The Inn at Dos Brisas

We had a great time at the Inn at Dos Brisas with the executive team of Jerry's bank.  They needed to have an off-site strategy session and we all wanted to go out to Chappel Hill and stay at Dos Brisas, so we combined the two for a fun 24 hours ... wish we could have stayed longer.

 

We arrived and had a nice lunch in the dining room, then "the girls" hung out on the patio until check-in time while "the guys" were in a meeting.

 

Restaurant, Bar & Meeting Space

Jerry, Mark, Nan, Andy, Brenda, Joe, Mary & Deborah
(Poor Photo by Waiter)



Around 3pm we were able to check-in to our individual haciendas ...

 

Hacienda B

 

as you can see, we were really roughin' it in the country!

 

Looking into Living Room w/Fireplace from Entry

Living Room - Looking Back Towards Front Door

Huge Bedroom Overlooking Private Pool

WITH Fireplace!

Spectacular Bath ... and This is Only Half of It!

Moving outdoors ...

 

Outdoor Shower

Private Pool

View from Out Back

 

Cats would LOVE this huge screened in porch with "hanging bed"

 

Screened-In Porch

We had a lovely dinner, followed by a valiant attempt at a campfire ... the wood was too wet and I checked out earlier than those who actually saw it glowing!

 

Woke up early Saturday morning to watch a spectacular sunrise, then headed out on a long run to the entrance gates and back ... LOTS of hills!

 

 

 

Beautiful scenery on my run ...

 

The Road Less Traveled

Sunrise Over a Beautiful, Friendly Horse

Scarecrow Guarding One of the Many Gardens

Eating Breakfast

 

Each guest receives one activity per day - could be horses, skeet shooting, organic farm tour, wine discussion, etc. We had several guests not participating, so O.K. Estes (local horse expert) put on a Cutting Horse Demo in the arena and afterwards Jerry and I rode for about an hour with one of the staff members. 

 

This Horse Barn is Awesome!

Rolling Hills & Horse Pastures

 

Once the horses were back in the barn, we headed over to watch the Skeet Shooting.

 

Andy Lane was Shooting Clay Like an Expert

Brenda's First Time Skeet Shooting was a Success
(she did confess that her eyes were closed on a few shots)

Joe Stubbs Closed Out the Activity Shooting Lots of Clay

 

It was a short trip, but we had a good time and they actually got a lot of work done on Friday afternoon.  We're ready to go back and stay longer ...



Yours Truly - Tail Gunner

Yesterday, I woke up to an email from a gentleman in California thanking me for my December, 2011 blog post titled Heroes and Regular People.  More specifically, he was grateful for the photos of  Dad's WWII unit pictured with "Little Mike", their B-29 super fortress.  The reason?  His father passed away in July and just one week ago was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

After studying these photos, he was sure that his father was pictured with Little Mike - top row, third from the right:

Little Mike and Crew - 1942
Dad is front row far left

Seeking confirmation, I pulled out Dad's military file and tried again to read the names written 70 years ago on the back of the picture with the guys on an unknown flight line. 

Ice cold flight line - Dad is far right

The ink was just too old and faded, so I scanned the image and worked in Photoshop to enhance the writing so that I might be able to ferret out the names.

Enhanced scan of the back of the flight line photo

Dad's notes on the back of the tarmac photo said it was taken after a high-altitude flight where the temperature was 32 below.  After listing the men in order from left to right, he makes reference to "the man in the back" and there are several lines that I just can't make out.

 

Maj (Herman F.) Smith - Pilot

Lt (Daniel) Teelin - Copilot

Lt (Richard C., Jr.) Blanton - Bombardier

Lt (Gordon M., Jr.) Gibbs - Navigator

Don (Donald T.) Burner - Right Gunner

Bob (Robert W., Jr.) Walker - Top Gunner

Oscar Knapp - Left Gunner

Yours Truly - Tail Gunner

 

Those words leapt off the screen.  I knew it was Dad at the end of the line in the photo, but seeing his writing and the "Yours Truly" was just SO Dad.  Not the sick, frail dad ... but our younger Dad - with a sense of humor.

Capt. Manuel F. Iglesias - lead crew radar officer for the 444th Bombing Group, assigned to the 677th Bomb Squadron - was not on the list. Disappointing, but since only eight of the original eleven were in this photo I forged on with my research.

And then on the second page of a "restricted document", dated August 3, 1945, titled Central Burma Campaign Credit, I found the connection.  Stunning.

Central Burma Campaign Credit Roster
Page 1

Central Burma Campaign Credit Roster
Page 2

Central Burma Campaign Credit Roster
Page 3

Not only did Manuel Iglesias fly with Dad, I believe that they were friends given the red "tick marks" Dad made on this roster ... he was checking off the names of his team.

I did have one more photo of the group, so I repaired it and want to share it here in their honor.  When I have time, I'll compare the flight line photo with the other photos and attempt to identify the men by name.

Another photo of the 444th Bombing Group - 677th Bomb Squadron

In looking back at that 2011 blog post, someone posted a reply (that I didn't see until yesterday) and I need to follow up on that link to the past. I believe that there is (or was) a mechanic in Tennessee who was responsible for maintaining Little Mike and was stationed with Dad's crew in the "Burma Theatre".

The Lord does work in mysterious ways and I think it's fascinating that a blog post led to a connection with a WWII soldier and provided his family with photos they had never seen.  If there had been a way to make this connection in the last years of his life, I know that Dad would have loved the opportunity to spend a few minutes on the phone with Capt. Iglesias.

I believe they're catching up now.

Seeing Dr. Rose

With my recent event schedule, I've put off the boys annual visit to Dr. Rose - the shots always make them feel bad and I like to do it when I've got a few days to be with them after they've been vaccinated.  Yesterday, I called asking for an appointment for today and was told she was booked, but that if I could come RIGHT THEN she could see us.  Well, you know that's a challenge with the Velvet Elvis ... he needs pharmaceutical personality enhancements before we go to the vet.

Since I didn't want to wait another week, I decided to risk it.  I tossed a few drops of Rescue Remedy down his throat, put on his Thunder Shirt and off we went.  He was remarkably well behaved - only hissed twice, which is a record for him.

He got a good report except that his weight chart was a cautionary tale ... as a baby kitten, he started off at 2 pounds and is now tipping the scales at 17.75 pounds with some of that bulk as fat around his belly. Dr. Rose said the fat deposits put him at high risk of diabetes and kidney disease and "with a cat like Elvis" we don't want to get into a situation where we need to do regular blood work or give daily injections.  No kidding.

So I've got to cut out the nightly cat treats - a favorite time of day for both of them - and she'd like for me to get him onto 100% canned food because the protein content is higher than crunchy and she feels he would lose the excess weight.  I couldn't promise that - it's rough around here when his crunchy bowl is empty, but I am going to scale back and try to walk him more for exercise.  The walks will make him happy, although I'm not sure they'll make up for treat time.

Here we are on the way home ...

Looking Stylish in his Thunder Shirt & Harness

Perhaps a Wee Bit STRESSED OUT - look at those ears!

After I got Elvis home, I went back with Denny.  Was very curious about his blood pressure readings - he's improved over the 210 spike this summer, but I haven't given him the Rescue Remedy as often since his last reading of 165.  Anyway, he got a great report too and his BP was 142. YEAH!  It's still not in the "healthy range", but he is at minimal risk of eye damage at these levels than he was at 210.

Look of relief that he's on the way home.

Checking out the traffic and offering commentary.

In contrast, Denny's weight chart showed a slow and steady climb from kitten-hood to adult - it leveled off and then climbed again with another stable plateau.  He's smaller than Elvis, but isn't carrying around ANY belly fat.  Of course, he eats the cat treats too, but he seems to burn them off.

Here are some cute pictures of them over the last week ...

He's so tired ...

My Beautiful D

Can a Three-Legged Squirrel Climb a Tree?

Yes he can!

While I don't have an update on the homeless cats - they seem to have disbursed from their original "camp site" - I do have updated photos of the baby squirrels.  I'm happy to report that all three are alive and well.

Hey, what are these green beans doing in our feeder?

It's hard to tell in most of the photos, but you can see how small they
are compared to a half piece of lettuce.  This is Lefty.

There has been a great deal of activity on the street lately, ranging from a broken water main that required part of the sidewalk to be dug out just north of our house (COH has not returned to replace it yet!) and a major construction project across the street, so the squirrels have missed a few days, here and there, at the feeder.  I didn't see Lefty for two days after the water main issue and was afraid he had met with an untimely demise.

Sibling in the feeder and Lefty on the Window Ledge

Lefty (on top) Wrestling with Sibling Squirrel

Lefty (see the short arm?) checking out a piece of lettuce.

The three youngsters have grown, but they're still pretty small compared to the adults who stop by for a spare sunflower seed or pecan.  Even though they're not very big, they've really gotten stronger in terms of climbing and jumping and running around. 

One of the active siblings getting a drink from the bird bath.  Doesn't
take them too long to figure out how to get what they need!

Lefty standing up an holding onto his sibling on the window sill.

Lefty on window sill planning an attack on the feeder!

Sitting in the shade and eating his snack

They're no longer sleeping on Harry's window sill (behind the burglar bars where predators would have a harder time getting at them) and must have either gone back to their family nest or built their own in Harry's magnolia tree. They go in and out of the Brewer squirrel house, but I don't think they're sleeping there. Luckily, they're not crossing the street like the adults do - some live in Mary Louise's magnolia and the others live across the back fence that borders the next townhouse complex.

Larger squirrel (spring baby) playing chase with the younger guys

Anyway, I was pretty happy to see Lefty again after his absence.

Little Lefty

Later that same day a HUGE hawk swooped down and landed on the large potted plant near the sidewalk.  The small birds saw him coming and immediately jumped under the bushes for safety.  I was kind of stunned because the thing was really large and only a few feet away from my desk at the window.  As I grabbed my camera, Jerry said I'd better run it off because it would eat the squirrels.  YIKES!  What's keeping them alive could also make them a victim!

After the hawk incident, the squirrels stayed in the bushes and just reached up into
the feeder for snacks.  You'll have to click on this image to see if full size and
you'll see the squirrel just in front of the feeder.  They're crafty!

I tried to get a shot, but he quickly flew away when he heard the front gate open.  Haven't seen him since and I do hope he stays away.  I feel bad for him - I'm sure he's starving and has been displaced by the thousands of trees cut down in Memorial park, but I really can't have a hawk coming over here and picking off my birds and squirrels ... and cats!


Yesterday, during their morning visit, two of the baby squirrels were playing around and running up and down the crepe myrtles.  I assumed it was the two with all four paws and then I realized one of them was Lefty!  YEAH!

I caught him on the downward climb, but you can see his little short arm that he actually uses to climb on the way up.



One tough squirrel!



Overcoming the odds ... he's a climber!

His little brother or sister (who knows?)

And I couldn't resist this little guy ... he looks so pretty
on the red planter with the green leaves matching his skin.