Work and play, work and play. Even for us this can be a balancing act. Just in this one picture we can see a new clutch master cylinder and line, new battery, new valve cover gaskets, fresh paint, all new hoses, new plug wires, new air filter, new thermostat and … Read More
MN Miscellany
We’re here working on the truck, and just going about normal Minnesota summer life. I found a rubber worm and was able to get a good scream out of the kids with it. We were wandering around downtown North St. Paul, and popped into a junk/antique store where Lowe found these … Read More
Truck and Twins
Overheated driving down the highway today. I’ve been bragging about how much cooler the engine has been running since I did all this engine work, so this caught me a little by surprise. I was stuck on the side of the road with no water, so I did the only … Read More
Downsizing
Ali sold all of her jewelry. Wedding ring? Gone. Diamond earrings? Gone. Class rings? Gone. Miscellaneous bling? Gone. Gone. All gone. Not because we’re broke, but because she simply didn’t want it any longer. She can’t foresee herself ever wanting to wear expensive, flashy jewelry again. For thirteen years now that … Read More
International Outfitting
There just isn’t a whole lot going on around here right now. It sort of feels like we now live here and are suburban parents. Ouest is going to a reading class each day, and while she is there I work next door in the Starbucks, which is about as … Read More
Time to Work and Play
We’ve got a host of family things going on this month, which are keeping our feet planted for a few weeks. That gives us plenty of time to visit my dad. And gives Ouest time to go to reading camp for a couple hours each morning. She gets to take her … Read More
Cars, Fairs, and Parties
The past week has been a bit of a mishmash of experiences. We went out to the Back to the 50s car show. It’s a massive affair held at the State Fairgrounds, and it was brutally hot and humid. We didn’t see even 5% of the cars, but did spot … Read More
One Step Closer
Well, the bus is gone—which left us having to fly from Portland to MN. Not our favorite mode of travel. Not by a long shot. But, just fourteen hours after waking up, we were at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, and one step closer to new adventures. Waiting on Grandpa. The … Read More
Winding Down in Portland
We spent our last week in Portland before flying to Minnesota. Over time, I think, our lifestyle has actually afforded us more time with our families than had we stayed put in Chicago. I’m sure there is no way we would have seen each other as much had we slipped … Read More
Beach Birthday
My mom and her twin sister had a pretty big birthday coming up, so we gathered up a bunch of family and headed for a beach house rental to celebrate. Our timing was incredibly lucky—the weather in Portland while we were gone was 103 degrees, the temps on the beach … Read More
Saying Goodbye to the Bus
My birth mother and one of my sisters came down to visit for a couple of days. This was the first time we had met Hallie, but it didn’t take the kids long to warm up to her. Ouest tells us she wishes she could have a mustache, so we … Read More
Comfortable
A couple of months ago I had this conversation with Ouest and afterwards I jotted it down. I found it on my desktop today: When I told Ouest that we were thinking about taking a smaller truck to South America, instead of our blue bus, I explained to her that … Read More