Blue Man Group - Gum balls & Marshmallows

While in Vegas we went to see Blue Man Group. They are a funky group of 'Blue men' who do a theatrical/percussion/visual ensemble thingy. Not a word is uttered by the Blue Men. they have some messages that are blasted overhead with neon signs. It is very entertaining. We were in row 6 - and were provided with plastic ponchos as some of the paint sprays into the audience.

Kevin LOVED it. I bought him the original creation of a painting made by the paint balls from the Blue Men. I will send a separate blog post with a photo of that .

SW Trip # 3 - Sedona, AZ

It is called Red Rock Country. About 100 miles south of the Grand Canyon. We had a beautiful drive through a mountain range and down an incredible canyon with red rocks and Ponderosa Pines (Flagstaff south on 89A). We were in elevations of 7,000' at the Grand Canyon, 8,500' north of Flagstaff, 6,000 at Flagstaff and then 4,000 in Sedona.

The red rocks surround the entire city of Sedona. There are dirt roads just outside of town with wonderful views of the rocks.

Below is Cathedral Rock.

Enjoying breakfast with a view.

Amazing rock formations of all shapes, sizes and colors.

Below is one of the off-the-beaten path roads we took. The red dirt is REEEDDD!!! Wouldn't want to put kids in white socks here.

The rock formations are often named. Kevin thought this was quite interesting and being the creative soul he is, started naming some rock formations himself.

Below is Dual Face Rock - in the center Buddha is looking toward the sun with his eyes closed; on the left edge is Chief Red Rock's profile.

Below, Kevin identified and named Resting Camel Rock.

And of course......the ever intellectual, latin speaking Kevin named this one

Penis Rock.

SW Trip # 2 The Grand Canyon

Truly a magnificent sight!

Here we are at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona. We didn't plan well for the temperatures! As we drove towards the canyon we were in a snow shower. Neither of us had packed appropriately....we were cold!!! 7,000 ft elevation and a cold front. We had a comfortable, warm room and there were 2 nice restaurants that we enjoyed dinner at each night. The second day was clear, with blue skies but cold temperatures. We spent several hours driving the south rim and stopping to capture some of the glorious views below.

Watch as light in the canyon changes throughout the day - above and below are morning light.

Colors get richer as the sun gets higher. The above and below are mid-day light.

The next two are at sundown...the shadows are long and colors muted.

Most of the photos capture the canyon at about 8-10 miles across - but at the widest it is 17 miles across.

The photos do not begin to express the vastness and the magnitude of this wonder.

Even though it was cold, it was a great to be in 'nature' - a total juxtaposition to the lights and noise of Las Vegas.

The view from our room - morning after a light snow fall.

We stayed in the National Park where there is beautiful wildlife . This deer was eating some clover outside the lodge.

And Mr Elk appeared both evenings we were eating. We joked he was on payroll there because his entry was definately a crowd pleaser. After dinner we saw him at a different spot with another crowd of tourists. There were signs around the park saying it is 'Unlawful' to approach the animals.

Southwest Trip Blog 1

We spent 2 days on the Vegas Strip - staying at the New York New York Resort. The view from our hotel (below) of the Res Rock Canyons enticed us out for a drive through the canyon one afternoon.

The geological interest had Kevin amazed. It was beautiful....especially only 20 miles from the center of Vegas.

Then we drove over the Hoover Dam (and the new bridge behind us) into Arizona.

We passed through Williams - and drove on Route 66 for a stretch.

Still looks like an old west town.

Check in tomorrow for the next Chapter....2 days at the Grand Canyon.

Fall in Indiana

Halloween is upon us....pumpkin carving is in the air. Hannah visited for a day and she and Kevin carved a pumpkin.

We took a day last week and drove down to Brown County and Nashville, Indiana. Mum and Dad and Colette will remember it well. This time of year it is a beautiful drive.

We have a "Day driving trips in Indiana" book and it took us into very rural and quiet remote areas. It was a fun adventure. We had lunch in Nashville and an early dinner in Bloomington. We were home by 8:30pm. I nice day trip.

Next we have winter.......

An announcement

Joel off to Purdue University

Thursday was a momentous day. Not only was it Joel's 18th birthday - it was also the day we took him to Purdue and moved him in to his new home. It took 3 cars - Joel's car with his bike on board (freshman are not permitted to have cars on campus unless they have regular off-campus appointments for a doctor or dentist....Joel still has his braces, so got permission to take his car! This will make him very popular!) In my car were clothes and some groceries/laundry stuff, Todd drove with the floor rug, the fridge, printer and microwave.



Joel and his room mate Luke Wilson (a friend from Heritage) unloading the cars at the loading dock at the back of Shreve Hall.

Joel entering his room - No. 604. Note they put the boys names outside their rooms on cars and firetrucks!! Isn't that cute!

Here are the boys in their room. Joel ordered a loft - meaning his bed is up high and he has storage under it. The fridge, TV, microwave and printer are going under Joel's bed. Luke ordered a loft (too late for installation upon move it) which will be arriving in the next week and under his bed will go a futon so they have a place to sit and if they have any friends stay they can crash on the futon. At the foot of their beds they each have a desk and behind the desk they each have a closet and chest of drawers/mirror. Pretty close quarters. The bathroom is down the hall.

This is Shreve Hall. Build in 1978. This is the boys wing - in the middle is the common area (lounge area(with a grand piano), study rooms, rec room, TV lounge and office with mail room and 24 hour attendees) and on the other side is the girls wing. Shreve does not have a dining hall - but the dorms on both sides do - so not far to walk for meals. The boys also have a supply of microwave and freezer meals in their room.

Joel is on the 6th floor (there are 8) and is the second room from the end - so you can actually see his room in this photo just to the right and above the smaller tree.

Across the road from Shreve is the Marching Band practice oval......the first morning Joel was woken at 7am with the marching band playing Revelry. I'm sure the band loves waking all the sloths in the dorms close by!

The boys are all settled in and ready for classes to start on Monday August 23rd!

House Painting Complete

Kevin and his Dad, Russ and I worked on painting the exterior of the house. The siding is vinyl so we only had to paint trim. The front porch was the biggest job - but not the most treacherous. The trim used to all be vanilla - the same color as the siding. We painted the trim a khaki color, and the shutters and door a Terra-cotta. We also painted some of the porch the same vanilla color so the 3 colors were still all blending.

Painted the accent the same colors....

The top of the chimney was a challenge! But is all complete now.

Task done for another 10 years!

IMM - Building Successful Practices

Chicago III - there and back

Northern Indiana has developed an energy alternative in Wind Farms. From the interstate you can see hundreds, probably thousands of these enormous wind catches that convert to energy. It is an amazing and somewhat futuristic looking scene.

We have seen the propellers being transported before - takes an extra long truck - but appears the bases are made on site and then the propellers lifted up onto the base.

On the way back from Chicago we stopped into the little town of Kouts, Indiana. Not much going on in Kouts, Indiana!

Kouts Liquors and Kouts Gift Shop and More. That was about it for kouts. One stop light...but it was flashing :)