Natchez Trace Parkway, here we come. Jo Ann and I are going to spend a leisurely week with two other couples from church driving down the 440 mile Natchez Trace Parkway starting Sunday, April 1st. No plans — no reservations — just jumping in the minivan and going. No children, no beepers, just adult conversation and company. We’ll spend the week stopping at different stops (there are hundreds!) and just enjoying spring and God’s creation. Continue to check out the blog as I will upload pictures to my Flickr account and provide the link to that day’s pictures. I get to try out a new lens for my Canon 20D.

Well, I’m trying it. I loaded Windows Vista Home Premium on my laptop and have it working. It is an incredibly smooth and very visually appealing. The windows open and close very elegantly. It is using something called Aero as the graphics environment and it’s wonderful. I had some issues with getting the right drivers but once I got online and loaded them, all worked well. I did notice my bootup time was a little better. I also liked the new gadget sidebar. I have a clock, calendar, and Outlook gadget running. Another neat option is using the “windows button” and tab to step through all your open windows. It is very smooth assuming you have a good graphics card with plenty of memory. The other incredible application is the Windows Media Center. Using a USB TV tuner (Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 950), your laptop truly become a complete media center. I’ve picked up over 10 digital tv stations and watched them sitting at church during the day. When connected at home, I can watch all the stations coming through our digital box, and record them to disk as well. It downloads a guide (free) that shows all your stations for your area. Pretty impressive.