Special Birthday

The Birthday Girl!

Cowgirl Kaylee

Today is Kaylee's 17th birthday!.  But it is a little bittersweet for her mother and I.  First, here is the birthday girl!

Unfortunately it is most likely the last one her mother and I will get to spend with her for some time.  See, she is currently a senior in high school.  Next year she goes to college, and the universities normally start school around Aug 15.  Since she needs to be at school a few days beforehand, she will probably be at school for her next birthday.

So, this is more than likely the last time we will celebrate her birthday as a whole family.  We don't have anything really special planned today, except for cake.  But her party is planned for next weekend.

Kaylee has grown into a beautiful young lady and someone I'm proud to be related to, much less her parent.  She is kind, sweet, and well-behaved.  I blame her mother for that :-).

She also has a great sense of humor!  Ok, she has my sense of humor, but she's a good kid besides that little fault.

Raising Kaylee has been a joy.  I remember the day she was born and I held her for the first time.  When I met Marie I thought I understood what love was, but after holding our newborn child for the first time it really hit me.  Raising Kaylee has been relatively easy.  She didn't get into nearly as much trouble as my brothers and I did, she would try to argue her case with me (never worked...she thinks too much like me so I was always a step ahead of her), and she only broke a few things around the house (what kid hasn't?).

So, today will be the last birthday we will celebrate with Kaylee for a little while to come.  For Marie and I it is only 17 years, but for Kaylee it has been a lifetime.

Love you, Kaylee!

Vacation - Day One - No Good Plan Survives...

Recently the family and I went on vacation.  It was adventurous, so I'm going to describe each day, in varying degrees of detail.

The Plan
My wife is an organizer for family vacations.  She planned out the route from Broomfield, CO to San Diego, CA.  Per Google Maps, this is about a 17 hour drive.  Given stops for food, bathroom breaks, etc., this relates to about a 20 hours.  We decided to break this up into a two day trip: 12 hours on Saturday, 8 hours on Sunday.  With three drivers, this should be a decent trip.

Day One - It All Goes Horribly Wrong
We left at 7:58 Saturday Morning, 2 minutes ahead of schedule.

Forty minutes later we reach Genesee, CO, climbing up the first mountain out of Golden, when I notice white smoke behind us.  Pulling off the road at Buffalo Overlook, first thing I notice is a trail of oil leading up the road to our parking spot.  I peer underneath the car, and the car is leaking oil.

Now, I'm not talking a little leak, I'm talking a major hemorrhage.  The entire bottom of the car is coated in oil.  Marie took the car in for an oil filter change last Wednesday at Big O Tires, so we figure it might be the filter.  We look up Big O in Golden and make the decision to try and make it.  It is about 9 miles, but given we are up the mountain it is downhill the entire way.  We manage to get to Big O without stepping on the gas.

Turns out one of the oil hoses ruptured and we struggle to find a Toyota shop that can take a look at it as Big O can't help us.  They were a good bunch of guys and deserve credit for suggesting a tow truck service and helping us out, but if they don't have the part...they don't have the part.

Being Saturday, every Toyota shop is closed except the big dealers.  We called them all.  Stevinson Toyota (East and West) couldn't get us in till Tuesday despite my explaining we are trying to start vacation.  Mountain States, same thing.  Finally, Groove Toyota in Englewood can get us in and will at least take a look at it.  Mr. T (not that Mr. T) from APT Service towed the car to Groove Toyota and a friend of Marie picked her and the kids up to take them there.

What follows is hours upon hours of waiting, but Scott and Corey from Groove managed to get the car into the work area.  Turns out the oil hose in question had a recall order.  The work took a little over an hour, but cleaning the engine of oil took several hours.  Oil was everywhere!  I want to mention a special thanks to the team at Groove.  The other dealerships let us down, but this team at Groove saved our vacation.

Finally, 8 hours later, we get the car back from Groove Toyota (thanks guys, they were great) and are back on the road.  During the time I was finding a car shop, Marie was busy rearranging our hotel arrangements. Rather than driving 12 hours to St. George, Utah, we are going to stop in Grand Junction, CO for the night.  We arrive at the hotel 5 hours later.  Day Two promised to be a long drive to CA, but at least we were on our way.