Larry Strom

In Memoriam

2006-09-22T22:38:00.000-07:00

Lawrence Harland Strom, Ed.D.

Dr. Larry Strom was born on October 16, 1942 in the Copper Queen Hospital in Bisbee, Arizona to John Albin “Al” Strom and Winifred “Wynne” Strom. Larry completed his contract with this earthly life on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006 while on a motorcycle excursion in New Mexico.

After graduation in 1964 from Arizona State College at Flagstaff (now Northern Arizona University), Larry was employed by the U.S. Geological Survey, Center of Astrogeology, as an engineering technician. While employed at “Astro,” Larry worked on the Ranger, Orbiter, Surveyor, and Apollo space missions. His primary responsibilities included the development of geophysical instrument prototypes used for lunar exploration.

Upon completion of his work at Astrogeology, and a Master’s degree at Northern Arizona University, Larry accepted a fellowship to attend the University of Missouri at Columbia to study towards a doctoral degree in Industrial Technology. Larry received two degrees from the University of Missouri: an Educational Specialist degree (1969) and a Doctor of Education degree (1978). Dr. Strom’s dissertation was selected as the outstanding doctoral study at the University of Missouri for the decade of the seventies. His study was the first to use sophisticated multivariate analysis of variance processes in an educational study.

Larry was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Technology, School of Engineering and Computer Science, at California State University in Chico, from 1969 to 1976. Larry always took pride in how he “put the student first.” He kept in contact with students he had in his very first Engineering Graphics class at Chico State. He was part of a team that initiated the Construction Management and Manufacturing Management programs at Chico State.

From 1976 to 1999, Larry was on the faculty of Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona. While at Yavapai, Larry helped establish the following programs: Yavapai Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa; Yavapai College Student Chapter 119, Society of Manufacturing Engineers (three times selected as the outstanding chapter in the United States); Yavapai College VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America) Chapter; Circle K; Manufacturing Technology; Manufacturing Product Planning; Manufacturing Materials Processing; Solar Technology; Construction Technology; and Gunsmithing.

Larry enjoyed taking his students on field trips to high technology sites. Field trips were conducted to: Airesearch; JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory); Hughes Missile and Space; TRW – One Space Park; Lockheed; Edwards Air Force Base (visited every Orbiter while being fabricated); Northrop; AlliedSignal Aerospace; Universal Propulsion; Digital; Honeywell; Intel; Orbital Sciences; Motorola; McDonnell Douglas Aircraft; Disneyland (toured the catacombs under the amusement park that held automation equipment that provided the “magic” for the “Magic Kingdom”); TRW – Mesa; Revlon; General Motors’ Corvette Plant, Bowling Green, Kentucky; Ford Motors’ Large Truck Plant, Louisville, Kentucky; Los Alamos National Laboratory; and AlliedSignal, Kansas City, Missouri (Nuclear Weapons Plant).

Larry had an active professional life. He held offices in a number of professional organizations including Chairman, Region VII (11 western states) Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME); Chairman, International Education Committee, SME; Chairman, Phoenix Chapter, SME; President, Yavapai Chapter, Phi Delta Kappa; President, Arizona Technology and Industry Education Association; and President, Yavapai College Faculty Association. Larry was an active member in a number of professional organizations, serving on committees, planning and delivering conferences, and assisting in the successful operation of the organization. Organizations included: California Council of Industrial Technical Teacher Educators; California Industrial Education Association; International Technology Education Association; American Council of Technical Teacher Educators (life member); American Vocational Association; and Arizona Vocational Association.

Larry also received a number of honors including University of Missouri Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation (1970 Decade); Outstanding Young Men in America Award (1977); Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Achievement Award (1981); National Society of Professional Engineers/California Society of Professional Engineers Contributions to Engineering Profession Award (1984); Society of Manufacturing Engineers Region VII Outstanding Contributions to the Engineering and Scientific Profession Award (1985); Los Angeles Council of Scientist and Engineers Distinguished Achievements Award (1985); Arizona Technology and Industry Education Association Outstanding Leadership Award (1995); and Epsilon Pi Tau Laureate Citation (1997).

He is survived by his mother and father, John Albin “Al” Strom and Winifred “Wynne” Strom of Prescott; brother John Strom (Jo Ann) of Victorville, Calif.; daughter Heidi Strom Moon (Ken) and granddaughter Julia Moon of Silver Spring, Md.; daughter (Wendy) Jo Strom Lane (Derek) of Portland, Ore.; longtime companion Arminta Tupper; extended family members; and many longtime friends, colleagues, students, and loved ones.

Those persons wishing to give their condolences may send cards to 535 Mesa Dr. in Prescott, AZ 86303. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, commemorative contributions be made to Yavapai Exceptional Industries, 436 N. Washington Ave., Prescott, AZ 86303. A memorial service honoring Larry’s life will be announced at a later time.

Can You Spell Lamborghini?

2006-09-06T07:06:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, September 2, 2006, Arminta and Larry took a break from the living room project to drive up to Sedona to meet Jesse Maheu and his new bride, Jill. Jill and Jesse were in Sedona with the Italian Car Club of Las Vegas for the Labor Day Weekend. As we were driving through Page Springs we received a call from Jesse that the car club would like to meet us in Jerome for lupper. I suggested the Jerome Brewery.

We arrived in Jerome about ten minutes before the car club and proceeded to survey the town for any available parking. We finally found parking west of the new Fire Station up Perkinsville Road. After contacting Jesse with our parking discovery, we waited on a shady bench across the street from the Jerome Brewery.

It was not long before we heard the VERY distinct sound of six Lamborghini’s turning the corner at the Spirit Room. I jumped up from our bench and flagged Jesse down in his orange Murcielago V12.

We had a great time in Jerome with the car club, but maybe not the Labor Day tourists. When you put six Lamborghini’s in town, along with a souped up Plymouth Fury, and you spell major traffic jam from all the on-lookers. We felt like rock stars with all the people gathered around where ever we went. I bet they are still trying to untangle the Jerome traffic.

We really like Jesse’s wife Jill. She is from Independence, Missouri and has all those wonderful traits we love about Mid-Westerners.

Construction Zone Ahead!

2006-08-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

Something must be up as Smoke (Larry's Blue Russian cat) is hidden DEEP under "Lou's Bed". Could it be the noise from the concrete saw carving its' way through the block wall on the west side of the living room? Yes, indeed! The long awaited patio door is being installed where the once "leaky" single pain window once stood.

What a difference a day makes! The living room has been transformed from a long narrow space into a window to the outside world. Views of the beautiful backyard now cascade into the living room. You can see the meandering creek below, along with the "million dollar" native rock wall, Tim Stotler built next door. It is also a delight to be able to step out onto the deck from the living room, rather than go all the way through the kitchen and around the house to get to the deck. Smoke also likes the setup as I caught him this morning sitting in the living room looking out the new door.

The new door will also be great for entertaining. In the past there would be two parties, one on the deck and the other in-doors. Not anymore!

Saturday afternoon found Larry and Tim Stotler, from next door, scraping the popcorn off the living room ceiling. Tim had a pressurized tank that we used to spray water on the ceiling and Larry scraped the popcorn off with a large drywallers trowel. Whole process took about two and a half hours. Thanks Tim! Drywallers show up Monday to drywall West wall, then tape and texture West wall, plus ceiling.

Monday, August 28, found all the drywall hung by the chimney with care. Flooring guy was here and all the caulking is done in preperation for final fitting. Tape and texture guys should be here on Tuesday for the wet stuff to be followed later by final floor finish, exterior stucco, clean up and paint.

Labor Day Weekend was the big push to get the living room back in order. Needed to get the painting done, so the cleaning crew could show up on Tuesday, September 5. Thanks to Arminta's help we were able to finish painting the living room. Using True Value hardware paint we painted Natural Ecru on the South, East and North walls, Lost White on the ceiling and Western Tone (adobe color) on the West wall. All colors on walls/ceiling are flat latex and trim was painted with Lost White Satin.

Today, Wednesday, will see the pictures hung with care and tomorrow the Mission style furniture will arrive in the afternoon. All of this just in time for the big SME Picnic on Saturday. We are expecting about forty five people to attend.

The re-model is almost complete. Need to get a clock for the mantle and touch up a few paint spots. For photographs of the project you can go to this link.

San Juan Expedition

2006-08-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

On June 14, 2006 Doug Ploeser and Larry Strom set out on a San Juan Expedition. Our objective was to see as much green, gray and white as possible. The green was the beautiful vegetation inspired by our wonderful summer rain and the gray and white where the endless road of twisties through the "American Alps"!

The trip started at 7:00 a.m. with Larry riding to Flag where he met up with Doug and Chris. The duo left about 9:00 a.m. and stopped for lunch in Tuba City. Couldn't find a recommendation in Frommers.com, so decided a deli sandwich from Bashas would do the trick.

The remainder of the day was riding The Rez. Surprisingly traffic moved at a fast clip and we did not end up "stuck" behind a motor home! We rode to within 100 feet of the Four Corners, but decided, been there, down that, and headed for Cortez as a storm was brewing.

Sure enough about twelve (12) miles south of Cortez the sky opened up and down it came. We had been watching for windshield wipers coming towards us, so we could "take action". This was not to be the case as the cloud just gave way. Luckily Doug spotted a construction company office building and we stopped there to get out of the rain.

Stayed at the Rodeway Inn on the east end of Cortez. Perfect location with a DQ located across the street!!!!

After a good soaking we continued our way to Cortez. We even got hit by another small shower, but after a mile it was over. My First Gear riding suit worked great. Stayed dry and warm the entire way through the rain.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 we were up and out the door by 6:05 a.m. I was somewhat concerned as BG, my new to me 2004 R1150R BMW, was "hard starting" in the morning. After studying the manual once again, and deciding to ignore holding the clutch in during a start, I was able to hold the choke switch up to the start position. After two tries we were off and running.

By Dolores, CO we were ready to pull over to "suit up". The temps had dropped enough to suggest we put on the winter gloves and get the fleece out for under the riding coat. Balaclava's also came in handy to keep the head and neck warm. After suiting up we were once again ready to ride the San Juan Mountain Skyway.

Our first stop, of many, on the San Juan loop was Rico, CO. Doug and I would stop frequently to take in the sites and take photographs. From Rico we made our way up Lizzard Head Pass and on to Telluride for breakfast at Sofio's. After breakfast we headed north to Ridgway, CO where "True Grit" and "How The West Was Won" was filmed and onto Silverton.

We were lucky enough to arrive in Silverton just minutes prior to the first narrow gauge train coming up from Durango. Doug loves trains, as does Larry, so it was not a problem to hang around to watch a couple of trains pull into town. However, one look at the sky and that was the signal to head south to Durango. We arrived in Durango on schedule and dry. We rode downtown to learn when the trains would arrive back from Silverton. While downtown we talked to a local who said we should not eat at Francisco's, but Gazpacho. Guess we will have to eat at Francisco's next time, so we will know if she was right. After checking in at the Siesta Motel we took the Durango Trolley downtown for dinner. While checking in we met Penny and Richard Segovia. They were riding in from Hanksville, UT on a couple of Harley's. Later we would all head downtown for dinner at Gazpacho and watch the trains return to the Durango station.

The next morning we had breakfast at the Durango Diner and headed out for Farmington, NM about 8:00 a.m. After riding through Farmington and Shiprock we headed south to Navajo, NM and over the mountain to Window Rock, AZ. We arrived in Window Rock about noon and set out to find the Window Rock. This was not an easy task as it was noon rush hour and traffic was like downtown Phoenix. Guess being the tribal capitol is not all that different from being the state capitol! Sure enough we found the Window Rock, took the mandatory photo, and headed to Ganado and Tribal 12.

After a lunch stop at BK in Ganado we headed west on Tribal 12. The portion of 12 through the Painted Desert was rough due to the inadequate roadbed in the Chinle formation. 12 was great from 87 west and is a great alternative to the rough and tumble ride on I-40. After passing through Leupp we knew we were in the home stretch. Arrived in Flag pretty much dry except for a shower just east of Ganado. Since it was only about 3:30 p.m. and no threatening sky's, Larry decided to make it a 476 mile day and head for Prescott. Down Oak Creek and up Mingus got Larry back home about 6:25p.m. after a fuel stop at Costco.

It was a great trip. Would do it again in a minute.

For photos click on this link.

Wendy "Jo" and Company

2006-08-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

Wendy "Jo", Derek and DeLancey have just left after a visit to Arizona. It was Derek's second trip to Arizona, but first in the heat, and DeLancey's first trip to the Grand Canyon State. Everyone had a great time especially DeLancey. She loves rocks and there were plenty around to "slide" on and collect.

Things accomplished on the "check list" were:

1. In-N-Out Burger
2. Chicken Kiev
3. Mexican food (tamales, enchiladas, tacos, beans, rice, flour tortillas, chips and hot sauce)
4. Nick’s Feed Your Face
5. Snoopy storage evaluation
6. Family reunion site/date analysis
7. Rock collecting
8. Thrift store with Grimma
9. Congregational Church on Sunday with Grimma
10. Trip to Sedona rock stores, Slide Rock and Montezuma Castle
11. Baby blanket sorting
12. Gold panning
13. Listening to Grimpa’s rock stories and looking at his rocks
14. Disc golf in back yard
15. Etc. etc.

The weather cooperated with just sprinkles and highs in the middle eighties.

For photos from the visit go to this link.

Summer Visitors

2006-07-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

Summer is the time for ice cream, popsicles and visitors. The middle of July, Barb Heaton, Larry's niece came over from Victorville for a four day visit. Barb arrived on Shuttle U and when Larry and Arminta went to pick her up, Larry saw Blue Whisper, his “old” Beemer parked there. Kit Yanka, the new owner and a driver for Shuttle U, had ridden Blue Whisper to work.

While in Prescott Barb and Grimma spent many an hour on Whiskey Row, every thrift store within one light year, not to mention breakfast at the casino! Barb scored some great items at the thrift stores. Maybe I should start shopping thrifts to see what motorcycle items might be available!

This past weekend Jerry, Arminta’s brother, Jill, Jerry’s daughter, and her three kids: Chandler, Caleb and Faith came up/over for a visit. The weekend was filled with picnics, motorcycle rides for the kids, disc golf, hikes, catching bugs, eating ice cream, popsicles and praying for rain.

Good Bye Wilson

2006-07-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

It is always a sad day when one of your former students passes away. That might not be the case for most teachers, but for me it is always a loss because all my students became "family". In fact that was part of what made our Yavapai College ITEC Program "magic". We tried to create a safe haven for all students where they could feel "at home".

This past Monday, July 17, 2006, Wilson Thornton died in a hotel near his home. He had just started a new job in Saudi and was in the orientation program. Wilson had not been feeling well during the orientation and had gone back to his room to rest when he died.

I have many fond memories of Wilson starting back at Yavapai College in the seventies and then following his career around the world. I can still remember that beautiful fall morning when Wilson and Igaitte stepped into my Prescott classroom. From his accent and bright smile I knew instantly I had met a very special person. At that point in time our program was in the building phase. I had only been at Yavapai College for a couple of years and the college was barely ten years old. Wilson, along with Igaitte, were a tremendous help to me, and the college, as we developed programs together. Wilson was the key to the birth of our new Circle K Club at Yavapai College, serving as the first President. Wilson also helped me develop the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) chapter at the college. I believe he was also an officer of that group. I do know that Wilson was one of the very first students in the United States to compete in the Arizona Skill Olympics CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) Competition.

Wilson was also like having a second professor in the classroom. He had such a wonderful demeanor and was always willing to help fellow students understand technical concepts. I can’t remember a day that Wilson did not have a great big smile on his face when coming to class. He loved learning and his achievement in school and later in life was a testament to that fact.

Wilson graduated from Yavapai College and headed down to ASU where he repeated his success. Thank goodness Wilson’s leaving Yavapai College was not the end to our friendship. After graduating from ASU and taking his first job overseas, Wilson would contact me from time to time to let me know how he and Igaitte were doing. Hearing from Wilson was like a foreign affairs briefing. He always seemed to be in the middle of a project that was, or soon to be, making International news.

Wilson also was a friend to my daughter, Heidi. When she studied her Junior Year Abroad through Tulane University, New Orleans at University of Birmingham, Wilson was there to greet her at the airport and make her feel at home in England.

I was always happy to see Wilson when he visited the states. Often I would get a phone call from him from who knows where. In fact most often I would have to bring the map up on my computer to see where he was located. I also enjoyed receiving Wilson’s e-mails, which meant he had slowed down just a little and had time to “play”.

I am so sorry our good friend has left us so soon. Knowing Wilson, he still has that great big smile while helping others in Heaven.

SME Summer 2006 Picnic

2006-07-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendars today, the SME Chapter 067 Old Time Officer's Summer Picnic is set for High Noon, 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 9, 2006 at Larry Strom's, get away from the heat place, in Prescott. Burgers, brats, chicken breast and hot dogs will be cooking when you arrive. Why the location change you ask? City of Prescott now wants $250.00 for rental of park ramadas. Invited are former SME 067 officers from the 80's and former Yavapai College SME Student Chapter 119 members.

All you will need to bring to the picnic is your own beverages, appetite, guest(s) and the desire to find that High Country cool weather you have been dreaming about all summer. Remember it will still be monsoon season, so we should still be having the possibility of refreshing summer rainstorms. High Country storms roll into Prescott about 2:00 p.m. and last for about half an hour. During that time you will feel the ambient temperature drop twenty (20) degrees, so you might want to come prepared.

To receive a registration form, please send an e-mail to:

larry_strom@hotmail.com

See you there!

We had a great time at the picnic as usual. For photographs you can go to this link.

Brin Fire - Oak Creek, AZ

2006-07-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

You would have to be held prisoner at Gitmo to not have heard of the Brin Fire in "Sedona". Doesn't really matter if the fire was on Wilson Mountain north of Sedona, but the fire was in SEDONA. Guess headlining the fire this way increases viewer/listener ratings.

At any rate most folks who know and love Oak Creek knows this fire could have dealt a devastating blow to this absolutely beautiful canyon. As a result I have had a number of inquiries as to what damage has been done to "our canyon". To answer these questions it was necessary to take a "road trip" for a look see.

Monday, July 3 Cabot Peters, Trent Martin, Geoff Drumm, Doug Ploeser and Larry Strom set out on a motorcycle trip up Oak Creek Canyon to survey the damage. Larry had heard from his neighbor Tim Stotler, who had driven through Oak Creek on June 30, that the fire had burned up to 89A, but he thought for sure it was from back burn. With this information, and holding our breath, we made our way up the canyon. To our relief the damage was minimal in wildland fire terms. The Type 1 Incident Team from USFS knew exactly how to attack this fire and did a fantastic job of stopping it before it could race up the canyon to Flagstaff.

Most of the visible components of the Brin Fire are from the east facing slope behind Indian Gardens all the way north up 89A to within 100 feet of Slide Rock Lodge at Slide Rock State Park (total distance on the road of 2.3 miles). All of the remainder of the canyon remains as beautiful as ever. Thanks fire crews!

For photos of the Brin Fire damage click on this link.

2004 BMW R1150R

2006-06-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

Blue Whisper is now gone as I wanted to find a bike that would be more realible for road trips. Blue Whisper filled the bill for almost ten years, but was a doubtfull starter at 9,000 feet and 20 degree temperatures. I was looking for a bike with "hard luggage", fuel injection, electronic ignition, touring seat, modern brakes, yet nimble enough to make the twisties of Coronado Trail, Oak Creek, Mingus and White Spar a joy. After looking at Doug Ploeser's brother Don's RT, I knew I didn't want a full touring bike, but a naked bike. The Internet suggested two bike optons: Suzuki V-Strom, or BMW RXXXXR. I religiously checked the want ads for either bike, until I found a 2004 BMW R1150R in Cave Creek, Arizona. The bike was owned by Jean Carroll who had purchased the bike in Gaithersburg, MD prior to moving to Arizona.

Jean lived in Silver Spring and road the bike near Heidi, Ken and Julia's house often. When purchased the bike only had about 6500 miles on it. Choice Hotels had moved the bike to Phoenix from Silver Spring when Jean was transferred. Arminta indicated this was a good omen!

No bike purchase would be complete without Trent Martin and Doug Ploeser being a part of the deal. Trent had been coaching me as to the type of machine that would work best for the road. I like the idea of owning a BMW. Afterall, it is the "BMW" of the motorcycle world!!!! Trent hooked up his trailer and we headed off on June 19, 2006 to pick up Starr (Jean's name for the bike).

Doug joined us to celebrate the transaction riding his Honda CBX from Scottsdale. After the transaction was complete we all headed off for Brisam's at Lone Mountain and N. Cave Creek Road for some great chow.

Click this link for photos from the trip.

Phoebe's visit

2006-06-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, June 13, 2006 Phoebe Hoffman, Clint, L'Hasa and Sophie Compton took a "road trip" from their vacation condo at Kohl's Ranch to visit Prescott and have lunch with Larry and Arminta. Phoebe, along her former husband Rick, worked with Larry at the USGS Center of Astrogeology in Flagstaff. We had a great visit. Strange how you can take up with certain folks after an absence of forty years and not miss a beat!

Lunch was at the Golden Corral, so Sophie could eat her favorite macaroni. Sophie sat next to Larry where he tried to "steal" bites of her macaroni. She loved the game. After lunch we headed off for the historic district of Prescott. No visit to Prescott is complete without driving around the old Victorian homes and the Courthouse Plaza.

After a stroll down Whichey Row the Kohl's Ranch party made their way to another tourist paradise, Jerome.

Blue Whisper's Last Spin

2006-06-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, June 1, 2006 Larry, Jim Baker and Mark Enochs headed to Arizona Snowbowl for one last ride on Blue Whisper. Larry's faithful Beemer of ten years had been sold to Joseph Keith "Kit" Yanka of Kirkland and he was coming to pick her up on June 2. Kit had owned a 1976 R90/6 when he was stationed in Germany and now semi-retired wanted to buy Blue Whisper and restore her to original glory.

When in Flag we met up with BJ "El Lobo" Boyle and headed up to Snowbowl for lunch. Since Beej was riding his Harley it was necessary to "push" him up Snowbowl Road. Things went well as only a few sparks were witnessed from the foot plates kissing the asphalt. Beej is a great rider and would be awesome with a "real" bike!!!

We all enjoyed our alpine lunch experience and headed back to Flag for a final good bye.

On our way home back through Oak Creek we spotted a forest fire around Schnebly Hill. Turned out it burned a few homes in the upper reaches of Village of Oak Creek.

The next day Kit stopped by to pick up Blue Whisper. It was a conflicted day. I really wanted a bike I could take on long trips, but Blue Whisper had become a family friend. I sure hope she has another good home.

Master of Arts

2006-06-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

It is "official"! Wendy Jo Strom, a.k.a. Jo Strom Lane, will be receiving her Master of Arts in Theatre Production from Central Washington University at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 10, 2006 in Ellensburg, Washington. Proud Papa Larry will not be at the ceremony as he and Arminta opted to attend Jo's master's thesis production at Winterhaven School May 13. Being able to see the play, "A Moroccan Midsummer Night's Dream" was a fantastic treat, but there is still some regret at not being able to see Wendy (JO) walk.

We are all so proud of Wendy. She is an excellent teacher and is loved by her students. What more could you want as a teacher? She completed her masters degree while working full time as a teacher, part-time as a youth minister and Director of Opening Act Theater Company. What an accomplishment!

Congratulations!

Ouch!

2006-06-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, June 4, Arminta and I walked down to Lone Spur, off the Courthouse Plaza, for breakfast with Kathy Clevenger. Kathy was in town for the Prescott High School Class of 1961 reunion and was staying the weekend at Arminta's place. Arminta's new guest room came in very handy.

After breakfast we all headed over to the plaza and visited the endless antique booths set up for Arts & Crafts Weekend. Arminta spotted a great Coca Cola sign that we purchased for Helen Sutter, "The World's Biggest Coke Fan".

After our sign find we made our way to Sharlot Hall Museum, where there were many displays of territorial arts & crafts. While in the crosswalk at McCormick and Gurley, I stepped into a hole in the pavement and turned my left ankle - OUCH! It was more than just a turned ankle as I went to the pavement. Luckily a car was not coming as I tried to avoid road rash.

Arminta and Kathy left me at Sharlot Hall and headed home to get the car. After a successful rescue, I stayed home with my ankle up and on ice. The next morning when I got up to let Smoke out, I could not stand on my left ankle. Off to Yavapai Regional Medical Center (YRMC) to check out the ER. YRMC had just recently been named one of the Top 100 hospitals in the US. Their top ranking certainly showed as I was smoothly and efficiently moved through the ER and off to X-ray. I was sure by the swelling and pain that I had broken my ankle. I was very relieved to learn I had a sprain and not a fracture. Once fitted with an ankle brace and instructions to be a "good boy", I headed home for more elevation and ice. Ankle is doing much better now. Will start PT today.

Chubasco?

2006-06-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

This time of year all native Arizonan's, or those with a few summers under their belts, start looking to the Southeast for thunderheads to build. Normally our "summer rains" start the end of June in Cochise County and make their way north to Prescott by the 4th of July. Robert Schmidli called them the "monsoons". Prior to Bob coming to Phoenix from Milwaukee we all just called them summer rain. Many of our Mexican friends called our summer rain - Chubasco!

At any rate we had a preview of the Chubasco to come. Northern Arizona has been experiencing thundershowers for the past four to five days in the Prescott area. Sure smells and feels "good"! This is what Weather Underground had to say:

Current Conditions

Updated: 8:53 AM MST on June 08, 2006
Prescott: 69° Light Thunderstorm Rain
Wind: 6 mph from the SSE
Dew Point: 51 °F
Pressure: 29.93
Humidity: 53%
Visibility: 10.0 miles

Only downside to our "preview" was lightning fires that start up in the forests.

Guess I will just keep looking to the SE and wait patiently for the Big Show!

Riding with Aunt Rhodie

2006-05-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

After our visits in Portland, Oakland and Fairfield, Arminta and I jumped on California Zephyr Train 6 in Sacramento and headed for our next adventure. What a fantastic trip filled with unexpected adventures. After boarding Train 6 at about 11:30 a.m., Ralph Shipp, our Car Attendant, told us we should head off right away to the Dining Car for lunch. Since there is limited seating on the dining car it is customary for riders to be grouped in fours at each dining table. Arminta and I were fortunate enough to be seated with Pat and Marjorie. Both had boarded the train earlier in Emeryville. It did not take more than a minute for us to realize that our adventure was about to begin with Marjorie Brandon on board. What a delightful and accomplished woman with a Larry and Arminta sense of humor. It did not take long for the party to begin. The frivolity was so robust that the Conductor stopped calling "All Aboard" after each stop! In fact the train crew went without sleep trying to figure out some scheme to throw us all "Over Board"!

From that first lunch together it was like we were old college room-mates getting back together again after a forty year hiatus. Good thing we did not have a term paper due, as we spent more time laughing than anything else.

Turns out Marjorie, who we now call Aunt Rhodie, has had her "college days"! When she was VERY young she founded Brandon College in San Francisco. That was to be only the beginning of a Trump like journey of entrepreneurship.

We highly recommend the Amtrak trip. The rooms were comfortable, train crew accommodating and the food was much better than expected. On almost every part of the route we had beautiful mountains, or plains to view.

We would take this trip again in a minute. In fact our next trip will be Denver to Glenwood Springs on Train 5 with a layover in Glenwood Springs. After several days in the Glenwood area we will jump back on Train 6 and head back to Denver.

Click on this link to view photos from Riding with Aunt Rhodie.

Bay Breezes

2006-05-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

It is a good thing there is such a thing as "Bay Breezes" as the Bay area was having a heat wave. At least that is what "locals" called it. Being from Arizona, temperatures in the 80's causes one to look for their "light jacket" when venturing outside.

When we left Portland the weatherman predicted a record breaking 92 degrees. Upon arrival in Oakland we learned it was supposed to be 90 degrees in San Francisco that afternoon. Everyone was saying how hot it was, while we just enjoyed all the bay breezes.

Our stop in Oakland was to visit our very dear Cousin Terry. Terry is such a hoot and brings back the very good times we had growing up in Arizona.

Terry is an excellent gourmet cook and always treats us to a wonderful dinner, but this time we insisted that he not cook. Terry suggested that we get "take out" from the China Garlic. What a great idea as the food was excellent!

Later Sunday evening Terry took us to Jack London Sqaure where we took The Capitol Train to visit with Helen and Fred Sutter in Fairfield. It is about an hour train ride and only cost nine dollars.

We always enjoy our visits with Helen and Fred. Just laid back, drink cokes and listen to scanner traffic type stuff, while gossiping about the neighbors. Surely after suspecting our gossip, one of their neighbors, George Uchishiba, from 507 Acacia, came strolling by on his daily walk. He stopped by to share in our gossip. It turns out he and his family were interned in the Japanese Internment Camp near Casa Grande, Arizona when he was a child.

Below is a photo of our "Sutter" group having lunch at MiMi's in Fairfield. Next time I am lobbying for lunch at Pietros' #1 in Vacaville across from Suzy's office.

One of the "givens" when visiting the Sutter's is that the scanner is constantly on in the event of neighborhood "excitement". This was not to be the case the afternoon of Tuesday, May 16. Suzy was over for a visit and since she does not like all "that noise" the scanner was turned off, so she and Arminta could visit. Sure enough as soon as the scanner was turned off all hell broke loose in the neighborhood. A neighborhood ice cream cart vendor was robbed and sustained a head injury. A medical helicopter landed just behind the Sutter home, in the church parking lot, to take the injured vendor to the John Muir Trauma Center.

After visiting with all the Sutter's and kids, they loaded us on The Capitol train for a ride to Sacramento, where we would catch the California Zephyr to Denver. The next part of our adventure would soon begin.

For photographs of Bay Breezes, click on this link.

Jo Show

2006-05-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

Beyond all expectation is the only way to describe the "Jo Show". That is what Larry and Arminta found when attending the Jo Show at Winterhaven School in Portland on May 12, 2006. The Jo Show was a play, "A Moroccan Midsummer Night's Dream" presented by Wendy Jo's Fourteenth Avenue Players (Winterhaven School students). This was not just another Shakespearean play, but Jo's Master's thesis for Central Washington University (CWU). To produce the show Wendy (Jo) and husband Derek traveled to England and Morocco last summer to research the production of the play. While in Morocco, Jo was able to purchase many of the costumes used in the play, in addition to extensive items found in the Moroccan Market setup around the Brooklyn School Theater.

When we entered the theater we immediately received the sense that we were immersed into a "dream". The entire theater had been transformed into "the set". The stage was all around use, truly unbelievable and it wasn't even Midsummer!!

We arrived about an hour before the play began and all was under control. In fact Jo was actally quite calm for a JUNIOR HIGH teacher about to put on a Shakespearean play with a bunch of EIGHT GRADERS!!! I guess I would be cool if I knew that ever student in the play absolutely adored me and would do anything to make it a success and that hundreds of support hours had been donated by parents to make the play a success. It, of course, helps if the teacher is very organized and everyone knows the script. All the production needs is the teacher, one walkie talkie and you have a play!!!

Wendy's advisor from CWU, Dr. Wesley Van Tassel, also attended the May 12 performance. Wes is a very pleasant professorial type who specializes in Shakespeare, (whoever the heck he is).

The play was wonderful and worth the trip for all the magic of a Midsummer's Night Dream. We are so proud of Wendy and all that she has accomplished. She should receive a Doctorate just for the way she is able to motivate her students, who all love her.

For photographs you can go to this link.

The next day we went shopping with Jo and Amy (longtime friend from high school). I scored a great ski jacket at the Columbia Sportswear Outlet for $49.95. Not bad for a retail price of $175.00. After the outlet store we headed to El Palenque for a Mexican lunch and then back to the townhouse to look at Wendy and Derek's wedding pictures and yack.

That evening we had dinner at Pizza Schmizza with Mike Williams (also a longtime friend from Prescott). We like Mike!!! Why? One of the reasons is that he suggested we head for Applebee's and dessert. Yum! Thanks Mike!

We had a great visit in Portland. Come to think of it, we always have a fantastic visit in Portland.

New Flooring

2006-04-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking about putting new flooring on your entry, stairs, bedrooms, office and bath you need to start two months ahead collecting boxes. Yep, it is just like moving, but not as simple as moving out of the dorm. You have all the closet bottoms, knooks/crannies, under beds, endless bookshelves, desktops, computers (you get the picture) to load into boxes and move under a tarp on the carport. This all, of course, needs to be done the day before the flooring installers show, so you can have access to your "stuff".

The installers came on April 17 and all went fairly smoothly for the install except for a surprise once the old stair carpet was ripped out. We had planned to place a dark laminate over the stair treads, plus Navajo White paint on the risers to match the wall. Since the stair treads already had nosing it was impossible to install the laminate without cutting off the noses. Larry decided to carpet the stairs the same color as the upstairs bedrooms.

We had a slight logistical challenge with the flooring install as Linda Long, Bill Knoll, Robert and Judy Verri were scheduled to be house guest on the evening of April 18. Luckily we finished all the flooring in the guest and bath rooms hours before their arrival.

Almost all the flooring is now installed. The carpet "guy" has to come back on Monday to finish the stairs, plus detail all the trim, etc. on the new flooring. New flooring really makes a difference. Next project will be patio doors from the living room onto the deck.

Ponderosa Paradise

2006-04-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

In 1864 California had it's Gold Rush and now Prescott has it's Pine Rush. California folks have been migrating to this area for at least twenty years now to escape Californication. Guess the Fienstein/Boxer/Willie Brown environment "over there" is nowhere near as pleasant as our Mayberry pine scented town. So what Californian's have headed our way? Just this past week, Linda Long, Larry's former secretary and her friend Bill Knoll, plus Judy and Robert Verri from San Diego paid Larry a visit. Robert and Judy were here to look for three acres of ponderosa paradise. Linda and Bill came along to keep them company, plus head on over to New Mexico with their sail plane to catch some thermo nuclear powered "thermals".

They all arrived on Tuesday, April 18 with Bill and Linda leaving on Friday, April 21 for NM. Robert and Judy stayed behind to look at property with Larry's neighbor across the street, Chris Larson. Chris was just named "Rookie Realtor Of The Year" for this past year in Prescott. Robert and Judy fell in love a great place in the pines of the Mountain Club on the very first day. No, it was not three acres in the pines as that is only a dream that Bill Gates could have.

Now that the contract has been written for the ponderosa paradise, is it too late to tell them we have a Senator McCain who is just as "bad" as the Fienstein/Boxer/Willie Brown trio?!

Los Lobos

2006-04-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

The chairs at Arizona Snowbowl are no longer spinning and most of the tower pads are down, so it must be time to ride! Tuesday, April 11, 2006 was the beginning of three days of fantastic riding to and through the Coronado Trial. We began our trip with Larry and Jim leaving Mesa Drive around 8:30 a.m. to meet Mark, plus fuel up at Costco. We departed Costco about 8:55 a.m. about the time that BJ fired up his Road Hog in Flagstaff. Since Beej was riding down from Flag and we were riding up from Prescott we meet at US 87 and AZ 260. The timing was perfect. About thirty seconds after Jim, Mark and Larry arrived at 87/260 Beej thundered in. We were also greeted by the DPS Ranger helicopter that had been chasing Beej from Clints Well. At least that is what Larry thought. Actually Ranger was taking a detective from Flag to investigate a homicide crime scene.

After a short stop we headed off to Payson to meet up with Phoz who was coming up from The Valley to ride with us. As it turned out Phoz patrolled at Arizona Snowbowl in the early 80's and along with BJ was the first full-time paramedic to patrol at a US ski area. In Payson we had Mexican at El Rancho and headed out for Alpine.
We arrived at the Sportsman's Lodge in Alpine around 4:30 p.m. After checking in Phoz went on a recon trip to Ye Old Tavern hoping to find a pool table that he could use as an instrument of torture. Sure enough he convinced Beej and Larry to play a "friendly" game he called "Cut Throat". I think this guy may have potential to be intiated into a new gang being formed called, LOS LOBOS (Coronado Chapter 666).

That evening we had a great meal at the Bear Wallow Cafe. In fact I cannot remember not having a great meal at the Bear Wallow. We had all our meals there while in "base camp". They had great red enchilada sauce (New Mexico style) and green chili!

Wednesday morning after breakfast Los Lobos headed out for the much anticipated Coronado Trial. Larry was feeling so smug being in "the lead" of the prestigious Los Lobos, when he noticed in the rear view mirror that part of the gang had disappeared. We pulled over and Jim went back to investigate where Beej and Phoz had gone. Sure enough "eagle eye" Phoz had spotted a hardware store where he could purchase a hose clamp for his dropping tailpipe. I am not going to poke fun, as I had to do the very same thing last trip to The Trail! I will note, however, it seems that Harley Riders are much more adept at spotting welding shops, hardware stores and Road Houses!!!

We were off once again to hopefully spot one of the illusive Mexican Gray Wolves. In fact it was this relentless search that gave our group of hose clamp challenged riders the gang name of Los Lobos! Our ride took us through some beautiful riding country. The weather was perfect and you could have not asked for a better route. Not one complaint at least for know.

In Glenwood that smooth talking duo of Beej and "Chops" got the Road House owner to open up the Blue Front Bar & Cafe for some beverage research.
After leaving Glenwood fully hydrated we hightailed it to 3 Way where Larry proudly revealed a historical marker, the Clifton drive-in movie screen!! After lunch at the Kopper Kettle and no Lobo sightings we headed off for the final accent to the Arrow Tree.

Finally we arrived at the Arrow Tree, which is located 1.3 miles from any point Larry designates. It was the nadir of our trip, with the exception of our mascot Lona Loba!
The next morning we made our way back home via Greer, AZ where we stopped at the Greer Lodge for JIM'S coffee. What a beautiful setting and lodge. All pitcherables for Los Lobos will be collected here from Lona Loba.
We had a great ride. There was not one stretch of the road that was not fantastic. This brings me to the major complaints of the trip:

1. Too many twisties
2. Too much Mexican food
3. Too many Road Houses missed
4. Too much snow (we hate snow)
5. 1.3 miles to everywhere

If you want to print photos from the trip you can go to this link.

In-N-Out

2006-04-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday we loaded up Grimma and Grimpa (G/G) for a trip to Mesa for a visit with Wendy, a.k.a., Jo! No, Jo has not moved back to Arizona, but came down for the weekend to attend the wedding of a college friend and colleague, Jen.

We loaded up G/G in GG (Graygo) at 8:30 a.m. and made way for Rock Springs. It is impossible to make a trip to the Valley, with G aboard, without a stop at Rock Springs. Yes, there was a bathroom stop and coffee break! I know you are counting, and yes, it is only 56.3 from Norris Road to Rock Springs.

We got to Wendy's front door in Mesa at exactly 11:00 a.m. as promised in the itinerary. Yes, Wendy was just coming out of her mother's front door at exactly 11:00 a.m. No, we had not called ahead on the cell phone, she just knew we would be there at 11:00 sharp. We departed immediately for In-N-Out.

Why the rush to In-N-Out? It had been over a year since Jo had her last In-N-Out burger and she loves them. She had been thinking about getting "that burger" ever since learning of the wedding in Mesa. We all ordered a hamburger, fries and a drink.

After our burger fill we returned to Judy's house and looked at Larry's photo albums. Prior to our heading back to, you guessed it, Rock Springs, we waited to see Jo Wendy's new dress purchased last summer in Paris. It was very pretty, along with the new shoes she scored Friday night in Mesa.

Good thing we stopped in Rock Springs once again as Larry would have missed a chance to photograph this "Righteous Harley"!

River Run!

2006-03-29T16:06:00.000-08:00

You have to be crazy, or really like to ride motorcycles, if you leave on a two day ride to Lake Havasu City with the weather forcast calling for a 70% chance of rain. Not crazy at all as both my riding partner, Doug Ploeser, and I have the kind of riding gear that make us look like a mounted SWAT Team. We had just enough rain to keep us cool, but not interfere with the beautiful ride from Prescott to the Colorado River via Historic Route 66.

We arrived in Lake Havasu on Monday, March 27 and stayed overnight with Wendell Brezina. What a fantastic host. That evening we had dinner at Casa Serrano with my niece Kate Strom and her finace, Aaron Barr. Kate is very happy and we like Aaron very much.

All we need to do now is introduce Aaron to our family "Garage Tacos" ways!

After dinner Brez chauffeured us to Laughlin to see A Really Big Shew" at the Flamingo. We really enjoyed the show as Brez knew the producer and we received "special handling".

We all got back to LHC about 12:45 a.m. and bunked out as we needed to get on our way the next day to visit the Japanese Internment Camps in Pouston, AZ.

We were up early on March 28 to the sound of rain on Brez's carport. Sign's that we might have a wet ride from the river. Brez offered to drive us to the Pour House, so we would not have to put on the SWAT uniforms. Since we got an early start we called Aaron's cell phone in the event Kate might be joining us for breakfast.

After breakfast we made our way to Parker to meet up with Mr. Ron Charles, the Tourism Director, for the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Mr. Charles loaded us up in his car and took us for a grand tour the the CRIT Reservation. Not only were we able to see the Japanese Internment Camps, but he took us to all the key sites on the reservation.

No, he did not take us to the fry bread factory, but that must be TOP SECRET! We were very suprised to learn they have a great hotel and casino, the Blue Water, on their reservation in Parker.

Doug and I had a great trip and thank everyone for making our trip so pleasant.

It's Snow Time!

2006-03-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

The "stage" was all set. Five feet of snow had fallen at the Arizona Snowbowl and the resort was finally ready to open for the latest start ever, March 17, 2006. It's snow time as Larry made his way to Flag to ski 20% of the days open. Was great skiing the first day, but by the second day, El Sol and a million snowboarders, had taken their toll on Ridge. Snowbowl is now closed in hopes that a snow storm today will bring enough of the powdery stuff to allow one last hurrah for the season. If not, there is a motorcycle ride planned for the Coronado trail in Eastern Arizona very soon!

Concrete

2006-03-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

What does a civil engineer do after sitting in front of a computer monitor all day long? You guessed it - digs in the dirt and pours concrete. Tim Stotler next door loves concrete. I guess that is how he finally ended up in civil engineering after many years in manufacturing. Tim and Larry have been busy turning all the soil in our shared space, plus digging a foundation and setting the formwork for a curved "curb". The curb will be used to delineate a flagstone walk from a xeriscape garden between our two houses.

Finally!

2006-03-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

After an entire winter without any snow it finally came - a blizzard. The high country saw up to five feet of snow and around Prescott we averaged from a foot to fourteen inches. It was very welcome moisture for a forest stressed by the lack of any significant rain/snow since the middle of October.

With the snow came the kind of wind that creates avalanche conditions. Larry had his own cornice and pillow that are the essential elements to the avalanche formula. See photos below:

2006 SME Spring Potluck

2006-03-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

St. Patrick's Day brought out the greatest group of SME Officers on the planet, or at least this side of Dublin! The occasion was our annual SME spring get together. This year we moved our “picnic” from the Beardsley Recreation Center to the Jim Smith’s house in Sun City West. This change allowed Jim to participate in our potluck and corned beef tasting party.

It was a beautiful day and the food was fantastic. It is always “potluck” when you toss out the rules, but we ended up with a fantastic array of tasty treats!

Larry remembered to take pictures and has posted them to the Kodak Gallery. All you need to do is click this link to view and print the potluck photos.

If you are not a member of Kodak Gallery, you will need to register (free) your e-mail address and Kodak Gallery password (you make one up), then you will be off to the races. You can view and order prints directly on-line.

We all would like to thank Louise and Arminta for all their hard work in putting our potluck together. Thanks also to everyone who came to the picnic and especially from the far East Valley!

Eye See!

2006-03-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

You know the drill, you have vertigo, go to the doctor and all of a sudden come home with a new optical prescription. Don't know how all this really works, but know the same type of thing happens when you paint a wall in your home. Paint one wall and every wall in the house needs painting!! So it goes with my last visit to Phoenix, vertigo leads to NEW GLASSES.

After consultation with my personal fashion advisor, Arminta, I selected a pair of almost rimless glasses with all the bells and whistles (titanium frames, transition lenses, bi-focal, UV, anti-glare, etc). After checking around for "the best deal", I selected the optical shop at Costco. Same quality glasses, but half the price of other optical stores.

Mission Accomplished

2006-03-05T10:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday Tim and Larry dug out the last two juniper roots and "fell" the basketball hoop - TIMBER!!! It took an electric jack hammer from True Value to do the trick. Only took three hours, one jack hammer and a come-a-long to level the lot. Thanks to Annalisa across the street for the loan of her truck to pickup/drop off the jack hammer.

Larry also finished painting the bathroom wall on Saturday and will wait until Monday to add the wallpaper trim. Monday it will be off to Home Depot to look at security doors for Arminta and start rounding up boxes to move the books upstairs. Have to empty the bookshelves before shelves can be moved for the new flooring to be installed.

This afternoon have to get the Beamer out to charge up the battery.

Digging in the Dirt!

2006-02-26T06:41:00.000-08:00

Now that the junipers have been removed between Tim and Larry's house the real work begins. Earlier we had thought that a backhoe might be the best way to take the juniper stumps out. Ken from Kenco came by and said that backhoe work would probably destroy the concrete drives, but suggested stump grinding. After discussing that option with Tim, it was decided we needed the exercise and would DIG. Note: We have definitely left the stump grinding option open. We shall see how a couple of old men do first!!

Dig we have been doing! First I dug four postholes to install a barrier between the street and the garbage cans. One of the negative effects of taking the junipers out was everyone could now see the garbage cans. A trip to Home Depot presented many options for screening the garbage cans. It was decided to purchase a preformed lattice screening and fence posts. Total cost for the project ran about $130.00.

Tim and I are currently processing all the materials left behind after taking out the junipers. Today we will start digging out the juniper stumps and take down the basketball hoop. Anyone want to buy a hardly used basketball hoop?

New Toy

2006-02-26T06:19:00.000-08:00

It was just a matter of time before Larry would add another piece of technology to the portolio. I know, Larry swore up and down that he would never need a digital camera, or use a cell phone. You guessed it, they are now indespensible pieces of modern technology in daily use.

Al Neumann has now dragged Larry kicking and screaming into the webcam world. It started slowly with audio conversations, via MSN Messenger, which grew to the video version. Actually it is pretty cool. Al can show me what he is working on in his office in Longboat Key, Florida. He even took his laptop out to the garage to show me his new Porsche.

Larry purchased a Logitech QuickCam Zoom webcam on-line from TechForLess.com. Ordered one day and shipped the next. Arrived in about three days from initial order. Was very happy with Tech For Less.

More Changes

2006-02-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

The sound of chain saws and chippers could be heard on Mesa Drive Thursday morning. The Prescott Fire Departments Wildland Crew was back to cut down the two juniper trees between 539 and 535 Mesa Drive. Both trees were actually supposed to be bushes, but Kermit Johnson, the guy who planted "the bushes" probably did not read the label. The junipers were showing signs of age and were a huge fire risk in this very dry year. Next comes the backhoe guy to take the stumps out, so we can plant some xeriscape in place of the junipers. Larry will need to contact fencing contractors to see what can be done to provide a new enclosure for the trash cans. With the junipers now in the chipper the garabage cans are there for the whole neighborhood to see.

Mark from Flooring Brokers was also by the house on Wednesday to take measurements for new flooring upstairs. I want to put a natural stone floor covering in the entry and then a dark Hickory Coffee laminate up and down the stairs. Upstairs will see Pine Cone colored carpet in all bedrooms/office with new vinyl flooring in the bath.

I have stripped off the wallpaper in the bath and a contractor will come in February 23 to patch the bathroom dry wall and re-tape and texture the carport ceiling. New wallpaper will be added to the bath before Flooring Brokers starts work upstairs.

In the meantime Arminta has had Old Master's Tree Service in her back yard pruning her trees. I was over there this past week installing new Gorilla shelves in her carport tool shed, plus building a new work bench. This, of course, meant clearing out years of "storage" from the tool shed.

Motorcyle Closeouts

2006-02-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

My new duds have arrived as promised. Ordered my gear from an on-line store called MotorcycleCloseouts.com and they shipped within 24 hours of placing my order. Before ordering I had a couple of questions and tried their e-mail contact listed on the Home Page. I received an answer back almost immediately giving a complete response to my questions.

My order was shipped UPS Ground and I was given a tracking number, so I could keep track of my delivery. The shipment arrived exactly on the day promised.

Once the shipment arrived it took me several days to acclimate myself to the new fit and fiber. I am used to the old Levi and sweatshirt type of riding, so this fancy stuff takes some "getting used to!"

I purchased:

First Gear - Kiliminjaro II riding jacket
First Gear - HT II overpant

I would recommend if you are looking for motorcycle accessories that you give MotorcycleCloseouts.com a look.

Guest Room Queen!

2006-01-29T09:15:00.000-08:00

Won't be long and it will be guest time once again. Seems like Christmas season brings many overnight visitors and then hot weather in the desert brings more. In anticipation of the season, Larry has made some changes in "Wendy's Room". Wendy's room will now be a guest room with a new queen bed from Bruce Wallace's Oak Tree Store in Prescott. Bruce is a former student of Larry's from the early 1980's. Bed should be delivered the first part of February.

Larry and Arminta went up to the Mine Tailings Mall in Prescott on the advice of Cairo. Cairo is a web based service that alerts you to sales and pricing at stores nationwide. Cairo advised us that we could find a new mattress pad, electric blanket and a Bed 'n' Bag on sale at the mall, so off we went. Purchased most items with at least 40% off.

To celebrate our bargains we headed off to Chili's for dinner. Yes, we used the gift card that Heidi/Ken/Julia gave us for Christmas. Thank you very much! We had the margarita chicken with traditional nachos, which made an odd, but good, entree.

Duct Tape Is Out!

2006-01-28T14:16:00.000-08:00

Anyone, and everyone, who has been following my fashions knows full well that I accessorize everything with duct tape. Ski gloves, ski pants, riding pants, motorcycle fairing, windscreen, you name it! This, I fear, has caused embarrasment for all that I ride and ski with. I began to get the idea duct tape might be a problem when my riding buddies started offering a paper bag to place over my head when entering restaurants, gas stations and even thrift stores.

Arminta has convinced me that I must end my "Duct Tape Period" and get into first gear. I am please to announce that I have purchased:

First Gear - Kiliminjaro II riding jacket
First Gear - HT II overpant
First Gear - Commander glove

Jacket and pants are coming from Motorcycle Closeouts in Kansas City.

Gloves purchased from Anthony at Sunburst Motors in Prescott.

Spinning!

2006-01-28T11:56:00.000-08:00

I woke up Thursday morning, January 26, feeling like John Belushi at the Animal House. My head was spinning and I almost lost my balance. Went to the doc in Phoenix on Tuesday, January 24 and sure enough I had the symptoms of vertigo. I have been doing some suggested exercises that have helped with the symptoms. I will call the doc again on Monday and see about the next step. We need to assess whether this is a viral infection of the inner ear, or another problem.

After learning I had vertigo I started to get phone calls and e-mails from friends who had suffered, or new of folks who had suffered, the same plight: Nancy Redmond LeBay, Tom Herbert, Carlos Smith and Al Neumann. All gave encouraging words as to the resolution of the condition.

While in the Valley on Januray 24, Arminta and I stopped by Sunwest Nursing Home to visit Jim and Louise Smith. Jim suffered a severe stroke ten years ago and has not been able to speak, or walk since. Jim was placed in Sunwest when Louise was no longer able to care for Jim on her own.

Our SME Old Time Officers group will be having a picnic at Sun City West on Friday March 17, 2006, so that we can include Jim and Louise in the festivities.

While in the Valley we had lunch with Jerry, Arminta's brother, at Chili's and then had dinner at Carrabbas in Glendale. We really HATE Carrabbas. Had the, "don't eat all day, so you will have room for", Chicken Trio with garlic mashed potatos. Yum! Yum!