Flagstaff Rocks!

Reasons why I like living in Flag

1) Being a college town, it keeps me young
2) Rarely hotter than 90 degrees, rarely colder than minus 15 (I said RARELY - ignore
last year's minus 25 / minus 30)
3) Ice Rink!
4) Ski area less than 30 minutes from town
5) Usually bicycle friendly
6) When not #5 above, it is bicycle tolerant
7) Population fewer than 100K, greater than 50K
8) Smells like pine trees
7) People are cool
8) Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Riordan Mansion, etc.
9) When our idea of winter gets to be a drag, a warmer climate is 40 minutes away
10) Outdoor activities!

Saturday Night in Phoenix

A great way to spend a Saturday Night in the Valley. Even better was Coyotes 4, Bruins 1.

Splish Splash

A whale of a good time at Seaworld!

Coolness in Carlsbad

I usually avoid things that I think might be cheesy like the plague, thus it was with much trepidation that I allowed myself to enter the SEA LIFE AQUARIUM associated with LEGOLAND and located just outside the main gate to the monument to Danish building blocks. The anticipated curdled aged milk quality of the edifice waned as soon as I came across the tank of shark embryos. (expletive deleted) COOL!

The Little Young Lady From Carlsbad

One of our daughter's favorite things at LEGOLAND was the cars that kids get to drive. There is a course set up not unlike the courses we had during driver's ed classes in the seventies. The difference is that someone dumped money into this one so there are actual curbs and traffic lights. That and the kids cars are battery operated and go slow. Anyway here she is a few moments before getting her laminated driver's license.

You Could Complain, But That Would Be Piddly!

Yesterday I blogged about the detail of the displays at LEGOLAND. Today I continue this string. As many of you know, I played volunteer firefighter for a number of years, and although that chapter of my life is closed, I still am drawn to things firefighter. I am also drawn to juvenile and crude humor. This explains why I loved this particular lego construction of the quintessential dalmatian and hero firefighter.

Then I got another view and loved it even more.

Seeing is Believing

During our trip to LEGOLAND we we impressed with the displays made out of legos. I fund some of the attention to detail particularly fascinating; not only were the people in the stands good, but the side of the Capitol had an added element that many would overlook.

The Port-a-Potties! With people waiting to use them!

Thin air kills brain cells

We mountain dwellers tend to despise heat, so it is natural that we head off to Palm Desert with two other mountain dwelling families in late July for a week of vacation. Monday is supposed to be 114 degrees. Sounds like a good day to head off to legoland and cool off in the sub 80 degree weather.

Row, row, row your boat.

I have frequently wondered about the logic of heading to "the lake" for the day. I have always thought that being confined to a shadeless expanse of blazing sun was a form of torture reserved for international terrorists. I am not talking about fishing. Spending the day fishing makes sense to me, but just hanging out at the lake has often baffled me, so when one of our daughter's friends decided to have his birthday party at Lake Mary complete with canoes and kayaks, I feigned enthusiasm, dreading baking under the 95 degree sun for 3 hours. Besides, I had not paddled a canoe in over 20 years. Anyway, Saturday we headed off to the lake for a day baking in the sun for three hours. The result: After 5 (3 was not enough) hours paddling canoes and kayaks in the sun I have concluded I WANT A CANOE, I WANT A KAYAK, I WANT A TRAILER OR RACK TO HAUL SAID TOYS TO THE LAKE. I WANT A CANOE OR KAYAK. I WANT A KAYAK OR CANOE. I WANT BOTH! I WANT BOTH NOW! I am also pissed off that nobody ever told me that a day at the lake is fun. Nobody told me that one simply ignores the heat and sun. (is this enough sarcasm?) Maybe somebody could profess that there is logic in heading to "the lake" for the day.

Bowling For Birthdays

Our daughter had her birthday at the bowling alley Saturday. It was a blast as all the kids as well as adults had a great time. I have found these work out much better that the ones held at "Upchuck Cheese" and clones thereof. This is our daughter attempting to pick up the spare. Is she ready for the pro bowler tour?

They're Baaaaaaack!

It seems that the forces at NAU decided that since the students are back from winter break, they should dig the snow out from around the bike racks -- if they can find them. It makes me wonder what they spent the last week doing, and why they decided to wait until doorways, handicap railings, etc. are congested with bicycles. The good news is people are finding their bikes that were covered with around 3 feet of snow as the racks are uncovered. At this rate Jimmy Hoffa will be found alive and well and living in a steam tunnel under the Physics building.

After Years of Service to NAU

Goodbye Timber Inn. You will be missed.

Morning Wake Up Call

So after our daughter had the last five days off from school, and I had 5 days off from work (my wife had to settle for a simple weekend), we headed off to work and school in the pre dawn darkness. We were toolin' along the road toward the interstate when our daughter suddenly exclaimed ELK! ELK! ELK! Sure 'nuff a HUGE bull elk sauntered across the road some 20 yards in front of us. It was too dark to count points, but it was a big ol' boy. It served as a reminder that we do share our environment with wildlife and we must always be alert while driving. During my days of playing firefighter I saw what these animals do to even full size pick-up trucks, and it is impressive. What happens to the passengers is even more impressive. Seeing one of these beautiful and powerful animals is a great way to start the week.

Time flies for bar flies.

Friday night we wound up kidless, and thought we would use the opportunity to slip on down to the Tavern for a couple of drinks. So with dinner finished, we headed out for a quiet evening. An hour later we were still there, Two hours later we were still there, Three hours later, one of our friends bought us a round. Four hours later another friend bought us another round. Somehow it was Saturday and we were still there. This would not be blogworthy if we were 15, 20, 25 years younger, but we arent, and haven't been in a bar that late in MANY years. Fun times, but we sure felt old later in the day. In other news, my wife decided to spring my Christmas present on me early. A snowblower. How cool be that? Just in time for possible snow for turkey day.

Can't think of a title.

Happy Thursday. Mornings keep getting chilly, in the 20's anyway. At least there was no wind today. Now if we would get some moisture, we could have some snow. This morning as I was riding to work, I saw a street cleaner on campus leaving a nice trail of a thin layer of ice behind it. How cool is that?

Twist and Shout

If you have been so bored that you have been following my blog, you may remember a post during the summer where my daughter finally went down the simple slide at the athletic club. I remembered the problems we had trying to get her to go down that slide when we checked out the new city aquatic center with the much bigger dual slides. Dreading a repeat of the drama, we asked if she wanted to go down the slide. We were greeted with a "I'm thinking about it." I tried the old "If daddy goes down, will you?" Without any hesitation, the answer was "Yes!" So up the steps we went to sit at the tops of the slides and down we went. During the trip down my tube, (twist twist turn turn in semi-dark) I figured my daughter would hate me forever. Nope! Again and again and again. No tantrums, no hesitations, no bribes. Anyway this is a pic of the outside portion of the slides.

The Power Of Thank You

My wife had her company picnic today at a ramada in the county fairgrounds a few miles from home. It has been held in the county fairgrounds the past few years, it has been at a different ramada, and many attendees had difficulty finding the spot this year. I find it humorous that it was at the Navajo Ramada and even the Navajos my wife works with had a hard time finding the picnic spot. But that is all in a name anyway. As soon as we arrived, my daughter connected with a friend who had her bike there. I was instantly encouraged by my other two thirds to go home and get my daughters bike. I reluctantly complied and headed off in a grumpy mood to fetch the apparatus of personal conveyance. As I pulled back into the parking lot for the picnic, my daughter ran to the truck and exclaimed "Thank you Daddy!" My grumpies evaporated and all was good again.

What Else Can I Forget?

With summer rapidly winding to a close, we decided to take a short 1 night camping trip to Ashurst Lake. We loaded the truck with all the essentials, rented a 2 burner Coleman style (Brinkman brand) camp stove from the good folks at NAU Outdoors and headed out to Ashurst Lake. We arrived at the campground and set up camp when my daughter held up the jar of bait and exclaimed "Now we get to put hooks on the fishing poles!" My mind loaded the image of my tackle box sitting in the front of the garage so I would have to step over it when I walked in front of the truck before getting in the drivers seat. That and I would put the new jar of bait that we just bought in it before I put it in the truck. My mind loaded the image of my walking behind the truck before getting in the drivers seat. My mouth loaded the response of "Oh, crap." So I headed off to the Lake Mary Store to pay the you should have remembered this before coming fishing prices for some hooks. I got back to campsite and we headed off to the lake. At the lake, I realized that bobbers would have been nice. No, I didn't go back to the store. We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. Our daughter was too beat to continue and was asleep by 8:00 As bedtime for the adults rolled around, I suddenly remembered that campgrounds like this one have dueling RV generators and a passel of peons partying past 11:00. Although there were fewer than 7 out of 25 spots occupied, and our nearest neighbor was 75 feet away, I felt as if we were in a colege dorm during the first week of school. It finally got quiet enough to listen to the coyotes serenade us off to dream land. I love the sound of barking/howling coyotes, it sooths me and frees me of the thoughts of the material world I spend too much time in. Our two dogs were too beat to respond - most of the time. Despite the antics of the absent minded chemist, it was a great time, and a perfect end to the summer. Reality hits on Thursday when our daughter starts the fourth grade. Oh, and a reminder to all parents out there: take the kids fishing/camping - Andy and Opie will bless you for it.

Where Architects Dare

Some of my favorite buildings/structures in the U.S.

Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, NM

Chrysler Building, NYC

Seattle Space Needle

National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO. (rent the Woody Allen movie "Sleeper")

The "older" part of the Denver Art Museum

The now defunct Columbia Savings in Boulder circa 1973-1990. It was sort of a smashed truncated octahedron on stilts.

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde NP

Fallingwater

Heavy Reflections

One of the characters in Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451 stated that one should live one's life as if one were to die within 10 seconds. Given that one can suddenly die on a bus in Manitoba, this carries a lot of truth. I wish the family, friends, and loved ones of Tim McLean deep peace and love. I thank all carneys everywhere for allowing young children to win every time. (I have a daughter who manages to win every time.) Seriously, Peace and Love! - A winner every time.