Wild(ish) Hogs (aka: Paul and Tim's Excellent Adventure)

Sari and the girls went to Dauphin to see her dad for Father's Day, so I was home alone this weekend. However, I did not have to sit around doing nothing.

A buddy of mine from town was telling me about a motorcycle ride that he went on from Estevan to New Town, North Dakota, to Williston, North Dakota and then back home. He said the highways are nice. Scenery is nice. It is a good time.

When I told Paul Quilliams about this, he said, "You and I should do that sometime!" Sometime turned out to be this weekend. I had no choice..... Paul left 8 messages on my answering machine on Friday night saying, "Are we going to New Town???? Lets go! I will buy you a hamburger!!" Literally, 8 messages (but he never did buy me a hamburger).

We went from here to Portal, ND and then to Bowbells, over to New town, across the Missouri, over to Watford City, to Williston and back home. We left at 7 am and got home at 4 pm. We put on something like 540 kms (The most I had driven in a day before was 220 kms). It was great though - we just took our time - stopped lots - looked around - had lunch...... Paul even brought his camera so here are some of the 40 pictures


Bikes in front of Stanley, ND court house (While we were sitting there some middle age dude drove by - honked, shouted and waved at us as if we were rock stars - not sure why. Maybe he wished he could go too)
Paul just outside of New Town
Missouri River behind us
Watford City - more about this in a minute
We went so far we went back in time...... rest stop at the Pioneer Museum in Crosby, ND

So as we are going out of New Town I kept seeing signs for "Watford City" but nothing for "Williston" which is where we were supposed to be going. I turn to Paul, point at the highway and then shrug as if to say "Is this the right road?" He had no idea what I meant, so he just nodded "Yes" :) So we eventually ended up at this intersection in the middle of nowhere way south of Williston - added probably another 100 kms to our trip.

The best part - I went to the stock car races last night and ran into my buddy who told me about this ride. I told him that we got a little lost at New town, he looks at me and says, "So - you did not ride the 1804 highway?"

I said "No, we missed that part!"

Trevor looks at me and says, "THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE RIDE!!!! The rest of it is ok, but the 1804 is twisty and turny and up and down - right beside the river - it is THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE THING!!!! It is what makes the whole trip worth it!!!!"

Oops! Well - at least we have a reason to go again in the fall! :)

Relay for Life

The Canadian Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" has been going on in Estevan for 5 years now and we have not done anything with it. However, this year Sara's aunt and a few others organized a church team and it was a hoot!

Seriously - what could be more fun than staying up all night, eating, visiting, telling stories and watching grown men in dresses Belly dance? (Ok - that last part was part of the "Entertainment" - a "Mr. Relay" beauty pageant - and I use the word "Beauty" very loosely. It was very disturbing to watch - but terribly funny at 2:30 in the morning!) :)

The four of us made it all night without sleeping (It was over at 7ish so we did get an hour or two before going to church). I preached on no sleep and I think it went better than normal - maybe that should be my new strategy - I should write a book "Sleep Deprived Preaching - How an all night bender may help you connect to others!" (Actually - maybe the morning did not go so well - maybe I was so sleep deprived that I just think it was good - maybe that is why I am being called to an elder's meeting!)

Anyway - it was a good time. Met and talked with tons of people. I even got to do the Sunrise church service - it was great! I wrote a newspaper article about the whole night because it was so inspiring and good. Check it out here. As for the rest, a picture (or two) is worth a thousand words, right? (Warning: Happiness seems to wane from daylight to dark - but it really was not true. The night was the best part)

Katie - ready to roll
Bill and Mary - not sure what they are ready to do
Some of us were cold and trying to stay alert
Some of us had no problem "staying alert" thanks to the "candy and sugary snacks" table
Some of us were happy on the inside
And some of us got a chance to wear out "Aviator's hat" in public. Why? Why not? :)
Then there were those who looked like this most of the night (there is no "after" picture in church the next day though)
And then there are others that, if I posted their pictures, they simply would not be impressed - so lets just say.... a good time was had by all.

I am already looking forward to next year.

An Intellectual Moment

For those of you who may be confused. :)

Track and Field day

Track and Field is always a fun day..... for the parents anyway. Go to the school. Hang out. Visit. Eat too many hot dogs. Laugh as the kids work themselves silly...... it is a great time! Made even better this year by the fact that Sari works there, so we were "Insiders" (get to eat the good snacks in the staff room, crank music over the school's intercom just because). Too many pictures to post, but here are a few........



Half way through the day I hear the loud speaker saying, "Mr. Pippus, please report to the 100 meter dash". Turns out they decided to have a "Men's race" - all the teachers and whatever Dads they could talk into it. I won't tell you who won...... but let me just say, "HA! 40.... years.... old!!!! Take that!!!!!!" :)

Let me also say that my legs still hurt three days later. :) I always think, "Stretch!!??? I am too young to have to stretch!" Then after stuff like that I think, "Man I am so old! I should have stretched!"

Sari's office

I was at the school the other day so I took a couple of pictures of Sari's office - just for those of you who are too far away to come and visit her. :)

First, from the doorway....
Then looking the back.....

Megan's B-day

Just a couple of quick pictures of our birthday girl, some of her friends and her new bike.

A quick reminder

Please live in such a way as to make your funeral easy for your preacher!

I did a memorial service today for a man that I did not know. We know the family through our kids and so when they needed someone to say something about "Grandpa" they wondered if I would help.

Now I don't mind telling you that I hate calls like that! It is very difficult to say something nice, accurate and meaningful about someone you have never met. I have been to too many funerals where the preacher either...

1. Gets up and says a bunch of things that everyone knows was not true (I have been to a few where I wanted to lift the coffin lid and see if I was in the right place... "Are we talking about the same dude here?") or.....

2. Reads a bunch of sappy poems and silly things that really just fill in time, but say nothing.

Fortunately, this family had a lot of good memories to share, stories to tell and things to say. In fact, I took notes on our conversation and filled up three pages of paper - and I did not list everything that they talked about.

In the end, I think the service was really nice! I was really glad that I went and that I was able to help them.

"Larry" lived in a way that gave me something to work with and something good to say. By the way, none of those good memories and nice things had to do with how much money he made, what kind of house he lived in, what kind of car he drove or where he had been. Every good memory centered on people - relationships - times spent together.

So that is your (and my) reminder for the day...... Live this day (and all the rest of your days) in a way that makes your funeral easy for the preacher. I don't want to what to struggle to come up with something nice to say about you. :)