UMTravels

Out of the house at 9:30am — apparently with the rest of the state as well — every rest stop jammed and lines at the loo. BBQ lunch with Julian at the Big Kahuna BBQ in St. Johns, then back to his place to watch the 30’s black and white version of Scarface — a pre-code […]

OK – I’m starting to get annoyed. In the morning it’s long pants and shirt – because it’s overcast and cool. By noon the temperature spikes and it’s shorts, t-shirts and flipflops. Enough. Make up your mind. Just a day of running around with the top down (and the heat on in the morning) topped […]

So – I know that those two sound like they go together, but the Cleaning portion of the headline was my teeth – and old fashioned feed me the nitrous and scrape the hell out of them. I prefer that to taking out the water jack hammer and going after my gums. My favorite memory […]

So I caught this lovely version of the 737 I’d like to have for my personal transport: Wow – a 737 with SideWinder Heat Seeking missiles on it – that’s for me! Actually it’s for the Indian (sub-continent) Navy. Personally, I’d go for the winglets which give you a 20% improvement on MPG. So, the […]

Miata out of the shop in the morning. All fixed and pretty, but missing it’s air freshener. Will talk to TinTin about that. Spent the afternoon straightening up the place – too bad the maid doesn’t come until tomorrow, but maybe that’s a plus – doing a heavy clean AFTER a dinner party. A big […]

Today is all about trip planning. Finished the route for the Bliss trip now that Boise is out. Now Pendelton (for the mill tour) and then on to Maryhill (and Stonehendge)” Oh how I had actually having to use the phone to make reservations. I’ll hold my nose and dial. Luckily, it was easier than […]

If anyone can remember what I did on Sunday other than waking up in Olympia, let me know. Sunday’s post was lost in the ether with a server upgrade. At least I was able to recover Monday. Is that what they mean by blacking out? [226.6]

Nothing like waking up in a strange bed. At least I’m alone and I know whose bed it is. After last night’s festivities I slept in to almost 11. Jimmy was back home and had watered the entire garden and was in the shower by the time I came out of the fog. It would […]

Nothing like having breakfast at the dealership… well, not really, just a pastry and a can of Diet Coke to tide me over until I could get to Uwajimaya for a proper sushi brunch. I hadn’t even finished the Wall Street Journal (but made quick work of the sushi) when the dealership called. Same problem. […]

Not much to report here. A day spent taking care of little bits of this and that. Made an appointment to take the car BACK in for the warning light issue Made payments on all the outstanding bills and then did my quarterly taxes Made a batch of little buns as a test run and […]

Up and out of the house early – off to the BMW dealer to see what the hell is up with the “Check Engine” light on the new toy. Decided to just drop in and see how quickly they could make me a satisfied customer. The answer is an hour and a half. For dropping […]

Sometimes it’s about the journey rather than the destination – actually for me, it’s mostly that these days. I couldn’t take another night in the broken down motel with its encrypted slow wi-fi (password chipmunk to all those late night visitors). Remind me to file my TripAdvisor review. Got outta the dump 9:30ish, after an […]

It is never a good day when you have spent the previous packing the trunk only to have the Check Engine light come on it the morning – too much time with the trunk open, low battery, low fluids – it’s not like the old days then that light said – “stop the car right […]

It seemed that today was mostly about getting caught up on email, blogs, and letter writing – and planning for a two-night trip to the woods. The plan is to take the long way home – through Mt. Rainier National Park so I can use my pass again. $15 more of value out of the […]

Got out of the condo at 10am with the boys still sleeping or at least locked in the bedroom. As you head south to the border, there is a sign just north of the border that tells you expected wait times at the Peace Arch crossing, or the Truck crossing to the east. Sign listed […]

Before we get to Vancouver, spent the morning and early afternoon playing on the mountain: Talk about fun. Mind you I was a little skeptical about paying out $46.95 for a day pass on the mountain. Well worth it. Wish I’d had more than 4 hours to play on the mountain. Here is the link […]

Got out of the house around 10:30 – only to encounter traffic gridlock all the way to Northgate…. And then again on Highway 1 on the Canada side of the border. They actually ask me several questions this time on the way into Canada, even in the Nexus line. Must figure out how to get […]

I actually used the alarm to get up early enough to get me showered, fed and out the door to deliver the Miata back to the dealership so that Josh’s “Dent Guy” could take a nasty dent out of my passenger door. Didn’t notice it on the test drive, but as I was about to […]

The big deal for today (other than cleaning up the house and the yard to get ready for company) is the final dinner for Curt’s neighbor from Olympia, who has become a friend of mine as well. He takes off the 19th for 28 months in Cambodia with the Peace Corps. Odd that he will […]

I woke up this morning with the resolve that PuddyCat and I were mated for life. Then TinTin called. TinTin returned my Saturday call, yes, come see the Miata (he’d recommended the black/tan BMW that was mide-20’s and out of my range). 1pm with his preferred/favorite sales person (he’s in parts). I forgot my phone, […]