Wait a Minute…The Weather Will Change

Well Mimi and Pa have hit the road again. We can hear Ole Willie breaking it down as we write…you know “On the Road again…” yeah you get it. So it is Spring Break week and we thought hey, lets go camping. Cool, good idea. But where?

The where is always a really good question for us. We never quite settle that question until we actually get in Van the Man, our trusted 91 VW Vanagon Weekender edition. Van has learned to just be ready to go where ever we end up pointing him…he’s very compliant. All we knew for sure was that we had to find some sunshine…Mimi even painted her toenails so she could wear her flip flops. It is a must…sunshine.

So after church on Sunday, we got Van all loaded up and headed south…towards the Southern beaches of Oregon. On the way, we had sunshine…and rain…and hail…and gusty winds that caused Pa to try and wrench Van back into the appropriate lane. Like a wild stallion he was all over the place…Pa’s gentle guiding hand kept him contained to his lane.

But the weather was not looking good going over the Coast Range…there was snow…yeah real snow. It’s March for goodness sakes, how bout a little warmth and sunshine. We get to the coast and it is sunny again…nice…but still very windy.

So we settle in a place called Washburne St Park. Lots of empty spaces available, another hazard of not having reservations…often we are left with no room in the inn. But we found a nice spot that actually had a few rays of sunshine bearing down on it. We made a quick French Press of coffee and grabbed the chairs and plopped down in the sunshine. Nothing compares to kicking back in the woods with sunshine bearing down on you…it is a different warmth…unlike any other…it’s all good.


After coffee, Mimi says let’s go down to the beach. Sure thing, it’s nice and warm in my little sweatshirt. So off we go through this little Hobbit forest and on to the beach. Mimi is feeling all goo goo inside and writes a little Mimi loves Pa in the sand. But Pa is starting to feel the brunt of the cold…it is like 38 degrees outside with a really stiff wind chill factor. But Pa being Pa he just toughs it out…reluctantly.

Then from off the ocean comes this crazy something with winds doubling in strength and hail pelting us from the sky like God raining down BB’s from the sky. Ouch!!!! Mimi and Pa take off running for shelter and duck under a covering of Hobbit trees as the torrent passes. Wow…what an experience…

While these experiences are really cool and all…least we forget…we came for some sunshine. Pa is cold…I mean bone chilled. Maybe the next stop for Van the Man is Las Vegas…I hear they have sunshine there.

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?