Recent Cigars

I'm a little bummed. I don't know if I've gotten too picky lately or if I have gotten spoiled to really good cigars, but I have not had a really good cigar lately. Not for lack of smoking, either. I guess the best new cigars I've had have been the CAO Black and the CAO America. It's hard to go wrong with CAO right now. In the last 6 months, I have smoked the Black, America, Italia, Brazilia, and the Gold. Thd Gold is one of my everyday favorites, and is very similar to the La Gloria Cubana. I can smoke these 2 anytime, anywhere.

On the brighter side, my humidor is quite stocked right now (for any of the 5 people that read this). I have half a box of 1876 Reserve left, this is a good very cheap cigar - about a buck a stick - from CI. I have half a box of generic Dominican Cigars that I bought when Rylie was born. And I still have half a box of Macanudo's Vintage 2000. Not to mention tons of singles of just about everything you can think of.

So come on by sometime. I'm a believer that any cigar is a good cigar when shared with company!

New Ride

My dream car has finally arrived - 1968 Pontiac Firebird, Silver Pearl, with a 350 bored out to 400. This car is sleek, fast, and runs as good as it looks!!!

Partagas 160

THE best cigar I have ever smoked. Perfect burn and draw. Incredibly mild flavor. I did not have to drink anything with it. This one will cost you, however. At $20 a stick, I know many will not buy this - but if you do, you will enjoy one of the best around!

I'm Back

Allright.... For those of you going through Carl withdrawal, he we go again. Not much has changed since my last post. I've smoked a few more cigars (by few, I mean probably 50 or so), and we got pregnant with our first child!!! Rylie Elizabeth is due October 18, 2007.

Acid - Cold Infusion Tea

This is the best tasting cigar I have ever had. Cigars all have a taste to them. Depending on where the tobacco was grown, different blends, different wrappers, etc. The more you smoke, the more you find what you do and do not like. There are also flavored cigars. These are cigars that are rolled, and then treated with some kind of flavor (vanilla, rum, etc.). Acid, however, has found a way to infuse flavor into the tobacco before the cigar is rolled. And they are not your typical flavors - it is a mixture of flavors that end up tasting awesome!!! This cigar is hard to smoke, because you want to eat it!!!!

Anyway, highly recommend this one, even if you are not an avid cigar smoker, or for beginners. The downside to this cigar is that you cannot drink anything with it. I like a little scotch, beer, or wine with my cigars. The flavors of the cigar are so strong, that nothing goes well with it, except water. Oh well, take the good with the bad!

Bike Ride to H-town

Last weekend, I had the privilege to ride my new Harley to Houston. I was heading home for and Estate Auction we were holding trying to sell a lot of my Dad's old collections and antiques. The sale did not go that well, so needless to say, the ride was the highlight of the weekend. It was my first long ride.

Normally, it is about a 3.5 hour drive from our house in SA to Houston... I took 6 hours on my bike going down. I decided to take some back roads for the scenery and to stay off the main highways. I started north on I-35 to San Marcos, and then took Highway 21 North all they way to Hwy 290. I took 290 East to Brenham, and then 105 North through Conroe, finally on to 3083 and 1485 into New Caney. It was a great ride!

The weather was beautiful: 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky! I did have one casualty on the ride - my cell phone. It is probably on Hwy 105 in about a hundered peices. No worries, though, because it was quite nice to be without a cell phone for several days. Of course, I will spend 43.7 hours trying to input all my contacts and phone numbers into the new phone... so overall, not worth it.

I highly recommend Highway 21 North between Bastrop and Paige. It is slightly hilly and covered in trees - an abolutely incredible drive!

Cigar Log - Don Tomas Classico and CAO CX2

If you know me, then you know I like cigars. I'm going to start keeping record of cigars I smoke and how much I like them. Yesterday I had a Don Tomas Classico. It is a Honduran Cigar (which is among my favorites), and it was excellent. It was the first time I had smoked a cigar while drinking coffee. Maybe it was just that they complimented one another - i'm not sure, but it was very, very good. It was mild, but with explosive flavor. Overall, if I had to rate it, I would put it in the upper 80's, say an 88. It seems to be a good "anytime" smoke. But I will have to try one again without to coffee to see how it is. I'm in luck because I have another aging nicely in the humidor.

Tonight I smoked a CAO CX2. I have a box of these, and have had perhaps half a dozen or so by now. This cigar is hit or miss. The first one, I would have ranked in the upper 80's, but 2 of the last 3 that I have had have been very bitter. I would put those in the 70's somewhere. The CAO CX2 is a combination of Nicaraguan and Columbia tobaccos. It has a very earthy taste, which is not my favorite, but will get the job done should the need arise. All in all, I like the CAO CX 2's when they are good, but since they are inconsistent, I give them an overal thumbs down. If you cannot rely on a consistent good smoke, then don't waste your money.

My first solo ride....

Well, I just returned from my first solo ride on my new Harley; It was a blast! The weather was good, around 65 degrees... but on the bike at speed, that means chilly!!! I took a mini test drive around the neighborhood to test out my healing ankle - it was good. Then I took off down Judson to fuel her up and to test the weather. I was already wearing boots, jeans, long sleeve t-shirt over a regular t-shirt, along with my leather gloves and helmet = not enough. I came back to the house and grabbed my new jacket. It is insulated and has a reflective strip around the chest for better visibility. It is very warm!

Prepared, I then hit the road. It was overcast, but only a 10% chance of rain all day, so I took my chances. This particular ride set a couple of new milestones for me. Other than driving home, this was my first ride. But to me, it was my first real ride. It was also my first time to get no the highway, and to break 60 mph - I even hit 70 on the way home! It was awesome! Of course, I was very safe, and tried to remember everything from my safety course -- I am home writing now, so I guess I did all right.

I headed west on Loop 1604 all the way to Highway 16. I wanted to get my bike up in the hill country and test it out on some of those great roads (curves!) out there. I took 16 West through Helotes and towards Bandera. My goal was to ride to Bandera, find a little hamburger joint, eat some lunch and ride back.

Let me take a short moment to explain my riding philosophy (which was developed out there). It is not like riding in a car (duh!), but there are some things you don't think about until you are on the road. Number one is something to drink. Out in the fresh air (which is rushing past you at 60+ mph), wearing a helmet (which gets a little warm), you get thirsty. I also had not eaten lunch, not necessarily on purpose; I just wasn't hungry when I left. So once I hit Highway 16 heading towards Bandera, I thought it would be cool to ride out there, find a little hole in the wall place, take a break and get a burger and cold coke. (Are you getting hungry yet???)

So, I am cruising along, and lo and behold, it starts to just barely sprinkle. Riders Rule #1: If you did not pack raingear, it will rain. I forgot rule number one. I was 5 miles outside of Bandera, but I thought better than to risk it, and I turned around and headed back towards Helotes. About 20 minutes later, I decided to pull into the Dairy Queen in Helotes for my break, meal and drink. Jenny doesn't like DQ to much, so it was better than eating someplace we eat at all the time. Besides that, my hands were tired from holding on to the throttle, and my butt was asleep from the vibrations. Note to self - get a better seat cushion.

After a fantastic burger (I was hungry!), and cold Coke (in memory of Dad), I hit the road for the 25 minute trip back around 1604. Thankfully, I had stayed ahead of the rain.

Well, that's pretty much my first solo ride. It was great. I just need to get my body used to riding so I can go on longer trips. I think I was gone about 2 1/2 hours. Pretty good for a first ride. I enjoyed it!! Have a good day!

11/3

Well, This is my first blog. I kind of feel like a computer nerd. But that's ok. I like sharing my thoughts, I just don't like to "talk" about it. This is a way to write down my thoughts and 3 people in the world that read this can gain a little more insight into the deep recesses of my mind.

That is a little scary.