The proper way to dispose of credit card slips.

2nd floor threshold.

Rule of thumb - if you want to keep it - paint it.

Dad flashing

The regular kind silly that involves roofing.

People ... Tisk tisk tisk

Odds and ends in concrete

2nd floor laundry door

Never quite shut right. Trimmed it, painted it and putting it back.

Photo op of Evan :)

Step by step

I tuck pointed the mortar. Scraped where the water has bubbled the paint and primed.

Need to paint soon.

Water finds a way

It was getting in behind the gutter where the 1895 mortar has come out.

Grrrrrrrr

Water is somehow getting in .... I've had five guys look at it - we cannot figure it out :(

Frustration galore.

It only comes it around 3pm in winter when the roof suddenly melts in the afternoon sun. Likely ice is forcing open a gutter and when the water quickly melts ... It finds a path.

But WHERE IS IT!!!!!

Halloween party theme for Seth's birthday

(Blais is dressed up just like Seth's dad!!)

Washed all 32 windows :)

Nice to be able to see the fall colors!

A foggy day

"LA" is not a city ... It's a country

It was clear, warm and sunny in the valley. We went to Los Toros with Denny. Their bean dip is stunning and one margarita was WOW good and OH MY strong. (I had two)

We drove Denny to LAX and he took off for a gig in Albuquerque. MK and drove to Seal Beach to chill. As we crossed over the river we passed into a THICK fog.

It is quiet. Very hard to see. We lay in blankets on the beach listening to the fog horns of the boats ... And napped.

Mike is coming here on his way home from working in Huntington Beach.

I wonder what is coming next?

An idea

I had an idea.
Tajci helped bring it to life.
Jennifer added polish.
I'm going to start asking to see of anyone wants to help give it legs.

As Tajci said today: a 1,000 mile journey starts with a step.

Kayaking just inside the breakwater in Ventura Harbor.

Venice - brings back memories of when I first moved to LA

Sunset

Vegas to Denny's

MK was curious about Las Vegas and we left the freeway and drove down the strip.  It might have been that we were tired and it might have been just visual overload (after the desert) but we decided not to stop and gamble (or watch the gambling).

And so on we rolled...

I took over driving again in Vegas and drove to Denny's house (290 miles).  We arrived around 10:30pm PST.

Land for sale?

Wow!!

Utah

MK drives again!

From Salina UT to Los Vegas - 306 miles

Denver to Salina UT (450 miles)

Lovely, lovely, lovely

Sunrise!

Too darn early

MK and I got up at 5:20am (4:20am PST) and groggily got going... I had MK go to sleep and I started driving!  I drove to Salina UT and then had MK take over.  There are few more beautiful drives in this country.  It is hard to believe that we can "cross the Rocky Mtn's" in just a few hours!

The Airborne Toxic Event

Both MK and I were blown away.

Five musicians:
Drummer
Bass player (also played upright bass)
The lead singer and the other two each played many instruments including keyboard, piano, violin, guitar).

No computer I could see. Great backlighting. Superb songwriting - it all comes down to GREAT songs - ALL of them were stunning.

I'm a fan!!

Denver

We found the Fillmore Auditorium (site of the evening concert by Airborne Toxic Event) and then found a clean motel within an easy walk. We then walked to the 16th Street Mall. MK needed to work on a script for CPT so I left her happily writing away in an Irish Pub as I wandered the outdoor mall. It was a crisp clear day. Lots of people about. Not one to buy (or look at stuff to think about buying) I'd walked the length of the mall twice before I went back to bug MK.

We chatted a few and I had an Irish Coffee but that didn't begin to make me want to sit still. So off I went again. I am very glad I went because I discovered my favorite thing about this part of Denver (maybe all of Denver - I don't know). They have bikes for rent! You pay $6 for 24 hours and then you can use it for 30 minutes at a time for no additional fee ($1 if u keep it an hour etc ...). Anyway if you are interested in how it works read the details in the pic below.

MY point is I got to take a nice ride and see more ground than I did on foot (even made it to the REI store).

Inside - Outside

IHOP parking lot - Denver

5:30am in Denver is chilly this time of year.  MK is asleep.  I am trying to go back to sleep but ...
(It is quite cold and not cozy here in the sprinter).
Tempted by the Ihop just out side promising free WiFi and all you can eat pancakes but ... Tonight will also be a long night. Need to sleep more.

Hays, KY to Denver

MK can DRIVE

She drive more than ME today!!
Brought us all the way (from midnight to 6am) from Kansas City to Denver.
She was listening to my personal favorite: "The Hunger Games".
Time to sleep now ...

just a few more miles ...

Silly me, instead of HOT spicy food and serious 'octane' I got popcorn and a Mtn Dew...

163 miles for Matt

We weren't sure if we were going to get a hotel room and crash or push all the way to Denver.  I drove to Hays, KS and called a bunch of hotels.  By the time we decided on which one we wanted and bought a six pack of budweiser MK was wide awake and decided to keep on driving!

340 more miles to Denver

MK - 163 more

The Starbucks did the trick and she drove another 163 miles - all the way to Abilene KS!

MK's turn to drive

MK drive the Sprinter for the first time (after a couple of laps in the Subway parking lot) DIRECTLY to Starbucks.

She ordered a TRIPLE expresso.  Her explanation was brief and logical:  "high octane - low volume".

After just a few miles she was happily piloting the Sprinter like a professional driver.

224 miles - getting us to St. Marks at 5:15pm (for the 5:30pm mass).

First leg

I drove the first 356 miles.

Off to LA

This morning my little sister MK (Mary Kate) and I took off on our trip to LA.

I had to run the Sprinter (our tour van) to LA and then fly back (so Tajci can fly out for the tour so that 1) kids don't miss school 2) Tajci isn't gone for more than two weeks 3) either Tajci or I is home with the boys (both of us being gone is out of the question).

Today we left about 8am and drove to Kansas City just in time for 5:30pm mass.

We hit a Starbucks and took off again. The plan is to stop in Denver to see a band we both LOVE in concert ("The Airborne Toxic Event" ... And no I'm not kidding).

I turned on my google latitude if anyone out there is really curious where we are at any given moment (tmblwd@gmail.com)