Post Thanksgiving

Wow, it's been a week since I've made a blog post! Usually when I don't post anything for a while it's because nothing much has happened in the way of blog fodder. Not so with this week though.


Let me start with the most important news to me: Suzie's back! She rolled into town in her late uncle Eugene's 2004 Chevy 12-passenger van last night at about 6:30 or so, worn out from the road and ready to relax. It's great to have her back, and she is glad to be back. When you think about it, she's been gone from her family members for a month. It's only been two weeks since I've seen her, but I missed her no less I'm sure. She got to sleep in a bit this morning and she headed towards her home a couple hours ago. As you can see, even Mona missed her ->

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch pretty much. Sarah both went at the same time, but each took our own vehicles because she had to leave earlier. Everybody was enjoying themselves and the ol' man didn't go weird on us. I took over a big container of Costco's brand of mixed nuts, a couple kinds of crackers, and some jalapeno/artichoke dip (also from Costco). A side note: When I stopped into our new local Costco the other night to pick those two items up, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a self-checkout area. I was out of there in under 15 minutes!
Back to Thanksgiving--Denis brought me the external cd player and floppy drive that goes with the little Dell Latitude laptop that he gave me last summer (the one that is plugged into my living room stereo). The unit is too small to actually have a built-in of either one so they instead provide a little dongle cable so you can plug them each in as needed. As I recall, he couldn't find them back when he gave me the laptop. I ended up staying a little while after everyone left, yakking with my folks. From there I did a quick stop in at Teresa's house to drop off a check for her that I had in my wallet. Her brother was there with his two daughters. Teresa hosted dinner for them and Sarah. From there I dropped in at our old friends Kurt and Noelle and had a few drinks. Seems like a regular Thanksgiving thing to go over there. Teresa even popped in an hour or so after I got there. Kinda weird how the two ex's end up visiting like that...

Did I go out on Black Friday? You bet! I didn't go far though. Just down the street to Office Depot. I bought two 4-gig Compactflash cards (one for me and one for Suz) at a mere $14.99 each. They opened at 6am, so that wasn't much of a stretch for me. From there I dropped in at Fred Meyer and bought two 2-gig Kingston flash drives at $6.99 each (again, one for Suz). Those are the only places I went and the only things I bought. I did, however, spend some time online afterward researching and buying a Christmas present for Sarah. It sure beats going out and fighting crowds for it!

Well, that about puts me back up to speed. Oh wait--I forgot to mention work. They fired Bob on Tuesday. Remember Bob? You can read one of my blurbs about him in my September 18th post. It's been a long time coming, but it's good. He was just causing too many weird problems. The only bad thing about it is that others of us will have to pick up the slack (such as driving). Things should be back to normal this Monday because my supervisor, Bruce, will be back from his vacation in Florida.

I'll give Suzie some time to get re-aquainted with her home and family before I go up there later on. They've got a lot to talk about I'm sure.

What? More Rhyming?

So here we are again: Winter.

Okay, maybe it's not technically winter yet, but believe me, it's cold outside. I was drawn by the sun to be outdoors today, but looks can be deceiving--It looked warm but was not. I guess I should count my lucky stars that I at least avoided the monsoons we had here a couple weeks ago while I was on vacation.

While I was puttering around outside and in my garage, I my mind started wandering and I started pondering things about our holidays. How do we know anything we celebrate actually took place? What if the things we celebrate from way back (back before anyone that's alive today) were just embellishments, folklore, and legends? It kind of makes you wonder. Okay, okay--It makes me wonder. I thought about all the people that go whacko this time of year and commit atrocities that they might not otherwise commit. Things that the lack of sun might have played a part in. Things that were a result of us having to spend so much time indoors. Although I dismissed the thoughts after a while because I realized my strange hypothesis would really only apply to people that live in colder climates, it did prompt me to do a little rhyming:


The November cold is here in force
but the stubborn sun still shines.
Thanksgiving plans are being made
Turkeys, pies, and wines.

I tend to dread this time of year
no skin or skimpy clothes.
Summer is my time of year
As everybody knows.

Although I really must admit
a roaring fire is nice
I just can't stand the long, dark days
or windshields wearing ice.

Sometimes I have to wonder
as we celebrate this time of year
if the reasons for the holidays
are really to induce some cheer.

What if these days we take for granted
are totally a sham
the Turkeys, hams and Christmas lights
are really just a scam?

The dark and dreary winters
can cause us to lose hope
but what if Christmas and Thanksgiving
were designed to help us cope?

Imagine, man-made special days
created just to keep us sane
When people in the North go nuts
Stir-crazy from the cold and rain.

Okay, it's really just a thought
it couldn't be that way
I'm sure if they were both dreamed up
someone, somewhere would say.

So meanwhile, stoke the fire up
or in that hot tub soak
whatever it takes to warm you
be it drink, or food, or joke.


So there you have it. Eat, drink, celebrate--Whatever it takes. Go buy yourself a video and an electric blanket. Summer will be along some day...

Imposed Without Consent

I feel like ranting today. This subject has been on my mind since I went shopping on Saturday after returning from my vacation.

It's about a new kind of milk container.

Maybe some of you haven't seen them yet and maybe some of you have. If you haven't, trust me--You will. It's a massive conspiracy against the American consumer and it's just getting started. Wanna learn how people feel about em? Google it. I was amazed at how hot of a topic it is.

The new jugs are a completely different design, and their sole purpose is to save the shippers and handlers money. Instead of being shipped in plastic crates so they can be stacked, the new design is self-supporting and stackable without plastic crates. That means no empty crates for drivers to keep picking up when they make deliveries, and no empties for grocers to store in the back room. From that point of view, it's great. I like to go for efficiency whenever possible myself. The trouble is, that appears to be their only good feature.

A lot of people do like them because they fit into the doors of their Costco-sized refrigerators better. What don't I like about them? Almost everything:

• The Inner Foil Seal - I unscrewed the cap and encountered a foil seal that was so tightly glued down that I couldn't get it off. It had 4 little "tabs" around its periphery that I thought were designed for me to grab onto. Ha, they were just there to look at--There was no way you could pull that seal off. I even went to the garage and got a pair of pliers to use, but no--The tab just ripped off, leaving the seal untouched. I finally resigned to getting a razor blade and putting a slit through the center of it and carefully tearing it around the edge, finally getting it all off. How is an elderly person supposed to ever get one of those off? Oh, that's right--Elderly people wouldn't ever buy a whole gallon of milk anyway. Believe me, I've encountered a lot of these foil seals on chemical products, and I've never encountered one as tough as this one was--Even on antifreeze!
• Pouring - Okay, here's where it gets ugly. You know how sometimes you get one of those oddball milk cartons that--No matter what you do or how careful you pour it--A dribble of milk always goes down the side? Ditto with this design. It's not a rarity though. From what I read on the web, they all do it. I've tried pouring it from the front, side, and over the top (a trick I learned pouring oil and antifreeze from a full container) and no matter which way I do it, it dribbles down the side.

I have two problems with this imposed design change:

1. We, the consumer, weren't polled, asked, or consulted about features or input. They just told us it was what we were going to get. Did anyone ever think to put some sort of a "V" shape in the opening to aid pouring?
   
2. The design is supposed to save everyone money all the way down the distribution line. Will we see milk prices drop because of it? Hell no.

At least Rod Serling had the decency to utter, "Submitted for your approval..."

Observations of Work and California

I doubt if I even got 3 hours of sleep the night before my first day back at work, and that certainly didn't help any. Had I not had two weeks off I would have called it a horribly rotten day. The fact is, my attitude was kind of in a forgiving mood or something because I never got upset. Things were so messed up that I floundered around for a good hour or so in sort of an "evaluation" mode before I decided I didn't even know where to start. As the day wore on I found my groove and started in. By the time the day ended I had fixed a lot of problems, some of them potentially major. The good part was when Bernie handed me two paychecks.

Suzie and I chatted briefly before I went to bed last night, and she reminded me (or scolded me?) that I hadn't mentioned any of her family members that I had just met in California during the course of my blogging. She's right--Guilty as charged. The fact is, I never really thought much about it--I just assumed she would blog our interactions and stuff.

The first person I met when we showed up at her uncle's place was her sister, Kathy. "They're here! They're here!" I heard her squeal from behind the backyard fence as we got out of the car. Although they looked a lot alike in childhood pictures, she and Suz really didn't resemble each other much at all to me. Kathy is a tiny little thing with a Debra Winger sort of voice--It breaks a bit when she talks.

When I met her mom, I met a lady older than I thought I was meeting. I guess it's because I spent so much time helping Suzie scan old pictures this summer, many of which included her mom. I guess if I would have done the math in my mind I would have expected her mom to be the age she actually is. Does that make sense? I rarely have preconceptions expectations about how someone might be before I meet them, so I guess I never thought about it. The fact is, she is a super lady. I doubt if I have ever met such an even-tempered person in my life. During the course of events taking place in the house during the time I was there, a lot of frustration, anxiety, raising of voices, etc. took place. I never heard her mom raise her voice, get mad, or lose her cool. I very solid lady! As time went on during the week I stayed there, she seemed to enjoy my company more and more. She tended to ramble a lot, and apparently I was a good sounding board. Sometimes she talked incessantly for hours on end. I think she liked the company and really enjoyed having us there. I enjoyed it too. I had my doubts about staying on the couch in a strange house for a week, but it was almost like being home. We made jokes about being slobby, smelling up the bathroom, and all the other stuff that family members do. It was like I was family.

One thing that struck me as funny was one day while all three of them were in the same part of the house and one of them said something and all three of them laughed. They all had the same laugh! I loved it. It reminded me a little of the laugh that Betty Rubble and Wilma Flintstone would do on their cartoon. Very funny. That fact solidified them as related in my mind--No question. Ditto for another thing they all did the exact same: "Whatever." They all 3 have the same way of saying "whatever" that basically sounds the same. It's a combination of, "I'm finished talking and I've said all I'm going to say", and "You're going to do whatever you want anyway, so what the hell are you asking me for?"

I met Kathy's husband Pearce too, but really never got to know him all that well. We stayed at their house twice--Once the first day we were there, and once later in the week. The second time we stayed there I never even saw him. He seemed like a good guy and very hard working. The two of us spent a pretty hot day cutting up a bunch of branches in the front yard and had a good time. He's pretty businesslike and "gets with the program." Their son, Russell was one of the quietest kids I've ever seen, but when you think about it, how many kids actually like to talk to adults, let alone strangers? I don't know how old he is--Maybe 14? 15? He seemed to be a pretty bright kid though.

I think the weirdest thing there was when me, Suzie, Kathy and Pearce, all met Suzie and Kathy's real dad at a restaurant. It was arranged--Not accidental. I saw little resemblance between the girls and him. He was interesting in a strange sort of way. He was kind of quiet, with a dry sense of humor, and spoke very carefully. I think he was more nervous than anyone. The girls loved to pick his brain.

It was a very interesting doorway into the family that is Suzie. Although it's a typical American family nowadays, with multiple spouses and histories, I didn't see anything at all that rattled me. Not that I was expecting... Maybe a "whew" is in order?

I'm Home!

It was a long, boring trip home. Boring because I like to travel with Suzie and she remained behind. Long because, well... It was long. I got home yesterday at about 1pm. It felt good to sleep 12 hours last night--I needed it badly.

I left their house at about 5:30pm on Friday. They are not all that far south of downtown Los Angeles--About 20 miles or a half hour normally. To give you an idea of what a bonehead I was to leave their house at 5:30 on a Friday, at 8pm I was just going past downtown LA. That's pretty bad. I guess the usual Friday LA commute was made much worse by one of the freeways having some overturned hazmat truck or something on it that shut it down completely. At least I made my break. I was going to leave there Saturday morning, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted two nights in my bed before going to work on Monday. I guess I'm fortunate because all the times I drove us all around that area during the week or so I was there things went pretty well. I only had one other time when traffic sorta sucked, and that was just a rush-hour thing too.

Naturally, I was in the dark for the majority of my trip. The sun just started coming up in lower Oregon, but it was no less boring. Almost the whole time I was in that state it was foggy--REAL foggy. It finally cleared up somewhere near Salem I think. I was glad I had the portable mp3 thing going. I plugged in a DVD of my mp3's that I made that was all loose songs, grouped by artist name, and started it at the E's. When I got home it was just into the J's. Pretty handy to have music play for that long without being having to change a disk!

It felt so good to be home. I don't remember the last time I'd had 2 weeks to burn--I really don't. I went to make my coffee pot up before bed last night and stood there puzzled for a moment, wondering what the ratio I use was. I really couldn't remember. Okay, that may have just been a senior moment--I dunno... Fortunately the weather was pretty good here, because I turned my heat completely off and my house was cold. I could have been much colder I'm sure. I was so grubby and dirty that the first thing I did was run a tub and sit down in it. I had been living in flipflops almost the whole time I was there, and wore them for my trip home as well. Considering my feet were almost black on the bottom when I started my trip, it didn't help that I was in the car for another 19 hours in addition to that.

When I felt human again, I drove over to give Sarah the treasure trove of art supplies I got for her from Suzie's uncle Eugene's estate. Being the artist he was, he had a lot of supplies. As a matter of fact, it's too bad Sarah couldn't have had the fun of picking through it in person--She would have had a blast. Some of the things we (thanks to Suzie and her mom for their generousity) gave to her were things she probably wouldn't buy for herself, let alone all at once. For example, a really large, zippered portfolio to transport your artworks around in, a 17" x 24" (pretty big!) clipboard (two clips made onto it) for clipping sketchpads and single sheets onto while you're working, a nice assortment of brushes, a really beautiful folding wooden "kit" containing 144 large pastels (that item was the nicest artist thing in the house!), and several other assorted pads, sketchbooks, and things. She also got a few really nice books. She was very happy with her goodies.

Thanks so very much to Suzie and her mom (mostly her mom) for fixing me up like that. It meant a lot to me to be able to pick several items from the "cream of the crop" that would have added to their garage sale earnings. That was really nice of them.

Things are going very well down there as far as their sale goes. Almost everything has been exposed to the buying populace at this point. Things that we all worried about selling, such as the large, the obscure, the heavy--All sold or are selling. It's been a very good, organized attack at the estate, considering the state everything was in. Kudos for Maggie (Sue's mom) and Suz herself for being the organizers that they are. The legalities and the logistics of liquidating an estate can be very daunting.

Anyway, after I gave Sarah her goodies, I drove up to Suzie's house and unloaded her stuff. Her stuff actually made up the majority of what was in my car by volume. I had to pack the car very carefully to get it all in. The main thing I had of hers was a really nice folding card table set from the 50's (we think). Not only does the table fold (like they all do) but the wooden chairs all fold too! As a matter of fact, when they are unfolded and sitting upright, they look like any other wooden chair. They are real, working pieces of art in their own right. It's a wonder they've survived this long considering how many parts there are making up each one.

I still haven't unpacked everything from my suitcase and all--I'll do that shortly. Laundry is in order--I know that for sure. It was nice having the ability to do laundry while I was staying down there in Lakewood. Today will be a day that hopefully allows me to "sync" myself. Although I feel pretty good physically, I still feel totally discombobulated.

And I miss Suzie. I don't know when she'll be home really, and neither does she. Although we originally thought she'd fly home when this was all done, it's looking at this point like she will rent a car and drive. She has accumulated some artworks that she wants for herself and her kids, in addition to a few other things that she will bring home. That will also give her the ability to visit her friend in San Fransisco on her way home.

Yep, the trip is over. I drove the little red Neon (which performed flawlessly I might add) 3,944 miles, filled up the tank 11 times, and took 1,265 pictures. Yes I'm anal, but aren't stats cool?

Bryce Canyon and More

Boy, a lot has happened since I've blogged last.

We ended up staying in Torrey just as I said we would. We were anxious to see the road that was so highly touted by the folks we talked to on the road the previous day. You know what? Beauty is very subjective. They thought it was the ultimate road for scenery, but almost any highway in Washington State would blow it out of the water. Clearly, the road we were so in awe of the day before was the most beautiful road to us. No question. While the scenery was okay, it wasn't anything amazing. It was really nice as far as the trees went. There was some variety of white tree that I don't know that was everywhere on the mountain we went over. They stood naked and stark against the cold, blue sky and game me several really cool pictures like this:


Another thing that was cool was when 4 wild turkeys ambled across the road in front of us. A little ways farther up the road we saw a group of about 20 more, just hanging out next to the road, enjoying the morning air.


As usual for our day, we still occasionally stopped for a picture here and there as we went, but for the most part we drove pretty steady until we hit Bryce Canyon.

Words or pictures can't begin to describe Bryce Canyon. Like the Grand Canyon, you have to experience it in person. We were fortunate to get there on a beautiful sunny day after a light snowfall the previous night. It was spectacular! We still don't have our pictures uploaded to our pictures site, but here are a few samples so you can see what I'm talking about. Click them for a larger version:



From there it was pretty much non-stop to Las Vegas. We got there just after sundown, and at Suzie's urging, took a detour to the Vegas strip. I don't think there is ever a time when that city isn't under construction. We got lucky and made the right turns so we didn't have too much trouble. We didn't have any luck with a motel though. Based on what I paid for one when I was there with Sarah last year, we weren't in any hurry to find one really--We would have been happy to have driven farther up the highway. After a brief look, that's exactly what we did--We drove to the next exit after Vegas. The exit is called Jean, and it was apparently named for the only thing there--A casino/hotel. Okay, there's also a gas station and something else, but the casino dominates the WHOLE exit. It's called Jean Nevada. We stayed there for $35! We couldn't believe it--Every place we had stayed on this vacation got cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. Anyway, we had a good time there. We hung out and had some drinks in a bar in the casino and made fun of the live act that was singing. The place was huge, gaudy, and flashy. Apparently, it was also a haven for truckers, as there were lots of them parked around the place. Although the place is much bigger than this picture shows, it will give you an idea of how much it looks like an adult theme park:


When we got up the next morning we hit the road bound for Los Angeles. Instead of going to Suzie's sister's house right off the bat, we went directly to her deceased uncle's house where her sister was helping her mom with cleanup. After a great reunion, we followed her sister back up to their house where we stayed the night. They have a cool cabin up in the San Bernardino mountains.

Since that time I've slept on the living room couch here at her uncle's house. I haven't seen this much stuff in one house in any time that I can recall. There are piles, boxes, and all kinds of things heaped everywhere, both inside and out. We have had fantastic weather here (after all, it's SoCal) so I can't complain. I'm actually having a good time doing all this stuff. I think it's the exploration part of it, the "Hey, I wonder what's in here?" sort of thing.

Last night Suzie and I drove up to my son Mark's house in Thousand Oaks. We had a great visit and dinner with them. I got to meet my new grandson, Ethan. He is such a cutie! Both of us were in awe of how much Emma was yakking. She is about 3 ½ years old and talking up a storm, with manners included. I really had a great time with them. We left at Em's bedtime as to not create too much of a deviation from her bedtime schedule. I know how kids are. Besides, Mark had to get up early this morning for a flight to Utah.

So here it is, another beautiful, sunny day in Lakewood, California. Another day of garage sale action, box exploration, compiling Craigslist ads, and all sorts of other related stuff.

It's been a very interesting vacation!

The Scenery Never Stops

Imagine my surprise when I peeked out of our cheap motel this morning and saw an inch of snow on everything! It was pretty cold too, but it was sunny at least. The sun added a nice touch to everything that had a dusting of snow on it. By the time we left an hour later the snow was starting to slide off. It never did really warm up too much all day, but it sure was sunny.

We just settled down for the night here just outside of the little town of Torrey, Utah in a really nice Days Inn. As a matter of fact, it's one of the better places I've ever stayed and it was only $49.50 a night. Things like this sure vary here and there don't they? In some places you can't find anything under a hundred bucks, and when you do it's usually so-so or worse.

We didn't cover a whole lot of ground today, but that was mostly because we kept stopping for pictures. I took 312 pictures today, and as per most of the time we take pictures, I'll probably only keep about 25% of em. There are some of them that are drop-dead gorgeous, and some of them are have lighting issues. Most of the time it's a matter of which side of us the sun is on. My best pictures today probably came from our little detour down to Natural Bridges Park. The third of the three natural bridges we saw was the best. We ended up taking a trail down to the bottom of the bridge and seeing the Owachomo from below. Here's a example (click for bigger pictures):


We spent a lot of time today stopping to take pictures. Lucky for us the roads were practically empty, so we could jam on the brakes and dive for the shoulder of the road with little or no warning when a good photo op presented itself. We could even stop right in the middle of the road and snap off a couple shots if we wanted to. With highways like this, all you have to do is keep an eye on your rear view mirror every now and then. There just wasn't any traffic out there to speak of. Here's what many of today's roads looked like:


We hoped to make it a little farther today, but had a slight change of plans after talking to someone else we met while stopping to take pictures. They told us that we should stay in Torrey tonight and do the road to Escalante in the morning sun hours. Even though we thought we had seen some of the most beautiful scenery on earth, they said, "You ain't seen nothin' yet." We're taking their advice and hope to see some really nice stuff tomorrow. The weather said it should be about 20 degrees when we get up in the morning (high of 45) but clear and/sunny all day.

One of the little scenic roads we turned onto right before stopping here tonight took us into a little nature preserve of sorts, and there were little mule deer running all over. We sat and got picture after picture of them, and only a few feet away. They apparently could care less about humans.

We may or may not be hitting any more natural parks on the way out of Utah, and that choice is just based on time. I think we'd both like to shoot for her sister's house in California tomorrow night. We'll see.

This trip has been a total blast and we are traveling very well together. I love it!

Exploring Another Planet

That's what it felt like during our two days in Moab exploring the Arches National Park. How can you describe something that words or pictures can't really do justice to? To be fair you can't--You have to experience it. It's like the Grand Canyon--You can take the best pictures in the world, but until you see it in person you can't really grasp it. That's what it feels like here in this part of Utah.

Although a perfect day is certainly subject to interpretation in a different way by everyone, one thing is for sure: You sure can't lose by being able to wander wander all day long in shorts and tank tops or t-shirts in November! It ended up being 71 degrees, and it was the perfect day for picture-taking and hiking. During yesterday and today combined, I shot over 500 pictures!

It was so much fun to be able to explore the park with Suzie. Being both an avid hiker and photographer that she is, she was like a kid in a candy store--Always eager to explore and amazed by what she saw. I mean, where else on earth will you find a giant sandstone penis? Here's a shot of it, followed by another one with Suzie in it to show scale:



The Arches National Park is best seen in more than one day. The obvious reason is the time is takes of course, but another not so obvious reason is lighting. There are parts of the park where the scenery comes alive in the morning hours when it's lit by early sun, and there are parts that behave the same way during the afternoon hours. When you hit them during the wrong time of day they can look flat and less interesting in a picture. You can't believe how much of a difference it can make. Some of the hikes take more than an hour or two to see also, so you'll need at least two days to see it all. There are only a hand full of arches that you can see without hiking a trail to see them. Although there are several trails that take you to the coolest places, you can drive through the park without being a bit disappointed. There are lots of turnouts for picture buffs to pull over when that perfect moment of awe will hit you (and it will hit you!)

Suzie and I both agreed that the best was Delicate Arch. It took us an hour to hike the trail to Delicate Arch, and some of it was pretty demanding. When we got there we were treated to a most amazing sight! It's truly something to behold. We got there just before the sun set so we got some pretty dramatic pictures. If that weren't enough, we climbed another ridge (not a recognized trail) and ended up high above the arch on the opposite side from the rest of the crowd. It was a whole different perspective, and they ended up being some of the best pictures we took of the arch! It was also fun to do a Gomer Pyle "hooty-hoot" yell from atop the ridge and listening to the echo.

Suzie never tired of offering to take pictures of a couple whenever she could. Whenever she'd see someone taking a picture of their significant other with scenery in the background, she'd offer to take their picture for them so they could both be in it. She loved doing it and it was never refused.

When our first day finally came to an end, we were treated to this on our way out:


Day two (today) was much the same: Awesome scenery and pictures. One major difference was the weather: It was about 5 degrees cooler, windy, and cloudy instead of sunny. It was still great weather, but we opted for long pants this time. It's probably just as well considering the fact that we encountered quite a bit of blowing sand in hikes though slot canyons. When we finally finished up today, there was only one item we didn't get to see: The Fiery Furnace. It's a place made out of the same amazing sandstone as the rest of the Arches park, but it's more like a giant maze. It's so weird that they won't let anyone in without a permit. They actually encourage people to go on the ranger-led tours so they won't get lost. Because it took 4-5 hours for it, we didn't get to do that.

We checked out of our $62 a night Sleep Inn motel and headed up the road. Here we sit in our ultra plush (not!) $52 a night motel in beautiful downtown Blanding, Utah. We chose this over another motel because it had wireless internet, but the funny thing is, their wireless won't let us log on because they have their settings all wrong. Instead, we're using a wireless signal that comes in from here from somewhere else.

Tomorrow: Back on the road!

Moab!

What a nice trip we had! We drove 14 hours, only stopping for gas and eats. We had great weather (for November 1st). The air was clear almost everywhere we went, and even though it rained much of the time it was very minor. Actually, the rain was kind of enjoyable for a couple of reasons:

• I put new wiper inserts on the car before we left and they worked beautifully
• The light rain only needed medium intermittent wipers to keep rain clear, which was just the right amount to keep any bugs from clogging up the view.

We had all our cool techie gadgets to keep us going. The new portable DVD/mp3 player I bought for the trip worked perfectly. Suz spent half the trip with that thing on her lap, playing with it. At one point she commented on how geeky we were--Having a portable dvd player, three digital cameras, two laptop computers, and two cell phones. Yep, traveling geeks.

We ended up driving straight through to Utah and staying overnight at Suzie’s half-brother’s house with he and his family for the night in Salt Lake City (Lehi actually). When we got there last night she and Mark (her half-brother's name) spent a couple hours swapping stories of relatives they had in common. We slept in sleeping bags on the floor of their rec room. After Suz and Mark had spent a satisfactory bunch of hours again this morning swapping stories and pictures, we shoved off and thanked them for their hospitality. It was weird because Suzie didn't really know anyone any better than I did. It was kinda weird though--They're Mormons. Normally I wouldn't think much of it, but the fact that they don't drink occurred to me last night when Suzie and I polished off a couple beers before bedtime. It was further reinforced this morning when we got up and found they didn't have coffee or a coffee maker. DOH! It was tough... I need my morning coffee. It was also one of the weirdest breakfast meals I've ever seen. Vanilla ice cream, homemade "applesauce" (more like apple pie filling if you ask me), cool whip, and biscuits. Very unusual. His wife works late and the ice cream/apple stuff was also their dinner when she got home last night at 11:00. Again--Weird...

I had my doubts about the weather this morning when we got up at their house. It was rainy and windy and cold. When we turned off the main road and headed towards our Moab, Utah destination, the weather got better and better.

We took a bunch of pictures on the road between Interstate 15 and Moab where we're currently sitting. We encountered tons of very dramatic lighting conditions. It was the kind of weather that had intermittent rain squalls, so every now and then there were some pretty cool cloud formations too. At one point I took us off the road onto a dirt road and we headed away from the highway and across the valley. It was a lot of fun and we got some very good pictures during that side trip. Here's a shot we took while we were out there:


We are going to have tons of pictures put up on our SmugMug picture site, that's for sure, but probably not until after we're back home.

We checked into a motel here in Moab (the same one Sarah and I stayed at last summer) at about 5pm. We're going to stay here two nights as we're planning an awful lot of hiking/photo outings in this area in the next two days. For those of you stuck in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, eat your heart out--Here's tomorrow's forcast for Moab: