It's All About the Waiting

I like things right now. I mean come on, anything worth having is worth having right now. When we are hungry, we want fast food...and it better be good. When we want to get somewhere, well we just zip there and back in no time. We want to get better and we want it now...or as Jim Morrison says "we want the world and we want it NOW"!
But as I have said in my former post, getting anywhere is taking lots of extra time. Mimi and Pa are currently residing in a Holiday Inn Express in Sacramento. We have traveled for two days and we have gone exactly 12 hours...with another 4 to go....if all goes well. In the old days we would travel 16 hours in one day...but these aren't those days.
But we sit here and tomorrow we will hopefully pick up Jacob at the Sac Airport at 9 AM. Then we have to wait for another 3 hours for GiGi (Tracey's mom...real name Daphne) to come in from SoCal. Then we head for Yosemite....should make it right around 5 if we don't hit snow or ice.
I am ready to be in Yosemite already...I mean I'd like to be there right now. I love Yosemite...I have been there at least 30 times and have spent the equivelent of a year of my life there, climbing, backpacking, hiking, ice skating, playing in the snow with my kids, sneaking in to the Ahwahne Hotel pretending to be a rich person...some of the best times in my life have been spent there. And now, something I could never imagine...cruising Yosemite with my grandkids. Wow...when did my life flash by me...my GK's for Christmas in Yosemite...its amazing. I can't wait...

Jackson (6)

Aidan (3)

Chloe (7 months today)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Well, Mimi and Pa are off on another adventure. We have loaded up Van the Man (our VW Bus) and are heading south to Yosemite for Christmas. When M and P travel, they like to go with the flow, roll with the wind, and tumble like the tumbleweeds.
But this trip, we have the kids we're traveling with. I mean our grown up kids and their kids. Traveling with a family of five (in their own car) is different. They stop more, they take longer at those stops, and it is always very noisy. Lots of "I Wants" and "I Don't Want To's". When you are middle aged and approaching middle age (like Mimi is), your tolerance for those kinds of things is a little thin. It kind of makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck...until...well until they say..."PA...MIMI...we love you." This statement is usually accompanied by a big hug and a squeeze...suddenly...it all seems worth it. All the different demands and schedules and stops seem so worth it...so...well...looked forward to.
Now don't get me wrong...the freedom and independance to do what you want is still very attractive. But the joy of interuptions far out weighs the joy of independance. It's kinda like what happens with God. It is awesome to have independance, but it is always better to have Him interupt your schedule. Yeah...grandkids are clearly from God. As we always say...Grandkids are your reward for not killing your own kids.

What A Group

This weekend, Mimi and Pa had the awesome joy of hosting our small group for a shop day. Now we have lots of great people in our group who thought it would be fun to spend the day together learning how to build stuff. So Pa was able to find a bunch of free recycled wood and our project was to make my famous Adirondack chair. So we met early and stayed late working really hard. It was loud, dusty, and really super awesome. We completed two chairs but have all the parts for seven more ready for the next time we meet. Great way to spend the day. Here's some pix.

Brady and Jace working hard

Stacey and Amy...the ladies rock

Good friends and good food

Lacey and Brooklyn supervise

Jace enjoying the fruit of his labor

Okay So I Got Tagged

So our friend Linda sends me this email telling me I have to pick a picture from my fourth picture file and the fourth picture in that file and then write about it. So I goes to the fourth file, and scan down to the fourth picture and what do you suppose I find...well this one.















This is my most favorite picture of Mimi and I. We were on our way to New York, waiting in a pub at PDX. I had my laptop open and and snapped a picture in Photo Booth.

Now I love it because first of all, Mimi looks so beautiful in this pic. I mean she is beautiful all the time, but she looked especially so here. I look...happy. We look happy. What's cool is that we were happy.

This was day one of what would be a 10 week break for me. I had worked so hard to try and be prepared to leave and I really felt good about leaving. So this is a special picture for me. I wish it were one I had taken on my good camera...but it kind of adds to the specialness of the picture.

So, there you go, Mimi and Pa off on a bigtime adventure, happy, content, and still very much in love.

How Did We All Get Here?

Well, if you are a follower of the Adventures of Mimi and Pa you will know that in June we got to go to the UK for a trip of a lifetime. Our most favorite time and place while we were there was our chance encounter with Trevor Morriss in Conwy Wales. I wrote about him being a brother from a different mother...and he is.

Well last night we got to go into Portland to see him play with his music partner Paul. Their band is called Matching Ties (www.matchingties.com). They were here in the States to play in Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. Trevor had a friend from his past that lived in Portland and she scheduled a couple gigs for them on this side of our fair state while they were here.

So, what a great time we had listening to their music and catching up with them before and after their music. Trevor is a really truly great guy...and they are both phenomenal musicians.

But what was so random was...we had met Trevor in the little town of Conwy. He met his friend in a Kibutz in Israel back in the early 70's. Trevor met Paul randomly in Munich. And also there last night was a guy named Steve whom Paul met randomly in Italy. And there we all were together...all randomly knowing each other..and yet all of us just hit it off so well.

How does this happen? It is so cool the way people get to know each other. We talked and laughed and shared stories...what a joy. Now I have some new brothers and sisters from different mothers.

No Country for Old Men

Sooooooo...it has been a long and crazy week. As we speak Chloe is on her way home from the Hospital...Mimi and Pa are relieved and so thankful...on many levels. We of course are so thankful for her speedy recovery and how well she is doing. It is a miracle what God has done to bring about healing for this precious little girl. But the relief comes in another form as well...our two favorite grandsons will be heading home.
Now don't get me wrong...we have loved having them at our house...they are a joy and a delight. But they flat wear a person right out...I mean...they can make a grown man cry with delight when they finally go to bed...whew!!!!!! It is a red wine kind of night when the two little buzz saws finally stop their spinning. Wow!

Now today...well it was an awesome day. Pa took the boys...and their Uncle Boomer (Jacob) to the new Space Museum and IMax theater today (www.evergreenspacemuseum.com) and did we ever have an awesome time. We saw the entire history of space exploration and an awesome 3D movie about the space station...it was so cool. But I tell you...I was shot/spent/toast/fried/pummeled when we got home. I put Aidan down for a nap, Jackson I parked in front of a movie (the best babysitter) and Boomer and I crashed.
It was exhausting. But tonight...it will be quiet...no coming into Mimi and Pa's bed in the morning...no pancakes together for breakfast...
I wonder when we HAVE to watch them again?

Okay...It Is A Miracle

So Chloe has been returned to us...and she looks fantastic. They have opened her head, removed parts of her skull, reworked what needed to be done, put her head back together...and she's fine...no better than fine...she's perfect. How is that possible? Who thinks they can actually do this and get away with it. To be so secure...or arrogant to assure us that they can do all of this to our little Chloe and actually return her to us better than when she went in.
It is an overwhelming thought...that those who are created in the image of God, can be endowed with the gifts of God, to be the healer and fixer of a little girls head. I can only hope that they give credit to God for their skill and gift every day. To try and claim anything else would be blasphemous. Thank you God for creating us in your image...especially Dr Wehby.

Chloe's Adventure

Well today is a really important day for Mimi and Pa...but especially for our precious little grand daughter Chloe...or as Aidan likes to call her...Coco. She is here today at Emmanuel hospital in Portland to have surgery to correct her skull...two of her plates are fused together...and reshape her eye sockets. She is in the hands of one of the finest surgeons in the country...but more importantly...she is in the hands of a God who loves her.
It's a weird thing to think of turning your child or grandchild over to the care and control of another. It was a very weird moment watching my little girl have to release control of her little girl. No one really is prepared for that moment...that decision...that complete abandon. It is a huge adventure...but it's an adventure in faith. After knowing all the facts, reading all the information, being assured that the very best people are doing the job...you still have to actually let go of her.
We will keep you posted on her progress...we're sure she will be fine...but it is at moments like this that you want to know she is in the hands of a loving God. Protect her Lord.

Something New

Hey check out my new blog called "The Walker's Journal". It is just more musings on the world and life from someone slowly walking through it. See ya all soon.

Ahhhhh...Morro Bay

Okay, I can't believe I used to live here. Morro Bay is awesome...why did I ever leave? Oh yeah, seven years of drought and no work...thats the way it was in 1991.
So, we heads on down from Santa Cruz to Morro Bay. Before we leave we stops off and get some goddies for Van (the Man)...(our bus) at a great VW shop in Santa Cruz. Now Van is 17 years old and we felt as if he might be needing a little support you know...so we gets him a...well it is a Manzere...you know a Bro...well okay its called a bra. Something to keep him snug and firm...and keep the rocks and bugs out of his teeth.
So any way, we have a great trip to Morro Bay...down the Salinas Valley and up and over the hills through Paso Robles...and down into God's greatest air conditioner...the Central Coast. So when it is eight hundred degrees in the valley, that heat draws moisture from the Pacific Ocean and cools off the coast. Now if your here looking to add to your skin cancer...forget it...it's cold and foggy...most of the summer. Come back on Thanksgiving day...it will be sunny.
But it is so refreshing to me...so...well its so cool. I mean cool not cool.
So of course we have no reservations any where...we're really gamblers at heart. But in the summer time the beaches are filled with the direct descendants of dust bowl farmers who all landed in Bakersfield, or Fresno, or Selma, or Ripon...you would swear the dust bowl had hit again. They come to the coast with trailors piled high with tentage and 14 bicycles per truck.
So the likelyhood of getting some place was slim. We checked two or three places and they had nothing. But then we called a place that was right on the beach, right next to The Rock (this and the PGE stacks are the landmarks for MB) and lo and behold...they had a spot for us. We snagged it pronto and came and set ourselves up for two nights of MB, Los Osos, and San Luis Obispo fun times.
We went to Los Osos and found all the places we lived when we lived here. We went to SLO and saw all the places we lived when we lived there. We also went to the courthouse cause Mimi needed to get a copy of our marriage license so she can actually become a real Wertz (another long story). It was hilarious...it listed my occupation as Gas Station Attendant...I can't believe I didn't say I was Oil Technition or something. I now know why Mimi's mom and dad were so against us getting married.
It is strange to come back and see things so different, and yet so many exactly the same.This place has exploded with new stores and shopping centers. We went to the world famous farmers market in downtown SLO. They close of about eight blocks of the main downtown street for tons of farmers, vendors, and food places. There were literally thousands of people walking up and down the streets...it was like a street fair. We bought some food and went over to the creek and sat on a bench and watched the water trickle down towards the ocean. It was so quiet and peaceful...while only a half a block away...it was a madhouse.
This was the creek my kids used to come and play in during the summer. Mimi and her frienf Helyn would bring the kids to the Mission and let the kids play in the creek while they connected about their lives. The kids would play and fight...you know just be kids.
As we sat on that bench and ate our food, we reminisced about our lives when we were much younger. We reflected upon the fact that the more things change...like SLO had...the more it stays the same. People making memories, building stories, processing and growing, and changing. And yet for one moment in time...we were so there again. I could even smell the gas and oil stained work clothes of a kid who had just met the girl of his dreams...oh my...the places you will go.

Off On Another Adventure

Well we are off again. I mean gone...not like the normal off we are. Now we are in Van the Man (our VW Bus) and headed south...to Cali (that is fornia for the unfamiliar). We pack up Van on Sunday night, get up early Monday morn and head south. Van running clean and smooth. But if you know Oregon, any car can run clean and smooth for the first 2 hours heading south...then you hit the mountains. But Van did an awesome job getting us over all the Oregon passes and we made it to Cali in great time.
But NorCali has it's own challenges...like it's own mountains, dried up lakes (like Shasta), and of course the nearest to ell as I ever want to get...Redding...I hate that place. Like Elaine on Seinfeld says about Hell; "it's the heat, my God the heat. And the ragged clothing...bleeeeahhhh!!!!" That's Redding. The one redeeming fact about Redding...that's right...it's the closest In-N-Out Burger to Oregon...oh yeah...Double Double with cheese baybe!!!
So after Redding it is flat...but hot. Mimi takes a turn guiding Van down the road...Pa takes a little nap. Fortunately for us, we got the AC fixed in Van before we left.
Now most uninformed people would think...well duh...of course you have to have AC . But AC and VW Busses is a bit of a stretch...not only is it Yuppie Bourgeoisie to have it in a bus, but it cuts your power in half. It is a big sacrifice to use it and have it in a bus...only for the perfect conditions...like the Cali Central Valley...flat and hot. Perfect AC time...and it was awesome.
Our first stop in Cali...Napa Valley.
Now even though I grew up about an hour or so from Napa, I never really spent much time there as a young person. In my early days of young adulthood I was never really interested in Napa because it was a scene I wanted nothing to do with. So to be where Mimi and I are now, with wine tasting as a high on the list hobbie...we were wonderfully surprised at just how cool it is in Napa Valley. We found a great campspot, cooked some great grub, and drifted off to sleep in Van the Man...what a joy.
Day two of the Cali Adventure has us stopping and sampling some of the fine products produced in the region...very responsibly I might add...but then we headed south again. We were Santa Cruz bound. But on the way...we made a little detour...through my hometown of Concord.
Now Concord is another hot and dry town...but it is where I grew up. We saw the train tracks I used to walk on to see how far I could balance on the track. It is now a part of BART tracks...not sure I would get too close. Then we found my old house where I grew up. It looked pretty much the same. After shooting 5 or 8 pictures though I realized I was standing in front of the wrong house. But it was good to see it and know it was a really important part of my life.
Going home is really important to the soul I believe. It helps us to remember from where we have come and to see that we may not be perfect, but hey at least we're not still the same. And it's good to know that despite the changes we may go through, some things remain the same.
So then we headed for Santa Cruz...of course there is no where for a hundred miles to camp...and we were lucky to find a reasonable hotel at 11 PM. But we did, and had a good sleep.
The next morning, we got to go to the famous Cowells Beach...it's the place I learned to surf. I remember that day so well...1971...no wetsuit...cut-off levi's...sweatshirt...March in NorCali ocean...cold...and colder. But brother did I surf...I caught wave after wave...I was hooked. It was awesome to be there on such a beautiful day with Mimi...but we needed to head south and so we were off again...this time we were bound for SLOtown...more about that tomorrow.
Goodnight.

The Bug In

You know something...some people do things on Sundays that don't involve church...I was not aware of that. Last Sunday, Mimi and I had the chance to run with that crowd who do other things on a Sunday. We packed it up early and headed to Portland in the bug...that's right...the 57. We drove all the way to Portland International Raceway for the annual Rose City Bug In. It is all VW all the time. Swapmeet, carshow, drag-racing, networking...all the fun stuff...it sounded really cool.
Now driving the bug on a normal trip is just a blast...but driving the bug to Portland on the freeway makes Mimi just a little nervous. Not having seatbelts or a gas gauge is scarey enough, but the bridges in Portland almost did her in. But we made it...safe and sound.
The hilarious part was when we arrived they asked us if we were showing the bug. "Uhhhhhh...wellll....we weren't planning on it" I said.
"But you should...you could win prizes" the guy said.
"Sign me up" I says...and off we go to the car show.
As I'm driving in I see cars that I have seen in the VW magazines...realizing I have no chance of winning, I still pull up and park the bug next to some hard core racer type cars. It is like apples next to oranges...you know there fruit, but their completely different. My bug is almost completely stock...and it is really nice.
























As soon as we parked the car, we get out and people start taking pictures of it....some people thought it was so cool...just like I do. It is a weird feeling to think that others see what you have and wish they could have it. So many people were so happy checking out all the cool things about the car...didn't they see the little flaws? Don't they see the things yet to be done? Why did they see the good that I had lost sight of? As I was over Jonesing over the bugs that were flawless...some were trying to imagine owning a bug as nice as mine.
Why do we do that? Why do we forget how great our things, our lives, our situations really are. I hear people say all the time, "if I could only be...only live...only have...my life would be so wonderful." What's wrong with just being content with what we have?
Well Mimi and I had a wonderful day...as I walked through all those beautiful cars...I realized again just how beautiful she is...how much I love to hang out with her...how thankful that she indulges all of my little hobbies...how she makes them hers as well...she is my wife...but she's my best friend too. Pa is very happy...Mimi is really a classic.

If Your Interested....

Hey I know it's a little weird and self serving to a certain degree...but if your interested in what is going on while I am on Sabbatical check out the link to my other blog (Bills Sabbatical Diary). I am going to post some excerpts of the book I am writing as well. I would love any feedback you might have by posting in the comments.

There's No Place Like Home

Well we made it home. Little McMinnville Oregon. Who would have ever imagined a few years ago we would have prefered to be in Hooterville insted of London England. But it's true. The beauty of living some place small is the it does not have all the crud you have to endure to live somewhere "exciting."
Here are some things about home that are really great;

• Family- Well nothing compares to flying into PDX at 11 PM and there waiting for you are three little kids with signs saying Welcome Home Mimi and Pa. Nothing compares to the welcome you get when people you love are actually glad to see you. We didn't get little kids saying "Welcome to London, Leave Your Money, Now Get Lost" when we arrived in London. No, having a wonderful family to come home to is...well...it is priceless.

• Home- think about all that you have in your home, a comfortable bed, internet you don't have to pay 12 pounds a day for (thats 24 bucks for 24 hours), your yard and garden...thats right...those same things we get so tired of, we also come to miss when we are not home.
• Food- access to your own food (that you prepare how you like every time), great coffee (everytime), variety, and our own food from our garden and fruit trees (loads and loads of cherries).
• Peace- just knowing that your home is a place where you can be yourself and not pretend you are something else, or not worried about how to get somewhere, or...well...actually driving on the right side of the road...it brings peace to be at home.

Well Mimi and Pa's adventures are far from over...we still have a lot of adventures left in us. Just the adventure of everyday life can be really thrilling. So we'll keep posting blogs of our adventures, and if your still interested you can follow along with us.
As most of you probably know by now, I am also on sabbatical right now. What a blessing that is to know I have six weeks (well actually 5 weeks, 4 days, and 13 hours left) to get refreshed, renewed, and restored so I am fit to attack another seven years of ministry. During that time I am going to try and finish a book I started three years ago and for the last two years have let slide. It's working title is "Driving a VW Bus in an SUV World." It is about feeling like your oddball and the attempts to relate to God and others despite your weirdness...or something like that. So I'd appreciate your prayers as I try to finish...it's hard because it is very personal and requires a lot of self evaluation as well...besides the fact that it is hard work to make sense of all that garbage within me.

That Sense of Awe

Some of you may know that I have worked really hard to make church accessible to people who don't normally like church. Over the years it has been a mission to remove barriers and make us in the church more accessible.

So imagine my surprise when after a long day of "power touring" around London, we show up at Westminster Abbey...yeah the one Chuck and Di got married in...right at 4 PM in shorts and backpacks and subway grime. Tracey went up to the really nicely dressed fella in a suit and fetching flowing robe and asked him what it would take to get in to see this unbeliveable church building. He said you have to get tickets...but the Abbey is going to close right after this service. This was our one real day in London, so it looked like our hope of getting in were dashed. But then the nice robe-y fella says, you can go to the service without a ticket. You mean dressed like we were...sure you canhe says...you are welcome.

Wow...can you believe it? We are in Westminster Abbey! Now the thing about the Abbey is, you don't need a bunch of posters and such to get people's attention...just the ceilings kept me mezmerized for an hour. Not to mention all the statues of people who have been faithful servants of the church but also the Lord.

I mean when you hear that organ start and the choir sing...wow...Chris Tomlin's got nothing on these guys. No fancy sermon with three points and a flashy ending....just a couple of Scripture passages and lots of standing and sitting and repeating after me's.

Now Mimi and I aren't exactly seekers, but the paper they gave us said if we will just listen and have an open mind, God could speak to us. We were so moved! We were awestruck!

But mostly we felt as if we were welcome both here in this huge building designed to help people feel a sense of awe, but also by the wonderful people we met.

Seeker freindly can take all shapes and forms...but mostly it is just being people friendly

So Maybe It's Not Soooooo Bad

You know, in America, we take a lot of things for granted. Really, I'm not kidding. One of the things we have that the UK does not is a million radio stations. We have AM and FM and any where and every where there are radio stations galore...some good and some bad.

But in the UK there are basically four stations. BBC 1-4. So as your driving and get those long silences...you know when Mimi is looking at the map...you know...I need a little...MUSIC!!!

So you turn the radio on and you have a choice of Classical (love it but not good driving music), UK Charts (a wide variety of Pop...except I love it when Amy Winehouse comes on), something else I'm not sure of, and then BBC4...mostly talk radio. So we ended up a lot on 4. 

Now it's not like the talk radio in the States...no way...this is actually good...it is smart radio. Now don't get me wrong...I hated it at first. I went on and on about communist propaganda and the lack of freedom...real freedom in the UK. But after a while, i kind of started liking it. They would discuss issues in depth with people from both sides equally represented. They would do short plays of historical subjects. They would do the news every hour. And, they would read books. Now generally I hate this. But I was completly won over, especially by one book in particular. Now if you are a guy friend of mine...stop reading...cause you are going to think I have gone...well bad.

But the book was called "Wife of the North" (I know...I know). But it was great...so great I added it to our Blog list. You should read it. I am looking for the podcast of it and I will make that available to you as well. It was great...Tracey and I would plan our driving around when it would be on...9:45 precisely. 

Soooooooo, the lesson is, sometimes when we have all we want we miss that which might benefit us more than having and re-having that which we know...or something like that.

More of Those Crazy Self Portraits

Okay so we're still freaks. But we do have a lot of fun taking these pictures. We seem to take turns looking either really good or just so so. So here are a few more from the places we have visited.

This one is taken in Edinburgh, Scotland

This one is in front of the Loch Ness

This is in the Cotswold area in England

This one is taken at Lower Slaughter, England

This is in front of one of the Stones of Avebury

And here we are in Piccadilly Circus, London

You know, I keep looking at these pictures and reflecting on what it takes to have a really happy and "successful" marriage, and the basic elements seem to be respect, trust, and a really good sense of humor, and it really doesn't hurt to marry a girl like Mimi.

There Are Some Strange Things in This World

So as our trip is heading south, (I mean literally not figuratively) we set our course for Stonehenge. Now we have seen lots of old churches and castles that are all 800 years old. But the thought of seeing something that was erected 2,000 years ago is pretty compelling.

But as we had breakfast with a couple of know it alls (the biggest downside of the B&B life…everyone thinks their interesting) they tell us how overdone Stonehenge is…too commercial…and not accessible anymore. So they happen to mention this place called Avebury (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury).

So as soon as we could break away from Cliffie Claven and Chatty Cathy, we head south. After seven or eight  missed turns (a good day) we arrive in this little tiny town of Avebury.

No one can really prepare you for what you find when you arrive. 

I mean we saw some other stone circles that I swear some farmers got together and moved with their tractors just to get the rocks out of their fields and then told everyone they had been there forever. But these were really really cool. Some of these stones had been standing in this field 3,000 years before the birth of Jesus (that is now 5,000 years old). 1,500 years before the Temple in Jerusalem was constructed, these worshippers of something arranged these giant stones into a very detailed pattern for some unknown reason.

Not only were the stones standing in the field, but they had obviously dug a deep gully around the perimeter and seemingly piled all the dirt into a burm around the gully. What were they doing? What were they thinking. What were they worshipping?

Unfortunatly, many of the stones were torn down by marauding tribes and by the church. The stones were used by the local church to construct their building to bring glory to God. I saw their church and frankly, I was more inspired by the stones.

When I see these stones I don’t see a bunch of pagans dancing around naked amongst the stones I some pagan rituals. I see people who were earnestly looking to explain this inner desire to know and touch the sacred within each and every person and the great wonders of the magnificent world all around us.

In Romans, Paul says that we can see the hand of God reveled in what was created in nature. David said the Heavens declare the Glory of God. These people found a way to express their awe and wonder by creating a natural temple made with the most majestic items they could find, stones, earth, water, grasses. And then the part of their nature that is like Creator God assembled them into a massive temple to the God they maybe never had a chance to know. Their sincerity and commitment could never be called into question…albeit misguided from an eternal perspective.

Why is it that we have to destroy everything that doesn’t fit neatly into our little box? Why can’t we recognize the God qualities in others? Why can’t the church see people and their practices like God does…feeble attempts to explain the sacred in each one of us. When we meet the source of that sacredness, it does put it all into perspective…but I still don’t get it right all the time. I would hope God’s grace will steer and guide me rather than destroy me. Trust me, I am counting on it.

A Dream Come True

So you know, I've been playing golf for 30 some years, and all that time I thought if I ever got to Scotland I would love to pay St Andrews. Well Mimi said I could and so we drove there and well it all worked out and I got to play. I said "c'mon Mimi, you play too." So she said yes and so we both played.

Here I am at hole number One at the Old Course (I thought they'd have rules about flip flops...what kind of joint are they running here).

So I get the obligatory Caddie (from a real Caddie Shack). His name was Bryan McCrackky.

So I was on the first green lining up my putt (putting for par...I thought this course was a lot tougher)

Of course it is a tradition to get your picture taken after completing your first hole (oh the pressure was off finally).

Mimi was a wreck after her 13 on the first hole...but boy you got to give it to the old gal for hangin in there...and at her age!

So we make it all the way around...and despite the Arse Whoopping she got, Mimi was so nice and kind to William the Conquerer.

Are you on drugs, we could never afford to play there. This all happened on the really cool Women's Putting Club course. 18 holes of PeeWee Golf...but at St. Andrews. Our cost was 1.5 pounds (3 bucks) versus 100 plus pounds (200 bucks). But it was awesome. So if anyone ever asks, yes I did play a round of golf at St Andrews...so I got that goin for me...which is nice!!!!

The Loch Ness Incident

Well so you know, Mimi and I were compelled by our two grandsons, Jackson and Aidan, to go to Loch (or Lake) Ness. You may have heard that there is this "monster" who lives in the lake. Well of course me being a black and white kind of guy, all science no emotion, you know me...well I just think it is all the ramblings of some Scottish fishermen who have been sampling Scotlands finest malt beverage (not the beer that's for sure).

But you know we just couldn't face our grandkids and not say we went looking for "Nessie" as they like to call her (apperantly it's a she...one more reason to belive it is a myth started by Seamus McTartan). So despite the 300 mile round trip, the exhorbrant price of fuel, and the commitment to one valuable day...we headed north to Inverness. 

We arrived and found the road to the Loch and headed back south down a very congested road. I can't believe all the saps who obviously believe this ridiculous myth. But they pile into the gift shops and buy all the junk for their grandkids (oh wait that was us).

So first chance we got, I pulls the car over to the side and head down to the water so Mimi and I could take one of our self portraits. 

So then Mimi says let me take one of you...I told her no because I look fat and all...but when I know she wont back down, I figure, hey I better send out some vibes you know.

Well then I was actually standing in the water, cause of all the things I'm afraid of, a mythical seamonster isn't one of them. So as I'm standing in the freezing water, Mimi starts shouting something...I'm like "what I have no idea what your saying." It's just like how she tries to talk to me while she's walking into another room...you know. 

So as she's taking pictures and trying to talk to me, she's starting to scream at me. Well I wos getting kind of hacked you know...who does she think she is? 

But the screaming persists...

"LOOK BEHIND YOU" she says. For what?

So I looks behind me, and as usual Mimi is seeing things that aren't really there.

Next thing I know...Mimi's passed out on the ground...must have been something she ate.

So I gets her loaded up on my back and haul her back to the car...what was it you ate I ask her...it was Nessie she says. Maybe it was the Haggis, I never know with Mimi.

OUR SELF PORTRAITS

I know, we are weird. People ask us all the time, "would you like us to take your picture?" No we like to take our own pictures. These have been taken with the laptop, my Canon, my iPhone, and we have taken some with Mimi's little digital (but we're Wertz's and forgot the card reader and the cord). So here's a selection from various places.

In a Dublin Elevator

On the Coast of Ireland

At Slane Castle

At Conwy Castle

At a sheep ranch in Scotland

My fav...at PDX

In Philly being silly

Waiting in Chicago

Empire St Building NYC