Any plans, projects, travels, comments for this beautiful spring month of May? b:

Going on vacation in mid-month, I`ll be going down to San Antonio for a reunion. While I`m down in Texas, I`ll make a side trip to Bandera to see a cousin of mine.

I will be finishing my 10th year as a teacher at my high school and my 9th year as head baseball coach. Once this is over I will be moving to another state to get a new start.

I am so stoked about it I can't see straight.

I don't have a new job lined up yet but I have already resigned from my other one. So that is a little scary but I am sure it will be OK.

Moving to Melbourne on the other side of the country! We land there on May 10 and the house is packed as of this time next week. Back at work on the 26th and am sure that'll be on us before we know it.

beer:

I'm leaving today to go on a Jeep Jamboree in Kentucky with my brother and his wife. We're seeing a show called "BowFire" on Monday that is basically described as Riverdance but where everyone is playing a stringed instrument. Planning a fiesta to celebrate Katie's anticipated admittance into her Ph.D. program. Going to a conference for work at the end of May down in New Orleans, and Katie is coming with me. Looking forward to warmer weather. Should be a good month!

Please please post pics. I would love to see some pictures from a Jambo outside of Ontario.
Going on a portage trip next weekend. Then it's May 2-4 weekend and that is the official Wheeling weekend here(long weekend). Not going on a Jamboree or anything, just some light trails to break the heep in.
Aaaaand ya! that's all that's planned.

What part of Kentucky will this be in? I live in Kentucky pretty close to Louisville. If I am guessing and this is a Jeep Jamboree I would say you are going to be in eastern Kentucky where the mountains are. I grew up in that neighborhood and it's awesome when it comes to off road driving.

Nobody going to the Kentucjy Derby tomorrow? My pick for the winner is Pyro or Gayego to win with Visionaire to place and Big Brown to show. p:

Not much planned except for going to Yellow Springs, OH the day before my birthday to celebrate. Eat some Pizza, browse a book store, comic shop and get a milkshake at Young's Jersey Dairy. Have to work on my birthday since I do get paid tima and a half. Need to get some air in my bike's tires so I can ride it and get in shape for the hike in late July. Spring is my favorite season. b: w:

Tommy will be one hour away from me, got any time to get together??

Erik will be in New Orleans, would you like to stay at my mom's house while you're there?

I'll be working as usual, really can't complain but I get tired sometimes. June will be much more exciting!!!

Sure, julie, I`d love the chance to meet up. I`m kind of hoping to stop in at the Scholtsgarten for a good German meal as long as I`ll be passing through Austin
anyway. I`ve got to put a final polish on the Vette for the first car show of the season this Sunday.

Bring it on and I'll buy you lunch!! I'll be sure to ride my bike to work that day.

It was actually the "Land Between the Lakes" Jam' in Marshall County near Turkey Bay on Kentucky Lake. Kenlake National Forest or something like that. There used to be a "Daniel Boone" jam in Eastern Kentucky and now the "Gateway to Cumberland" is there in October.

My brother took my camera to put all the pics together and will send me a CD when he gets them all developed. I will post pics when I get them. I'm hoping that some of the people who took video will post them on You-Tube or send us a dvd, and I'll try to post links here too when I get them.

The weekend was a lot of fun. Didn't get in until almost 2:00am on Thursday, and our tent stayed dry despite having 3" (~7.5cm) of rain dumped on us in 8 hours Friday afternoon. But the weather was gorgeous on Saturday and for my drive home on Sunday. Met a lot of great people, ate a lot of great food, and had a ton of laughs. Plus, the jeep didn't flip over, so that's always a plus. :)

Thanks, Julie! We'll be staying at one of the Marriotts near the convention center so we should be all set. Work's paying for it, otherwise I'd consider it more seriously. :)

Any chance you'll be vsiting N.O. that week after Memorial Day?

3 weeks ago we would have said yes but we found Addy a round trip ticket cheaper than driving so she will be there with you!

I'll look for the cutest little 5 year old in New Orleans and say hello! w:

Here you go! 2008 Land Between the Lakes Jeep Jamboree in western Kentucky, USA.


Jeeps lined up, getting ready to head out Friday morning. Ours is the one in the middle, a 1978 CJ5 that my brother restored from the ground up.


My brother is driving, his wife is in the passenger seat, and I'm in the Trundle seat in the back. :lol:


Climbing a hill.


Descending a hill. Most modern jeeps are geared in such a way that if you take both feet off the gas/brake the jeep will slowly crawl down the hill on the strength of the engine. Ours isn't like that, so he had to use the brakes which made for a couple of hair raising rides down.


This is the only hill we couldn't get up all weekend, and it was because the gravel was too loose and chewed up from everyone else climbing it in front of us. Again, our jeep is geared wrong for steep hills and my brother pretty much had to stay hard on the gas the whole time. This made for some rather exciting hill climbs, but it was certainly more difficult than some of the newer jeeps that kind of just crawled uo the hills. We probably would have made this hill anyway if we'd had a locking rear differential (currently just the front locks, and on an as-needed basis).


Saturday was a bit muddier but still not too bad. I expected it to be a lot worse after we got 3" of rain in 8 hours Friday evening.

Overall an awesome trip, and unfortunately many of the other pictures turned out blurry (it's hard to take pictures from a moving vehicle, or of a moving vehicle).

Well, were just waiting for our first kid to arrive. w:

Especially as it is now 3 days late according to the doc's. :unsure:

Pretty sure he/she will turn up when they are good and ready. <_<

Mal.

That is a great looking CJ. It's unusual to see swampers that thin, or maybe the rims are'nt offset that much. I hear ya about all the newer Jeeps. Most of them I wheel with are all Rubicons, they climb circles around me : (. Thanks for sharing some photos, I always love seeing some good Jeep pics.

Thanks! My brother (and dad) have spent a considerable amount of time and $$ restoring it from the old rustbucket that it used to be. New everything pretty much except the engine and front bumper. With a 2 inch suspension lift and a 2 inch body lift on those 33 inch tires (maybe 34), it does look incredibly tall and narrow compared to the wranglers on the trails. He probably should have gotten some extend-o-hubs because the tires will rub on the springs if he turns too sharply, but he makes it work. I think his next project is to gear-down either the differential or transfer case (maybe transmission) and put a locker on the rear differential. Not air-lockers, but maybe fulltime instead of the as-needed Tru-Track locker he has on the front. After that he might consider putting a fuel injector kit on the engine because the new 4-barrel (I think) carbeurator choked out a couple of times going up or down a particularly steep hill. Overall it fared well, though, so it's not a pressing need. I'm just glad we didn't roll over because I didn't feel particularly safe in that back seat, even leaning as far forward as I could get in order to be more under the rollbar.

This was my sister-in-law's first Jeep Jam and she is already planning the next 4 (Gateway to the Cumberland's in Eastern Kentucky in October to start with).

Enjoy your last few days of peace and quiet before your new blessing arrives, Mal. I wish you and your wife a safe delivery and a wonderful life as a family!

Mal, any new news yet on our newest Cussler fan???

Nothing as yet (apart from back ache!)

Still waiting for the little terror to make an appearance.

Will be great to find out what he/she is finally.

If a no show for too long, then a C-section on the 30th.

mal.

On come on. "A littler terror" No yet!!!! Just wait till the terrible two"s!!!!!! :lol: :lol:

On the plus side,

I start work between 2 + 3 am, so minimal late night / early morning feeds for me. th:

Although Im sure I will 'cop for it' when ever the other half deems it 'my turn' LOL.

Mal.

There are a number of holistic tricks to induce labor that you can try over the next week prior to resorting to a C-section. I imagine many of them can be found online. I know there are sensor points in the ankle and/or hand that can induce, so try giving your other half a nice foot/calf massage and hand massage. Even if it doesn't work you'll be a hero for making her feel better.

Native Americans (or another group of people a long time ago) would feed the pregnant female a raw egg. Often, the resultant wretching would also induce labor (gets the muscles contracting I guess). Not sure if this only works at a certain level of stalled dialation.

Good luck!