at home at the fairgrounds

we're settled in at the fairgrounds and have found a good repair shop for the rv - we hope. Certainly other folks must like them as we can't get appt to have rig looked at until 6/30. Then they will send est. to ins. co. and the paperwork begins. After checking out 3 other places recommended by friends and ins. co., we were happy to find these folks. We've started playing golf with our friends here in Puy so dad is happy. Next big issue is how to change out the filter in my vacumn! no manual of course, so sent email to the mfg. Hope Jason survived his CA bike trip. Really enjoyed Father's Day at Ryan's and dinner with Becky on Thurs. night. Am doing my homework, checking out purse styles to replace my very worn out bag. I went to an expert for advice and she has agreed to take me under her wing and shopping on 7/5... can't wait! hugs to all... ma

My weekend plans - UPDATED

My friend Jess's birthday party is Saturday evening, so I'm going to spend Saturday morning making this cake. I got this great large cupcake pan online so I'm going to attempt it! I'm making chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting! Yum!

That's one big cupcake!

UPDATE:

I made the cupcake and it turned out okay! I baked each part separately (top and bottom) as some customer reviews on the pan said that they baked for different time periods. I didn't find that to be the case - each side took exactly the same amount. I had to do some trimming ot me the two halves fit together correctly and I ended up not trimming the top part enough, so there was a big gap. Oh well - I filled it in with frosting.

It took 1.5 cake mixes, so I made small cupcakes with the remaining batter - it made about 9 cupcakes. I was going to take pictures once I got it to my friend's house, but on the way there the big cupcake fell over - so everything ended up a little doofed up. But it all tasted good and Jess enjoyed having her big cupcake all to herself while the rest of us had normal-sized ones.

It was a great night! If anyone wants to borrow the pan, it's all yours! My friends have now made requests for various shaped cakes for their upcoming birthdays, so I think I've started a trend. I don't know how I'm going to make an Optimus Prime cake...

on the road home

home in the Casper WY truck parking lot. Notice the sky? You can't 'see' the wind! We spent 9 days here, with elect. hookup. Dad arranged to have Rotor Rooter come out one day and pump tanks so we were fine. We even had intermitant wifi and some tv. But believe me, we were happy to leave!
This is a great museum. Tells all about the various groups who went through this part of the country heading west... the Mormoms, those heading to Oregon, the local indian tribes, and the gold seekers. Very well done.

Here's Dad flying in the wind. We were on our way to Independence Rock, where the various wagon trains stopped on the way west. Wind blew 20=50 mph most of the time!
Here I am at the beginning of trail around the Independence Rock there in the background. It is about a mile around. Many pioneers chipped or painted names in to the rock, sort of early graffitti I guess.

We are in St. Regis, MT tonight 6/13/08. Played golf this afternoon at a nice local course. There is an outstanding recall on brake lines we just found out, so Dad wants to get home and get it taken care of, as well as get the damage done from last undone recall taken care of. So maybe home Sunday!

Off to Camp Woodward Tomorrow

Well, it's finally here. I've been dreaming of a chance to go to Woodward for years but the right combination of opportunity and circumstance never collided until now. I'll be driving down (it's in California (you might have to scroll the map to the right) with my friend Mark, his 11 year old son and my buddy Jack (Jack has been coming out to my place to ride since he was 14 - he's 20 now). We'll be there from Sunday the 15th to Saturday the 21st.


Lot's of pics and video when I get back so everyone can see the 35 year old kid on the teeny tiny bicycle!!

New phone and DR stuff

Okay, finally an update from me! Just yesterday I got a new phone - Blackberry Curve! I switched over to T-Mobile, so all those calls that you've been making to me may start costing you some money. :-) However, I did get a data plan, so I'll be able to check my email, instant message, etc from my phone, so now there are tons more ways to contact me.

Concerning treatment, I'm going in on Thursday for another one. But before we do that they're trying to get me in for a TPA drip to see if it will help my port work better (it won't). After last time when trying to get a blood draw took several hours and at least 9 different arm sticks (I still have bruises) we're looking at an alternate plan for dealing with my port. They say I have to get TPA (which I've had before as a bolus) before they can do a dye study (not quite sure what that is), which will probably be required before they do any replacements or other types of ports. They're going to try to schedule the TPA for tomorrow - two hours of sitting around doing nothing. Good thing I have a Kindle!

I'm currently reading The World Without Us, which talks about how long it would take the natural world to remove all traces of human activity and what would happen if humans just stopped existing one day. I've only just started it, but so far it's pretty interesting.

I just finished reading The Host - I thought it was really good. You guys may not like it, but the ladies probably would. It's a different take on alien-human romance.

Trip to the Museum O' Flight....or "Happy Birthday, Aunt Becky!"

It's Becky's fault. "I really don't need any more 'stuff''. If you want to give me something, give me an experience."....well, you asked for it.

We (Candi, Max & me) picked Becky up at around 11:00 for a trip to the Museum of Flight on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The weather was really hot, the place was packed, and Max needed a nap before we even picked her up. But everyone was still up for it...

There were a bunch of WWII era planes on display outside the museum, and you could ride in a B-17 or a fighter - for about $250!! And it sure looked like they were doing some business.


Once inside, we were all blown away by the Grand Gallery. They have so many planes in there, all of them representing a significant era or breakthrough in flight. They also have an extensive space flight area, including a ton of lunar stuff. Max was amped...until he found out that you can't touch ANYTHING! Life is rough when you're four...


There was, however, a kid's area that has actual aircraft with moving control surfaces that the kids can climb in and play on.


They said it was just for kids, but you never know until you try.....


There's even a mostly articulated Blue Angels flight simulator for the kids. The stick moves the plane just like a real one. It kind of gave Max the heebie-jeebies at first, but he got the hang of it.


Candi was particularly interested in the different styles of uniforms that the stewardesses wore throughout the years. That is a fantastic shade of green!



We finished off the museum trip with a short walk over to where the Concorde and Air Force One are on display. Kind of a let down once we got inside them, since everything is plexiglassed off. And the Concorde was not really a luxury liner at all!

We topped it off with lunch at the Claim Jumper, and we all shared a piece of cake that was taller than Max! Good times....good times indeed.

Memorial Day Weekend ( late report )

Yeah, I know, this is a little late. I don't even want to hear about it, so stop it.

Memorial Day weekend saw us at 2 different tournaments. Kevin was playing in the Rainier Challenge, in Puyallup, and Sharon was playing in the Starfire Memorial Day Cup, in Tukwilla. Needless to say, we were busier than a 1 armed paper hanger! Kevin started out with a game Fri. night, against the team he would be on if he played in Enumclaw, MRFC Titans. Kevin's team was able to soundly defeat them with a score of 5 - 1(?). Kevin scored the 2nd goal of the game!

Sat. both kid's were in action, with 8am game in Puyallup and 3:30 and 6:00 game in Tukwilla.  Kevin's team won there game with a score of 2 - 1, on a last second goal. ( about :30 sec. left. ) Sharon's team won there 1st game 3 - 2 and the second game 2 - 0. That would mean that Sun. would be the test to see if  there respective teams could make it to the semi- finals.

Sun. saw Kevin's team win again and secure a spot in the semi- finals on Mon. with a score of 5 - 1. Sharon once again had 2 game s to play. They easily won there 1st game 1-0, which would set-up the 2nd game against the team that was 1st in points in her bracket. The winner of this game would have a easier game in the semi's. Sharon's team came out swinging and had several great oppertunities to score, but couldn't quite get it in the net. The other team, however, couldn't score either. The least amount of goals this team had scored in this tournament was 5, all because of 1 girl that was really big and fast. So Sharon's coach instructed the defense to have one player shadow this girl and the rest of the defense help to shut her down! And they did shut her down, but ended up conceding 1 goal on a pretty lucky play by the other team. This would mean that there advancement to the semi's would come down to percentage points, which they had more than the other teams. They were through to the semi's!!

Mon. again saw me down in Puyallup for Kevin's game, which they won pretty easily, 3 - 0. They would be in the finals at 1:00pm. Meanwhile, Sharon's team ended up having to play the "A" team from her own club! They would put up a good fight, but lose 4-1. Even though they lost, it was a great tournament for them!

Back in Puyallup, kevin's team was preparing to play for 1st place against the team they just barely slipped by in bracket play. It would prove to be a spirited game, but not close. Kevin's team ended up winning 3-0. A great result for the weekend!

So, that was how we spent Memorial Day weekend. 10 games in 4 days. Between both vehicles, we put in about 400 miles. Glad that's over!

And a shout out to Rachael for assisting with Kyle all weekend.

Ryan

P.S.  Sharon played almost the whole weekend with a blister on the outside of her big toe about the size of a dime, And she played several complete games form start to finish!!!!

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!

Right!!!!

P.S.S.  Jason, Candi and Max came down for the final game to watch. I don't know how much Max saw of the game, but Kyle sure was glad to see him!