Drive-in
Originally uploaded by stephsk8r
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Friday afternoon update
We're hanging out at Not of This World Cafe in Roswell this afternoon after going to Target for car wash supplies (couldn't fit them in for the trip out) and washing Phoebe, which is difficult with the water here. She's very streaky -- it's more obvious on a black car.
Last night we arrived in Roswell around 6 pm after driving from Tucumcari. The Blue Swallow Motel was great, and we walked to a little diner for breakfast with Lisa and Jason and then went through the dinosaur museum before getting on the road for Roswell. We had a really nice drive and stopped for a late lunch at a shiny silver diner that resembled a railroad car.
Phoebe got incredible gas mileage on the way here -- if she's completely full, she usually goes 100 miles with the needle on Full, 200 miles at 3/4 tank, 300 miles at 1/2, and 400 miles at 1/4. There are three dots between each quarter of the gauge. Steph snapped a photo at 167 miles and the needle had not even hit the first dot under full. I'm hoping for another 500-mile tank, but we'll be doing a fair amount of in-town driving this weekend, so that may not happen.
We unloaded the car at the motel and walked over to Tia Juana's, a local Mexican place where everyone who arrives on Thursday usually goes for dinner. (I've never arrived on Thursday before; the Eastern caravan traditionally arrives on Friday.) A nice time was had by all. I got almost nine hours of sleep last night, so I've been feeling a lot better today. Tonight is the Sky Watch party and the Pod Glow cruise. I realized today that I might be able to weave a glow necklace or two through the holes in Phoebe's wheels.
Last night we arrived in Roswell around 6 pm after driving from Tucumcari. The Blue Swallow Motel was great, and we walked to a little diner for breakfast with Lisa and Jason and then went through the dinosaur museum before getting on the road for Roswell. We had a really nice drive and stopped for a late lunch at a shiny silver diner that resembled a railroad car.
Phoebe got incredible gas mileage on the way here -- if she's completely full, she usually goes 100 miles with the needle on Full, 200 miles at 3/4 tank, 300 miles at 1/2, and 400 miles at 1/4. There are three dots between each quarter of the gauge. Steph snapped a photo at 167 miles and the needle had not even hit the first dot under full. I'm hoping for another 500-mile tank, but we'll be doing a fair amount of in-town driving this weekend, so that may not happen.
We unloaded the car at the motel and walked over to Tia Juana's, a local Mexican place where everyone who arrives on Thursday usually goes for dinner. (I've never arrived on Thursday before; the Eastern caravan traditionally arrives on Friday.) A nice time was had by all. I got almost nine hours of sleep last night, so I've been feeling a lot better today. Tonight is the Sky Watch party and the Pod Glow cruise. I realized today that I might be able to weave a glow necklace or two through the holes in Phoebe's wheels.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Thursday morning
We made it to the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, NM, late last night after stopping at the Big Texan in Amarillo, TX, for dinner. The motel is really cute -- our room has a section with a wood floor and a bathroom with vintage fixtures and tile. There is a garage next to our room for Phoebe, and she's sharing it with Spacepod, as Lisa and Jason are staying next door. Other stops yesterday were the Rock Cafe in Stroud, OK; a collection of Route 66 memorabilia; the Round Barn in Arcadia, OK; and the Route 66 museum in Clinton, OK.
I haven't been getting enough sleep, so we elected to stay here a little longer this morning, sleep in a little, and see the dinosaur museum and some of the other old motels and attractions in Tucumcari. Oh, yes, and breakfast at a diner somewhere. I'm glad we're arriving in Roswell today; having some free time tomorrow and a chance to sleep in a little again will help.
Yesterday I kept ending up near the end of the caravan, which is a difficult place to be. The traffic wave effect that's present in nearly all large traffic formations is much more evident at the end, and often the people at the front can't understand why the people at the back are complaining about trying to catch up all the time. The rain made the drive harder, too. Phoebe needs to have one or both of her wiper arms replaced because the springs don't hold them against the windshield strongly enough, so my wipers skitter around at higher speeds a little more than other people's do.
Today we are traveling with Spacepod and the pumpkin (Britt and Marie's Snap Orange color concept).
I haven't been getting enough sleep, so we elected to stay here a little longer this morning, sleep in a little, and see the dinosaur museum and some of the other old motels and attractions in Tucumcari. Oh, yes, and breakfast at a diner somewhere. I'm glad we're arriving in Roswell today; having some free time tomorrow and a chance to sleep in a little again will help.
Yesterday I kept ending up near the end of the caravan, which is a difficult place to be. The traffic wave effect that's present in nearly all large traffic formations is much more evident at the end, and often the people at the front can't understand why the people at the back are complaining about trying to catch up all the time. The rain made the drive harder, too. Phoebe needs to have one or both of her wiper arms replaced because the springs don't hold them against the windshield strongly enough, so my wipers skitter around at higher speeds a little more than other people's do.
Today we are traveling with Spacepod and the pumpkin (Britt and Marie's Snap Orange color concept).
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday update
Still not able to get online on my own computer for various reasons. I spent an hour on the phone with Bright House last night trying to troubleshoot my dialup connection, which appears not to play well with a certain Windows update.
We started out with 12 NBs yesterday in Joliet, IL, and picked up three more along the way. Lots of photo ops, including the Joliet Historical Museum, which opened especially for us. We also stopped at the Gemini Giant, an old gas station, the Paul Bunyan statue in Atlanta, the Dixie Truck Stop, Cozy Dog (very greasy), Chain of Rocks Bridge, and Ted Drewes' Frozen Custard.
At the motel in the morning, we found out that Howie had a scan tool, and he was able to turn off Phoebe's check engine light. It came back on at the frozen custard place, and Chris thinks it's a mass air flow sensor. It's a part that can be taken out and cleaned to see if it's the problem, and everyone assures me that she'll be fine until we get home unless the light starts blinking. In fact, there are three or four of us with check engine lights on now.
Our 15 NBs: two black, two silver, three red, two white, two bright blue, two orange, one Harvest Moon, and one yellow. Three TDIs. No convertibles. Only one 2006 or later, but four '98s! Highest mileage: 192,000. Phoebe's mileage: 76,4xx.
Today we're off to see Meramac Caverns, the blue whale, and a couple of other things I can't remember at the moment.
We started out with 12 NBs yesterday in Joliet, IL, and picked up three more along the way. Lots of photo ops, including the Joliet Historical Museum, which opened especially for us. We also stopped at the Gemini Giant, an old gas station, the Paul Bunyan statue in Atlanta, the Dixie Truck Stop, Cozy Dog (very greasy), Chain of Rocks Bridge, and Ted Drewes' Frozen Custard.
At the motel in the morning, we found out that Howie had a scan tool, and he was able to turn off Phoebe's check engine light. It came back on at the frozen custard place, and Chris thinks it's a mass air flow sensor. It's a part that can be taken out and cleaned to see if it's the problem, and everyone assures me that she'll be fine until we get home unless the light starts blinking. In fact, there are three or four of us with check engine lights on now.
Our 15 NBs: two black, two silver, three red, two white, two bright blue, two orange, one Harvest Moon, and one yellow. Three TDIs. No convertibles. Only one 2006 or later, but four '98s! Highest mileage: 192,000. Phoebe's mileage: 76,4xx.
Today we're off to see Meramac Caverns, the blue whale, and a couple of other things I can't remember at the moment.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sunday recap
Apparently I can blog only a certain number of characters from my phone. Anyway...
Lisa and Jason arrived in Indianapolis very late Saturday night, and we had breakfast at the Canary Cafe with them and Britt and Marie. They came to see our house. Lucy was happy to see her Lisa, and she even made friends with Jason. We got on the road to Chicago a little after 3:00, and after lots of traffic, we arrived at Summerfest around 7:45.
Unfortunately, Phoebe's check engine light came on while we were waiting to get on I-90. It had been off since she went to Tune Tech, so I had hoped that the problem that caused it had been solved. I immediately called Susan Hester to see if anyone had a VAG-COM tool, but she didn't know of anyone who'd brought one, so I called the ever-reliable John Steele, who had of course packed his. We'll meet him in St. Louis tonight and see if Phoebe's still throwing the P3191 code. She's had lots of fuel injector cleaner lately, so I don't think it's a clogged fuel injector -- I suspect an oxygen sensor or maybe a mass air flow sensor (though she doesn't feel sluggish at all).
In Chicago, we parked in a garage that had curved ramps going up to each level. I had to turn the wheel almost to the full lock to get up the ramps, and it was only after we got to the top that I learned that the ramps were two-way -- if you meet another car, one of you backs up (!). Coming down was equally scary, as I came close to bottoming out at the end of each ramp. Steph has a picture.
I got to drive a Smart Car! It's much bigger inside than it looks, and I didn't feel like I was driving a tiny little box. You can set the transmission in automatic or manual mode (and even switch between them on the fly). The shifts were a little clunky in automatic mode and somewhat smoother in manual mode. The Smart Car guy who went with me on the test drive said that he treats it like a manual even in automatic mode and lifts his foot off the accelerator when he wants it to shift. This helped. The engine is not particularly powerful at 72 horsepower, but the car could keep up with traffic. It has a small cargo area in back with a tiny pull-out cover.
After having dinner outdoors at a local restaurant that seemed to have every kind of food, we made our way to Joliet. There are 12 NBs here! We start off at 9 am.
Lisa and Jason arrived in Indianapolis very late Saturday night, and we had breakfast at the Canary Cafe with them and Britt and Marie. They came to see our house. Lucy was happy to see her Lisa, and she even made friends with Jason. We got on the road to Chicago a little after 3:00, and after lots of traffic, we arrived at Summerfest around 7:45.
Unfortunately, Phoebe's check engine light came on while we were waiting to get on I-90. It had been off since she went to Tune Tech, so I had hoped that the problem that caused it had been solved. I immediately called Susan Hester to see if anyone had a VAG-COM tool, but she didn't know of anyone who'd brought one, so I called the ever-reliable John Steele, who had of course packed his. We'll meet him in St. Louis tonight and see if Phoebe's still throwing the P3191 code. She's had lots of fuel injector cleaner lately, so I don't think it's a clogged fuel injector -- I suspect an oxygen sensor or maybe a mass air flow sensor (though she doesn't feel sluggish at all).
In Chicago, we parked in a garage that had curved ramps going up to each level. I had to turn the wheel almost to the full lock to get up the ramps, and it was only after we got to the top that I learned that the ramps were two-way -- if you meet another car, one of you backs up (!). Coming down was equally scary, as I came close to bottoming out at the end of each ramp. Steph has a picture.
I got to drive a Smart Car! It's much bigger inside than it looks, and I didn't feel like I was driving a tiny little box. You can set the transmission in automatic or manual mode (and even switch between them on the fly). The shifts were a little clunky in automatic mode and somewhat smoother in manual mode. The Smart Car guy who went with me on the test drive said that he treats it like a manual even in automatic mode and lifts his foot off the accelerator when he wants it to shift. This helped. The engine is not particularly powerful at 72 horsepower, but the car could keep up with traffic. It has a small cargo area in back with a tiny pull-out cover.
After having dinner outdoors at a local restaurant that seemed to have every kind of food, we made our way to Joliet. There are 12 NBs here! We start off at 9 am.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Test drive
I drove a Smart Car! It felt larger inside than it looked. You can shift it manually or let it shift automatically, and you can
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Road
We are off!
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Thursday, June 21, 2007
Blogging on the go
Looks like I have mobileblogging set up too!
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Wednesday, June 20, 2007
National Drive Your VW to Work Day
Friday, June 22 is National Drive Your VW to Work Day. Phoebe will be looking pretty, as we washed and waxed her this past weekend with my dad in preparation for our Roswell/Route 66 trip.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Radish serving
The radishes are ready to eat! That's salt in the middle of the plate.
They were the most intense radishes I've ever had. I wonder if they lose their intensity as they're shipped around the country to grocery stores. Seriously, they made my nose run. They were very tasty, though.
They were the most intense radishes I've ever had. I wonder if they lose their intensity as they're shipped around the country to grocery stores. Seriously, they made my nose run. They were very tasty, though.
Radishes!
I pulled six actual radishes from the ground. There are more, but I thought we'd leave them in the ground until we were ready to eat them.
Radish plant
The package said they would have 22 days between planting and harvest, so I thought I'd check them out tonight. Some of the radishes were peeking out of the soil!
Radish plants in garden
We planted radishes for the first time this year. I was hopeful that we would grow a few.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
AfterEllen's Hot 100
After reading the AfterEllen Hot 100 list and Maxine Dangerous's response, I had to blog my favorites. Here, in alphabetical order by filename of the picture, are my top ten from the Hot 100. (Sorry, numbers 11 through 19. You're hot too.) I did not base my choices on the particular photograph AfterEllen had (although those were the ones I used); sometimes I didn't like their photo at all. In any case, here they are.
Kristen Bell
Deanna Casaluce
Guinevere Turner
Jennifer Beals
Lauren Graham
Lucy Liu
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Amelie Mauresmo
Salma Hayek
Tina Fey
I have to say that I'm surprised at some of the choices. Only one athlete? What happened to Annika Sorenstam? Maybe the whole TomKat debacle has prevented Katie Holmes from making the list. And has everyone forgotten Mary Stuart Masterson? I haven't.
Kristen Bell
Deanna Casaluce
Guinevere Turner
Jennifer Beals
Lauren Graham
Lucy Liu
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Amelie Mauresmo
Salma Hayek
Tina Fey
I have to say that I'm surprised at some of the choices. Only one athlete? What happened to Annika Sorenstam? Maybe the whole TomKat debacle has prevented Katie Holmes from making the list. And has everyone forgotten Mary Stuart Masterson? I haven't.
Monday, June 11, 2007
New places to recycle corrugated cardboard in Indy
Recycle Indianapolis has added two dropoff locations for corrugated cardboard:
Sam's Club, 3015 W. 86th St.
Eastgate Consumer Mall, E. Washington St. and Shortridge Rd.
Find more information about places to recycle various items at Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
We've found Indianapolis Recycled Fiber at 1775 S. West St. to be the best option for most of our recycling. They take paper and cardboard as well as plastics 1 through 7 (the Keep Indianapolis Beautiful locations only take 1 and 2), and you don't have to separate the plastic anymore! We take glass and steel to the recycling container behind the downtown O'Malia's, and we're still in search of a non-scary scrap metal place to sell our aluminum.
Sam's Club, 3015 W. 86th St.
Eastgate Consumer Mall, E. Washington St. and Shortridge Rd.
Find more information about places to recycle various items at Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
We've found Indianapolis Recycled Fiber at 1775 S. West St. to be the best option for most of our recycling. They take paper and cardboard as well as plastics 1 through 7 (the Keep Indianapolis Beautiful locations only take 1 and 2), and you don't have to separate the plastic anymore! We take glass and steel to the recycling container behind the downtown O'Malia's, and we're still in search of a non-scary scrap metal place to sell our aluminum.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Steph's birthday
It's Steph's birthday today! Happy birthday, honey!
If you like, you can visit her blog and wish her a happy birthday. She hasn't decided yet whether she wants to go out to eat or eat at home tonight.
If you like, you can visit her blog and wish her a happy birthday. She hasn't decided yet whether she wants to go out to eat or eat at home tonight.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Caturday; or, I am queen of the chair.
I am queen of the chair. I will push you out.
I am queen of the chair.
OK. I am queen of this chair, then.
I am queen of the chair.
Ha! I am queen of the chair!
I am queen of the loveseat.
No! I am queen of the loveseat!
I am still queen of the chair.
Friday, June 01, 2007
NYR update 6
1. Floss: Still flossing consistently.
2. Lunch: Went out twice this week.
3. On time: I got to work early once this week.
4. Flip: I haven't been skating enough recently. Moving to the new rink has been a challenge because it's farther away from home and work and because the rink is usually really cold.
5. Save: Our upcoming Route 66/Roswell trip is going to put our savings on hold for a little while.
6. Recipes: I haven't tried much in the way of new recipes lately.
7. Trans fat: Doing pretty well. Almost out of microwave popcorn.
8. Perfume: The level in the large bottle is going down fast!
9. Compact: I'm having to buy some new shoes because I have to wear orthotics now and they don't fit in most of my old shoes. It sucks -- I have one pair of shoes I can wear to work in the summertime. I had just gotten to the point where my shoe collection was almost perfect, and now I can't wear most of my shoes most of the time. Unfortunately, I still need to keep most of them for the times when I don't wear my orthotics because otherwise I won't have any shoes that match most of my clothes. I'm supposed to wear the orthotics 90% of the time. It's going to be difficult to find shoes to take to Roswell.
2. Lunch: Went out twice this week.
3. On time: I got to work early once this week.
4. Flip: I haven't been skating enough recently. Moving to the new rink has been a challenge because it's farther away from home and work and because the rink is usually really cold.
5. Save: Our upcoming Route 66/Roswell trip is going to put our savings on hold for a little while.
6. Recipes: I haven't tried much in the way of new recipes lately.
7. Trans fat: Doing pretty well. Almost out of microwave popcorn.
8. Perfume: The level in the large bottle is going down fast!
9. Compact: I'm having to buy some new shoes because I have to wear orthotics now and they don't fit in most of my old shoes. It sucks -- I have one pair of shoes I can wear to work in the summertime. I had just gotten to the point where my shoe collection was almost perfect, and now I can't wear most of my shoes most of the time. Unfortunately, I still need to keep most of them for the times when I don't wear my orthotics because otherwise I won't have any shoes that match most of my clothes. I'm supposed to wear the orthotics 90% of the time. It's going to be difficult to find shoes to take to Roswell.
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