I'm missing out!

Minnesota Walleye Opener this Saturday

Well Minnesota's Walleye Opener is this weekend and I'm stuck in Texas. Anyone from Minnesota will sense my loss. It's the official marker of summer. It's when the lakes area explode with anglers trying to figure out how to back in their boats and get them running, some for the first time since last fall. To all my friends in Minnesota, good luck dragg'n a line and lift some cheer in my name as I continue to work on my Texas drawl and my Spanish. Send photos of the big one.

Happy Mother's Day

My friend Ellie

My friend Ellie celebrates Mother's day on her very own three wheeler. I must say she looks very good on it. Her husband, Dave, got a brand new four wheeler recently and gave Ellie his past ride, the three wheeler, declaring "Happy Mother's Day". The tools on the back would indicate that they've put her to work as well. Go get 'em girl!

A trip to the zoo!

San Antonio Zoo

Saturday, with a lack of anything else to do, I stopped by the San Antonio Zoo. I was leaving San Antonio and going to Austin. I was in no hurry to get to Austin. So I went and checked out the zoo. Well it had two things. 1. Lots of smelly animals. 2. Lots of unruly kids. I lasted an hour. I got some photo' s of the more interesting animals. Like this grizzly bear above. I did however skip over the reptile house and the butterflies.

Red McCombs Dealership

Selling cars and selling ball teams.

Hard Rock Cafe San Antonio

Yes, yes, yes...another shot glass in custody. The Hard Rock is right between the River Walk and the Alamo. Happy Birthday Bill Cynor. You can put it with your Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, St Patricks day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Mothers day, Fathers day, Presidents day, Memorial Day, Flag day, Labor Day, Martin Luther King day, Anne Arbor day (I might have made that one up), Lizzy Borden day (I didn't make that one up), Good Friday, Black Monday, Wednesday Hump day, New Years day, all the Jewish holidays, Mexican holidays and Secretary's day Hard Rock Cafe shot glass's you already have. Cheers!

River Walk San Antonio

Here is the River Walk as promised. I walked along it and stopped for a couple brews and some salmon at Joe's Crab Shack. There's a lot of fun places to eat along there. There is also a lot of people. Most of them have a convention name tag hanging from around their neck.

A visit to the Alamo

The Alamo

Well you can't make a trip to San Antonio without a visit to The Alamo. So that's what I did this evening. It was about 75 degrees here today. I'd say that's about perfect.

In the early 1800s, the Spanish military stationed a cavalry unit here. The soldiers refered to the old mission as the Alamo (the Spanish word for "cottonwood") in honor of their hometown Alamo de Parras, Coaluila. San Antonio and the Alamo played a critical role in the Texas Revolution. In March, 1836, Davy Crockett, with 139 others, were massacred at the Alamo. Usually, in battles, someone is left to tell the story, but the Alamo had no one. One hundred and eighty-seven men for eleven days withstood the Mexican army of the despot, Santa Anna. When the battle was done, all of the one hundred eighty-seven brave Americans, including Davy Crockett, lay dead on the ground; but with them also lay over two thousand Mexicans, who had died at their hands.

Kyle's Kindergarden Program

Kyle performs in his Kindergarden program.

Last Thursday I was fortunate enough to be home to attend my grandson Kyle's kindergarden program. There was a lot of singing and clapping (I only clapped). And when the kids were asked to introduce themselves and tell what they wanted to be when they grow up, Kyle said he wanted to be a "cool cop like my dad". I thought that was cute.

Jeff wins again!

Number 24 will go to Victory Circle (again)!

Jeff wins in Talladega! 

Hey guys look over here, it's me, Kimkay...hey look.

Jeff's Crew gets the tires ready for the race

In the pits in Phoenix

Me in Jeff's Pit in Phoenix

Can you believe this? I'm in Jeff Gordon's pit. It's about two hours before the race is scheduled to start when this photo was taken. It was a great day at the race track. With the exception of two downpours (one before and one right after the race), the day was awesome. Unfortunalely Jeff finished 12th but at least Little E. didn't win again. Actually he would have been better than who actually did win, Kurt Busch.

Brad and I at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix

Brad and I at the Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix


For Brad's 36th birthday we took advantage of the odd coincidence that we were both in Phoenix on Friday night and went to a Diamondback's game at Bank One Ballpark (BOB). It was a super good time and Arizona won against San Diego.

My Nascar Headphones

My Nascar Headphones


My son, Mike, airbrushed my headphones for me. I get to wear them this weekend in Phoenix. I can't wait!

Mike's Bass Drawing

Mike's Bass


Mike drew this with an ink pen. He didn't get his talent from his mother, that's for sure. Amazing.

Colorado State Capital

Colorado State Capital in Denver


It's pretty nice here in Denver. I'm only here for a very short stay but I did have the opportunity to walk down to the Capital tonight and snap this photo. The last time I was here was the first week of December and it was very very cold. I ate outside on the padio at Chili's and enjoyed a couple cold Coors right from the mountain behind me. Ah...doesn't get anybetter than that.

The Newest Addition to My JG Collection!

Jeff Gordon Bobble Head


Thanks to a very generous Jerry Katz, I have another amazing addition to my Jeff Gordon Collection. Looks very real doesn't it? I think so. Thanks Jerry. I may never open it. It does say it's a limited addition. Wow!

Out in front of The Texas Roadhouse


Willie Nelson started a chain of steak houses called the Texas Roadhouse. I just happened by one in McAllen Texas. Good eat'n. They told me to check out the one in Austin next time I'm there because Willie still owns that one. I'll have to do that. I'll be in Austin the second week of May.

Walking over the Rio Grande to Mexico

Rio Grande


Tonight me and my friend Sharon walked across the Rio Grande into Mexico to have dinner. We had a fairly good meal. Sharon tried the lobster tail and I had garlic shrimp. Both were over cooked and a little rubbery but we still had a great time. Homemade chips and salsa, mexican cerveza and pickled jalapeno's. It doesn't get much better than that.

One thing I found a little odd was that when we went into Mexico no one stopped us and asked us to identify ourselves. They just let us walk on in there. Coming back into the US they did stop us and looked at our drivers license. Seriously, if you want to get lost somewhere, you could just walk into Mexico and possibly never be found.

Coming Back from Mexico

Getting back into the USA

Jeff Gordon Wins at Martinsville

#24 Takes the Checkered Flag

Jeff came back from being three laps down to take his sixth win at Martinsville. This is Jeff's second win this season. That's right, two out of six points races.

I didn't get to see the last 150 laps. I was on my way to McAllen Texas. I arrived here at 11pm. It's warm and very humid.

Jeff Gordon Wins at Martinsville

Eating the little smelt

Borden's gather in Garrison

Borden's at the Garrison Smelt Fry

(counter clockwise) Me and Dick (dad), Aunt Karen, Uncle Fred, Aunt LaRae and Uncle Dean belly up for a real mid-west feast of Smelt. It was really nice to see everyone. Karen and Fred drove all the way from Montana and Dean and Larae from Minneapolis. Well they didn't drive all that way just for the smelt fry but actually to help Dick with making maple syrup. The saps not running so they're taking a lttle break. Let's just say it's quite the crew.

Friday Night Fellowship

Myself, Dave, Bill, Rhonda and Frank gathered for a little friday night fellowship in my garage. We grilled some brats and had a nice time. Cheers to spring and taking our long johns off.

Minnesota Gophers up against North Dakota Sioux

The Fighting Sioux whipped the pants off the Gophers Thursday night. At one point it was 4 to nothing. Then Minnesota come back to score two goals during one power play. But it's over for them with a final score of 4 to 2 the Sioux. North Dakota will face off with Denver on Saturday. I hope the Sioux keep it up and come home NCAA champs.

Hard Rock Cafe Atlanta

Peachtree Street, as mentioned in John Mayer's song "Neon" from his album "Room for Sqares".

Hard Rock on Peachtree Street, Atlanta

Atlanta

Well I made it to Atlanta just fine. No major travel problems to report. It's nice and warm here. I'm actually a few miles north of downtown Atlanta in Buckhead. I talked to Jerry Katz, who lives in Obelika Alabama, about 75 miles Southwest of here, and he said he may come up to visit one evening this week. Seems like a long way to go for a visit but his daughter lives up here too. We could all get together and celebrate something. Cheers. If you'd like to know more about Jerry visit his website jerrykatz.com. He's the one that got me blogging. He's also the one that says some really odd things. My favorite was "I before E, except after C and words that rhyme with Weigh and Neighbor". Jerry...what rhymes with Neighbor? Nothing. I think you've been saying that wrong for over 40 years now.

The Hopp's New Toy Hauler

Hopp's New Toy Hauler

Today I got to see Kurt and Robin's new Jayco "Toy Hauler". I tell you, it's the nicest one I've ever seen. I've gone to the camper and RV show in Minneapolis two years in a row with Kurt and Robin and we looked at them all. This one is awesome. It's 28 feet long and fully loaded. It's got an on board generator that's over 5000 watts (I think that's how they measure these things...in watts???). It has an on board fueling station for the bikes/wheelers. It's a luxory camper inside with the capiblity to haul two full size four wheelers or Kurts really long racing bike with the wheely bar. It even has a hot/cold shower outside, just incase you find some mud and need to clean yourself off before going inside. The list goes on and on. It's got to much stuff to mention. They are going to have a super duper time in it this year. Maybe they'll even take me on an adventure.

And hey, if you are looking for a camper yourself, they have a pickup camper, like brand new, for a short box. Give them a call 828-0598 if you'd like to see it.

Al

The newest addition to the family. 17 feet, 57 lbs. Named AL after his ancestor Sir Alumacraft Morgan. A member of the Voyager family.