A Trip Home

Last week I went to Minneapolis, then on to Wisconsin. I took a red-eye on Saturday am. I arrived, went to Katie's house, then got ready for Jack's birthday. Jack turned 4, and his birthday party was at the Hopkins Fire Department. Then it was a round of visiting - I saw Paula, Connie, Theresa, Dottie, etc. before traveling to Shell Lake. While in WI I saw Erin and Terry, having a chance to dine at the new brew pub in Eau Claire. Then Jack and Emilie returned to Shell Lake; we spent a good deal of time in the water. Going back to Minneapolis, I caught up with Anne, Khanh, JT, and Jane/Chris/Andrew and Chris' folks. I returned to Seattle for a bit of rest on Sunday before returning to work. All in all, it was a great week and a nice chance to get away! Now it's back to work this AM - after 9 days away. Enjoy the pics of the Hopkins fire truck, and a sunset (typical) at Shell Lake. Mike

Emilie and her favorite dog

This year I was lucky to have so much family visit - my dad in Feb, Jane (with Andrew) in May, and Katie and Emilie in June. Emilie really likes the dachshunds, especially Bailey. She had a great time walking and feeding "her" dog. And when she and Jack pretend to be dogs, Emilie chooses to be Bailey, and Jack Sprout. I feed them each carrot sticks, as part of this little game. Katie and Emilie also took a Seattle bus tour this time, taking the monorail, and also going up the Space Needle. It's always great to have family visit and get so much time together 1:1. Mike

Truck Horn

Well, when I got my truck, the horn didn't work. While I can fine nearly any remanufactured replacement part on-line, no one seems to make 6 volt horns anymore (except for moped horns). Anyway, GM used 6 volt electrical systems until 1954, then converted to 12 volt. I still have the original 6 volt system which is fine for now. I found this horn on E-bay - it is a 1930s Acorn trumpet horn - for about $35 (including S&H). Last weekend I put it in the truck. It's nice to have a horn! The truck doesn't accelerate or stop as well as new vehicles - so it's nice to have a horn to alert other drivers that they need to watch out for me! This weekend I will work on the window lifters. The windows have fallen out of track and don't go up and down as easily as they should. More to come!

Memorial Day Weekend Projects

Here is a picture of Mike installing new horn for the truck. (Expect another post on this sometime soon.)





And our tomato plants with newly-installed floating row cover (recommended to extend Seattle growing season). [Marc]

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Spring has finally sprung in Seattle. Here are some pictures of the tulips we planted in the front of the house. [Marc]

Saturday drive

Well, I'm trying to get the truck out on the road each weekend. Now that the new battery has arrived, it should be easier! Last weekend we went on a trip to grab a sandwich and to visit Peter and Maria. Junior and Oliver posed for the pics (with Peter and Marc in the background). Peter and Marc had to push me and pop the clutch so that we could get home. Oh well! We'll see how the new battery does!

Where old trucks go to die...

Happy Easter! We went to the 2.5 hour long Easter Vigil last night. It was a bit on the long side (they decided to do 8 baptisms). Today we will have brunch with friends, which shall be fun. I thought that I would include this picture on the blog - it has nothing to do with Easter, I guess, unless you consider vehicle restoration as a form of resurrection. Anyway, my neighbor Anita sent me this picture - it is from an unofficial truck cemetery in Sprague, WA, which is in Eastern Washington near Spokane. It's hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like there is a mixture of GM, Ford, Mopar, and International in the mix. I will have to visit someday!

Speaking of dead trucks - my 6 volt battery is toast. I'm waiting for another to come in the mail, which shall make weekend touring a much more reliable activity!

-Mike