Allison was able to join us this weekend in mid September. She asked for an early Christmas present this year. She really enjoys a favorite Utube show, "Brave Wilderness' starring Coyote Peterson. He's a self made adventurer, Nathaniel "Coyote" Peterson from Cleveland Ohio who makes nature videos, focusing primarily on reptiles and insects. He attended Ohio State University as a Video Production major. And he has made quite a name for himself with his Utube videos by allowing all sorts of nasty, stinging insects to bite him. Then you get to see how awful the reaction can be, how painful it is and what to do to avoid a trip to the hospital(or death). Well, he decided to take his show on the road and he was in town at the Lincoln Theatre in DC.

Allison really wanted to hear him talk, along with his crew. We had seen him as a guest visitor on the tonight show with some interesting creatures, so we thought it would be a fun outing. And he had written a book and Allison was looking forward to buying a copy and getting an autograph. I was rather intrigued with visiting the Lincoln Theater since I had never heard of it. To celebrate our outing, Allison had tshirts made up with the show's title, Brave Wilderness, Coyote Pack Member on the front. I bought tickets on line and we were all set. We headed out early enough on Saturday afternoon in order to find parking and get some dinner. We did not have any trouble driving into the western side of DC, and found a great parking structure nearby for a reasonable price. Especially for DC parking. We were actually near Georgetown, an area I had never really visited before. Lots of apts, big homes and shops and restaurants. We walked up 'U' street and passed the theater. A line had already started around 5:30pm out the front door. I noticed that 'Ben's Chili Bowl' restaurant was right next door. This place has been covered on Food Network and is a DC landmark. Everyone famous has eaten at the Chili Bowl, including past Presidents, so of course we had to do the same! Allison was not sure she could handle the chili, but a burger worked. I had to try the chili dog. While standing in the line waiting to place our order, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I recognized her. It was our California friends, Debbie and Richard's daughter Alyssa from Johns Hopkins University! We had just had dinner together two weeks before and here she was in DC, standing behind me in the line in the restaurant! What are the odds! She immediately texted her mom and dad in LA. She was touring a friend from Pasadena, CA who was in DC on a work trip and they had visited the Smithsonian museums and Newseum and now were trying out the famous restaurant, just like us! We all sat down and had a quick dinner together and chatted about California and Maryland, and then Allison and I were off to our show.

The Lincoln Theater is not huge-built in the 1920s for famous Jazz players like Dizzy Gillespie. We had great seats on the main floor and were able to catch all the action. Coyote basically covered highlights of his career as written in his book with lots of film clips. We would have loved if he had more creatures with him on the show, but he did freak everyone out with a tarantula. He spoke with his crew for about 1.5 hrs and took questions from the audience, and then we mobbed the very small lobby for autographs. Unfortunately, Allison and I were herded up the stairs into a long line where it was very warm in the balcony. Allison was still not feeling great and I did not want her standing there for an hour or more in the heat, so we decided to wait it out seated in the much cooler lobby. Especially since we ended up last in line. That was actually very pleasant. We watched all the fans file past-mostly parents with young kids. And Allison got autographs from the crew members first-the Marketing guy loved her tshirt design and asked for a selfie. Then we got her autograph from Coyote. I told him I couldn't bear to watch him get stung all the time, and he agreed that this phase was coming to an end. Allison was just disappointed that she did not find a Golden Ticket in her book for a free trip to one of his tapings. Overall it was a very fun experience for both of us, and now Allison has a nature book she wants to read rather than her Accounting book!


The week before we had Mom B over for Usinger Wisconsin chili dogs for dinner. This week we celebrated Mom B's 82nd Birthday on Sunday. Happy Birthday Mom! Tom made an incredible Prime Rib roast on the grill, and we celebrated with cheesecake and presents afterwards. Mom B has been in Maryland and at the Sunrise facility now for 3 years. Dad B passed 2 years ago on Sept 12. Time definitely flies!  We were happy to have Allison home to help celebrate Mom's Bday, although she was also busy studying and working on group projects online. She was busy preparing for Midterms. Already!  Since it is an accelerated program she will be done with this semester in Mid October. She had to head back to school Monday morning.

We also had another wonderful celebration during the week. Scott was finally scheduled for his Eagle Board of Review with the BSA representative. We have been waiting for quite some time to schedule with the new representative from the BSA as he settled into his new position. Usually we hold the interview during the weekly scout meeting at our church, but this board member could only meet Tuesday nights at his school since he was supervising adult ed programs at a local high school at the same time as Scott's board review. No matter, we managed to get a few adult volunteers to sit in on the interview and Scott walked away with his Eagle rank. Not only that, but they have a new system in place where usually you have to wait 3 months to earn extra rank levels known as Palms. Now you can earn the palms without putting in the extra time. You just need more badges than the required amount for Eagle which Scott already had. So he also earned his Bronze and Silver palms with 43 badges. Silver is actually the highest level Palm Award in Boy Scouts.  Since he turns 18 this November, it looks like he will be done with the scout program. We still have a few outings to participate in like a Caving weekend and probably his Eagle celebration.  Way to Go Scott!

There was another reason Allison scheduled a weekend at home. She had been emailing her doctor about her anemia/iron deficiency and they both decided to try the iron infusions. Allison has just been struggling to catch up with her diet richer in iron, but just not enough it seems. She keeps experiencing episodes of exhaustion, and it is just too frustrating while she is in Grad school. So she came home Friday for an infusion. I went with her in case she had an allergic reaction, which apparently can happen to some people. Overall though it seemed to go well and she was feeling better right away. She actually has 4 more treatments to go, every other week. So she will be traveling home a bit more.

I also spent Friday morning at the doctor office with my mom. She had her yearly cardiac appointment and so far everything looks good! After mom's appointment, we enjoyed lunch out at Whole Foods. Our Columbia Whole Foods grocery store has a small cafe in the back with tables looking over a small lake. We actually sat indoors overlooking the lake and enjoyed watching all the people on their lunch break, as well as the ducks! We both had a big slice of pizza and sadly were too full for the cookie bar! On Sunday before dinner, I took Mom B over to our nearby Robinson Nature Center where Allison completed her Girl Scout Gold Award project. They had an Anniversary Open House with lots of nature displays and a band, food and the planetarium shows-all for free. We stopped in late in the afternoon, mainly so I could check out the condition of Allison's projects. She had mounted bird carvings along the nature trail for a Kindergarten aged trail education. Looks like her birds have held up well over the past 4 years. And Mom and I enjoyed the planetarium show on the Earth, Moon and Stars, along with a walk about the Nature Center and grounds before heading home for the Birthday dinner.