Rochester Auto Show

Driving along today after church, we saw an auto show so we stopped to check it out.

No photoshop here...this "Buick Eight" is a massive car...

Among other options...
...this car features an 8-track tape...

A jeep...

A 1965 Chevy Impala SS...
...with a Powerglide transmission...

Some sort of old Chevy...

Didn't "John Boy" drive one of these Model-A's?

Some sort of aquatic car...

Sammy tells his father the car he'll buy him...
...someday...
... when he makes it big...

Paul's Mom, Paul, and Sammy...
...Sammy would rather be driving than riding right now...

Grandma buckles up as Sammy tears through traffic...

SouthDakota2008: Wall Drug...

Wall Drug is the premier tourist trap in South Dakota. As you travel along route 90 across the state, you see signs (with increasing frequency as you near it) stating such things as: "Wall Drug: Free Ice Water." We had to go so that those who had not seen it before could experience it. While we were there, Doug & Paul hooked up with some hot women.

Paul putting the moves on his new woman (we think)...

Doug fares beter than Paul did...

Celebrating Grandpa's Birthday...

This year is Paul's father's 75th birthday. Sammy made sure we celebrated it by surprising his Grandpa with a cake. Here's to many, many more birthdays Sammy can celebrate with his Grandpa D.

Those are testudines on the corners of the cake...

Sammy sneaks in from the porch to surprise his Grandpa...

With Aunt Annie's help, Sammy surprises Grandpa with a birthday cake...

In Zen-like fashion...
...Sammy explains to Grandma & Grandpa D...
...that the glass is neither half empty nor half full...
...the glass is just too big...

Snapshot...

After we got back from South Dakota (we still have more postings to do on it) everyone came to our house. Anne's daughter was in town too and we gave her the nickel 25 minute tour of Rochester. Liz and Doug worked some magic to get Paul's grill to work after 6 or more years of not being used. And we had a mystery celebrity photographer take our photos...

Back Row: Karen, Grandpa D, Doug, Liz
Middle Row: Anne, Michele, Veto the cat, Grandma D, Paul, Diane
Front Row: Sammy

3 generations....Paul, Sammy, and his Grandpa D...

Bend it Like Sammy...

Move over David Beckham...our own Sammy was showing his grandfather a few soccer moves the other night. Our tiny backyard was transformed into the Rochester Soccer Stadium with standing room only (translation: we had no chairs on the lawn). Putting a decidedly American twist on the game, he wore his favorite cowboy hat whilst he played.

Sammy moves down the field...

Sammy gets up after taking a tumultuous tumble to the turf...

Sammy outmanoeuvres his grandfather...

Sammy is about the bend the ball...eat your heart out Posh...

The real secret of his success...our son uses his head...and his hands...

Mantorville: For Dinner and the Theater

This past Saturday we all went to a dinner and a melodrama in Mantorville, MN.

We took Paul's parents and met his sisters and Grant at the Hubbell House restaurant for dinner.

About a block away is the Mantorville Theather Company where we watched the opening of their "Ax Me No Questions" or "Pines Are Never Blue but Ever Green." Sammy was mesmerized by the performance and sat through the whole show...even when the heroine was almost sawed in half at the lumber mill. The Mantorville Theater Company shows are great fun...with audience participation shouting "boo" and "hooray." Although Sammy sat with his aunt Annie a few rows back, we could hear him shouting "boo", "hiss", and "hooray!"

The Hubbell House...

...where U.S. Grant once ate...

...and Roy Roger's horse Trigger signed the guest registry (how one might ask?)...

The Mantorville Opera House...

Anne, Paul's Mom, and Diane outside the opera house...

Sammy's grandparents outside the opera house...

Grant and Diane...

Just before the show...

Michele and Sammy...
...just before he decided to move to his aunt Annie's lap for the duration of the show...

Sammy on the edge of his seat at the shows climax...

We won't give any spoilers here...
...you have to see the show yourself...
...but the saw does operate!

After the show, the entire cast congratulated Sammy...

SouthDakota2008: North By Northwest?

What would any visit to Rapid City be without watching "North by Northwest"?

Time for a true story. Years ago, back in the early 1980's Paul's father taped "North by Northwest" off the local PBS station. Later Paul was rummaging through the betamax tapes (if you remember those) and came across the taped movie. Since he never seen North by Northwest (but already being a Archibald Leach fan), he popped it in the VCR. Just when the fast paced movie hit a climax (one of many) in a dusty cornfield of Indiana...the screen went blank. The timer had been set wrong when taping and stopped far to early. Back then it was near to impossible to get North by Northwest on a video tape so Paul had to wait literally five years to see the end to the movie.

So in preparation for our big trip this year, Paul bought North by Northwest on DVD. We watched it together one night in Rapid City...ahead of when we would go visit Mount Rushmore. It's a great movie and definitely worth watching if you are an Alfred Hitchcock fan...or if you are going to be in Rapid City.

Here's some clips we found on YouTube...the first is the opening sequence from North by Northwest (done by famous graphic designer Saul Bass) and the second is the trailer for it.

The opening sequence from North by Northwest...




Hitchcock's trailer for North by Northwest...

SouthDakota2008: Day 3 - Badlands National Park

John Dunbar, where are you?

On Day 3 of our South Dakota trip we went to the Badlands National Park. It is about an hour drive from where we were staying in Rapid City.

Grant, Diane, Doug, Liz, Anne, Paul's Dad, Paul's Mom...
...and the Badlands National Park...

Paul's Mom & Diane...

As far as the eye can see...

As we face an uncertain future, Doug maps out a strategy...

Helping Paul's Mom across the road...
...she does her best July Garland imitation...

Paul's Mom and the Badlands...

We visited the Visitor's center...

Paul's Dad & Mom at the Badlands...

Kinda looks like it could be developed into a golf course, eh?

Paul's cousin's Liz & Doug...

Diane, Grant, and the Badlands...

Anne, Paul's Dad, Diane, Paul's Mom, and Paul at the Badlands...

If we're leaving the badlands...
...why is Anne's Jeep (rental) pointing the wrong way?

Anne lost out on seeing any rattlesnakes...

Samthegymnast...

Sammy recently started taking some gymnastics classes with his friend Shannon. Michele mentioned to Paul that Shannon's mother Linda had taken some photos and we saw them on Tom & Linda's blog. We couldn't help but put them up here too...though we converted them to black & white, reminiscent of high school yearbook sports photos.

Shannon shows Sammy how to do the uneven bar(s)...

Sammy on the bars...