Road Trip 2010: Lake Michigan

A couple weeks ago, we decided to ditch this cloudy city and make a road trip to warm and sunny South Haven, Michigan. Some of Ben's family were meeting there to attend a ceremony for his late grandmother. We packed up Thin Mint and scurried along the open road through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, a smidge of Indiana, and finally Michigan. Since we made a similar (yet much longer) road trip last summer, we didn't take as many pictures of the scenery along the way, but we did take plenty of pictures of the family living it up at Lake Michigan. This trip ended up being a special trip for us because our dearly beloved Thin Mint didn't make it home with us. Last summer, she took us an amazing 7,127 miles back and forth across the entire country. This time she made it 2,892 miles before she decided to make her final resting place a little town called Moline, Illinois. She was a good car and she kept up with my abuse as good as any other. Better, in fact. And she will be missed.  Once we were certain Thin Mint was comfortable in her new spot, we rented a car, loaded the trunk with all our belongings and set off to finish our journey in the lap of luxury with air-conditioning and cruise control. 

Here are pictures from our trip:

Road Trip to Michigan 2010

And The Countdown Begins

In April, someone stole one of Ben's bicycle tires, deeming the bicycle completely worthless. A new wheel would cost more than the value of the bike... more than the cost of a new-used bike.  Yesterday, thanks to the invention of craigslist, Ben scored this flashy new-used cruiser at a rock bottom price. And so the countdown begins...

The last time I posted about my own vintage townie, someone had gone wild on my basket. I can see in the picture on the post that my bell remained in tact at the time of that photo shoot.  Since then, some angry soul stole my I ♥ MY BIKE bell.  It was hard adjusting to riding without a bell, but not nearly as difficult as the transition to riding without brakes.  I set off the other morning to grab a shower at the Sheraton only to find out some malicious being stole all four of my brake pads.  Luckily, this story has a happy ending.  I made it home in tact and purchased four new brake pads and this snazzy she-pirate bell.  And the countdown begins... again...

In the Moment

This has nothing to do with boating but it's one of those things I'd like to look back on one day far into the future.  Maybe you have to live in California to appreciate what's going on here...

California Gurls by Katy Perry

Who Needs a Rock...

 ...when you can be carved in stone instead?

As you may have figured by now, we on Mo-C aren't what most people might describe as a "traditional family".  The parents aren't married and the child has a big ears and extremely short legs.  But that doesn't mean we don't take our commitment to one another seriously. 

Before moving onto Mother Culture (and even before living in Tater), we lived in the coolest place on earth, Ocean Beach.  We consider it home away from home and OB will always have a place in our hearts.  We still visit OB at least every other day to pick up our mail at the Post Office, to get lattes at Pirate's Cove Coffee Cart (yes, you heard me right!) or margaritas at the Blue Parrot.  OB is the town in which Lola grew up (and in many ways, it's the town where Ben and I grew up, too!)

In honor of our love for OB and for our "non-traditional family", we have carved our union (and transition) in stone along Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach... to continue on long after we're gone...

Here's to OB, Mo-C, Ben, Sam & Lola!