WCP #28: Vacation Wap Up - The West Coast

After leaving Petoskey, we drove down the coast to Traverse City. We attempted to stop @ the Music House Museum, but they didn't open for another hour & we didn't want to wait around. Coming through Traverse City was stop & go bumper to bumper as it was the Cherry Festival. The place was packed. There was going to be an air show over the water, but again, it would have been an hour wait so we kept on cruising. we hit Sleeping Bear Dunes around 1:00, drove the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive: 7.5 miles through the woods & dunes. I'd never taken that drive before... it was beautiful w/ some really cool trails. After that, we hit the Dune Climb. Stephanie blew out her flip-flop, so she & Isaiah stayed @ the bottom while I went up w/ Aiden & Solstice. They weren't as in to it as I expected, but it was fun... & sandy. Afterwards, we had some lunch & hit the road.

We took 22 down the coast to US 31 & followed it into Manestee. What a shit town. From now on, I'll go out of my way to avoid that town. we stopped there because we were beat & needed some sleep. The Days Inn was reasonable & had a pool so we checked in & watched some TV: Bye Bye Birdie & a Greatest American Hero marathon. The next morning, Monday, we started home. We stopped in Ludington for a couple hours & then dove south to Holland for lunch. I'd always been under the impression that Holland had lots of windmills & Dutch stuff in town, but I'd never realized that it was all in amusement park type places. Stephanie didn't know this either. How did we not know this. It'd be cool to check it out if we had the whole day to spend, but w/ only an hour or so, we skipped it & grabbed a bite @ some Irish pub where Aiden got to watch the Tigers game... possibly the highlight of his trip. After we ate, we hit the road & were home in 2 1/2 hours. Isaiah @ the Dunes View from the top - Solstice is a speck on the upper left More problematic Native American imageryat the beach in Ludingtonat a stature in Holland, MI
Over all, it was a fantastic trip, probably the best vacation we've taken as a family. next time, we plan to get a room in Ludington & maybe do Holland more thoroughly. I really recommend the roadside tourist traps too. They're so camp & fun, but on to the important info... Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. From the get-go, I'd been picking Spain & The Netherlands to reach the final, but going into yesterday's match, I kind of assumed Germany would advance. I'm happy to say that didn't happen, & a big part of Spain's success was because of their rock in central defence. Not only did he score the winning goal, but his dedication & fight was fantastic from beginning to end. Therefore, Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day in Carles Puyol. His team congratulates him after winning the award

WCP # 27: Vacation Wap Up - The Upper Lower

After we reentered the Lower Peninsula, we got off of I 75 & hit Fort Michilimackinac. Again, I hadn't been there since I was a kid. Aiden & Isaiah really loved it. They were running around on the deck & in the turrets making gun noises... & Isaiah started it. How did he know to do that? The archaeologists where excavating a house & were about 2 feet deep. They said they'd been working on it for 3 years & had another to go. Archeology is pretty freaking sweet! We had such a good time, I forgot to check out the score of the Netherlands v Brasil match, but I found out soon enough. We considered hitting the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, but we were hungry & needed to find some lunch. About 20 minutes from Mackinac one finds Cross Village & The Legs Inn. It's a little out of the way, but the food & the view of Lake Michigan are amazing. Authentic Polish dishes in a crazy ass stone inn. I got the Pierogis w/ Golabki & Stephanie had the potato pancakes. The waitress, a college student from Warsaw, informed me of the Netherlands victory & then we headed down Pleasant Valley Rd to the Petoskey State Park. After setting up the tent & swimming for a bit @ a proper beach, wee headed to the big Scott Bachelor Petoskey Soccer Alumni match. At the Fort
I was invited by the Rossis even though I never actually went to high school there since I'd grown up playing w/ all of those people & because my dad had a pivotal role in starting the soccer program. He was the JV coach when they started the varsity team when I was in 5th gradeish. After I moved, the team go really good & won the State Tournament a couple times. Playing in a pick-up match w/ those guys was certainly not an easy task, but it was fun. We had dinner afterwards & then headed back to camp. On Saturday, we walked around town in the AM, hit Papa Lou's for lunch w/ my parents who were in town for the soccer party too, & then drove out to Walloon Lake for some swimming. Afterwards, we drove through Boyne City & up the North shore of Lake Charlevoix to get to Charlevoix for dinner where we met up w/ my parents. Dinner @ Great Lakes Whitefish & Chips in The Villager Pub & a stop in Cherry Republic from which we scored some awesome mustard BBQ Sauce, & Cherry Almond butter.

We headed back to the campground in time to watch the fireworks from the beach w/ a few Budweisers. I'm starting to enjoy Budweiser more than I ever imagined I would. The next morning, we grabbed some breakfast, drove through the old neighborhood, & took US 31 down the coast to Traverse City. What did e do there? You'll have to check back tomorrow for the final instalment of the Vacation wrap up to find out. The Circus Shop The single greatest field on which I've ever played Watching the fireworks We have a pic of Solstice on this same rock wearing the same shirt

What? What's that you say? You say you want a Player of the Day? OK. After watching the Netherlands v Uruguay match yesterday, I've decided to make yet another unprecedented decision. Van Bronckhorst's goal was amazing, Robben & Sneijder were great, Van Persie lead the line & even got back to defend. Picking one was difficult until I realized it all came down to 1 man: The coach. Here it is, Your Visions of Ypsi Coach of the Day: Bert Van Marwijk. He made an attacking change @ the interval, bringing on Van der Vaart, & he got these guys to play together as a team. If only the French could have been so lucky. I have a feeling German will win the tournament, but I'm pulling for Spain today. I would love to see van Persie v Fabregas in the final. Embarrassed to be singled out when he assumed everyone should share the award today

Vacation Recap: The U. P.

We lit out from Ypsi about 6:30 AM on Wednesday, hitting the Bridge around noon after a couple rest area stops. We had lunch @ a scenic over-look & then hit The Mystery Spot. I hadn't been there since I was 10 or 11. It was fun & the kids realy dug it. There were a couple guys there (a 40ish man & his father), & they seemed to buy it all. Even Solstice & Aiden were looking @ them like "WTF???" It was pretty funny. Afterwards, we walked around St. Ignace a bit, saw some really ridiculous/ketchy/chimilicious/racist Native American imagery, & scored an ice-cream cone before visiting Stephanie's cousin whom we hadn't seen in years. That was a nice little visit.

The campground was beautiful. We could see the bridge from our site, & we jus had to walk across to the beach... which wasn't really a beach, but the kids waded around a bit, & I taught them how to skip stones. We cooked hot dogs & beans on the fire, got an uncampingly good sleep, & made pancakes & sausage before we hit the road to Tahquamenon Falls. We stopped @ a deer ranch to feed the deer... including a couple albinos. Isaiah love it & cracked up every time one would eat a cracker out of his hand. Afterwards, rather than the direct route, we followed US 2 along the coast for a while before turning North. Stephanie found Paquin Creek on the map & it was only a couple miles passed where we were to turn so we kept on cruising for a photo op. Paquin Creek Rd, although on the map, is a road in name only. After a few hundred feet, it became dirt. It quickly narrowed to only 1 car width across, became a 2-track, & then we hit the soft sand. Rolling in a full-size van down this little path was kind of scary, but we finally found a place to turn around & made it out to find the actual creek about a mile further up US 2. We took a pic & turned around. The drive along US 2 was absolutely beautiful, & then once we started heading up to the falls, the beauty continued for another 2 hours.

Our 1st stop was @ the Lower Falls where we walked about a mile along the path by the river before going to our site. Solstice & Aiden were such great help setting up & tearing down every day. We then found a beach about 20 minutes away (@ the mouth of the river). Since the river was coming in there, it was a lot warmer than every other Lake Superior beach @ which I've ever swam. We then hit the Upper Falls & The Tahquamenon Falls Brewery. I had the stout which was good, but not at all like it was advertised. They compared it to Guinness, but it was more like an American Stout w/ hints of chocolate & coffee. Stephanie had the cherry wheat which is light & smooth. Back @ the site, we cooked more hot dogs & I boiled a big pot of H2O on the fire to cook some corn.Sleep on the 2nd night wasn't as sound as on the 1st, but the drive back to St. Ignace was nice along US 123. Just north of the Bridge we hit our 3rd tourist tap in 2 days: Castle Rock. I was last there around the same time I was last @ The Mystery Spot. I climbed it w/ Aiden & Solstice, but Stephanie & Isaiah waited on the ground. Aiden didn't want to go across the bridge, but Solstice was fearless. I don't think I would have complained if she didn't want to go, but as it stood, I had to make the trek across to the top. It's a cheesy fucking place, but the view is amazing. we were back on the road just in time to miss the Brazil v Netherlands match, but I heard about the results later @ lunch. The UP had no 3G coverage & even the basic phone connections were hit-or-miss. We tried to up-load pics when we could, but even once we crossed the bridge, 3G coverage was spotty until yesterday afternoon when we hit Grand Rapids. why were we in Grand rapids? Tune in tomorrow for the 2nd part of the Vacation Recap & maybe you'll find out. Aiden @ The Mystery Spot The bridge from our site The Upper Falls Up on Castle Rock

WCP #26: A Quick Vacation Post While Eating Breakfast in Petoskey

We've been to St. Ignace, Tahquamenon Falls, & Mackinac, & Petoskey. We've done tons of silly touristy stuff & I got to play a pick up game the other night. A more thorough recap will follow, but for now, here is your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day. I didn't get to watch the matches so we're doing something a bit unprecedented... I let my dad who is also in Petoskey make the pick: Miroslav Klose.Some people take winning this award very seriously

WCP #23: Goin' Up the Country

Tomorrow we'll be leaving early for a trip to the North Country. We'll be spending the 1st night @ Straights State Park on the NE side of the Mackinac Bridge. We plan on hitting The Mystery Spot in the afternoon & then on to some swimming. Day 2 includes a cruise up to Tahquamenon Falls. I haven't been there since I was 8 or 9 years old... I'm super excited. We have a few options for the morning of the 3rd day (Friday). We may hit Michilimackinac after we get back into the Lower Peninsula. Our other options are the Oden State Fish Hatchery which is free & lunch @ Leggs Inn in Cross Village. On Friday evening, we're going to the big retirement party & alumni match for the Petoskey Varsity Soccer Coach. He's been in charge of the team since it began in the mid-80s. My dad was his JV coach back then when they were getting the team started, & he & my mom will meet us up there for the party. It should be fun to see some old friends. We'll be staying @ Petoskey State Park from which we can watch the fireworks on the 3rd. Before that, we're planning a drive to Walloon Lake & dinner in Charlvoix. Although, from a quick Googling, it appears that Great Lakes Whitefish & Chips might no longer be Great Lakes Whitefish & Chips. In which case, we'll have to improvise, possibly hitting Scalawags in Petoskey instead. On the 4th of July, we plan to drive down the coast to Sleeping Bear Dunes, & then keep on cruising until we happen upon a place to stay somewhere between Frankfurt & Manistee. All in all, it should be an awesome time, but I'll need to figure out how to catch the Brazil v Netherlands match w/o pissing off the whole family.

Speaking of soccer, I imagine most of you are awaiting the Player of the Day. Well, wait no longer for the Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day in upon you. Look on his works, ye mighty, & despair! He's never won the award before, & I hazard to guess he won't again, but after getting lost in Man City & then getting shipped home to Santos, he seems to be turning his career round again. If nothing else, he ran the show yesterday so don't let it be said that we don't give credit where credit is deserved. Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day, Robinho. He's 26 but he looks like he's 21

Rock & Roll: ABBA... WTF?

We've only been to the Hall of Fame once; for our honeymoon, we drove to Vermont, stopping for a night in Niagara solely for the ironic-hip factor (just like Lois & Clark in Superman II) & then on through up-state New York before getting to our B&B, The Northfield Inn, in Northfield. We spent 2 nights there, which included a day trip to the Ben & Jerry's plant & an afternoon in Burlington before heading south to Hancock were we spent 2 nights (including the Thursday of the final Seinfeld episode) @ The Sweet Onion Inn, a vegan B&B right in the middle on the Nat'l Park. On our trip home, we decide to go south of Erie, through New York, Pennsylvania, & Ohio which meant we were passing through Cleveland. We've been there many times (perhaps you recall when a few of us took Cleveland by the Balls), but only on this, our 1st trip to that glorious city, did we hit the Hall.
In honor of our honeymoon trip & because I wanted to see Phish perform the Genesis tunes, we watched the Induction Ceremony last night on Fuse. Trey gave the speech inducting Genesis which was clearly the speech of a man who loves music. It was like listening to Quinten Tarentino talk about films. He even went so far as to call out the people in the audience who had never listened to Selling England By the Pound... I'm included in that, a fact I guess I'll have to remedy soon.

Billie Joe Armstrong then inducted The Stooges which was pretty cool... & then The Stooges played "Search & Destroy" & "I Wanna be Your Dog," during which he asked all the rich people (the execs, not the musicians) to join him on stage... as if asking if they had the balls to get on stage w/ The Stooges. They didn't. They clearly didn't know how to react as he stood between their table w/o a shirt on screaming the chorus in their ears. It was funny. Well played, Mr. Pop.

After David Geffen came Jimmy Cliff who was sporting some ridiculous glasses. Wyclef Jean inducted him & then he played "You Can Get it if You Really Want It," some slow song I don't know, & then "The Harder They Come" (w/ Wyclef).

Little Steven inducted The Hollies w/w a really long & tangential speech, but it was also really cool. The Hollies then played a slew of songs, starting w/ my fav, "Bus Stop," all of which were great. They played "Carrie Ann," & "Tall Cool Woman in a Black Dress"... & 1 or 2 other songs, & I was reminded that we'll have to get some Hollies from the library soon... they're so fucking good.

On the flip side, a group whom I've never thought was "so fucking good" was inducted next. A few years ago, people were upset when Madonna was inducted, but I was cool w/ that. I'm not saying they aren't important in music history, but ABBA? WTF? I just don't get it. Are people who claim to like them being ironic? Is liking them some sort of hip in-joke for people who deep-down know they suck? Roger Corman got a Lifetime Achievement Oscar this year, so maybe we're now handing out prestigious awards w/ tongue in cheek. I guess that's a possibility... otherwise, WTF?

Finally, Carol King inducted a series of song-writers from New York.
* Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil who wrote "Make Your Own Kind of Music," "On Broadway," & "We Gotta Get Out of this Place."
* Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry who wrote "It's My Party," "Da Do Run Run," & "Do Wah Dtty Ditty."
* Jesse Stone who wrote "Shake, Rattle, & Roll" & "Don't Let Go."
* Mort Shuman wrote "Save the Last Dance for Me," "Viva Las Vegas," & "A Teenager in Love."
* Otis Blackwell who wrote "Fever," "Great Balls of Fire," "All Shook Up," & "Don't Be Cruel."

A slew of musicians joined Paul Shaffer & his band to perform these songs. the best of which were Chris Issac doing "Don't Be Cruel" & Peter Wolf doing "Money, Honey." all in all, it was cool... as was the concert in general. if only I understood ABBA... WTF?

USA Soccer

The brand-spanking-new USA World Cup Away Jersey was released yesterday, & it's pretty awesome. Perhaps you've noticed a certain sarcasm towards Landon Donavon, here, but LD's displays @ Everton over the last month have made me reconsider this anti-Landy Cakes stance, & I may even consider ordering the brand new Landy-Shirt... I may be getting a bit carried away though; we'll see.Speaking of the World Cup, I booked a few nights @ campgrounds up North for the 1st weekend in July yesterday before I realized the trip could conflict w/ the end of the tournament. (I checked & it turns out I just might have to watch the 1/4 finals @ a bar up there... so we're good.) We've got Canada Day @ Tahquamenon Falls & then the 2nd & 3rd in Petoskey. Going to the UP is a 1st for the fam as Stephanie has an intense fear of bridges... & getting there w/o crossing the Mackinaw Bridge is a bit circuitous. She agreed to go for it though so we're all we're looking forward to a little adventure. On the evening of the 2nd, there's a reception @ the High School to honor the soccer coach who has been there since I was a kid. When he took the job, my dad became the JV coach. The fact that he's still there & has won the State Championship a few times w/ a program my dad & his friends started is pretty great so getting the invite to the party (& alumni match) is exciting. I haven't seen some of those folks since since a GD show in Indianapolis in 1995, others since a HORDE show in 1994 (& a soccer game a month before that) & others since I was in school there in 1988. Hopefully, we'll be able to watch a World Cup game together... a France v Italy match w/ the Rossis would be fantastic... especially if France wins.

Our Honeymoon in VT

In May of 1998, after our wedding, Stephanie & I took a road trip to the Green Mountains where we stayed in a couple of B&Bs for 4 nights. The 1st 2 nights were in Northfield. While there, we made a short trip to Barre, Ben & Jerry's & then Burlington where I realized that the dude who got Lake Champlain Great Lakes funding was a tool. There's nothing great about lake Champlain... you can see across it for Christ's sake. Then we spent a couple nights in Hancock. The place in Northfield, The Northfield Inn was by far the nicer of the 2 places, but in Hancock, The Sweet Onion Inn left me w/ the better memories. The Inn was 100% vegan, & it was right on a beautiful river where we spent an afternoon skipping stones. Hancock is also right on the Eastern edge of the Green Mountain National Forest through which we took a nice drive & went for cool hike to a waterfall. The reason I'm writing about this right now though is because while in Hancock, we missed the series finale of Seinfeld; it was on again last night & got me thinking about it. While we couldn't see it then, we had to listen to the daughter of the owners of the inn get all excited because her parents were going to let her watch it. I didn't feel right asking if we could hang out in their living room & watch w/ them... but I really wanted to. instead, we went to a bar across the street & waited to see it until we got home. Stephanie's dad taped it for us so we were alright.People have spent the last 11 years suggesting that it didn't do justice to what is commonly considered the greatest sit-com of all time. Watching it again last night, I realized how much I disagree with that sentiment though. There were only a few options for ending the series; I remember everyone assuming they'd get killed off so the close call on the plane was clearly in reference to that rumor. Plus, during the near crash, we find out that George cheated in the masturbation contest... awesome! Then bringing it back to the show-w/in-a-show from a few seasons earlier is great. That even gives George's dad a chance to talk shit about NBC execs before the parade of secondary characters in the 2nd half of the show. The post-modern stuff is all throughout the episode, & the fact that the stupid "Good Samaritan law" doesn't really make much sense should be given a little lee-way since it's really just setting up the courtroom parade of characters. Besides, any episode w/ Jackie Chiles is a good episode... & he gets to find out that Terri Hatcher's tits are real!

Post Wedding Stuff: The Honeymoon Week

After we got re-married last week, we decided to celebrate by making the last 7 days a sort of de facto honeymoon. Obviously, we didn't go anywhere, but we did enjoy a nice lunch @ Seva after wee filed the marriage certificate @ the County Building. We hadn't eaten there in ages, but it's awesome & the Dewapps & the Krausemakers gave us a gift cert as a wedding present so we took full advantage of it... Thank you very much Steve & Annette & Jim & Rachel. We also racked up a trip to Izakaya Sanpei last week in celebration of Aiden's b-day. If you haven't been there... go. It's a fantastic Japanese place on the corner of Joy & Morton Taylor. The following night, again more for Aiden's b-day than for our honeymoon, we went out for pizza after the kids' soccer practice. Saturday, following their match which they again won (they're 4-0), they went to my parents' place for the night so we were able to finish our awesome honeymoon w/ an 9 episode Lost marathon (S3, Ep6-14). We also ordered awesome Chinese food from Chia Shang... the greatest Chinese place of all time... it's next to Morgan & York... eat some!*

Today, we had 2 final post-wedding things to accomplish: insurance & her SSN. Oddly, we had nearly opposite experiences. We tried to do the SSN after Seva last week, but it just so happens that the SS office in Washtenaw moved a couple years ago so we had to put it off until today. I waited in the car w/ Isaiah while she went in only to learn that she needed all sorts of other paperwork to change her name even though her name change had nothing to do w/ the paperwork for which they were asking... apparently it was some Homeland Security issue... George Bush policy changes: the gift that keeps on giving. She'll need to go back yet again to finish her simple little task. The woman was really nice though so Stephanie didn't feel she could get too upset @ her which seems about right.

My happy little trip to HR was a different matter though. I showed up w/ everything filled in except for my SSN, my signature, & the date. The woman quickly entered everything & then set the form down saying I needed to fill in the last couple things. I took the paper & a pen to a table, did what needed to be done, & then gave them back to her... to which she responded, "I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED IF YOU'D ASKED TO BORROW MY PEN RATHER THAN JUST TAKING IT!" I was stunned. The form & the pen were set down side by side & it was the only pen I saw. Common sense suggested that I was to use it. I apologized & left. At that point, I reconsidered my apology. Why was I sorry? I'd done nothing wrong. Rather than be the doormat for some jerk in the HR office, I turned around. (Stephanie's issue was w/ protocol but a nice person; mine was w/ a rather angry person but the protocol was simple.) I went back into her office & said, "excuse me, you didn't need to take that tone; I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED IT IF YOU'D ACTUALLY OFFERED ME A PEN!" I don't know why such a simple thing needed to turn into a yelling match. As it turns out, I think I would prefer my situation over Stephanie's though. She was mean, but things got done. Stephanie has the inconvenience of having to go back yet again... & I certainly wouldn't trade places w/ her just so I could deal w/ a nice person.

*Footnote: After all that food, I need to get back to dieting & I decided to overhaul Tastes of Ypsi in order to do this. It will now be a food log (dlog??) since it hadn't been used in so long anyway & since I feel that if I actually publish everything I eat every day, I'll be less inclined to eat crappy food. I don't know how long I'll keep it up, but it seems like a good starting point.

Jean's Wedding: A River, a Pool Party, & a Ceremony

After watching the Liverpool match w/ Dan @ the continental breakfast, I took the kids down to the river for a little while. There's a really cool looking visitor's' center dating back to 1912 called The Pagoda. Unfortunately, for all the effort thy pt into restoring it in 1995, the stuff in it kind of sucked... a few model riverboats, a pilot's wheel, @ a little pamphlet rack... & tons of empty space. Other than that, the riverfront was great. It made Aiden & me want to watch Davy Crockett & the River Pirates.

When we got back to the motel, we had a little pool-side lunch party. It was a nice time, & the kids got to swim again before we headed to the wedding. About 4:45, the convoy pulled out, heading to Newburgh which is a quaint little town about 10 minutes up the river from Evansville. It was beautiful, & I can now present Mr. & Mrs. Jean & Tiffany Peltier (I'm not certain that she took the name, but the minister introduced them that way, so I will too... he was a bit wacky though, so who knows). The rest of the night went swimmingly. Aiden had a rough time because he was so tired, but Solstice boogied all night & Isaiah fell asleep on my mom... which was sooo cute.

Here are some more vaca pics for you because I know you're all waiting for them: Down by the river At the pool party Us The Groom's Family The Ceremony My Dad up & Dancing Dancing w/ my Daughter Solstice dancing

Camping (Sorta)

So w/ moving & the baby & everything we never had a chance to take a vacation this summer. The kids weren't too pleased by this (& really, we weren't either). To remedy this problem, we set up the tents in the backyard after the Arsenal match Saturday afternoon & had a fun little campout. We had a fire & cooked Smart Dogs on sticks. We had s'mores & peanuts before we finally went to sleep around 10:30. The kids had a blast, but I learned an important lesson... camping is a great way to spend the evening when one is far from home & vacationing on the cheap, but it isn't nearly as cool when one can see his or her bedroom from the tent. It was fun though, & the tent is still up so maybe we'll do it again this weekend after we check out Elizabeth & Dan's new house.

Holiday Post #2: Live from the KY

1st off, thanks for all the recommendations. I had to avoid Patti Smith because I don't have any of her new stuff: just Horses. Here's what we did listen too though:

Paul Simon: Graceland (thanks Dan)
The Mamas and the Papas: Greatest Hits
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash: live bootleg from 1968ish
Bill Monroe: American Traveler (Thanks Dawn)
Simon and Garfunkel: Greatest Hits

My father enjoyed the Mamas & the Papas & the Dylan/Cash sessions so much, he asked me to make him copies. A question to which my mother replies, "You can do that? You can just burn a copy of a CD on a computer?" No mom, I play the 8-track really loud and record it on my fucking reel-to-reel. She was so amazed by this new-fangled technology. Of course, my father's driving left a little something to be desired too. Although, I suppose I should commend him for his ability to use both lanes at the same time & his ability to simultaneously drive & sleep while basically staying on the road w/o killing anyone. Other than that & the driving rain all evening (& the fact that we left 2 1/2 hours late) the trip was nice. However, I've never heard of a state where one can't get from the biggest city (in this case Louisville) to the 3rd biggest city (in this case Owensboro) by expressway. It was a safe trip though & now the food is being prepared by Jean & my mom while I blog, drink tea, & watch the Bob Dylan marathon on VH1 Classic. In related news, before wee left yesterday, I dropped the kids off @ my ex-wife's place & then saw this crazy barn so I snapped a couple pics for y'all. Check it out:

In other Thanksgiving news, here's the WKRP in Cincinati Thanksgiving episode, Turkeys Away. My father has forced it into our traditional family Thanksgiving celebration & admittedly, it is pretty funny. This is posted here in 3 parts particularily for Dan & Elizabeth because I know that they're missing the celebration this year. I had to find it on Youtube because my dad was flipping out about the fact that he left his VHS copy in Livonia. Enjoy:

Holiday Season Post #1: Going to the KY

For those of you who have been living under a rock, or in a box, or stuck in an old refrigerator, or on walkabout in the Australian Outback, I'd like to announce that my little bro. has moved to KY. KY here refers to the state of Kentucky, not the lubricating jelly. He has in turn invited my parents and me for Thanksgiving so I'll be hitting the road for another road-trip tomorrow afternoon. The fact that I'll be in the car w/ my parents for 7 or 8 hours got me thinking about road-trip music. It's a tricky situation because not only does it have to be quality music, it also has to be w/in the realm of music my parents can tolerate. Here's the list I've come up w/... feel free to recommend anything else that might work.
Bob Dylan: Blond on Blond
It has that nice old-timey AM country station sound that works so well while driving through the Mid-West. It's also Dylan which means that my dad will be willing to listen to it w/o much complaint.

R.E.M: Eponymous
A nice retrospective of their early stuff that also has a flows together better than most compilation albums. It also has that same late-night AM sound that for some reason I just love while on long trips.

Son Volt: Trace
I was going to go for Uncle Tupelo, but I just realized my disc is skipping & I'd have to burn a new one which I'm not going to do by tomorrow morning. That's OK though; Trace has some quality stuff on it & it's really similar to his earlier stuff.

Gaelic Storm: Gaelic Storm
Their 1st album w/ fun Celtic stuff that I think my mom will dig. It's also a good thing to listen to now as we approach the Burns' Night festivities in just 2 short months.

Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison
Although people tend to overlook the fact that he has a lot of rather cheesy songs like "A Boy Named Sue" & "One Piece at a Time," this live album features all sorts of old murder ballads and both of my parents are loving Johnny Cash.

Jerry Garcia/David Grisman: Jerry Garcia/David Grisman
A trip through Ohio obviously needs some sort of Jerry, & this is acoustic & jazzy so I think they'll be able to tolerate it.

Grateful Dead: Blues for Allah
Deciding which Dead disc to bring was tough, but I think my dad might dig the borderline prog rock jazziness of "Slipknot" & "King Solomon's Marbles." My 1st though was Reckoning, but I can't find it. My 2nd thought was American Beauty, but it skips.

Bob Dylan: Modern Times
2 Dylan's might be a bit much, but don't worry; I think I'm actually going to bring 3. The reason I'm down w/ the new 1 is because it's got that same old-timey feel & the vocals are so rich & weird... like his older stuff.

Bob Dylan: Nashville Skyline
Going to KY needs requires something like this. Plus, it's got Johnny Cash, Norman Blake, Charlie Daniels, & Charlie McCoy... it should work well. Besides, that version of "Girl from the North Country" is just fantastic... if not oddly fitting considering the fucked up week I've had (see the previous post to get the total effacement of that issue).

Please make some recommendations of stuff that might work well along these lines. I think I'm also going to have to bring the lap-top so I can watch a couple movies in the back seat: Casablanca, The Empire Strikes Back, Temple of Doom & Mallrats might be in order. Not to mention the stack of papers I have to grade & the books I have to read. Maybe 8 hours will end up going pretty fast. Now make w/ the suggestions!

Road Trip Part I: Taking Cleveland by the Balls

The M/MLA (Midwest Modern Language Association) Conference was in Cleveland the weekend, & since I hadn't been to something like this in a while, when I heard a few friends were going for the day yesterday, I decided to tag along. The friends included Emily, Jenny, Kristen, & Kristen's fiance Patrick who is currently staying at his parents' house on Lake Erie in Monroe. Since he & Kristen were there, Emily, Jenny & I met them there before continuing the drive. Of course, the spider in Emily's car only nearly got us killed twice during that 1/2 hour drive as it caused her to nearly drive into a semi & them to nearly drive off of the exit ramp at 85 mph. But the real excitement happened when we got to the house & were introduced to Patrick's Mother's pervert dog, Paddy. Apparently, the dog has a weird thing for nylons & therefor spent the first 5 minutes trying to tear Jenny's apart. While everyone else did their part to remove the dog from her leg, I did my level best to remove myself from the whole dog situation as is my M.O. The other oddity of the short visit was the fact that her dog & her son have the same name. Before I realized what the dog's name was, she was saying things like "I really feel sorry for Paddy... he really want to come out & play w/ all of you." I thought, "That's an weird thing to say, he is coming w/ us, but referring to it as playing doesn't quite make sense." It wasn't until she said, "I feel so sorry for Paddy, he has to spend so much time in his cage" that I realized some fucked up name thing was going on, at which point Jenny realized she needed to get the Hell out as soon as possible & said, "So, is there a lake around here?" Of course, the house is 4 houses from Lake Erie & we'd driven passed it on the way into the neighborhood. When Patrick's Mother explained where it was, she decided she needed to check it out... & Emily & I were right behind her. We walked down to the lake & hung out for about 10 minutes before Kristen showed up & asked if we were ready to "Take Cleveland by the balls." Emily, Kristen, & JennyBefore we were even on I-75, we were introduced to Kristen & Patrick's mushy, syrupy-sweet nausea-inspiring cuteness. They refer to each other & to the act of love-making w/ the word waffle... which as it turns out is also used in all sorts of other weird ways. Apparently, while speaking in some sort of baby language to each other once, she said "I love you," but it sounded something like "I waffle," & then it caught on for good. At this point, we knew we were in for quite a day as we were exposed to more of this stuff when we stopped for breakfast at the first Service Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike. I was able to get out of witnessing too much of that though by dumping a couple quarters into Ms Pac Man & playing the game of my life. I was to the banana before I lost my 1st life. I knew that the longer I made those quarters last, the less "waffling" I had to experience. I then grabbed an OJ & a breakfast sandwich at Hardee's where I was asked the ever-present road-trip question "You don't want no meat w/ that? I mean, you don't want no meat at all?" If I had a dime for every road trip I've taken were this question came up, we could have stayed in Cleveland last night rather than driving home to save money. I grabbed my food, & then hit the brochure stand to get some reading material for the ride before we hit the road again. Of course, more mis-adventures occured at the actual confrence, but you'll have to check back for Part II later.

Niagara, Part II

The Ripley's Museum on the Street of Fun
After the main water attractions, I took my kids up the "Street of Fun:" the street featuring all of the kitchy tourist trap shit. Of course this was some of their favorite stuff. I got a free adult pass to the funhouse & then we went to the Ripley's Museum which I'll admit was pretty fuckin' sweet. Afterwards, we decided to get dinner & considering the expensive mediocre meal the night before, we decided to get out of the main area of town to find a restaurant. This was the best decision of the trip as it lead us to The Flying Saucer Restaurant! A restaurant shaped like a fucking flying saucer. The food was great & it was cheap as hell. We went back the next morning for their 99 cent breakfast special too before hitting The Welland Canal so my mom could watch the freighters going through the locks... she lives for that shit... don't ask; I don't get it either.

At the Flying Saucer w/ my kids

Mom & Dad at the canal
After the locks, we went to The African Lion Safari, a huge outdoor wild-life preserve through which one drives while looking at (or in the case of many of the douche bags in near us, feed junk food and gum to) the animals. It was like a big zoo, & not being the biggest fan of zoos, it was alright. The kids loved it, especially the baboons who were climbing all over people's cars, particularly those who put fries or potato chips on their windshields. We also took the boat ride around some small islands, all of which featured different kinds of monkeys. Then we stood in line for 45 minutes while waiting for a train ride that didn't really go anywhere or show us any animals. It's alright though. We had a good time, & the kids thought it was pretty cool. Of course we drove passed it twice because it wasn't well marked, but the signage for The Four Seasons Nudist Resort down the road was impossible to miss. I wanted to check that out too, but we were short on time & the idea of 70-somethings playing volleyball while letting their wrinkly little pricks flap in the wind doesn't really sound like the way I want to spend my afternoon. Well, it kind of does, but as I said, we didn't have time. Be sure to check back soon for the Dungrass/Petoskey updates. I'm pretty excited to get to show the kids Niagara & Sleeping Bear w/in a week & a half. Along w/ the Everglades, the Mississippi, The Grand Canyon & a few other places out west, the dunes & the falls are 2 of the weirdest, most amazing wonders of nature in North America. I don't think they'd be able to comprehend the grandness of the Mississippi yet though, but They certainly understood the sublimity of the falls. Of course, the sublime nature of a nudist resort can't be under-estimated either.

At the African Lion Safari

Live From Niagara... Almost

View from our hotel room

We were supposed to stay an extra day, but after yesterday's activities at the African Lion safari, we decided to come home since we were almost 1/2 way back anyway & because Niagara was expensive as Hell. Hence the "almost" from Niagara. I was planning to blog this morning, but I figured we'd still be in Canada. As it is, I'm in my back room watching the kids play Mario Kart. That said, the trip was fantastic. We arrive in Niagara Thursday afternoon & checked into the hotel from which we had a great view of the American Falls. Thurs. night, we drove around a bit to show the kids the area & then got dinner at an over-priced Italian place... the first of many over-priced meals this weekend. I took the kids swimming & then got to bed in order to rest up for the following day. On Fri., after an over-priced shit-ass breakfast buffet, we found a sweet, sweet day pass for 45 bucks a person that got us into 4 attractions plus allowed us to ride the bus all day long.
Attraction 1: The Maid of the Mist
I did this when I was my son's age & then again when I was 12, & I'm glad I got to take my kids on it now. My son was a bit scared as we got close to the falls, but he claims to have loved it & my daughter loved every second of it. She stood by the edge of the boat w/ my dad & had a great time. it was a bit cloudy Fri. morning & rained for a while, but as we were on a boat below the falls, we were getting wet anyway so it didn't really matter.

The Maid of the Mist

Attraction 2: Journey Behind the Falls
I did this w/ my ex when we passed through Niagara on our honeymoon, but I didn't remember it that well. An elevator takes you down into a series of tunnels behind the falls where you can watch the water fall from the inside. It's not as cool as it sounds though since all you can see is spray & mist... like being inside of a cloud. There's an observation deck next to the falls that's pretty cool though. Afterwards, we got another over-priced meal & had to wait in line behind some french Canadian 70s porn star. Why do so many French/Italian/Spanish dudes love the chest hair/gold chain/moustache look? I don't get it. The guy spent 10 minutes changing his order & discussing the options w/ his brother while we waited behind him for an order of veggie California rolls.

Observation deck at the bottom

Attraction 3: White Water Walk
After lunch, we took an elevator down down to the bottom of the gorge for a walk along the rapids. This s where, in Superman II, Lois jumps into the river to prove Clark is Superman. He is able to use his heat vision to burn a branch off of a tree which falls into the water & she grabs to get to safety w/o her seeing he did it & in turn protecting his secret identity. We didn't have any adventures like that, but it was fantastic none-the-less. The water there is 25 feet deep & moving at 25 mph before ending up in the whirlpool that send the river off at a 90 degree angle. It's insane... & absolutely beautiful. When we took the elevator back up, it emptied us in the gift shop, just like the elevators from the other 2 things we'd done. They definitely know how to run a tourist trap.

The rapids... obviously

Attraction 4: The Butterfly Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
This wa cool, but it obviously didn't have anything to do w/ the falls. It's an enormous indoor tropical butterfly garden surrounded by beautiful outdoor gardens & pathways. It was interesting, but my son didn't like the butterflies fluttering around his head. One landed on my mom, which was pretty cool. Overall, though, I don't think i'd do that again. It may have been cooler though, had we not already done 3 other things. We were dragging by that point. This then concluded the 4 inclusive attractions, but not the day as a whole, as I had promissed the kids a trip up the "Street of Fun." I'll write about that and the African Lion Safari later though, as I have to get ready for soccer now.

My mom & a butterfly