Started the day by disassembling the generator control panel. I located the voltage regulator, measured an output voltage of 14.4 which is too high since the battery has been installed for 2 days now. After pulling the leads I found the battery was at 13.3 which is where I wanted it to be. I'll install the battery tender but first I'll need to run 110 volts out to the generator which it currently does not have. Next task was the lawn. Mowed the backyard but did not finish the trimming. I also took a walk to the back of the property and discovered another tree had fallen on the fence and pulled it apart at the gate. Libbie and I took the rental car to Fresh Market to forage for food. We didn't want to get out of the car since the Met Sirius channel was running Lucia from 1966 with Joan Sutherland. We got steak kabobs which were delicious. There were lots of sampling going on inside. We tried the apple pie and Gelato and ended up buying it. The Gelato was free with a pie purchase. I now have removed the piles of paper in the office but still have a ways to go for a full cleanup. It's getting there. For dinner we had Shiraz, steak kabobs and corn with apple pie and gelato for dessert. The kabobs were marinated with Thomas's but not the flavor we normally use.

I decided to do a cleanup today. Started by scanning the AVM's Libbie found for me with sample David Buttram articles. I also went through a lot of my trip receipts and started filling the garbage can. Mucho stuff. We went to the Farmers Market this afternoon and picked up lots of produce and bought shrimp. Came back and lost it for the day. No momentum here!!!! Bought tickets to Rheingold, the first of the HD series this Fall. Tix don't go on sale to the public until Sept 7 but Fandango is selling them now!!! This is the last day for my Schwab billing period. I'll wait till later in the week for additional Met HD purchases. The shrimp and corn was delicious which we had with Shiraz. After dinner we wanted Skinny Minty so I drove and Libbie went into the store and bought a half gallon.

We heard a loud explosion outside the hosue today. Went out and found that the battery in our standby generator blew up. Wow. Did some online research and found it was prevalent to Generac generators. The charging circuit for battery maintenance is too high and boils the water out. NExt time a test cycle puts a demand on the battery the plates warp, touch and spark igninting the hydrogen gas in the now hollow battery. The result is boom. Bought a new battery at Walmart. Dinner was the Trader Joes pasta in Marinar sauce. After dinner I packaged up the DVD and took it to he Post Office where I used the self serve kiosk to send it out Priority Mail to Denton. I enjoyed waiting for a girl in front of me who had a blonde pony tail and tight gray bicycle shorts framing her nicely shaped derriere.

State Farm authorized the car repair and a rental car. I went to Hendricks but there were no rental cars. They said to come back at 4. Came back and got a Dodge Caliper with Sirius Satellite. Found the Met channel and I was happy!!! Dinner was homemade Eggplant Parmesan that Libbie made. Very nice.

Did the groceries this morning, looked at interesting photos on backpage for Raleigh and went to Home Depot for a LAN wire tester. I mistakenly thought the wire going to the office was bad but I later realized the switch was bad. Replaced the wire unnecessarily then replaced the switch. This got Traviata working again. I heard from the Father of Lydia Buckley in Knoxville. He said he will check with State Farm. I sent the estimates last night. We went to La Cocina and ordered 4 Margaritas because of John Regans $5 he sent us. We had La Cocina Quesadilla for dinner. Very good.

More catch up. Ran around this morning and got the car repair estimates. Later in the day I finished the new intro section of the AVSA DVD. Still could not get the DVD Styler program to work without failing with an over-run.
Dinner was Mahi Mahi burgers.

Woke a little later and spent some time watching the morning TV shows. It's nice to be in my own home for a change instead of a hotel room. Did some sorting of papers and clothes before getting dressed for RLT performance of The Putnam County Spelling Bee. It was great as usual. Came home and had Libbie's outstanding pizza. It seems to have been a long time.

Got up a little later than usual. I had the hotel eggs and sausage. Took a banana and hit the road. It was misting when I left Nashville. It turned to full scale rain in the Smokeys and also got pretty depressingly dark. Stopped at a McDonalds for coffee just before the mountains and drove in rain all the way to Hickory. When the rain finally stopped I needed gas. Did a fill up for 2.59 per gal which wasn't too bad. I missed the turn onto 421 at Greensboro but enjoyed hwy 87 at Graham to Pittsboro. This road seems to have been improved since the last time I took it. Got into the house door at 1:30. Emptied the car of the suitcases and Libbie helped by immediately starting to do laundry with the dirty clothes. We went out to BJ's to get ribs and other things for dinner. We had ribs, wine and sweet potato. Welcome Home Tom!!!!

Got up pretty early in Little Rock, I even set the alarm. The breakfast starts at 6 and I was one of the first. Hit the road and watched the sunrise on 40 Eastbound. There was a beautiful fog over the fields giving them an ethereal quality in the morning sunrise. Called Knoxville once at 10:46 and left a message. Around Dickson just before Nashville I got stuck in a long construction traffic jam. I lost about 30 minutes. With the time change I ended up at the hotel at 4 PM. Took a shower and put on clean clothes. Later in the evening I went out for dinner. Found a Panera's and had French Onion soup and an Italian deli sandwich. Didn't care for the sandwich. In the parking lot after dinner my car was struck by a college girl returning. She couldn't see out her back window and hit the side of my car. We exchanged info and went home.

I came down all showered and dressed at 7:09. It was a very good sleep. Richard
was watching TV and Anne was cooking in the kitchen. It was fun being with them.
I recorded an audio CD of the Raleigh show and left it for Anne. She called
Hortense and asked if I could come over. I got an address and quick directions
and set out for Hortenses. I picked up some gas in Denton for 2.49 on the way.
Many many traffic lights and some weird routing but I eventually found Hortenses
home. I should mention it's been fun checking on Facebook. I posted Anne and
Richards pic yesterday in their plantroom and it was a big hit on Facebook.
Had a nice chat on the back porch. Had some coffee with Hortense, watched the
cows, visited the garden in front then headed out. I set the GPS for Little
Rock. It doesn't have the Clinton library. Traveling was OK until 30 miles from
Little Rock. Then all traffic stopped. I got off theinterstate and took a back
highway, picking up some gas on the way. Got back on 10 miles later but the
traffic was still heavy. Got to the accident and then things speeded up again.
Got to the Clinton library 35 minutes before closing. Paid the admission and
went through the place. Not very impressive. I guess it's the archives that
count not the flash and glamour. Checked into the Comfort Suites. It's
incredibly nice, even has a bar with happy hour. Went out for a sub down the
street for dinner. This was lunch as well.

I tore right into the wiring. There is a lot of it!!!! Joe helped snake a wire to the ceiling center for the fan and light. I ran out to Home Depot and got a 10 foot section of 12/3 for the switched outlet. $13!!! The portfolio NAV made another new high of 228. I don't think there is much upside left from here. For lunch we had turkey and cheese. I got pretty tired around 5:15 and quit while Joe continued to work on supporting the nailer.

I did a spreadsheet for the tile footage. Joe and Christa went out to order the tile while I worked on the shower control. It took a long time. I had a little trouble with the tee connection behind the future vanity but got it fixed by 7:15. We went out to the Huntington Brewery and picked up Pat for parking privileges. The street is closed and there are millions of people wandering about including a live band. After a half hour wait we got a front row seat overlooking the crowd. The do it yourself tacos were delicious. I had two Black Phoenix Stout beers. Thanks to Joes mug club they were served in a huge mug, at least a 24 ounce. We got back at 10 and I passed right out.

Libbie went paddle boarding with Joe and Christa while I stayed home and added the numbering to the AVSA slides.
We had the leftover pizza for lunch. In the bathroom I worked on setting up the plumbing and also removing the toilet connection. We went out to Thai Wave on Main St for dinner then at 7:30 I took Libbie to LAX for her 10:10 flight. Her terminal was the last one on the loop around which meant the 405 was easy to get to. I got back at around 9.

This morning I framed the door for the shower. Christa's Uncle Mike came over and helped with the shower seat and the blocking above for nailing sheetrock. He was a pretty good help. He will be doing the tiling next weekend. Joe made a variety of pizzas for dinner tonight. This afternoon while Libbie and Christa picked out tile Joe made Omaha Steak burgers with jalapenos for Mike and I for lunch. The girls ate at Wendy's. The bathroom project is slowly coming along. We also ran the vent stack up behind the shower. Mike helped cut the 2 inch holes above and below for the pipe.

We didn't do much this morning. I looked at some of the wiring and did some AVSA work. We left around noon for the Lapworths. They had a very nice BBQ with many slow cookers with meats. I had the barbarillo which is a slow cooked pot roast. I fixed it on a bun with some onions and peppers. Later in the evening we had ice cream splits with bananas and fudge and birthday cake. It was freezing cold. I only had a short sleeved shirt and my ears and nose were freezing cold. We got back around 9 PM.

Libbie and I watched the surf city being constructed on the sand at HB for the US Open of Surfing. We got back at 10 to start working on the bathroom some more. This morning I went with joe and picked up a Skil Saw to cut the 3/4" plywood for the base. Dinner was tritip that Joe grilled.

Joe went surfing and Libbie and I did our usual walk out the pier watching the
construction and lifeguard training. When we got back we started working on
framing the pocket door. This involved cutting more plumbing pipes, adding
nailers to the header for the door jamb, nuking the old medicine closet and
installing the plastic floor drain for the shower. I bought Joe a Skil Saw in
Walmart and used it to cut the 3/4 inch piece of plywood for the floor. The
shower fixture started leaking so we decided to cap it. Had to go to Home Depot
and pick up the caps as well as lead free solder and flux. Also picked up some
felt paper for between the plywood and on the walls under the cement board.
Capped the leaking shower. Tonight we had Thai takeout again that we purchased.
It was better than last night. Anne nicholas sent an eMail today with her list
of photos and the script. Richard is still sick. The doctor wants to send him to
the hospital.

Libbie and I walked the pier in the morning. They're constructing tents for the
Surf open this week. We watched Junior Lifeguards exercising, running,
stretching and getting ready to swim. Watched Asians catching sardines several
at a time while we walked to Rubys and back. We walked Main St to Starbucks
where I ordered a small coffee and shared a cranberry scone with Libbie.
When we got back Joe and I went shopping in Home Depot. Bought a pocket door and
framing materials. Had a little trouble getting it all into Joe's truck but we
drove home with the tail gate open. Spent the day tearing down walls, ducts and
plumbing. Ran into a gas line cutting a hole in the floor. That was a close one.
This job has no end in sight. We ordered Thai takeout which was delicious. Went
to bed exhausted.

Went out to Sears Outlet store for a dishwasher. Also went to the real Sears
store and decided the outlet Dishwasher for 514 with tax was the one to get. We
also went to Lowes and Home Depot to look for drain hoses. Bought an 8 foot
stainless steel supply line hose in Lowes and then went out to Ace for a
compression fitting shut off because the existing one was not 3/8 inch, it was
something bigger. This all went well, ran a test run without dishes and there
were no leaks. Dinner was the leftover pork butts which was good.

We went over to the Wrangler and the guy at the door told us it was 11.25 per
person all inclusive for the breakfast buffet. We went for the deal since it
seemed so reasonable compared to ala carte next door. I had bacon and eggs with
coffee and juice. I was so thirsty from the dry heat that I had 3 glases of OJ.
We walked around the Borax Museum on the way backk to our room. Encountered
another one of those French woman in a bikini. Nice Body. We packed the car with
the water we kept in the refrigerator and checked out. First stop was a dirt
drive to Mosaic Canyon. Beautiful white and brown marble canyon walls. Next stop
was Badwater which is a salt lake that still has some water in it. We walked out
on the lake bed. It was amazing and beautiful but very hot. Next we did a drive
along Artists drive, visited the Harmony Borax Works and then watched a slide
show in the visitors center to cool off. I got lots of pics of the solar panels
that power the place. 90 watts per panel on the label, 56 panels per bay and
there were 4 bays. On our way out of the park we stopped at Zybriskie point a
beautiful overview of multicolored hillsides. Drove the hot road, it was 117, to
Death Valley Junction where we stopped for sandwiches at the Amaragosa Cafe. I
had a turkey, bacon and cheese sandwich with Cole slaw and a root beer. It was a
pleasant stop. We chatted with the waitress about Calif, the heat and LA. She
doesn't like LA. The drive back was uneventful. Once we hit the interstate, we
sailed right along and got to Joe's a little before 7. Joe made a pork butt
roast which was delicious. We went to bed exhausted ready to begin working.

After a hardy breakfast we went into the park and drove to the 'rainbow vista at
the end. Spectacular as usual. We next did several of the turnoffs before
stopping by the visitors center for our departure. I bought a road atlas abd
parks DVD. The Atlas came in handy routing us a different way from the GPS
method. Libbie was also able to track our progress on the maps to check on the
GPS. We took Rte 14 over a volcano which was a very scenic route. Stopped in
Cedar City for lunch then stopped again in Death Valley junction for photos of
the opera house. We took 190 into the Valley and stopped at the sign for photos.
Did not master the technique of using our self timer. Libbie did a video and i
did a ridiculous 2 second self timer image. We drove down into Furnace Creek.
The temp was 123. It felt like a hair dryer hitting our face. Even our room felt
warm with the AC running full bore. It was really hot. I was't sure what i got
us into. We got into the car to go expoloring. Found the Artists Drive and took
it. I made the mistake of leaving the engine running at the first overlook and
the temp gauge went all the way to hot. Not good because the rest of the drive
was uphill and we started out hot. I carefully monitored our temps and made sure
to shut the engine off at each stop. The rocks were spectacular. We got back to
Furnace Ranch and went to the Saloon for hamburgers. Beforehand we went to our
room and had the crackers with Yellow Tail Shiraz. I probably had too many
glasses because I felt a little drunk. Or maybe it was the heat and day of
driving. I had a Western BBQ Burger which came with fries. It was huge and yummy
but pricey for a hamburger. $35 for two burgers with fries!!! We drove to the
restaurant and back to our room which was about 300 or 400 feet from the
restaurant. I was exhausted and my foot hurt so driving seemed a good option.

We had the very nice breakfast buffet at our hotel. It's a large dining area.
After breakfast we walked to Ruby's and found out about the shuttle. They were
able to sell us two lifetime senior passes to the National Parks for $10 each.
Park admission is normally $25 per vehicle. The lady gave us a map and
recommended route. We took the shuttle to Bryce Point which is at the end of the
amphitheater and got off at several points along the way before doing the hike
to the bottom at sunset point. We took the Navajo loop trail which has many
switchbacks then picked up the Queens Garden trail. The views were stimulating
and awesome. We got nice and exhilirated on the 3 hours on the trail. Came back
to our room and had Doritos and wine before driving across the street for
dinner. I had Flat Iron steak again. I could hardly walk back to the car to
drive across the street. They were having firworks tonight for Utah pioneer days
but we didn't make it. I went to bed.

We had a very nice breakfast at Gouldings. Our table setter was a young Navajo
named Cheyenne. She looked and spoke like a China Doll rather than a Navajo
Indian. We then went into the Valley after paying our $5 per adult admission. We
followed a large bus and were wondering if this thing was going to drive the
Valley. The passengers got off and boarded jeeps for a narrated tour of the
landscape. We drove it in our Toyota. The road was unbelievably rough and loose
sand on the downslope. I pulled off at the first turnout because I was riding
the brakes and I could feel the brakes fading or was it my imagination? The rest
of the way was OK but very rough and bumpy. I thoroughly enjoyed the landscape
and the large rock outcroppings. We bought a necklace from one of the Navajo
ladies vending on a lookout. After our 2 hour drive of the valley we saw the end
of a trail ride with many Indians arriving by horse at a Diabetes awareness
tent. We went to the visitors center and shared a turkey sandwich and had a
bottle of lemonade each while sitting at a bar overlooking the valley. It was
wonderful and beautiful. Libbie asked a French lady to take our picture. The
woman said she was from Paris. We got our stuff together and headed for Bryce.
Could not find Bryce Canyon City on the GPS so Libbie called the lodge. They
said the city is new and not in our GPS yet. We headed for tropic, UT instead
which got us close. After a little bit of driving around we then found our hotel
and the new city. The Best Western is beautiful. Very spacious and clean. Our
room is by the elevator so we do hear a lot of talking however. We drove to the
visitors center at the park then picked up some maps for info. Stopped at Rubys
Inn for dinner. I had a Flat Iron steak with 2 glasses of wine, house Cabernet.
All of it was good. Earlier in the day Libbie and I shared the German Chocolate
Biti cake finishing the last of the Biti pies and cakes.

This morning we walked to Zias Diner where I had a Quasadilla with eggs and
chili peppers. My stomach was feeling the rich food and crying out for some
simple cereal for breakfast. We cleaned up the condo and hit the road for Bryce.
It seemed like a long drive. We finally got there, checked in and tried the
visitor center which was going to close at 8. Too bad. It was a long day. We had
dinner at Ruby's with 2 glasses of wine each. We each had flat iron steak. The
hotel is really nice, wonderful amenities and convenient to everythign. We had a
little trouble finding it since the city is new and not on any maps.

Woke at 7 this morning. I made one of the hotel prepackaged coffees
in Mary and Johns 4 cup Mr Coffee. This worked OK. Next we drove
to the Plaza to get our bearings. We paid for one hour of parking and
had breakfast at the Plaza Restaurant. I had the French Toast which was
excellent. The breakfast bill was $25, a little pricey. When we got back
tot he condo we decided to walk to the galelries. I looked up the Nedra
Mateuci galleries that Jim had recommended and marked it on John's yahoo
map. We were slightly confused at first since some of the streets weren't there
and others were not marked correctly but after a while we eventually found
the Matteucci galleries. They were worth it. The quality of the art on the walls
and then the huge sculpture garden were beyond anything I had expected. It blew
me away. Sculpture by Glenna Goodacre were my favorites. I inadvertantly
photographed some of her works at the art museum but seeing what she had done
in the Matteucci galleries was above and beond. The gallery had a nice book of
her sculpture. I need to find it on Amazon. Our next stop was lunch at the Shed.
Libbie liked the lady playing music - she said it would be nice massage music. I
bought her CD for Libbie's birthday. Our table was called where we sat down in a
wonderful room decorated with art with the walls in primary colors - yellow and
orange. I had a shedburger which came with fresh green chili's and yummy stuff.
My heel became pretty painful to walk on as we rounded the Plaza. When we
finally got back I jumped into the car and we found a CVS where I purchased a
heel gel pad. It made a difference in comfort. We also took a ride up to the
Santa Fe Opera to scope out the joint. It was only 6 miles away and it was
beautiful on the mountain top. We came back again and looked at photos and
napped. I fell asleep for a few minutes, Libbie did not. We left for the Opera
at 7:30 and made it to the preview lecture. The speaker was very dynamic and
entertaining, even singing some of the phrases from Hoffman. The thunder and
lightning rolled in as the opera started and it actually started getting windy
and cold in the auditorium. The Opera was spectacular, well done. I used the
binoculars to watch Nicklausse played by Kate Lindsey. For the curtain calls,
she got the biggest applause. Santa Fe sure loves Kate. We left in a light rain.
It seemed like a long time to come down off the mountain but it was only 7
minutes. Left the Opera house at 12:35 and we were on the Interstate at 12:42.
We got to bed at 1 AM.