more LeMay pics

Tons of old fire trucks with wooden ladders (I guess they just hoped they wouldn't catch fire). There were three separate areas of fire truck collections. This was the smallest. Check out the carved bakelite hood ornaments & knobs! The dashboard is cardboard behind glass.

A-LeMay-Zing!

The LeMay Foundation has a shockingly monstrous collection of cars. One day a year, they open the "museum" to the public, and that day was last Saturday. I am not exaggerating when I say the sheer quantity - as well as quality - of their collection is staggering. Heather and I walked all day through the acres of tightly packed autos. Brass era beauties, fire trucks laden with wooden ladders, glistening Packards... And each square inch of wall was covered in rusty old toys and signage. I took 100 pictures and only stopped when my filmy core was full. More pics later, but here's my favorite, taken in the graveyard.

Byzantine Bling!

Matt, in his precious spare time, does silverwork. His favorite things to set are these ancient coins (3rd-10th century AD). He makes lovely bracelets, too. I am currently investigating appropriate boutiques to carry them, since cash is tight until we can sell a taxi. I'm also looking into working for Kaplan as a teacher, since they liked my practice scores so much. ;)

Decompression

It's over.

*sigh of relief*

I won't know how I did for a month, but the MCAT is over.

For readers who are unfamiliar with his particular form of torture: Imagine the hardest class you ever took. Now imagine that class lasted a year, and there were 4 of them (chemistry, organic chem, biology, and physics). Now spend 8 hrs being tested on all of that material, with your future depending on your performance, knowing that if you blow it, you can't recover by retesting.

Yeah, fun, huh?

So now... now I get to apply to UW med school, build my acupuncture business, hang out with Matt and Heather, play with the bunny and cattle and cars, and spin & dye more Shabbit. I'm also heading fearlessly into battle. SOCK WARS, by Yarn Monkey, coming soon to a knitting needle near you!


And check out this incredible paper artist!

Two Birds on the Road

With Wallace's future uncertain, we found another London Taxi for sale and bought it. We figured we could sell either Wallace (if his undercarriage was too rusted out to repair) or this one and use the cash to pay for the repair. There's so much interest generated by Wallace & Wendolene that we know finding a buyer will be easy-peasy. Heather flew to Sarasota, FL with me and we drove the new car back. His name is now Victor, and he looks just like Wendolene except his interior is still the original vinyl. What a GREAT car!!! I am always amazed at how well these cabs do at 70 on the highway, given that they were primarily designed to run around London at 35mph. He was getting about 30-35 mpg once we fixed the return fuel line. The truckers and our fellow travelers really liked him... in fact I nearly sold him three times on the way! It's looking now like Wallace is recoverable, and it will break my heart to part with Victor, but even *I* have to admit that we don't need 3 taxis.

The trip was an epic adventure. I'm a roadtrip rambler from way back, and this journey has seriously rekindled my desire to drive all over the country again, with more time to stop and smell the flowers. At a time when the news is filled with all the horrid things we do to each other, it was wonderful to have my faith in humanity refreshed. We were consistantly shown kindness and generosity. The local people really sweetened the trials we encountered: Two mechanical issues and an emergency surgery for Heather. That's right, folks, she left her gallbladder in Amarillo.

I have started writing up the trip. Going chronologically, I'm on page 5 and Heather isn't even sick yet. I also have zillions of amazing pictures, so I'll put together a full report after my MCAT this weekend. Let me know if you want to see it. And please keep your fingers crossed for me on Saturday!