Some time since out last post, sorry about that! When you're having fun, you just can't find the time to update a web blog. NOT!!

Kevin and his two wonderful kids, Megan and Dillon have come and gone, as I said, they didn't improve their Spanish much but we had a good time. "D" and Kevin played volleyball on the beach while Megan read and worked on her tan (she did play some). They've returned to Sun Valley and when last seen were packing to go to Europe with Grand Pa Pat and Barb. We visited them on our drive back to Seattle (more to come).

Well the boat was repaired, and we left the dock!! However, things never go quite as planned. Just as we exited the breakwater, abut 400 yards, we put the pedal/throttle down and the engine went BOOM, threw a connecting rod through the side of the engine. We had hoped to cruise over to fill our fuel tanks before taking off for our trip up to San Carlos, where we hoped to put the boat "on the hard", dry storage, for the summer. Well now we not only don't have a working engine we have no engine at all, an entire replacement will be needed. We've just heard this week that our insurance will cover about 50% of the replacement, better than nothing. The upside of this is that now we don't have to worry about storing our boat in San Carlos during the summer and hurricane season at least until we get the new engine in.

We changed our plans from San Carlos to Puerto Vallarta as the starting place for our summer travels around the US visiting friends and family. We did manage to find a cheap flight to Surprise AZ where we spent a week with Jim & Jessica.

Oh yea, did I mention that two days before we were to leave, I must have done something to my back (C7 vertebra area for you that know backs). I got up on Sunday and COULD NOT MOVE! I finally got in to see a chiropractor on Tuesday who looked at me and said he couldn't do anything but prescribe a steroid shot, which Mary rejoiced in giving in my butt.

Back to Surprise AZ, Mary left me writhing on the floor, about the only place I could find relief, while she, Jessica and another friend did a Thelma and Louise plus one trip on the Mojave Indian reservation and the surrounding area while listening to Tony Killerman books on tape. They returned and Jim had been nice enough to cart (the mode of transportation is golf cars) to the health center for a couple of theropudic massages. After a week they put us on a plane to Minneapolis, our next stop, we're looking forward to their visit to Seattle in August.

In Minnesota, we watched Mary's son Mike graduate from William and Mitchell Law school! It was an impressive ceremony, the speaker was the past Assistant US Attorney General under John Ashcroft, sorry forgot his name. He talked about his role in the denial of subpoenas for the first wire taps of citizen phone conversations, maintaining high ethical standards.
We spent about a week with Mike and his very expectant wife Sarah (late July). There was a graduation party for friends and family, walks down to the Mississippi River, working in their P Patch community garden, and we bought a car, a Mercedes if you can imagine that, we got a really good deal on a seven year old E320 through JP Mikes father in law.

W drove up to Leech Lake in Northern Minnesota where Jim, Mary's brother has a new home right on the lake. He left us there to "veg" out and just relax for a few days. The first night there was frost, WHAT IS THAT WHITE STUFF? After a week, it was time to move on....

Next stop on the friends and relatives tour, IOWA, where we spent about four days with Mary's sister Joann and her husband Chuck. We visited their cabin on Spirit Lake (next to Lake Okoboji in NW Iowa) as well as the "The Boars Nest" a daily gathering of pseudo Republicans who meet for coffee on the farm adjacent to Chuck and Joann's. Some of this group, visited us in PV, Herb, Lori, Cheri and Bob.

From the CORN STATE to THE WHEAT STATE, we drove to Kansas City visited Joel's brother Roch, wife Daphne and their son Joe. Joe was a site in himself, he was last 5 � feet tall, now 6'2" at 14 with a shoe size to match (the last of the off the shelf size of shoe). We toured the horse farm that Daphne manages and watched one of Joe's baseball games. The wind was blowing about 35 from right field, Joe's team was naturally seated on the third base side. When the first baseman shuffled his feet dirt would fly our way. We all took showers when we got home.

From KC we went to Lawrence for a night with Joel's other brother Jeff, who lives in a 1920's farm house about 5 miles outside of town. We/Mary has worked out a kitchen remodel that the whole family will work on in the fall on our way back to Minnesota.

Next on to Winfield, for a very relaxing four days with Joel's mom, and a visit with his high school chum, Craig Duncan and his wife, Diana. We attended a benefit for Habitat for Humanity that was held in a hill top home outside of town where we were able to watch the comings and goings of several single and double rainbows while it rained all around us. We'll be back in the fall for the Winfield Bluegrass Festival and National Flat Picking and Fiddle Contest, 3rd weekend in September.

From Winfield to the Mile High City of Denver to visit Joel's sister Nan, a Physical Therapist for St. Luke's. Then on to Sun Valley to visit Kevin, Meagan and Dillon again (back on the flip side of where this note started). We went for a nice hike up to Baker Lake, where Kevin and I had hoped to temp the fish with flies, seems we left the pole in the car. Not to worry, Kevin tied the line around a stick and managed to catch a nice 15" or so brook trout. It got away naturally before it could be properly documented.

We have now arrived at our shared cabin in Baring, an old railroad town, where we look out on the Skykomish River. For the last week other than a couple of days tripping to Seattle for doctor appointments, Joel's right arm is still numb, no pain but still very numb, we've been working on cleaning up the landscape a little from several years of not much attention, HEY it is a forest. We now plan to connect with friends very briefly and then drive back to Minnesota, fly to Arizona, the San Diego and then do the BAHA HAHA again with our friends, Teri & Lyman Potts or Portland OR.

The fist week of July we'll be bonding with our grandson JP, James Parks, on Bainbridge Island, WA while father Tim is in Victoria sailing in the Thunderbird Worlds. Mom Michelle will be support crew and begin her "birthday month celebration".

Hope to at least touch base with our many friends before we head back to Mexico in late October. Give us a call if you're in our area!!
425-466-4879