HOME: Snow on the Road-Road trip Finale

At the writing of this I am at home and suffering from "Road Buzz" (that vibrating feeling all over by body from the 16 hour constant hum of the road and van engine) and jet lag...still on Central Time. 

We woke up yesterday in Gallup, NM to a blanket of snow on the van and the roads.  Hwy 40 heading east was said to be closed due to the snow. Thankfully, westbound was wide open. Mushy, slushy, but open.    The snow on my windshield was thick and thankfully a well prepared man from Chicago was leaving the hotel the same time we were and he had an ice scrapper on hand and gave me a hand clearing the windshield.  The wind was so cold that even with the heater on the windshield the remaining snow and ice stayed on the glass for nearly two hours. The sliding windows were iced closed and the wipers were stuck but the Chicago man used the scraper to loosen them . 

It was a two hand on the wheel keep it under the limit drive for a while.   At stops Victor enjoyed playing with the fresh powder.  

Our original plan was to drive as far a Bakersfield in California. We would stop in Lake Havisu and see the London Bridge.  While on the way we looked up the London Bridge on my smart phone and we discovered it wasn't much to look at and figured it wasn't worth the drive. Both Victor and I expected something a bit more grand. So we had extra time and decided to drive until I got too tired to drive. That got us home. 16 hours after leaving Gallup, NM we were pulling into our driveway.  We were greeted with hugs and kisses and Belle gave all the family a "I'm home" kiss.   It was nice to be home. 

The phone machine is filled with many messages and most of them are show bookings and Inquiries...PTL.  I also want to report we have confirmed we will be at the Mohave County Fair in Arizona in September. (BTW in AZ they spell "Mojave" "Mohave". 

Roadtrip...Now we are in New Mexico

From OK City to Gallup, NM.
I wish I had a lot to report but outside of Victor beating me in the Alphabet game and we split a game of crazy 8s (at the hotel) there isn't much to report.
We drove under wonderful weather except for high side winds from Amarillo to Gallup.
The other kids all made it home 12AM yesterday or today or whatever...they are home.
We are thinking of stopping and seeing the London Bridge tomorrow as long as the good weather holds up.
Cheers.

Goin' Back to Cali - Nashville Road Trip In Reverse

After a good night sleep and a nice breakfast Victor Jr and I gave Jim, Miles, Olivia, and Amelia hugs and kisses and we started our trek back to Cali.  We made it all the way to OK City.  Victor won the alphabet game again (4 wins to my one loss).  The rest of the day was filled with homework, old time radio and driving.
Our cheap hotel  non-smoking room smells like a smoking convention occurred here and the young lady next door I think has a spare time night job according to some of the banging noises on the wall. But I can't be for sure.  Fortunately that's the only noises making it through the walls.  It''s official, tomorrow I stop being cheap.

Shotgun Red Taping Nashville

Today is the day we have been driving and flying cross-country for. We got to the General Jackson River Boat where the Shotgun Red Variety Show is taped. This is season 2 and we are one of seventy-two acts chosen out of 2000 acts that were considered. The Jackson is located just around the corner from the Grand Ole Opry. 

We arrived just before 8am (and remember we are all on California time).  We had to carry all the props you see on the stage in the pictures below from the van to the boat down the really long gang plank.  Miles was limited to holding doors open for us since he injured his foot at youth group last Sunday.  He has been on crutches but on stage he toughed it out and did a splendid job. 

I was surprised how small the stage was because on TV it looked a lot bigger. It's amazing how TV can do that.  

We had to five minutes to do our piece then 2 minutes to do an interview, thirty seconds for a commercial lead in and then we did a bit more at the final bow. 

Here is what we did....Intro-I ate fire and lit my tongue on fire. Used the fire to light a fire in a cage then covered the cage and made Amelia. Olivia and Belle Appear.  Victor and the girls laid down between Belle's platforms. Belle jumped over the three of them through the three hoops they held.  Victor climbed onto the tightrope and walked most of the way across and turned around mid-stride then walked more than half the way backwards to the other side.   Olivia came out and made Buttercup appear (the snake). Then Miles whipped an item out of my hand and mouth.  Next Olivia climbed a pole and Jim balanced her on his chin.   Then Miles came out and laid on the bed of nails. Jim stood on him juggling Machetes.  I then broke a brick on his stomach while on the nails.  That ended part 1.   For the commercial lead in we had Miles whip an item from the Sheila, the co-host's mouth while Jim balanced the giant bottle of Anti Monkey Butt Powder on his chin.   At the close I hammered a nail into my nose as Miles did lasso tricks and Jim continued to balance the big bottle. 

The host, a puppet named Shotgun Red, really respected our wishes to promote AMBP and talked a lot about them.  We even gave free samples to the audience. 

The funniest thing was right after we did our first part Belle disappeared some place.  Since things are taped out of sequence it was alright because we didn't need her but it became a big running gag as to where is Belle. The ship crew, musicians, camera crew, stage hands, performers and us all went on a search as we simultaneously cleared the stage for the next act.   She ended up being under the musician stage risers.  Seemed she was spooked by the live band and especially the drums. 

All the pictures here are about an hour before the show since it got real busy from that point on. 

Everyone did a great job. I envy singers since all they have to do is show up. Being a prop heavy show had us the first people there and the last to leave.   Since we were deprived lunch we grabbed some yummy pizza on the way back to the hotel.  Tomorrow Vic and I will start the trek home and the rest will fly home. 

Nashville----The rest of the Group Arrives

The kids arrived via aeroplane today. More accurately, this evening.  Victor and I spent the day mostly at the hotel just hanging out, napping, and Victor doing his homework.  I wasn't as lazy as I made myself sound. For I too did some work. I called a few clients and did some advertising and networking work. After the kids arrived we met up with our good friends the Gonzales'. We had a fine meal at the Santa Fe Cattle Co. It's a meat and potatoes kind of place with animal mounts on the wall and peanut shells on the floor. The service was good and the company was even better.  We all had a lot of fun catching up and discussing the future.   

In the Parking lot we stopped to get a couple of pictures and let the dogs run around together. They have a male poodle the exact same size as Belle. His name is Chase. I think when they meet again this summer they will have great fun together.   

James showed our friends his newest stunt with Olivia, one we will do for the cameras tomorrow.  It ended up being a show stopper as passer-byes had to stop and take videos and pictures.  Our after meal time in the parking lot was cut short because it was down right freezing.    We also have to wake up early for the rehearsals so it is off to sleep shortly. 

 I forgot to mention that earlier today Victor and I decided to take Belle for a long walk along the main road while looking for a place to have lunch.   Our California blood wasn't ready for the chill so our walk lasted about a mile or two before we were frozen to our cores with red frozen ears and  runny noses.  We ended up just having fast food from the McDonald on the corner. 

Though the whole day was a nice blessed day. One really good thing about today....no Alphabet game and that's a good thing indeed.  In regards to the flight out. I was told everyone had a great time. It was Olivia's first trip on a plane so she was thrilled but the 3 hour lay over bored her to tears....well, she didn't cry but she didn't forget to let her boredom known. 

Nashville Road trip Day 4

Before I give the daily report  click on the new artwork picture below...it should get bigger so you can look at it closely and give me your opinion and fixes. ThanksWell. we are here in Nashville. Little Rock to Nashville in just about 6 hours.  

On the sports report....Victor won the Alphabet game making it making his lead 1-3!

Our hotel tonight (and for the next few days) is awesome. Last night's hotel turned out OK...thanks to be exhausted. And in spite of the room change (actually we were moved to a whole different building last night...as far from those roaches as possible. 

 Amelia (8) made me a little scarf, she weaved it on a homemade weaving board thingy. I didn't think I would really need it on the trip but a cold front hit Nashville just after we arrived and it got cold fast. So when I went for a walk to pick up a couple of things at a nearby store my neck was kept warm. I was very thankful for the scarf. Thank you Amy!

These are just a couple of churches that were right next to hwy 40. So cool looking I took a picture. 

They named a rest stop after Loretta Lynn and Hank Williams.  Is that a compliment? I mean think about it.....they have to share the honor. And the honor is basically having a roadside restroom named after you.  Hmmm. 

Arkansas and most of Tennessee seem to be hills and leafless trees. (Guess winter is the reason for the latter).  There are lots of lakes and swamps along hwy 40 in AR. I bet it is quite pretty in the spring.   

Well, the last sentence sounded like a what I did for winter essay so I will wind things up before I further prove I have no writing skills. 

Nashville Road Trip Day 3

First the good news: look at those gas prices our here! From New Mexico through Oklahoma gas has been $2.99 average. We paid $2.94 at one place!!!! No snow anywhere today and we had a great back wind so we had 20mph with the VAN! Can you believe that!  

Traveling with Victor is great. However he beat me at today's Alphabet game leaving me stranded on Q!

For a couple of years Victor has been trying to get me to try the KFC Double Down sandwich (lots of cheese and bacon between two deep fired chicken breasts for buns).  It was the bomb y'all!  

We've made it to the Little Rock, AR area. Our hotel had guests in the room when we arrived.  Victor saw one on the wall and smooshed it.  It resembled a smooshed bed bug so I took it to the front desk.  When I came back Victor had found another one but kept it alive.  Turns out to be a baby German Cockroach! Darn Kraut-bug! Enough to make us change rooms. Too tired to change hotel rooms or get angry. Just happy it wasn't a bed bug.  But I am down with this chain of hotels. 

Here is a picture of the live one.  He's naked so close your eyes if you don't like to see naked bugs.

Victor is calling me to play cards since we pulled into town earlier than usual so good night.

Oh, one more thing.  Miles hurt his foot and had x-rays today.  Hope all is good because the  producers of the show we are taping this week specifically wants the Bullwhip and bed of nails on the show. Prayers for him and his foot...please.

Nashville Road trip day 2

This is what most of our drive looked like today.  Day two took little Victor and I from Kingman, AZ to Amarillo, TX....and we once again lost one hour to the time zones....we are on Central time now.....only one more time zone to go!

Our hotel here in Amarillo is a bit smaller but much nicer than the one in Kingman. And no smells.  Why is it that even good hotels have smells.  I guess my nose is too much like a dog's.  Oh, we aren't staying in good hotels the previous statement was just a ponder.  After all I am of Scottish decent. 

I one the daily alphabet game so tomorrow will be a nail biter and if covered by ESPN it would be a top rated show. Watched more the the Tebow-Brady match up.

We decided to stop and check out the snow a little so we pulled into a McDonald's.  I got hit by a snow ball by a little brat named after me.  Belle got her feet dirty in the sludge and so there went my upholstery.  We then went inside and tried their new popcorn chicken like chicken thingies.  Really not so good. Many of the pieces were just deep fried dough. It was just a snack so no big loss. 

I got two surprise calls from Olivia and Amelia while driving.  Too sweet. 

On the road to Nashville (day 1)

It is a father son trip as Victor Jr and I hit the road in the AM on our trek to Nashville to tape the Shotgun Red Variety Show.   Victor beat me at the Alphabet game that took a good four hours because there wasn't a "z" to be found. We will spend the night here in Kingman, AZ then try to make eastern NM or Texas tomorrow.   We listened to some old time radio and tried to get the 49er game on the radio but could not find it.   We learned from the clerk at the donut shop (Frosty's) in Barstow, CA that the niners won.   He even gave us a couple of free donuts. We did catch the tail end of the Bronco spanking.  Too Bad. 

The rest of the fam will fly out to Nashville later this week where we will meet them and then tape the show. We hope to meet up with some of our friends in Nashville so it promises to be a fun week. 

Saw the sign to Lake Havisu and the London Bridge....might stop by and see that on the way back. 

Belle and Buttercup are traveling with us. And so far they are doing well.

I want to thank Anti Monkey Butt Powder (www.antimonkeybutt.com) for sponsoring our trip. If you are our fans we beg you to support them and get yourself one of their soothing cremes or powders for any chaffing or itching you might have. You can also thank them by liking them on Facebook.

Oitoke Pond...I translated this Japanese Ghost story 18 years ago.

Before I begin. Cynthia returned to Berea today and made it back safe and sound.
Victor Jr. and I will start our drive to take our equipment to Nashville this week for taping next week of the Shot Gun Red Variety Show.
(The rest of the gang will fly out.)
We also have a great gig up in Chico (Private) that will include the trapeze.
Now...here is what passes as a Ghost story 100 years ago in Japan.


Oitoke Pond

A long time ago, near a little village in Japan, there was a very large pond that was said to be abundant with fish. So the nearby villagers would often go there to fish. The strange thing was that nobody would fish there during the day. Only at night would fishermen go and happily fish away until their creels were full. Occasionally, after pulling up their creel, packing-up their gear and were just about to leave some fishermen would hear “Oitoke, Oitoke” which in Japanese means “drop it drop it” in a very commanding voice. The voice sounded like it came right out of the depths of the pond. Hearing this, the fishermen would drop everything and run away. Before long this was happening all the time so fishermen stopped coming and the pond became known as Oitoke Pond. Even today people rarely venture to go fishing there, night or day.

Now, on the edge of this village there lived a man named Sanzaemon. He was a man of boundless courage and nothing easily scared him. “Why is everyone so afraid a voice? A voice can’t do anything to you!” he would exclaim. “I will go and no matter how many times a voice says to drop it I will surely return with my fish.” He announced one day.

That evening he set out for Oitoke Pond; after all it’s more fun to fish at a haunted pond at night, isn’t it?

He fished frantically trying to catch as many fish as he could as the night grew darker. Once full he pulled up his creel and packed up his gear. Just then he heard the voice. “Oitoke, Oitoke”, it said.

He grinned ever so slightly and looked around the pond. He couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from. But the voice was ominous; he could only guess that it compared to what a voice from hell might sound like. “Just like the rumors said”, he mumbled to himself.

“Who should I drop it for?” Sanzaemon called out in response to the commands to drop it. There was no response so he gripped his gear and the creel a little tighter and he began to walk away.

As he walked on he heard the clapping of geta (Japanese wooden clogs) approaching him from behind. He turned and looked to see a beautiful young lady. Coming to his side she smiled beautifully and asked, “Can I buy those fish from you?”

“Are you crazy!?” Sanzaemon snapped. “These fish are gifts.”

“Please don’t say that. Let me buy them.” She pleaded.

But Sanzaemon couldn’t be persuaded. “No! Just stop it! They aren’t for sale”, he bellowed at her.

She continued to beg bowing lower each time until finally Sanzaemon barked at her again and turned to walk off.

At that very  moment, before his eyes, the young woman’s face transformed into that of an awful she-devil (Onibaba) and she asked, “Even though I asked you kindly you won’t drop them?” perhaps hoping to scare him.

“That’s right. And who should I drop them for?”, the un-fazed Sanzaemon asked her without turning back to look at her again. He then  walked home, briskly.

Once in his house he breathed a sigh of relief, for he was more scared than he let on. He told his landlady, “Today I met a dreadfully frightening woman. I was scared but I brought the fish back. Just like I said I would.”

He told her the whole story, including the beautiful girl and her transformation into an onibaba.

Turning away from him his landlady asked, “This girl, what kind of face did you say she had?”

“It was exactly like an Onibaba’s face but being so dark I can’t exactly be sure.  I tried to ignore her.”

Quickly turning to face him the landlady asked, “Is this what she looked like?” Her face had changed to look exactly like the Onibaba of earlier.

With a scream, “Aghhhhhhhhh!” , Sanzaemon passed out.

 After coming to he realized he wasn't home at all but in a deserted mountain house somewhere in the forest near the pond. Of course his gear, the creel, and the fish were gone.

Or so the story goes.

-End.

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Grandma's Birthday and A Family Group Pix

Holidays

The Holidays. Well, we exited the new year with a BANG. I took my dad and Victor Jr to the Clay Pits for some shootin'. My pop had never fired a cap and ball gun and I happen to have one. We had fun but My Colt Dragoon didn't fire a couple of times. I think my powder was to coarse. So I bought some finer powder and it shoots better now.
Victor got his first chance to shoot a gun as well. He is using his mom's 410. He hit a few targets. The folks next to us let us their clay pigeon launcher but Victor ran out of bird shot before he could hit any. Maybe next time.

We also shot my 308 and wow was that an accurate gun. It was hard not to hit the targets.
Miles wanted a 2000 piece puzzle fro Christmas. It took 5 days and he no longer ever wants to see a 2000 piece puzzle again.
Christmas Day...all the presents are opneed and the girls are wearing their Christmas jamies.
The grand parents and the kids on Christmas day.
A tradition I started back when it was just Mam, me, and James was that I would make fruit salad on Christmas Eve. It was my gift to Mami because she loves fruit. It was expensive to do in Japan. But cheaper here in California. Still it takes a ton of fruit to make a good fruit salad to get the taste just right. And besides there are nine of us here.
I passed the tradition to the boys. Miles has been loyal to the tradition (James has taken a powder the last two years running off somewhere on Christmas Eve). We allowed another change to the tradition too. We let girls in on it. Amelia, Cynthia and Olivia helped too. Amelia hung it out until the end.

The final product a whole bunch of fruit salad.
Melons!
Jugs.

Rack!

Here no fruit. See no fruit. Speak no fruit.
BLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!
I found a picture of our old apartment in Nara, Japan. This pix is from 2009 and it looks exactly as it did 16 years ago. The highlighted area is our old apartment.