12.20.2012

Mac Davis was HALF right

So, we're in Lubbock, TX, for 2 days.  Well, 2 nights, one day.

I don't think I've spent any real time here since college.  Back in the mid 80's.  Yes, I'm old; get over it.

Anyway, as we were driving in last night, we were in the middle of the biggest dust storm I've seen in my entire life.  It was about 100 miles of solid dust.  You couldn't see anything.  Except for the tumbleweeds.

I swear, it looked like a migration.  Every tumbleweed in west Texas wanted to get to the other side of the road.  Just like the proverbial chicken.  Why, you may ask?  Because of the TORNADO FORCE winds, would be my guess.

It looked like a video game, a lot like Frogger.  We're doing 70 miles an hour (yes, maybe too fast), and the tumbleweeds were trying to cross without getting killed.  I had to stop myself from actually TRYING to hit them.  I think we nailed about 1,000,000 of them.  I swear, one of them was nearly as big as our car.  Well, my car, not Ann's Sonata.  My old one.  Not the Santa Fe.  The justy.


Yes, this is my old car.  I LOVED that car.  On demand 4 wheel drive (why would you want it ALL the time, right)?  Good gas mileage.  And I paid for it with a check.  And the check didn't even bounce.  I tried to find a picture of it that we took when I had it top of the septic mound in the snow, but couldn't find that picture.

I actually left the keys in it once, at Islip airport in NY.  For 4 days.  In the parking lot.  The keys were hanging in the ignition.  When I got back from my trip, it was still there.  In NEW YORK!  That's saying something.  Those New Yorkers are an honest group of people.

Anyway, I digress.  You would not believe the wind and dust.  I think the new Sonata needs a paint job.  And probably a new air filter.

Why anyone would live somewhere where is is a fairly normal occurrence is beyond me.  So, the first part of the song "Happiness is Lubbock TX in my rear view mirror", I still agree with.  Even after all these years, some things just don't change.


12.15.2012

we found it!

We actually found it. Somewhere between Palm Springs, CA and Sedona, AZ, we found it.


The POT OF GOLD at the end of the rainbow.


Too bad Andy wouldn't turn around to get it... it was on the "wrong" side of the highway.


12.13.2012

Careful! They really are UNUSAUAL waves!

We were in Morro Bay, CA, last week.  Central coast.  Look it up on Google Maps.

The picture Ann took of the rock (see her facebook page) was the Morro Rock.

Anyway, apparently, they have waves there.  Odd ones.  Strange.  Unusaual, even.




If the waves had only been of an unusual size and force, I probably would not have been as careful.

I showed this picture in class on Wednesday.  One of the guys says, "Yeah, signs like that are funny.  When we got here, we saw the curb was painted with "no stopping" marks.  S.T.O.P.P.I.N.G.  Hah!" he says.

I said, what's wrong with that? He says, "You know, they misspelled it.  It should have been S.T.O.P.I.N.G."

What could I say to that?  "Spell check is a wonderful thing."  Several people in class were watching to see if I would take it any further.  They know me, I guess.  I sort of shook my head.  "Let it go," I was thinking....

Now, we're headed to Sedona.

12.06.2012

baby, it's cold inside!

Last weekend we went to the ICE! exhibit at the gaylord texan resort in Grapevine. Andy read about it in an airline magazine and it sounded cool (cool - yuk, yuk). They used something like 2 MILLION POUNDS of ice to make all these sculptures, and they bring in ice sculptors from China. These guys do it up right - check this out...
Harbin China, not Grapevine, TX.

Since everything in America must have a corporate sponsor, the ICE! sculptures were almost all characters from the DreamWorks™animated Merry Madagascar movie. But still pretty amazing considering that it's all made of ICE!






a token non-corporate sculpture

It's about 9°F in the exhibit, so they hand out parkas.

This is Andy's brother, Chris. There were clear instructions to not lick the ice. It must be genetic.

 Afterwards, steaming cups of hot chocolate all around! A toast to my camera unfogging.

12.01.2012

8 weeks in, I still love Ann

It's been 8 weeks.  58 days (and nights).  And I still love (and like) Ann.

This new life of ours is AMAZING!  Spending every night with the person you love is the best thing ever.  Well, almost every night.  Not counting the nights I've slept on the couch due to the snoring, we've spent 2 nights apart (michigan while she was visiting her mom, and Sweeny, while I was trying to get a good night's sleep).  I slept about 10 or 12 hours each those two nights.

We have been so many places, it's hard to remember.  Which may be partly due to the lack of sleep.

Galveston.
San Antonio.
Los Angeles.
Delaware/Pennsylvania/Maryland.
Cayman Islands.
San Diego.
Michigan (her, Kalamazoo, me, Auburn Hills).
Radford, VA
Raleigh, NC
Houston for Thanksgiving with Ann's family.
Oswego (and Syracuse), NY
Sweeny, TX

Today we head to Dallas, to see my big brother John play in his band at Muddy Waters. Then, I think we're going to the Ice! exhibit at the Gaylord on Sunday with Mom.

Then we work in Ft Worth for 2 days, then come back to Austin to fly to LA to get our car and drive to Morro Bay for 2 days.

Then Burbank for 4 days.

Then we spend a week in a cottage in Sedona, AZ.

Then we drive to Austin in time to fly to FL for our Christmas cruise.

Good times.