do not draw every night, but almost every night now. It's one a.m., thinking I might need to turn in soon. Geez, where does the time go?

Any-hoo, here's a quick cell phone snap of one of tonight's pages. I am not sure what the hell is on her head.

Sent from my iPhone

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But does it work??

It didn't last time.

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Chihuahuas in the yard

They like laying in the sun.

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Vacation's all we ever wanted...

Twenty days.

That's it. Only twenty days until we jet back to the lonesome cold of the high desert. I've missed it. I've felt drawn to it. I've been working this trip since springtime, shopping for deals and working out an itinerery I find myself dreamily anticipating being in the black black night in the desert, my breath billowing frost beneath a billion dancing stars. Only twenty more days.

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Wandering West

Only about three weeks until my long planned trip out west begins. I am really looking forward to this vacation. It's been a while since I actually went anywhere away from Georgia or Tennessee. I've been planning this trip for months now, working out a ten day itinerary, making reservations and trying to plan a to-do list for each of our destinations. I hope it comes off ok.

Foo. It's getting too dark to draw outside. I've had a wonderful afternoon and evening on the screen porch, drawing as fast as i could. I got several pages in my sketchbook filled, and even better, I like most of them.

The sky is a dull slate blue, and I can see a thin wash of pink on the western horizon The moon is already high in the southeast. The moon sets early these days, sometimes even before I do. I got up extra early this morning for an early morning critique meeting at work. The sky was pitch black, clear and i could see a zillion stars it was breathtaking.

The sun is about gone now. Soon the stars will come blinking on, one by one. I won't be up at 6am tomorrow to see them.