"Leaving 911 Response Area"

We're in Canada's Yukon Territory. The EMS forces of White Horse and Dawson City, which are entirely volunteer, have gone on strike. The feel they are overworked and underpaid. Can a volunteer be underpaid? So, the residents of the Green Subaru are not able to live recklessly, as we rely chiefly on government assistance to save us from ourselves.
In other Canadia news, an elephant or two were at large in Newmarket recently, escaped from a circus or some other elephant function. A resident called in the sighting to 911 (apparently still up and running in the eastern portion of the country), and the dispatchers chief inquiry was "How big of an elephant?" The callers response: "I don't know... an elephant." If you haven't laughed today, please listen to the dispatch recording: Canadian Elephant 911 Call

When landing on the beach, look out for dead whales

Wes' brother, William, procured a Cessna 172 and flew us to the Washington coast. At a Copalis State Park (S16), you can land right on the beach, ala Austrlia's Frasier Island. Thinking we were pretty cool, we hopped out of the plane for a stroll in the sand. I decided to go balance on a log, like I was in a Land's End catalog. I got close and thought, 'that's a ripe smelling log,' as Wes and William warned, half-jokingly, "That's a dead whale." But what I thought was a broken branch was a rotting flipper. The flies were having a feast and Green Peace was nowhere in sight.

We flew back to Seattle, disappointed that the fly-in fish and chips restaurant had been closed. But truly, I had already had my fill of sea creatures for the day.

My brother, the rockstar

On passing through McCall, ID, we got to catch the evening's big event "Ed and Joel". They played such audience favorites as Hootie and the Blowfish and "I come from a land Downunder." The pizza was good, if you could stand the line, and a stranger was awarded quote of the night: "My brother wouldn't even think of buying the shorts that your brother is wearing."

Home on the Range

Seven years ago, Madeleine and I drove from the Canadian Rockies to Minneapolis, passing through Medora, ND, where we were asked: "Are you going to the show?" Having been in the car for weeks, we had no interest in whatever cheesy entertainments North Dakota had to offer. We pressed on. In the interim, hundreds of (or at least 5) people have asked me, upon my mention of NoDak, "Have you seen the SHOW in Medora?"

Wes and I drove the same stretch of road this week and righted this oversight. The Medora Musical is $32 worth of campy song and dance, a piano-toting yodeler, and a large plush bear that they refer to as the sheriff. Most impressive, the ampitheatre in No. Dakota's badlands seats 3000. The show runs every night, all summer. And, on the Thursday that we passed through, at least 2000 of our closest friends were drinking in the family fun.

July 3rd... and 4th, Spicer, MN

Dad suffered a pre-party attack from deer flies.





The Jo Bros are replaced with college rock.








A new team of bartenders... the drinks just as strong as of old.





The frat boys do shots of Captain and margarita mix and pat themselves on the back for thier invention.





Monica's in from DC and ready to dance.





The Anderson family photo... and some other guy.



















Dick Score cleans up after the parade.