Backyard wildlife

Species: Alligator Lizard   Size: Wee

A leak under the sidewalk.  Nice.

Mel and Greg's coed baby shower today.  We finally had a chance to put together a manly baby gift!

  

Stuffed animals invading the man-cave today.

I'm getting rusty, it seems.

Mark gets the picture of the day credit today.  This is his office...Snow Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.  Rough job, huh?

I sure wish I could get up there to visit.

Orb Spider.  Better to look at from a distance, than to have stuck on your face.

Eh, almost.

Our first time on a major-league field today!  We had the privilege of honoring  a number of our veterans today through "Got Your 6".  Our special guest was Survivor Mr. C, who came all the way from Arizona.  You may remember him from our post back in February.

Mr. C didn't start telling his story until decades after surviving 5 days afloat on the ocean with no food or water.  We had the chance to help him receive some long overdue honor and attention.

After a long march through the underbelly of the stadium and a very hot 20 minutes or so on the field, it was off to the owner's box to mingle with the famous and influential.  Mr. C may have rubbed elbows with an admiral or two, as well as the new owners of the Padres.  The all-you-can-eat cooked-to-order kitchen didn't hurt, either.  Lobster, anyone?

Surprise!

A wee bit of correspondence today.

A plug for FedEx today.  If you need to ship art in a glass frame, these guys know how to do it.  Wow.

Amazing sunset tonight.  Can you find the dog in this picture?

A little creepy, eh?

Knock, knock...  A large piece of Indianapolis is here!

Pure, unadulterated joy.

Do-it-yourself air-conditioner recharge.

Caution: May tickle your fingers.

Ugh.  What?  Inside?

Who are you, and what have you done with Mark?

2012 Indy trip, Day 8

Our last day in Indianapolis...

Hi Jacinda! (Where did that wine bottle come from? It's not even 10:00am yet!)  Bye Jacinda!

One last stop at the Indiana Historical Society to pick up literally piles of copies.  Sorry, trees.  If you ever need info about anything related to Indiana, these are the people to visit.  So helpful!  I wish every museum/library/archive we raid for information could be so pleasant!

Now all we have to do is return this teeny, tiny rental car...and whoosh!  The week-long "vacation" is over!

Can we take a nap, now?

2012 Indy trip, Day 7

The road trip continues as we dash back toward Indianapolis.  It's library time! 

After a few hours poring through the annals of Indianapolis archives, a little stretch of the legs and fresh air feels mighty fine, even if it is like 104 or 98 degrees outside.

The USS Indianapolis National Memorial is just a short walk down the canal from the Historical Society building.

2012 Indy trip, Day 6

I think we like Wisconsin.  Sun Prairie, will you come home with us?

We met up with Survivor Florian S. and his family in a nearby town.  We had a great talk, got two interviews for the price of one, and chatted with our "intern"!

Did I mention it was green in these parts?  Wow!

Just a short drive away, we visited another Survivor--Mr. Melvin J. and his wife.

He has an incredible collection of memorabilia and articles about the Indy, dating all the way back to the beginning.  We talked for hours, learned many new things, and made a new friend!

Huh.  That's one way to cope, I guess...

Just a few gems from the collection...





No rest for the weary!  We're off again....uh, after we pick up the essentials, that is.

Hey, who closed Illinois?

2012 Indy trip, Day 5

A Memorial Service for the Indy sailors no longer with us...

 

Every memorial service is a reminder that we need to work so much faster...

The next phase of our trip started in the afternoon.  A road trip!  Our favorite thing!

We're off to the Madison, WI area for a lightning quick trip to visit and interview two more survivors.

Sara's always wanted to eat at a Cracker Barrel...so we did!  Check that off the bucket list!

Chicago is a big, busy, hustling place...well, except for the freeways.  I haven't been here (outside of the airport, anyway) in 20 years or more!

We drove on into the night...  Wisconsin or bust!!