USA

This area is just spectacular scenery, especially along the Pacific Coast Highway. I like to think this is our delayed birthday presents - just the view alone - Pacific Ocean, sandy beaches, beautiful people. Not to mention, when you're on a motorcycle, your senses just can't help but be enhanced. There is no buffer, no protection from element, you are just in it. Also... it does help when you know that back home three inches of snow fell. Therefore, we weren't as devastated as we could've been when the truck shit the bed. After all, we do have an alternate means of transportation, albeit one which I cannot drive myself. So, after attempts at diagnosis, visits to shops and car parts stores, we decided to go dealer route. Never know about a good mechanic or shop when you are visiting somewhere, but at least a dealer you know what you'll probably get. Other than screwed... but anyway, hopefully you will be fixed in the process. And I suppose you have more options to complain if not. So wish us luck, as the truck is STILL THERE. And cross the fingers and toes that the price quoted will actually be close to the final price. I just count us lucky that this is the biggest of our problems.

We met up with Cody in Huntington Beach over at Max to watch the Nebraska game. This wasn't as horrible as last week, and there was actually hope in the air for a good part of the game. Cody is a great kid who is living an enviable life along the beach, enjoying life. Funny thing, while we were there, he actually ran into a guy he went to high school with. The amazing thing about this is that they both went to high school in OMAHA. Seriously - how serendipitous is that? Scope outwards, and it's really quite unbelievable.

We finally got to meet Jack up in Long Beach! He's just a few months away from being 2, and we just got to meet him, which was worth the wait. He is simply more adorable than his photos. Very sweet and content demeanor, I took from our short stay. Such a cute kid. Time is really amazing, it seems like Katrina was just getting married, but she and Walter have a beautiful house and a wonderful son. It's remarkably interesting to me all the paths one can take in a life, and how quickly or slowly change happens. Auntie Lynne and Uncle Don look the same - how does that work? It's so good to see family that you don't see very often, especially when you see them at good times.

Cujo's friend Tom came down to San Diego from Idaho for the Chargers/New England game. He and his brother (who lives in Riverside) have season tickets, so when he can get down here, he does. This was incredible. The extent to which people go to in simply shocking. I've never been to an NFL game or even tailgated, but I thought it was comparable to college games. Hell, even the Rose Bowl. Silly me, no. Sacrifice for a cause - the effort, the prep, the clothing, the adornment of vehicles, the list just goes on and on - flags, magnets, TVs with satellite, grills and cooking surfaces that I envy from my RV, coolers you could fit a body in. Then the food - it's not only hot dogs and chips folks - carne asada, lasagna, crepes, full bars, and beers that could rival the shelves of Trader Joes. Wow - what a racket - and oh how fun. (Minus the cops who hand out parking tickets for unintended infractions - which is now my new headache and pet project to attempt to reverse via paperwork)

After a day or two home, we headed off again… this time with the trailer headed south.
Driving through a little nugget of Arizona is just beautiful.

We stayed in Primm and watched the game and rode the rollercoaster. This is one of my all time favorite coasters – it’s mainly outside and high up, with little curves and bumps that go inside and make you duck. Much better than the New York New York one, but costs about the same. I didn’t remember it being so bumpy the last time I rode it, but I had a 10 years younger body then and didn’t have to hold my head and neck. The game on the other hand sucked and we should’ve gone to see the Beach Boys there who just happened to be playing that night. I coulda rekindled my Mike Love love and maybe got on the stage again, but no, we watched Nebraska get pummeled. By Missouri of all teams. They are the worst whiny dicks. The Vlasaks all went to Missouri for a Nebraska game a few years ago, which happened to end up the first time that Missouri had beat Nebraska in decades. Yup, we got to be present for that. Their fans and students were pretty big assholes and one had such a big damn mouth that he ended up getting choked. I so adore my Papa Joe. J Anyway, Whiskey Petes in Primm had the funniest sign on their marquee outside – Pet Friendly – with a scary looking dog showing his teeth.

Our first night welcomed us with a beautiful sunset along the San Clemente pier. We were on the bike, which was a beautiful ride. A lady at the post office managed to ruin that for me by telling us she saw a bike go down on PCH which made her sad and we should be careful out there. What the hell was she telling us that shit for? Just to make me paranoid and worry, as if I don’t do that too much already for god’s sake? Cujo said it was just out of concern and everyone needs a reminder to be aware and careful now and then. He’s probably right and it’s me that has issues and reads more than exists into most everything.

There are but a few places we can take Charlie that actually allow a dog on a beach here, but we did find one in San Diego while we were there taking care of business.

A love affair has been renewed… Cujo has had these Rainbow flip flops for years, and put them through hell. They’ve been every color of the spectrum and in any substance imaginable. They finally waved the white flag this summer, and he’s gone through a couple more pairs of cheapo sandals in the meantime. So of course hitting the Rainbow store was a priority when he got back to San Clemente.

We’ve traded in commercial airplanes above us at all times for military helicopters – Camp Pendleton is right next to us, and so there is constant air traffic and loud bombs a few times a day. Being between a military camp and a nuclear plant is either the safest place to be or the most unsettling, I’m not sure yet. There is quite a large fire burning as I write that is a tad disconcerting and worrisome for closer residents and home owners.

Another place we found that we could take Charlie is just down the street from where we are plugged in, luckily. The downside however, is that it a state park - therefore it costs. And cost it does! I suppose I can admire the fact that they are actually trying to pass down the shortfalls to their citizens, therefore perhaps teaching folks that some things (such as state parks and programs) aren't just righted to us. Still, it does irk me to pay over a hundred dollars for a year pass to a state beach I could nearly throw a rock to. From the coastline, we can easily see San Onofre where Cujo will be sweating out the next month.

We were lucky enough to make it home just in time for mom’s kite festival. Coming through Jackson, we knew we were home the moment we saw the Tetons. Although Minnesota definitely has its beauty; I’ve realized that growing up surrounded by mountains makes me crave them and comforted when I see them.

On to the kite festival – this is the second annual event, and it’s grown. It got some wonderful publicity from the local newspaper, local NBC station, local ABC station, and the local CBS station. This year, there was NO SNOW! Woohoo! Although, yeah, there was rain… Oh well – we had much more good than bad. No Tom this year, but there were new experts that were great at kiting and just plain old groovy folks from all over Idaho and even Utah. Even though we weren’t able to stay for the entire festival, we did get in on a few workshops (sled, fighter, Chrysler) and some flys. The first workshop started at the Portneuf Library with a ton of energetic kids. I had forgotten just how much energy kids have, it’s really something to be jealous of – their energy, their imagination, their ability to focus only on what is present.

The first day with a fly scheduled was spent in the morning at the scheduled venue before they came out to say that we needed to leave, apparently all necessary paperwork was at the office but not in the correct hands. So, we said AMF to that place, and jogged on over to another park.

Cujo has found a new hobby – fighter kites! He was able to figure it out pretty quickly, long before I had given up trying to be coordinated enough to do it right. He ended up with it out so far though, that it had to be retrieved from two blocks away in someone’s yard. Hehe, I was stunned he managed to find it.

The kite festival continued Saturday, after a rainy morning, as we left Pocatello. Great job Mom, we are very proud of you and can’t wait for next year!

On a sad and serious note, our thoughts are with my mom’s neighbor family, who were the unfortunate victims of a house fire.

It's falling here!

So, we met a guy at a bar (the typical story starter), and he told us about this improvisation company he works with in his spare time – his hobby. The next night they were doing a $1 show for their student groups to get on stage. He was stunned to see us there, thought it was just lip service that we said we were interested in that kind of thing – the things that make a city just a little more special and you get to know it just a little better. He thought we were looking for ideas like the zoo. Which maybe, if he would’ve told us how great the zoo was, we might’ve gone there, who knows. Either way, we ended up in this laid back, bicycle and hippie laden, organic market neighborhood with amazing homes. We didn’t want to leave. The show was great – groups of 2 to 8, just improvising and laughing, cultivating a genuine feel good night. By the way, there are TONS of Improv shops in the area, folks must be pretty creative and outgoing here.

Charlie makes herself at home anywhere, thankfully, but this place is just creepy. The total opposite of the groovy, friendly, and clean ES in Wilkes-Barre earlier this year. In the three weeks we’ve been here, the fire alarm has gone off three times and the local police drive through parking lot SLOWLY at least twice a day. And that’s just what I’m aware of. It’s strange. And we are in a good area, very clean, appears very safe. For one week, the hotel had security guards as well. Then, they just disappeared. Weren’t doing that much good, I’m afraid, as Cujo saw him sleeping in his car when we went to work. Sure doesn't make me feel safe. Still, though – why? Someone cooking something illegal in here? Someone bad living here they need to nail? Or is it us, a group of 50 construction guys in one hotel make them nervous?

Ha, look what I found! It was like striking gold when I saw this in the liquor store - I have never seen it and thought it was a myth. Yes it was super cheap and no it wasn't disgusting.

There was another great concert (I swear they have great music support here) that took place outside in a fabulous location. It was at Harriet Island across from downtown St Paul – had a great view of the skyline, the water, and best of all – we watched it free just on the other side of the fence. We had the most interesting company, a man named Bob who rolled up on this bike.

He was the most true to himself person I’ve met in ages – just said what he thought, and he thinks a lot. Doesn’t know much about TV controversy, sports scores or name brand importance; he knew people, history, music and great stories. Turned out, he used to be the flower guy – you know the one at the bar that tries to shame guys into buying flowers? Well, through that, he’d been in all sorts of venues, met all sorts of people – such as our entertainment for the night – Jakob Dylan and his pop. After his days doing that, he turned to art. He was quite original and wore cutoff jean shorts with a button up shirt that didn’t quite fit with paint all over both, and could admirably care less what anyone thought. Just watching the way people looked at him made me admire him even more. Not getting the looks of a man who has displays in a downtown gallery, that’s for sure. Just a welcome gentle reminder of that oh so simple lesson – things aren’t always what they appear. Even with O.A.R. playing after Dylan, it was Bob that kept us there gabbing.

Wendy came to play! Haha, this was just the first night only, poor guy.
Charlie’s wife Capi was in town this weekend, too, so we all went out and explored Minneapolis together. Both ladies know how to have fun, so it was a blast having a group to play with. We went to eat at Psycho Suzis, who Jules told me about – apparently they were on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives – so we went there for lunch. It had a great ambiance, totally tiki, the food was good, and it was pretty busy. Weird thing – I wanted a bloody mary but you had to make it yourself. If I knew HOW to make a good bloody mary, I would – but I don’t, so I order them. Hmmm. So I ordered water, silly me – I had to go walk down the patio to the igloo cooler and get my own water. Huh? After leaving, we ran into a big old cart with a bunch of people on it pedaling away – turns out it a fucking traveling bar?! HOW COOL IS THAT?! They all looked very happy, no surprise, and waved gallantly as we drove by honking. This could be my next job! Where to do it, that’s the question.

The Mall of America has a big Lego exhibit by all the rides – I know it’s corny but I think it’s cool.

This was strange – Sunday downtown – there were FEW stores and even FEWER restaurants open. Struck me as very odd, so we ended up at Hard Rock for lunch. I think we all would’ve preferred a local establishment, but all the ones we walked to were closed. No matter, it was a good lunch – good food, and a great bloody mary that I didn’t have to make myself!

Unfortunately, I didn’t watch the Mary Tyler Moore show, but I still took a picture of the statue.

Our hookah IS HERE!!! Yay! Now folks, no – this is not a bong. It’s a hookah, dammit. It’s tobacco. Perfectly legal. I promise. If you want it to be. You can tell how excited Wendy was.

The Twins had to win three at home against CHI to take the lead, and guess what, they did. We were there for one. Although I would’ve probably enjoyed it more knowing who I was watching. I’m not the biggest baseball fan, I like to go, but rarely follow it – and am continually disappointed by the Mariners – but anyway… Ken Griffey Jr plays for the White Sox, and he hit a home run. I saw the home run but was oblivious as to who it was, and that I *might* recognize the name. Ha, how lame. We got a great deal – there were six of us together, the others were down a level – and we paid $5 a ticket. Yeah, we were in the uppers, but what the hell. It was my first ever broken bat game too – two to be exact. The guy at the gate said they were expecting 42,000 fans that night, I can imagine how many more they had for game three.

The Wild had their first preseason game against Columbus in St Paul, and yes – they won too! After years of watching loses, we might have changed course finally. Although we still aren’t taking any chances with going to a Nebraska game again soon. The Wild have an amazing stadium – it’s actually where all the magic of the RNC took place. Hmmm. Magic, voodoo, brainwashing, something like that. I think it holds around 20,000. We got great seats with a dad and his son down on the floor. Lucky us, his wife and other son didn’t want to go. There are still lots of fans that wear their North Stars gear. And this guy - he's the organ player - has got the best job!

We made one last trip to the MoA with Ryan and Amanda and the kids to play putt putt. You might think it was for the kids, but nah – it was for the guys, hehe. They have got to be the cutest family ever. Johanna is so free and spontaneous and food loving, and Malakie is smart and curious and sweet; both are affectionate, fun loving and happy kids - no doubt they get all these great traits from their groovy folks.

When we walked in, we saw Dion Warwick leaving – I didn’t know she still tours! I saw this store and it’s so close to my Uncle Mart’s name – made me smile. Wish he could see this.

Wisconsin is so close we just HAD to go, and we are very glad we did. The town of Prescott was actually a really cool town - along their short main street were stores and bars and restaurants, and very friendly people. We had a burger that is made of a bratwurst, but it's a patty - interesting and yummy. Looked like a fun water town with boat docks everywhere and also a fun snow town with snowmobile crossing signs in the streets.

Happy Birthday baby! We got another year in the bag oh yeah! Life is definitely not boring with you - regardless of celebrating birthdays in a different location each year.
It's always great hanging out with friends new and old, but it's even sweeter for a reason. Great group of guys.
KANPAI! (insert Tequila theme song here)

Okay, so maybe famous is stretching it, but made ya look...

Her 2nd annual Kite Festival is coming up, and she was on the news yesterday.

Her website also has lots of info, if you are interested.

Good job Mom, love ya!