Word.

We’ve been waiting for a response on our roof claim! Jen’s had enough!

Well we are rolling home under sunny skies and besides a couple stops for Lil’ Buddy to toss his cookies its going smooth. The border crossing went pretty smooth. There was a huge line and wait but upon our turn at the checkpoint when asked if we had anything to declare, I chimed in with “I’m bringing a hangover back to the States!” The border agent actually chuckled. I’ve got a handful of pictures but I’ll go through them once I get home. Only another 2 or so hours to go.

Well, we are on the road and headed for our 1st stop Bell’s Brewery just outside of K’zoo. A couple beers, not too many, then on to Detroit City and across the river to Windsor. More to come.

So I was browsing around Youtube for some simple workout routines (Stop laughing!). I came across this gem…

Now I know pilates aren’t what I was looking for originally but I think I could get into this.

Cousin Craig will appreciate this. After wiping out in front of a mob of bikes this guy gets up off the ground and does the unthinkable…. He starts Dancing….

Well a great time was had by all. I didn’t become independently wealthy over the weekend but I came back with clothes on my back. Pictures will be available soon on my Flickr account.

For anyone that has pictures that they would like me to post or make available online let me know via email at scotc [at] comcast {dot} net. I know there are plenty of good pictures floating around on everyones cameras, like this one.

Through a good friend of mine I was introduced to James Day. I know that he has been trying for some time to find sponsorship and get seat time which in itself is a chore. I was in Vegas a couple years ago and watched James do a pass in a Top Alcohol Dragster and it was amazing standing right on the starting line behind the car. James has also cut his teeth in the Nostalgia drag cars that are designed after the early drag cars of the 50’s and 60’s. James got hooked up with DLS Motorsports and has since gotten his NHRA Funny Car license and they have a video that’s pretty cool about that night in Bakersfield.

James Day attempted to qualify at Pomona this year but it just wasn’t in the cards. Just the fact that he’s get ride down the track in a 300MPH Funny Car at a national NHRA event is an accomplishment many others will never get to experience.

Good luck James!

Jen and I went down to Matthiessen State Park about an hour and a half out into the sticks. With the first days in the 60’s in recent memory we had taken Chloe out on Saturday to one of the park district forest preserves. Chloe is a swimmer and the forest preserves don’t allow her to run off the leash or even swim off the least. Also the trails are pretty short. After the drive down south we hit Matthiessen at about 1 o’clock. I often joke about the freeway overpasses being the highest hills in Illinois. Matthiessen doesn’t necessarily impress with its positive elevation but its negative elevation.

Tiny streams have carved out amazing canyons into the soft sandstone deposits creating giant cutouts in the middle of a forest. Some of the drops are hundreds of feet straight down. Many of the trails are open and graded through the forest consisting of crushed stone while the descents into the canyon are often wood or concrete walkways that are attached to the sides of the canyon walls. After setting out to cover the 3 miles of trails in the park we headed down into the first canyon. Once into the canyon it was a little tricky leading Chloe across some of the creeks. There are man made pedestal to jump across but Chloe couldn’t really get the hand of jumping from rock to rock. So we just let her swim across and she was fine.

Well I could go on forever about the waterfalls and the giant swimming holes that Chloe had fun in but just before we headed out of the last canyon there was one more small water fall to see. It included a short crossing of a muddy section of stream that was aided by a couple of fallen tree branches. I started acrross and suddenly saw a shadow from behind. I was already doing my best to keep the mud off of my shoes when Jen let out a scream. She had just slipped in the mud at the beginning of the log. As she got her pant leg out of the mud she realized that the mud had just sucked her favorite Sketcher off of her foot. After regaining her balance and not knowing exactly where it was she lost the shoe the hunt began. I was wearing shorts so I did my best attempt as a gold digger up to my knees and elbows in no-so-warm water. Chloe during this time just wanted to play in the mud. After about 20 minutes and being out of my shoes knee deep in mud it was over… Matthiessen State Park 1, Jenifer Brandl 0. Now we have a one footed girl with a soggy sock and soaked jeans that still needed to get up out of the canyon and back to the parking lot. I gave Jen my shoes and walked out barefoot. Looking like a hillbilly with a girl in shoes 3 sizes too big dragging her feet along the rocky trail being led by a dog that could go another 3 miles we finally made it back to the car after a 40-minutes to an hour walk. All in all a good time but stay away from the muddy creek crossings.

First note… I have to fix my picture uploads so no banner in the little Title banner. I also have to redo my header since there was an update to the theme.

Well I had darts last night and it looks like 2nd place is the best I can do. Craig wrapped up the title with a 5 and 1 night but the battle for 2nd has Dave, Brian, and myself all within one game of each other. Brian had leap frogged me last week to take a 1 game lead over me. After some close games with Brian last night I squeaked out a 4-2 record last night getting me back ahead of him with 27 wins. With Dave running into Craig and the report was he took 5 meaning Dave took 1, we’re all knotted up at 27 for Dave and myself with Brian one behind at 26.

Also looks like the Sunday Tournament will be at Cousin’s or at least thats where I’ll be playing this weekend.

So last night while watching the elimination of Chikezie Eze (somebody had to go) Jen took pride in the Sasquatch bristle she had growing on her legs. This got me to thinking of growing out my goutee once again. I then found a link to the announcement of the 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships being held in Anchorage Alaska May 23, 2009. Will a year to grow it out I think I could make a run for at least the Dupage County regional maybe even best beard in Illinois. What an honor that would be. Then I could share in the pride Jen has for her occasional leg hair.