Play the slots, win big (if you are Joanna)...Road kill count...Brother Andrew...bad beat at the poker table...Elvis Event of the Week

We are back from our vacation. We had a great time. J-Mark won over $200 in the Nevada casinos. They were happy to see her leave! Steve managed to lose about the same amount at the craps table. Craps tip: bet against the roller!
The drive was uneventful, except for the detour Joanna tried to take. We almost ended up in San Fransisco. "Turn left Joanna, turn left!" Steve was heard to say. After the brief adventure down the wrong road, it was clear sailing to Reno.
It was a nice drive. The road kill count for the whole trip:

Deer: 1 cats: 7 possible cats: 10 coyotes: 2 bunnies: 10

hoses, pretending to be dead snakes: 1 unidentified: more than 20!

Andrew Markell joined us in Reno for our first night of the trip. It was good to see him. He is doing well. He showed us around the Biggest little City in the World, and then took us to a nice Chinese restaurant. Thanks, Andrew!
After dinner we went back to the casino to try our luck. Staying at the Circus Circus, we tried their casino first. Signing up for their players club got us $10 in free slot play. Joanna luck began. She turned the $10 into $20. Andrew and Steve lost their free money. Joanna then doubled her winnings. So, before opening her purse, Joanna had won $40! She has a system. If you want to know what it is please email her, and she will break it down for you. A warning; the system did not work for Steve!
The big event for Steve (after losing $20 at the craps table) was playing in the casino poker room. Lots of fun. He won a few hands. Then lost everything on a pair of pocket Aces to two pair.
The next morning we bid Andrew goodbye and began the long trip to Vegas. Over eight hours driving. Our advice - Do not listen to the book Blood Dimonds on a road trip. The opening chapter is very graphic. Exposed blood vessels! That's all we are saying!
Elvis event of the Week (while were on vacation): Jennifer and Amanda from the Herald & News took great care of little pup. The big event for Elvis was discovering "Hug Time" with Jennifer. He was not wanting for affection!
Oh yeah, sorry about A&M, Melanie. We thought for sure they would win one more game. We also took George Washington over Vanderbilt.

Vacation...let it snow, let it snow, let it STOP SNOWING!...J-Mark's Oscar party is a hit...Elvis Event of the Week

We are excited for our upcoming vacation. We are heading to Phoenix via Reno and Las Vegas. Reno is our first stop, March 11th. Jennifer from the Herald and News will be Elvis sitting. Our little pup will be helping Jennifer close ad sales during our vacation! Dog treats are for closers!
J-Mark has had a tough couple months. We were planning on visiting Ketchikan in January, but she had to train two new people and work extra hours since Christmas. She is looking forward to the break. Steve has been working steady at the library, checking out items, checking in items, shelving items, destroying books (believe it or not!) and putting on a good public face for the Klamath County Library.
Winter has returned to K-Falls. Steve has broke out the snow shovel. About six or seven inches in the last week. It has been snowing during the day and below freezing at night. It has made it a challenge for Elvis to go outside and "TCB" if you know what we mean...The snow in the yard is a bit higher than his "big hunk o' burning love."
The Second Annual Joanna Dinner featuring the Academy Awards was well attended. About 15 of K-Falls Culture starved folk showed up to watch the show and enjoy Joanna's enchiladas (Less than one person showed up to watch NASCAR with Steve, just before the Oscars). Alas, this year, we did not win the Oscar pool. But, Joanna did come in second place. Damn you Pan's Labrinth!
The NCAA's are coming up. Steve has been involved in a pool quite the time with Alaska Tim Barry, and last year Joanna was winning her office pool for the first two rounds. Our hot tip is Texas A&M. They can score when they want, and play great defense. Take them into the third round.
Elvis Event of the Week: Helping Joanna prepare for the Oscar party, little dog got enchillada sauce on his fur. A little sour cream, and he was good to go.
Take care, and don't fall down!

Back and blogging...ichiro, ichiro, ichiro...Oscar party is set...Alaska Kitchen Scene unveiled...Elvis Event of the Week

Happy February, everybody! We are doing well, and enjoying the fine weather of south east Oregon. Much different from south east Alaska, for sure! No rain! It has not rained this year. And not too cold, either.
Spring training is in our future, with a stop in Vegas. Former Joanna co-worker, Maryann McBride is planning on meeting us in Pheonix. Between March 11th and the 20th, we will be in Sin City or watching the Mariner's prepare for a horrible baseball season. Little E will be holding down the homefront, with Jennifer from the sales department of the Herald and News. She loves Elvis, and will take great care of him, and use him to help close some deals, she says.
Joanna's second annual Oscar Party is set. She is celebrating Mexician filmakers, with her enchiladas and picking up tamales from our favorite taquria. Steve will be making Randy's famous Salsa (the gallon size!). Elvis, as usual, will be in charge of greeting guests and jumping on them when they come through the door.
We are proudly displaying our friend Terry Pyles cool new print, "Alaska Kitchen Scene," featuring fellow Ketchikan artist Dave Rubin. It looks great on the wall (sorry Hall. It replaced one of your big pictures). The photo above is of Joanna and Elvis admiring our newly framed print.
Elvis Event of the Week: After about three hours of working with him, Steve taught Elvis to sneeze on command. Thats right, Little E will say, "achoo" if you ask him to, quite the neat trick.
Take care and don't fall down.

J-Mark and little apples

Joanna, big tree...Fresh produce rules!..."Shh! you are in a library!"...Elvis Event of the Week...Next time, on Lost in K-Falls

Them trees is big! On our road trip to the ocean, we stopped by the Redwoods National Forest. We did not hike as much as we wanted, Elvis was with us, and he is not welcome on most trails in the 'woods. We loved the forest. A lot like SE AK, only bigger trees. Steve is not doing what you think he is doing in the picture. He is looking in the hollow of the tree, that's all.
Klamath Falls has a Saturday Farmer's Market. It is a great thing. We have been enjoying fresh, hand-picked strawberries, fresh garlic, fresh tomatoes (everyone loves fresh tomatoes!), etc...and Elvis is welcome. Steve stops by every Saturday and buys some tomatoes and corn. You know what's better than fresh, cob sweet corn? Nothing! Okay, maybe Little League baseball, but not much else, I tell you what!
Steve has a job at the public library. He works in Circulation. Don't ask him to help your find a book, that is theInformation/Reference desk, to your left. It is a fun job. He meets many people and enjoys working with the staff. And he doesn't have to pay his late fees (not that he has any!). If you see Judith or Charlotte, tell them KCL uses the POLARIS system. They will know what you mean.
Elvis event of the Week: Little dog has been leading a dog's life. Sleeping, peeing, eating, more sleeping, chasing a ball, playing tug-0-war with his rope. Sleeping. Not a heck of a lot. Check back later for more Elvis excitment.
Upcoming blog topics: Joanna goes back east! Steve and Elvis Roadtrip to the Wynochee! Democrats take back the House and Senate! Stay tuned!

County Fairs are fun...Kyle Jo, State Representative...Satan's traffic circle...missing K-Town (Ketchikan that is)

There's nothing better than a fair! Livestock, parades of young 4-Hers, and yes, deep fried pickles. We did not try the pickles, but we did have pie, lemonade and BBQ. We saw fainting goats and (nonfainting) guinea pigs. Steve, who is allergic, kept his distance from the guinea pigs.
Kyle won! Ketchikan has a young, capable, results-oriented leader in the legislature. Ketchikan, when you see Kyle, congratulate him and ask him to support funding of public broadcasting. We all love KRBD (don't forget, the fall friendraiser is coming up!)!
We piled into the Jeep and headed for the California shore. Crescent City called our name, and we went. Joanna and Elvis had not seen the Pacific ocean since leaving Ketchikan. It was a nice road trip. Except for going through Medford to get to I-5. Hell is Medford traffic. It is at least a circle of hell, and if you do not know your exit, it literally becomes a circle of hell. We were in that particular circle for five to ten minutes.
Joanna and Elvis frolicked (Steve, contrary to what you may have heard, does not frolic) on the beach at Crescent City. It was nice to smell the ocean air again. Say what you will, but low tide is a wonderful aroma when you have not been near a ocean shore in over six months. We had a great time, and found Crescent City to be a lot like Ketchikan, only uglier. The ocean, fishing boats, lots of tourist (RVs all over), sea gulls and opportunities to buy cheap curios. We miss Ketchikan.
We also found cheap booze. We had an opportunity to buy a high end Gin at $8.99 a bottle. If we bought a case. We passed on the deal, and instead purchased one bottle of bourbon, a bottle of Bailey's and two bottles of Gin at $9.99! Yes, bargining for booze is okay in Cali.
We hope to catch up on all things Lost in K-Falls in the next week or so, so stay tuned.
Don't fall down and tell the NSA to stay out of your e-mail/phones/bedrooms!

The blog is back...adventures in Lava Beds...Joyce pudo coiciner...Andrea overseas...Elvis Event of the month

We are back and blogging! After waiting weeks for human help from blogger.com (which did not come!), we set up our second blogsite. We will do our best to get you caught up. If you stumbled on to the site by accident, are new to our blog or want to check out our earlier escapades, please check out http://lostink-falls.blogspot.com.
We are well. Elvis is fine. Joanna is wonderful. Steve is obsessed with raking leaves.
When we left off, J-Mark's parents had just left. The photo on the left is of Clark climbing out of one of the caves at Lava Beds. The other pic is of Clark examining a bump on Joanna's little head. While spelunking, Joanna did not see a cave icicle, and banged her noggin. She is fine.
While here, Joyce made many wonderful meals. Our favorite was enchiladas with verde sauce. Tasty and very much of Mexico. We have ice-verde cubes, so if you want a taste of great mexican food stop on by!
In other Markell news, Andrea Markell spent part of the summer in China! Teaching english to as many as 250 students at one time! We have matching wrist-watches of Chairman Mao to show for her visit. Thanks, Andrea! Currently, the youngest Markell is in Germany, spending her junior year of college. With any luck, Joanna will visit her this spring.
Elvis Event of the month; Little dog is working on his tent sleeping skills. Come back Clark, Elvis wants to go camping!

Don't fall down!