T-9: Taking a Break in the Afternoon

25 Years: Check!

Bob's 25th Anniversary Custom Chess Set

As many of you know, this year was our 25th wedding anniversary, and the Great Alaska Adventure is going to be an extension of that celebration.

 But as lasting as the trip memories will undoubtedly be, we each also wanted to get the other a unique lasting gift to commemorate the milestone.
Bob got me an 8 foot green Sinclair-like dinosaur, which I have been asking for since he first did a job for Sinclair Oil in Wyoming.  It was perfect-- and I absolutely love "Dino" (rhymes with Rhino not "Deeno"). The story of Dino's arrival is quite the tale-- perhaps he'll show up in another post.

 My gift to him was a custom designed chess set, made by my favorite jeweler and all-around master craftsman Nelson Giesecke at Object Design Studio in Cherry Creek (Denver).

 Nelson and I worked a very long time to get this right.  We collaborated on the design, and he executed to perfection. The pieces themselves are made of stainless steel, which Nelson painstakingly polished to perfect smoothness.  The bases are all sterling silver-- for a 25th anniversary, of course.

 The black pieces are PVD physical vapor deposition DLC coated. (DLC=Diamond Like Coating)  We first used the DLC coating on some jewelry for me (all of the pieces also stunning "Nelson" originals), and Bob was enamored of the process. So, I figured what better than to get him a chess set with his pieces DLC coated.

 And, I do mean his pieces.  If you'll look closely you'll see that the black King and Queen have crowns adorned with garnets; and the white King and Queen with amethysts.  
King & Queen with Amethysts and with Garnets
That's because Bob is a way better chess player than I am; but I'll be darned if I'll permit a concession like spotting me a Rook.  But, I will demand to play the white pieces in each and every game-- as I'm just no good at the topsy-turvy black side.  So, we each play our birthstone and all is fair in love and war and chess.

 This is Bob sitting in front of his new board (yes I bought the Cherry and Walnut chess table too), with his new pieces, ready to start the game.
Bob awaits the first move

 And here it is; the first move captured for posterity:
First Move of First Game

 I know, not terribly original-- but an opening is an opening.

 Here we are mid-game.
Mid Game
And this is the finish of the first game.  No surprises here...
Mated and Resigned

Game two went much the same way, but I finally got him in game three with one unexpected marginally-talented move. (Though Bob resigned, and I'm not completely sure I could have made it all the way to Mate.)


The Great Alaska Adventure will likely include some chess interludes, but these pieces will remain at home tucked away in the drawer of their table awaiting our return (along with Dino).

--Lisa 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great Alaska Adventure Wrap-Up

Image
What a Great Ride! M Back Home in Our Garage, with Her Friend the Old Brown Audi With M back home in the garage, Bob and Lisa rested up a bit from the final days of hard driving, the mail opened, the mountains of laundry started, and a significant dent made in the unpacking, we wanted to take a moment and reflect on the totality of our Great Alaska Adventure. Let's begin with some stats: Trip Duration: 78 Days Start Date: 7/28/17 End Date: 10/13/17      Total Miles Driven: 9,179  Starting Mileage: 17,372 Ending Mileage: 26,551 Ferry Miles: About 800-- where M got to ride.    46 Stops for Gas Cheapest Premium Gas: Laramie, WY at the start of the trip--$2.599 Most Expensive Gas: Whitehorse, YT Canada-- $1.98 Canadian/Litre--  That's $7.50/gallon Canadian, or about $6 US / gallon. Cheapest Gas in Alaska: Palmer at $2.769    Average MPG-- 27-- not bad, considering all those horrid roads in Canada.    We ...
Read more

Day 76: Astoria, OR to Ontario, OR

Image
Cars, Airplanes, and Snow! Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, Hood River, OR As we checked out of our hotel in Astoria, OR this morning we watched our last ship go by. Kaimon Galaxy: Inbound in Astoria, OR Then we hit the road, bright and early.  The drive to Ontario was about 500 miles and was supposed to take a bit over 7 hours.  If all had gone as planned, we'd have arrived around 6PM while it was still light and we had plenty of time to grab dinner and relax before our next leg tomorrow. Not long after we left Astoria, we came across this giant Weyerhauser papermill in Longview, OR. Weyerhauser Papermill in Longview, OR Here's how the rest of the trip went: You'll probably have noticed that part of the trip took place in the dark, and part of it included driving through snow.  Clearly the best laid plans can go awry, as ours did-- thanks to mother nature, arbitrary variances in time, and car museums. As we were dr...
Read more

Welcome to Bob & Lisa's Great Alaska Adventure

Image
Welcome! Welcome to all of our friends, family, co-workers, and casual observers who happened upon this blog. It's purpose is to chronicle our great Alaska driving adventure.  We'll be traveling in my (Lisa's) bright red, really fast, BMW 2015 M235i with xDrive. (In case you're interested, that really is 4 wheel drive, and is purported to do 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds-- perhaps we'll find out 😄) Bob Standing with M as she waits to get new shoes. The plan is for the trip is to begin on July 28 by heading up through Wyoming and stopping for a couple of days in Butte, MT. The real trip begins with Glacier National Park in Montana, and then proceeding up through the Canadian Rockies with stops in Banff and Jasper. We then work our way up through Canada stopping in Fort St. John,  Fort Nelson,  Watson Lake, Whitehorse,  and Beaver Creek then crossing into Alaska with our first stop back in the USA being Tok.  The Alaska adventure begins in Palmer (home ...
Read more