31 Oct 2008 - Trip to Tennessee to Visit Helen's Family

These are photos from our trip to Tennessee to visit Helen's mother Lois in Tullahoma. We then drove over to Knoxville to visit her brothers, David, Carl, and Families. We were able to do a house tour and see Emily's, Natalie and Matt's, and Alan and Cristina's new homes.

25 Oct 2008 - Identity Theft

Yesterday, we received a robo call from Chase Credit Card and asks us to acknowledge two different cc charges. The first was for Netflix which we had authorized. The second one was for a dating service charge. When we indicated that the second charge was not ours, we then spoke to a real person and was informed that the second charge was made in Cypress and had been stopped.

Chase terminated our credit card and is reissuing a new one.

Not aware where our credit card number was stolen from but apparently, Chase has a great system to determine when there may be a fraudulent charge.

24 Oct 2008 - It cost alot to put lipstick on a "Hockey Mom"

Click here to read an article about the cost to put lipstick on Palin.

22 Oct 2008 - First Snow on the Ground

Yesterday it started snowing, the temperature dropped and roads got icy. Around 6PM we drove over to Frisco to attend a birthday party for a friend of ours. The roads were really slick and the local radio station indicated that semi's were off the road near Vail pass. We left about 7:15PM and the traffic on I-70 was crawling along. We then stopped by the local Democratic office to help out stuffing envelopes to newly registered voters with information on our local candidates running for County Commissioner, State Representative and State Senator. With the help of about 15 people, we stuffed, stamped, sealed and put on mailing labels to 580 new voters.

The Dems were also having a "Early Voting Party" where you could leave your mail in ballot. We had music and food.


When we finally left about 10:30PM, the roads were pure ice.

Today, we drove (Explorer) to Copper Mtn, to attend the Annual Ski Executive's COO Breakfast. This is where the COO from Breck, A-Basin, Keystone, and Copper present and update to their market. With the down turn in the economy and the lower early bookings, the outlook is not good for the ski industry although when snow hits and there is national coverage (like today), reservation phones start ringing.

In the afternoon, we attended a local forum put on by the Summit County Planning department to discuss "affordable housing" issues. Helen is on the Lower Blue Planning Commission and was requested to attend this meeting.

Snow let up a little bit during the day and the weather for the weekend appears to be warming up.

20 Oct 2008 - Palin SNL

Youtube has blocked access to Amy Poehler's Sarah Palin rap on SNL, but here is a link to the video and the lyrics are listed below FMQINC

Amy Poehler’s Sarah Palin Rap Lyrics

one two three
my name is sarah
palin you all know me
vice president nominee of the gop
gonna need your vote in the next election
can i get a ‘what what’ from the senior section
mccain got experience, mccain got style
but don’t let him freak you out when he tries to smile
cause that smile be creepy
but when i be vp
all the leaders in the world gonna finally meet me

how’s it go eskimo eskimos
tell me what you know eskimo eskimos
how you feel eskimo ice cold
tell me tell me what you feel eskimo super cold

i’m jeremiah wright
cause tonight i’m the preacha
i got a bookish look and you’re all hot for teacha
todd lookin fine on his snow machine
so hot boy gonna need a go between
in wasilla we just chill baby chilla
but when i see oil lets drill baby drill
my country tis a thee
from my porch i can see
russia and such

all the mavericks
in the house put your hands up
all the mavericks in the house put your hands up
all the plumbers in the house pull your pants up
all the plumbers in the house pull your pants up

when i say ‘obama’
you say ‘ayers’
obama. ayers. obama. ayers.
i built me a bridge - it ain’t goin’ nowhere.

[ohhh]
Mccain, palin,
gonna put the nail in the coffin
of the media elite
she likes red meat
shoot a mull humpin moose, eight days of the week

[three gunshots]

now ya dead, now ya dead,
cause i’m an animal, and i’m bigger than you
holdin a shotgun walk in the pub
everybody party, we’re goin on a hunt
la la la la la la la la

[six gunshots]
yo palin, i’m out!

17 Oct 08 - Sunset

Wonderful Sunset last evening. It happened very quickly and I hardly had time to get my camera to take the photos.

07 Oct 2008 - Fall Colors in the Mountains

This year has been the best for fall colors that we can remember. These are a few photos taken during a recent hike at Big Horn near Vail, a bike ride to Copper Mtn., and several taken around our property.

06 Oct 2008 - Visiting Bret & Jeri

After staying in Mitchell SD, we continued into Minnesota and drove to Bret and Jeri's home in Mound MN. Bret's neighbor just purchased a 1955 Chevy like the one I used to have. He took us for a ride in it and it really brought back memories. On Saturday, we drove into Minneapolis. We went to the top of the Forshay Tower, which was the tallest building in Minneapolis when Jeri was little. The view of the city from the tower was really nice. My cousin, Tom Stinson, who lives St. Paul, joined us for lunch. It was really interesting talking with him since he has been the State Economist for 21 yrs and he shared his thoughts with us about the $700B bailout proposal. In the evening we walked over to a neighbor's house near the lake for a campfire. Bret and Jeri live within a block of Lake Minnetonka and on Sunday we took about 4 hour ride in Bret's boat around the lake and inlets to the harbors. We were hoping for fall colors but were a couple weeks early although we still got a flavor of the red colors. Bret drove us pass the mansions on the lakes and showed us his favorite boat.

As the Evan and Paige headed out to school on Monday, we started our drive back to the mountains travelling through Iowa and Nebraska. We arrived back home early afternoon on Tuesday.

06 Oct 2008 - Reflections of Minneapolis

While visiting Bret & Jeri in Minnesota, we drove to downtown Minneapolis for the after noon. We visited the Forshay Tower, which was the tallest building in Minneapolis when Jeri grew up, and were able to go to the top of the building where the view of the city was spectacular. I am always looking for photo op's of reflections and Minneapolis was a perfect spot.

05 Oct 2008 - Grasses of South Dakota

These are a few of my favorite images of the spectacular grasses of South Dakota. To view a larger image, just click on the image.
 
 
 

04 Oct 2008 - South Dakota Trip

On Tuesday, Sept 23, we drove to Ft. Collins to visit Craig, Sarah, and Zoe. We got up early on the 24th, and headed to Custer, South Dakota on our way to visit Bret, Jeri, and grandkids (Evan & Paige) in Minnesota. We first stopped by the Crazy Horse Monument, then drove through Custer State Park on our way to Mt. Rushmore. We then headed east to the Badlands arriving just before sunset. After the sunset, we decided to sleep in our car at a nearby campsite. We slept well until about 4AM and we both got cold. We started the engine several times to heat the car and then at about 5:30AM, we started driving through the Badlands to catch them in the sunrise. A herd of bison were along the rode as we departed our car-camp spot. The Badlands at the break of day is really nice. We did a couple hikes before the temp got to 93 and then headed to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD where we spent the night.