Sedona Road Trip

It's unusual that we have an opportunity to visit a place neither of us have evern been before. Today was that day.

We started by hopping off Interstate 17 at US Hwy 89A... the "alternate" route. That took us down, down, down through Oak Creek Canyon. Did I say around and around and around, as well?

...Count 'em...

The canyon ends at the city limits of Sedona. We took a look, and drove right on through, having no current need for any crystals, T-shirts, cappucino, palm readings or anything else on the main drag marketplaces.

We wanted to see Red Rock Canyon. And we did.

This is Cathedral Rock. Just one of the hundreds of amazing rock formations in the Red Rock area. We took lots of pictures. Lots. We'll put up a slide show when we have a better signal. We haven't had a slide show here in quite a while.

Robert Earl Keen Said...

"...the road goes on forever, and the party never ends." We think this unique sculpture was in Gallup, NM, but we can't be sure. It's all a blur any more.

Stuck in Flagstaff, Mile 1852.

I "knocked on wood" goddammit! You all read it here. So why, some sixty miles or so after our stop at the Jackrabbit Trading Post, did the engine suddenly lose power?

We had to pull off on the shoulder, where it finally died. We waited a couple of minutes, and on the second attempt it started right up. It was flooding for some reason. Back on the highway, we made it another 10 miles before it did it again.

We called our road service and got the phone number for a service center in Flagstaff. We had two more "episodes" before we finally made it to the Flagstaff RV Service Center.

The problem: It was a Friday afternoon, they closed at 5:30, there were 3 rigs in front of us... and they're not open Saturday. About 5:30 they at least got in to check the fuel pressure- good. Problem is not yet another fuel pump. Filter was clear, no blockages. Code reader showed a couple of sensors having problems that could conceivably be sucking the power down. All that pollution equipment that wasn't in vehicles when I was a kid!

Time was up. We found "Black Bart's RV Park, Steakhouse, Music Hall with Singing Waiters". Holy Cow! We didn't eat there, as the menu was way overpriced, and the parking lot was packed to the rafters, so to speak. Instead, we found yet another great Mexican restaurant... Salsa Brava. It was a "pork night". I had the Adovada Combo, and Margaret had the Carnitas Combo. It was good, good, good! The pineapple-habanero salsa was delicious, but not nearly as hot as advertised. My only disappointment of the night.

Since we're stuck here for the weekend, and going to miss the small Scottish Deerhound LGRA (8 entries) on Monday morning, we decided to "make lemonade". Today we're going to Sedona... gonna get our auras and chi adjusted to some new age brain-mush music or something. Or maybe we'll just go see the Red Rocks. Stand by.

Here It Is

Well you just know we had to stop at the Jackrabbit Trading Post near Joseph City, AZ.

So. How much did we spend in the Jackrabbit Trading Post? You tell us!

Sad.

A once glorious place, passing into history.

Mile... oh, Big Whoop!

The object was to just get moving again. I we were in danger of succumbing to laziness at the Garth rancho. So, around 3PM we headed out, got through Albuquerque to the Flying J (for a fill up of what should be our last sub-$3.90/gal gas. We made it all the way to Milan- a distance of 107 miles. Total mileage now stands at 1609, with 860 miles to go to the first event site! It's all downhill from here! Uh, except for all the uphill parts.

Cooler than Todd's I-Phone!

When we arrived at Steve and Joan's place, home to Scottish Deerhounds, Galgos, and alien Pugs, the first thing Steve just had to show us was his AmazonKindle Reader. I'd heard about them, but didn't really know much, and frankly, was prepared to be underwhelmed.

Hah! Where to start...? 10.3oz, with a display that looks just like a paper page. (No back light! At night you have to turn on your reading light, just like a real book!) No glare, either. That's a good place to start. I hate reading articles and books on a laptop.. blogs, and newspapers' online sports sections are about all I can handle. I can handle this. And my aging eyes can sure handle scalable fonts!

It's priced about like an 3G iPhone, and is packed with about as many features, (except the phone part, of course). $359, available only from Amazon, includes the EVDO data network, so you can download books right off the NY Times best seller lists, and more, including magazines, blogs, and on and on and on. No need to find a hot spot. The only wires you ever need for it are attached to your ear buds, if you download a talking book!

Instead of listing everything it can do, I'll just point you to the link above.

There's lists of features and functions, videos of testimonials, and more. I'm pretty sure we'll be carrying fewer pounds of books around in the Express come Christmas...

HT to our "hand model extraordinaire", Steve Garth. ;0)

Land of Enchantment.

New Mexico has the most amazing, and constantly shifting and changing, cloud formations.

On the other side of the Sandias, the sun is setting, giving those of us on this side a spectacular light show. And the people who live here get this every single day!

We want to be those people.

Aliens in New Mexico

So.. who remembers The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension ?

Hmmm? Am I right? Hmmmmmm? Am I?

Save the Planet, Be Humiliated on the BBC

Apparently, it's a real... car... quadracycle. Don't get caught dead in one.

Summer Hunting With the Family

Yes, it's possible. If you get up really early on a July morning, even in New Mexico, you can get your dogs out in the field before it gets too warm, and the snakes wake up.

Early means 5:00AM if you want to get to the fields near Moriarty at the crack of dawn. We loaded up Sandia with his sister, Maya, and his aunt, the notorious Camille, in Steve's Explorer and headed out at 5:30 in moderately cool 58 degree temps.

By 7:30, we'd run two jacks, and the temperature started to rise. We headed back to the vehicle, and by 8:30 we were meeting Joan and Margaret at the once-closed, and now re-opened with new owners, East Mountain Grill, (No web page). As good, or better than we remembered.

This is our "day off" from travelling. I've got a little project to finish on the motor home, and mostly we're just kicking back. Maybe we'll go ride the "World's longest aerial tramway" to the top of our Galgo's namesake mountain. Or maybe not, now that I've checked the rates. :-(

Maybe we'll just sit tight, and await tonight's next powerful thunderstorm.

Day 5, Mile 1502- Edgewood, NM

Sandia's back in the town of his birth whelp.

More tomorrow... we're gonna have us some fun.

Day 4, Mile 1347

Tucumcari tonight! If that sounds familiar, it may be because it's on countless billboards from Oklahoma City to Santa Monica, and from El Paso to Yellowstone. Or... you may remember that I've also used it before.

And your math skills haven't left you if you figured out we only drove 258 miles today. Needing dog food, and that all-important Route 66 bumper sticker (and a couple of T-shirts, as it turned out), we didn't leave Elk City until after Noon.

The museum looks nice, but we didn't have time to go through it. In fact there are a cluster of museums, and they can all be viewed for one price; $4 for AARP members.
The view from "The Road" (above), and proof (below) that "everything old is new again". This trailer was hand-built, using plans published in Popular Science (or a similar magazine), before WWII.

Seen one lately?

Smaller, by orders of magnitude, than what you see on clifftops throughout the West and Southwest, this "wind farm" was at the Farm Museum, which is also part of the Route 66 complex.

*******

Dinner tonight was at Del's in Tucumcari. Been in town at least 4 times and have never eaten anywhere else, and they don't even have liquor! So that should tell you something.

Hey, You Care!

I guess everyone's fed up with ObaMcCain...

My Cabinet meetings will be held, appropriately, at the liquor Cabinet!


(Shamelessly stolen from Patrick Burns' Terrierman blog. HT to Patrick!)

Day 3, Mile 1089

Those who read the comments on these posts, will already be aware that this bridge was built by reader Pam's father. Those who don't read the comments, well, here's a bit of what you miss:

"Wow! Y'all are in my hometown! Forest Manor has been there since before I was born. Head just a little ways down Millcreek Rd and you'll see a house with a pretty little covered bridge in front. That's where I grew up. My dad was a big fan of covered bridges and built that little jewel, using all local materials and old-timey building techniques."

We've known Pam (and Glen) for a number of years, and I don't think I ever, in a million years, would have pegged her as Lebanese ;-)

So, whose hometown are we in tonight? Elk City, Oklahoma, some 450 or so miles down the road from Lebanon. I know one thing: Somewhere right near this exit is the National Route 66 Museum, and you'd best believe we'll stop in for a little visit before we leave in the morning. Funny... it's not like we haven't gone this route a dozen times before; it's just that we're treating this trip as kind of a vacation, because no matter how much business we do at the events in California- it ain't gonna cover the gas!

We'll probably have one more long day's run like we did yesterday and today. There's a method to our madness.. we get the long ones out of the way early so when the going gets more, uh, interesting in New Mexico, Arizona, and California, we'll still have plenty of time left to shorten up the daily trip legs. We also want to spend more than a day visiting with friends in New Mexico.

Meanwhile, my discipline with my right foot's paid off, as we logged an impressive 8.6 MPG on the last fill-up! This machine's never run so good; Knock wood.

Day 2, Mile 637

That's more like it. 387 miles today. Over 1/5th of the way to Lompoc. 637 miles in the books. Got our second fill-up at the Flying J in Sullivan, MO, and we're getting 8MPG. You laugh, but that's good mileage. Dropping to 58MPH seems to do the trick.

After "sleeping" without power last night, in the humidity and sound of droning big rig diesel engines, we decided tonight would be a campground night. Smart campers that we are, we belong to Passport America, so Margaret perused the campground guide for cheap places on our route, and here we are at the Forest Manor Motel & RV Park in Lebanon, MO. It's on "The Mother Road", and it looks like it's been here since Route 66 was the only way to "motor West". We'll spend some more of this trip on this historic highway, so stay tuned. I realized that among the bumper sticker collection we have on the rear of the Express for places we really, really like, we're missing one for Route 66. We'll have to rectify that, maybe once we get into New Mexico.

The rain and humidity have begun to abate, and with it our "Service Engine Soon" light has gone off. I wish I knew which sensor where was causing it. High humidity and/or heavy rain light it up. The induction system's been cleaned, and I recharged the K&N air filter, (and I'm really embarrassed about how filthy it was). The beast really ran well when I left Rob's shop... but that was a low humidity day. We'll get it figured out eventually.

Tonight, it's a shower and a viewing of "There Will be Blood", and tomorrow we'll sleep in! Next stop should be somewhere near the Oklahoma/Texas Panhandle border. Stay tuned.

Day 1, Mile 250.

Yeah. I know. We didn't get very far today. That's us... the blue line, parked for the night at a rest area just West of Indy. Sign says no overnight parking or camping, but we've stayed here before, and so have most of the trucks that surround us and keep us safe.

The green line is Microsoft Street & Trips recommended route. Reality check, and experience led me away from it immediately. Only a fool would take 80 south of Chicago... on a Friday night... or any night... or day.

We'll be on the road much earlier tomorrow.. especially if the state cops boot us out. Unlikely.

UPDATE: 8:30 am, day 2, still sitting at the rest area as the rain is falling at a rate of an inch an hour. Did I mention our initial fill-up yesterday was $260? What a fun trip this is going to be!

Mile "0"

It's been a while, hasn't it. I could lie and say I was waiting for more guesses on the previously posted "quiz". Guess three is all I'm going to get, and all three were correct. The answer was, of course, "Twin Peaks". "But what about the Harry S. Truman clue, Dan?", you ask. He was the sheriff. Margaret's son, Tony posted the most creative answer. Check 'em all out.

Meanwhile, in just a couple of hours, we'll embark on our longest trip in 2 years- (thus, the "Mile 0" title... ). We're going to the Scottish Deerhound Club of America's national specialty in Lompoc, California. We've got 10 days to get there. I really wanted to leave earlier this week, but before we tackled the heat and long climbs of the trip, the Express had to get a new radiator. So for the past two days we sat at Margaret's brother Rob's shop, getting the job done.

That's Rob under the Express. (Note to Sherita: be glad... be very, very glad... there was a lot of profanity under there.) Rob's happier working on E-type Jaguars, so this was a bit of a challenge. But it's done, and we're running around 50 degrees cooler. Mission accomplished.

We'll try to chronicle the trip on a regular basis. Our route will take us through IN, IL, MO, OK, TX, NM, AZ (I-40 mostly). If we're going past your house, get out on the overpass and wave! Better yet, invite us to dinner.

We'll leave you with a nature image of a very cool moth:

UPDATE: Since inquiring minds wanted to know, I did some googling and can now tell one and all that this is a Great Leopard Moth, (Hypercompe scribonia), as if that shouldn't have been immediately obvious. ;-)

Lest You Think I Hallucinate...

Occasionally, I come prepared.

"She's Dead....... Wrapped in Plastic!"

It's quiz time, kids! Having nothing better to do last night.. (Margaret's still in Ann Arbor selling everything).. I decided to start watching my Christmas present.

Margaret originally got me the first season of 30 Rock (see? not a jealous bone in her body). But I had already watched it on Netflix, so she had to get something else. What did she get me?

(I'd prefer not to get Google-assisted answers... let's just hear from the folks who actually know without looking it up) ;-)

UPDATE: We've got two guesses so far... I'll post all the comments when I decide we've had enough fun. I think, though, it's time for a hint: One of the main characters is Harry S. Truman.

Using the Tools.

Click to see bigger image.

The Nikon D300 has a built-in intervalometer, (think of it as a self timer on overdrive). It allows me to place the camera up on a tripod, and set it to take pictures at any interval that I select, from every second to every "X" number of hours. It can also be set to take more than 1 image each interval. It's useful for doing things like flowers blooming, capturing the life on game trails, or my big plan: Set it up high inside the Express and see what these hounds do to amuse themselves while Margaret and I aren't at home.... But first I had to test it.

This was set at one image every second for 40 seconds.. (the first three images were culled).

I know, I could have just taken the Fuji, set it on movie, put it on a tripod and just make a short film, but.... what fun would that be?

Flora.

We don't always see interesting fauna when we walk the park's trails, although the diversity is amazing, being this close to civilization. Sometimes it's the flora that gets our attention. We need our anonymous botanist from last year's mystery "Cardinal Flower", to pipe in again with this fairly ubiquitous blossom. I really like the color- almost the same color as the Texas Bluebonnet.

Some flowers are already done blooming for the season...

And for you fungus fans... just hang on as they're only now beginning to erupt. Probably throw some images up next week before we take off for parts known, and unknown.

UPDATE 1: I've done a little looking around, and it would seem that the blue flower might be some type of Lupine... which would explain the similarity to the bluebonnet, which is also in the Lupine family. Still looking for specifics..
That seedball reminds me of some of my fireworks pictures.. or a fountain I've seen somewhere; probably in a mall.

Walkin' the Dog.

Bar Mitzvah! He's a "man" now...

And have I mentioned what a pain the deerflies are when we're walking? Oh, I think I have. Illustration:

Who is That Guy?

This has been driving me crazy.. ever since the first "McCain for President" TV ads started up here... (running incessantly about every 15 minutes). They always end up with this picture of some guy..

...supposedly this is John McCain. Does he look like this guy?

Now that looks like McCain.. (doing his best Pete Coors- well known right wing Nazi- impersonation; love the way the pocket flaps wave in the breeze!). Could it be that the first image has been manipulated to make him appear more... oh, I don't know... younger? Presidential? ...instead of like the old guy in your neighborhood who stands in the yard in his bathrobe, shaking his fist at all the cars, and yelling at them to "slow down!.. whippersnappers!" Hey, it works for all the fashion magazines.

Preparing to Travel.

We've been sitting still- and therefore not burning expensive fuel (at least in the Express... the Escape's another matter altogether)- for over two weeks now. Got another week to sit (although not necessarily to relax), and then it's off to Metamora, MI for 3 days of lure coursing trials.

Then we'll be off on a "leisurely" 2+ week trip to Lompoc, CA, where we'll be shooting a whole lot more lure coursing, plus LGRA racing. Specifically, we'll be there for the Scottish Deerhound Club of America's National Specialty, but there will be other Regional specialties going on, including greyhounds, and a couple of other breeds.

We've been told Lompoc is a "must experience" at least once. Beautiful surroundings. Cool nights, warm days, and near the ocean. As it turns out, the coursing and racing will be taking place in Santa Maria, about 30 miles away, so I'm not sure how much Lompoc we'll get to "experience".

In our "Year of Meeting Bloggers", we'll add Christie Keith of Dogged Blog, Pet Connection, and other blogs, to the list we started back in February with Steve B. As we're both Deerhound owners, I guess this meeting would be inevitable... eventually.

Once the Lompoc event is done, and we haven't yet experienced an earthquake, wildfire, mudslide, traffic jam, inversion layer, or any of the other events that make California.. special, we plan on hanging around to do the lure coursing trials up in Hollister, California. The folks there have tried to get us to come out for a while now, and this is the best opportunity we'll have. Hollister is best known for the 1947 "takeover" by motorcycle gangs that was the inspiration for the movie, The Wild One. Cool- I hope there's a museum!

After that? We're workin' on it, but I'm sure we'll be tired of the People's Republic of California by that time and will be working our way back East.

Stay tuned, and watch the schedule.

Lure Coursing, Racing, and OFC stuff..

It appears some friends of ours have decided to advertise with the big "G"... and as luck would have it, because of the subject of many of of the posts here, their "link" has shown up in the bar above... so if you're looking for really slick coursing or racing "attire"... or slips... you might want to check them out. Hint, hint. I've had this business linked below for a long time, but it works better for me if you "look up" ;-) You'll figure it out.

There.. that should be vague enough to not violate Big G's terms of service.

Visitor.

11:45 PM.

I hear the dog food container hit the ground. We keep it outside, secured, on the picnic table next to the Express. It was on the ground this morning, too. Neighbors tell me about a marauding raccoon seen on the premesis last night.

Rocky:

Belligerent. Wouldn't run away, even with 5 dogs pushing me from behind as I stood in the doorway to capture this, admittedly soft, (understatement), image.

Dammit, they're a pain in the ass, but they sure are cute!

Margaret's Garage Sale

The morning started busy.. even before the signs were placed, and before the Ann Arbor News hit the street. And it got busier from there. Just before 5PM, Margaret reports we're doing good, and should have the Express's new radiator covered!

Today's science report involves that tree in the background, to the left of the EZ-Up. The one with all the clumps of white flowers. It's a Japanese Lilac Tree, and it's attracted a number... a large number... of Carpenter bees. At one point they were too numerous to count- over 30, anyway, plus numerous smaller bees, flies, and butterflies.

And no wonder; it's loaded with pollen. The fragrance is nearly overwhelming, but not cloying. Several shoppers commented on it. One was going to go out and buy one.

Look at the hind leg on this guy. He'll be popular when he returns to the nest.

I Did It.... Again!

Nature photography is best left, apparently, to professional nature photographers... or Boy Scouts.

Today's missed opportunity: Baby turkeys.

Reconsidered taking the camera when I walked Sandia, and I was still close enough to go back for it, but decided, "nah.. won't see anything today". I had even taken a few steps back toward the Express. Sigh.

Out of the brush and onto the trail they came... singly, and occasionally in pairs. About 5 inches tall. Not sure how old that would make them, but they could fly! Once they realized there was a large human- with a dog- not 15 feet away, they took to the trees. They fly better than adults, who wandered slowly off in the opposite direction. I think we were meant to follow.

What next? Waiting for our first Bobcat!

Oh yeah... I did pick up at least one tick. Penance.

No.18 In A Series.

How not to photograph lure coursing:

Lure coursing photography is a dangerous art, and should be left to experienced professionals only. Do not try this at home!

Thanks, and a big Hat Tip to our friend and unofficial II sub-contractor, Ben Brodeur.

Democrats Have Cooler Funerals.

But Don't Let Him Pee on the Water Cooler!

Tomorrow is the 10th Annual "Take Your Dog to Work Day". I've been taking my dogs to work with me- every day- for the last 14 years! Does your company let you bring your dogs to work regularly? Will they let you bring your dog tomorrow (June 20th)? I'll bet my old employer won't. They've become quite boring over the years since I left.

I Rest My Case..

I use newspaper, kindling, and one match. Mrs. Bubba uses the Darwin Award shortcut. (Identity obscured to protect the stupid.)

Good Luck Little Guy

I mentioned the other day that I've seen Wood Ducks in the trees over the RVs. These are shots from earlier in the Spring.. end of April, early May. I fact, they're among the first images I captured with the D300.. way before I knew how to manipulate the menu for optimal color! This is the spectacularly colored male, or drake.

I didn't see the pair again until just the other day, while I was punishing myself walking Rally. (She has to make interminable circles on the flexi lead before she will do her thing... there have been times I swear I've fallen asleep waiting for her to pee!). Naturally, I don't have the camera with me when I'm doing this, so it was really frustrating when I glanced up and saw the pair of ducks fly to a nearby tree and disappear. I kept my eye on the spot, thinking they were perching on a limb. I didn't see them fly away, so when Rally finally finished her chore, I tossed her in the door and grabbed the camera, and ran to the base of the tree thinking I would get them taking off- (they're very skittish and shy).

Nothing. I know I would have seen them leave while I was out, and with a little searching, I spotted a trail of down hanging out of a cavity about 50 feet up.

A nest!

This tree's about 200 yards from the nearest water, but that's not all that unusual, nor is the way the young leave the nest when it's time:

"The Wood Duck nests in trees near water, sometimes directly over water, but other times up to 2 km (1.2 mi) away. After hatching, the ducklings jump down from the nest tree and make their way to water. The mother calls them to her, but does not help them in any way. The ducklings may jump from heights of up to 89 m (290 ft) without injury." (emphasis mine- DG)

Which brings us to today's tale. Once again, walking Rally sans camera, I saw a quick-moving bird crossing the campground road, heading in our direction. Baby duckling. Cursing the dog and my luck, my impatience finally won over, and I took her back to the Express and tossed her in to do whatever she was going to do inside, but I was not going to miss this picture!

Aix Sponsa (Wood duck)

I hope the little guy makes it to the water.. this was not the best of all possible weekends to be hatching here.. it's a race weekend in our part of Michigan, and there are more than the usual number of NASCAR Bubba's at the campground- you know, the guys who build giant campfires when the overnight low is only going to be the upper 70's and that number matches the humidity, and they're drinking Miller Lite. Need I say more?

Anyway, he moves pretty quickly for a tiny tot, when you approach him, so I couldn't interfere with "nature" even if I wanted to. Still, the odds are against him, which must be why the hens typically lay 6-15 eggs, and can sometimes lay up to 40 (!). And they do it twice a year. Their numbers are solid, and trail only Mallards in numbers shot each season.

I could be seeing more.

With "Friends" (of the planet) Like This, Who Needs Enemies?

There are times I'm really glad we don't have satellite, or cable TV access. This is apparently one of those times.

Any of you who may have viewed the Planet Green network in its brief life, let me know if it's really this bad...

"It's impossible to say whether the show's smug superiority is more grating than its anorexic thinness of content, but seeing them in combination may fill you with a kind of retributive rage. I for one want to go out and kill a dolphin."

The Things You See When You Haven't Got a Camera...

Wouldn't you know it? Took Sandia for a walk on the campground trails yesterday. Had to stick to the open areas on the North end, because we were quickly flushed from the trail that runs through the woods.. (See the previous post on deerflies). I had the boy on the new 110lb Flexi, but didn't bring the camera, mostly out of pure laziness.

Now, I've seen lots and lots of interesting critters and things at the old Holiday RV Campground... Sandhill Cranes, deer, geese, turkeys, turtles, wood ducks (in the trees over the RV!), squirrels, cottontails, fungi, wildflowers, raptors.. the list is endless. Yesterday morning, while I was walking Rally, a coyote- bigger than Rally- stopped at the edge of the cornfield, about 20 yards away, and gave us a good long stare before proceeding on with his daily business.

Nothing previously could have prepared me for yesterday's event, however. We had just seen a pair of spotted fawns rollicking in the tall grass out by the interstate.. no adults in evidence. I was cursing the fact that the camera was in the motor home, and we were approaching a large thicket where a lot of deer often rest during the late afternoon. I was anticipating the explosion of mass deer-flight when, from behind us, I heard, "Excuse me!". Huh? That didn't compute- like when you hear a powerful jet, and look up in the sky and the first thing your eyes fall on is a soaring turkey vulture. I turned and, bearing down on us, was a horse.. a trotter, in fact, complete with sulky and a little black driver in goggles! As he sped by, he said, "How you doin' today?", and I said.. "uh... um... er.. fine?"

I've been on that trail dozens of times. This was definitely a first. There are horses on the nearby property. I just never realized they were racing horses, although there is a harness racing track in Jackson. It is an interesting practice track, though, because it's far from level. He disappeared around the bend, and I immediately got on the phone to Margaret to pass on the story. While talking to her, we passed the last photo opportunity of the walk, when I spied a box turtle laying eggs next to the trail.

SO.. today I took the camera when the boy and I went out for our daily constitutional. No fawns. No horses,sulkies, or diminutive drivers.. of any color. No turtle. No nuthin'! Well, nearly no nuthin'. I did see this perfect, living description of "gossamer wing"..

And Sandia self-posed for me in a nice setting...

What's the Boy Scouts' motto? Oh yeah.. Be Prepared. Well, I once hacked a hole in my knee with a hatchet... during a "hatchet safety" session at a Boy Scout "Camporee". But, that's just me.

Another Milestone.

If you look at the "Where Are You?" box in the sidebar, you'll see the names of countries scrolling up. Since I added this feature in January of this year, this blog has, as of this hour, now been viewed in 100 different countries. Many of the visitors have simply been searching for this, but most are actually here on purpose. Cool!