Nothing to do with the '70s - Check out our new van!

Ok - I gotta admit that I REALLY wish I were showing you pictures of my new Corvette – only problem is – I don’t have a new Corvette (that’ll be after I win the lottery, which I don’t play, so…) but we do have a new van. I know I blogged about this a couple of weeks ago, but now I've washed and waxed it down to the finest detail.

We have a disabled son so we have a handicap accessible van. Our ’99 Windstar was totaled recently so we had to buy a new one… we weren’t planning on it… but it was blessing in disguise. The insurance company not only compensated for the handicap conversion, they actually paid us much more than we expected. How often does that happen?

So – we have a 2008 Toyota Sienna, all the way from Michigan. The company buys lease returns (about 30K miles) and does the conversion. This brings it “down to the 28 – 32K range. Still very expensive, but a new one with the conversion will fun you 45 – 50K.

Anyway – I spent all day Sunday washing and waxing every square inch of our new van. I took some pics and decided to show it off. We’re excited because we’re taking our first road trip this weekend and are looking forward to the nice quiet ride and all the nice luxuries it has.

Anyway – hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend – and remember to say a prayer of thanks to God for all those who have fought and died to ensure our freedom!

Look At The '70s Influence!

OK – so we’re not all crazy. It’s incredible to see how much the ‘70s still have influence over the world of entertainment today.

As I was perusing the web that last couple of days, all of these stories were “in the news” and made me realize just how the love for the ‘70s just aint going away.

Hawaii Five-0: Did you hear that this series that starred Jack Lord as Detective Steve McGarrett battling crime in beautiful Hawaii is coming back this fall? Of course it will have a new spin to it, and be updated in a variety of ways… but once again we can all dream of visiting the islands. Bonus – Daniel Dae Kim of LOST fame will be on it!

MacGyver /MacGruber: We’ve all seen the ads for this latest SNL movie coming out today. What is it about a guy can get out of any jamb with a paperclip, some string, a battery and a few other junk drawer odds-and-ends that keeps us watching? And though the movie will be more humor than mad tinkering skills, it’s still a tip of the hat to a great show – that was in the ‘80s, I know, I know…

A-Team: Despite today’s PC world view, it looks like they’re still gonna let Hannibal smoke his little cigars. With Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper on board, this will probably be a pretty big summer blockbuster. As long as they stick to the main premise of the TV show – lots of blowing things up and fighting! And – use the latest and greatest weaponry whenever possible. And yes, I know, also an ‘80s fare.

The Good Guys: This is a new TV show just about to start up. I read a review that noted this is an homage to the cop shows of the '70s, replete with muscle cars, awesome ‘70s soundtrack, mustaches and sideburns. I’m looking forward to this. I loved “Life on Mars” when it was out for some of the very same reasons, so it’ll be good to see that again.

Glee: I’ve never watched this – you just have to pick and choose which shows you watch. I heard that they have recently been singing a lot of Journey’s and REO Speedwagon’s songs. So the show is exposing a whole new generation to some of the great music we grew up with.

I know that this dances back and forth between the ‘70s and ‘80s, but the point is, there’s a lot of good stuff coming up that is based on some of the great stuff that we grew up with. Let’s hear it for our generation's impact.

March of Dimes Walk-a-Lot

Does anyone else remember when in the ‘70s we had the Walk-A-Lot in Seattle? Was this only in Seattle? Did everyone else do them all over the country?


Sponsored by the March of Dimes – a group that provides support for the families of infants who need to be in an NICU in the hospital – this was an opportunity to put your foot where your mouth was. It was a pretty basic set up. You’d start by getting all of the paperwork from a March of Dimes representative – my Mom was a rep which made it easy for us to get everything we needed. The Sponsor Form was a sign-up sheet for people to sign up and sponsor you a certain amount per mile. So – you’d make the rounds and get all your neighbors and relatives to sponsor you. Your Mom and Dad may even take your form to work where they might try to coerce their office mates to sponsor you, too. It was held in the summer. So you didn’t have the chance to take it to school – which was good if you were too scared to ask your friends or teachers.

The Walk-A-Lot was a 20 mile route that started and ended at the Seattle Center. There were a bunch of tables set up by the flag pavilion and you checked in there and started walking the route. There were check points every few miles where you got your sheet stamped to verify your progress. For you Seattleites, the route went from the Center over to Eastlake, under the freeway and then north on 15th NE as far as 130th. We then headed west across the freeway, over Aurora, down Greenwood and ended up on 15th NW, shot along Elliott Avenue and up Denny Way to the Seattle Center.

It was a lot of fun. It was an opportunity to do something good and participate in something much bigger than ourselves. We always kidded about how hard it was when we started, but by the end, we were pretty wiped out. We did it for quite a few years, and every time we were glad that we had done it, and it was for a worthy cause.