Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Well, here it is our first Christmas away from friends and family. We won't lie, it was tough!! We got through it with phone calls and web cams and it was nice to see and hear familiar voices again.
Most of you will laugh to hear we went and found a pizza place for our holiday meal. It was a place called Famous Ray's.
We've never eaten there before and drove past an open grocery store and found the pizza place only because numerous cars were parked in the parking lot. Come to find out the owners were transplanted from the New York area. It was extremely difficult to understand them because their East Coast Accent was thick. The pizza was awesome & we enjoyed ourselves.

We were able to get the Infamous Grinch from Truman Ave in Owatonna, MN erected and let him check out the new digs. Let's just say he enjoyed the weather!

Also the Penguin had scoped out his area and claimed his squatting rights. He made a fabulous addition to our festive Christmas decor and the neighbors loved it!
We hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and we miss you all!

P.S. Santa stopped by and dropped off a shiny new present!

Too Close For Comfort!!

The pictures below tell the tale of a hot air balloon that came extremely close to our house. The balloon was so close to the ground that DW could hear the people talking, see them waving to those on the ground and hear the "whoosh" as the pilot turned on the burner. Our dog Muncie, did NOT appreciate the balloon so close and barked at it while Phoebe, "the Princess", did not consider it important enough to acknowledge.



We see these hot air balloons at least 3 times per week from our back patio, but have never seen them so close to our house.
We can just imagine the view that those inside the gondola get while enjoying the ride! Maybe Santa made an early delivery?

Update 12-22-07

Merry Christmas!! Here it is another weekend and DH was working at West World again.
DW brought DH lunch today & DH gave DW the latest tour of the site in his golf cart. Today we were lucky enough to see how one of the big car tents gets put up. AMAZING to see.
DH asked the supervisor (Mike) if it's dangerous setting these up? Mike said it's VERY dangerous. If a gust of wind were to hit, everyone under the tent would scatter. Basically he said it's like shaking the dirt off a rug.
Once the waves start rippling across the tent, the poles get strewn and tossed about as if you threw a box of matchsticks in the air.
Luckily today was a calm day and nobody got hurt.

We also were treated to something both of us have never seen, a full on Polo match that was indescribable. West World has two Polo fields. When Barrett-Jackson has the auction, the tents you see above are actually set-up on one of them.
It was simply amazing to see the grace and skill of both the jockey and horse work together as one. Something we will never forget.

We wish each and everyone of you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Update 12-17-07

Well, here it is, another week under DH's belt at Barrett-Jackson. DH worked both Saturday and Sunday in preparation of the up-coming auction. Without going into much detail, here are some current photos of the site progress.
The additional tenting that gets added to the main tent is just about finished as you can see below.

The site is transforming quickly. The office is now relocated to the auction site. The tents are up on the Polo fields where a majority of the cars being auctioned are kept. These are the photos shown below.

As time permits, DH will take photos when he can and post them on here for all to see.
DH is having the time of his life while learning many new things! DH can hardly believe the logistics involved behind the scenes to pull this auction off! Incredible!!!
We hope all are doing well and we miss all of you.

Update 12-09-2007

Hey everyone, we apologize for the lapse in postings.
It has been crazy busy here! DH has started his new job and is loving every minute of it. It's crazy to see behind the scenes of the greatest collector car auction in the world.
DH has been working crazy hours and YES weekends if you can believe it!

Here is an aerial photo showing the site as it was last year. In the upper left corner with all the tents is the actual auction site. All cars you see are from the people that attend the auction, not the cars that cross the auction block.
Saturday, DW brought lunch to DH at Westworld and DH gave her the tour of the site as it is today.
Here are some photos showing the progress. Granted the auction is now only 34 day's away. DH anticipates his hours getting longer and longer.
Not to worry though, this has been a dream for DH for many many years. His dream has come true and he is absorbing everything he can.

Here is a photo showing the main tent where the cars cross the auction block. The tent color has changed this year because a weather system came through and destroyed parts of the shell after last years auction. If you try and relate the photo from the photo above, this replaces the tent that had the American flag on it.

This is the view of the mountains from the auction site. Granted, this was taken early in the morning on Saturday when we had rain moving across the area.
YES, it does rain here in AZ!
DH has seen this with full sun and it's absolutely breath taking.

Here is a current photo of the main tent as it sits right now. Many more additions of tenting will be added in the up-coming days.
This is where it all happens. Hard to believe the auction is just a few weeks away.
I can't wait to see it all come together and hear the famous last words: Sold, Sold, Sold!
What an adventure!!!

Turkey Day!

Well here it is, our first Arizona Thanksgiving. It was a GREAT success! Our friends Dale and Sherri arrived early Thursday morning about 2:30 a.m. because the plane leaving MSP had an "unscheduled maintenance problem". It was so great to see familiar faces again!
DH & DW had gone to a local grocery store that was offering a full Thanksgiving dinner for 6 people that you could order to pick up the day before. We ordered our dinner so we didn't have to take a whole day of our guest's short vacation preparing the meal. We know this was taking a chance, but it turned out wonderfully. Here is a photo of our delightful meal.

We gobbled up our fix'ens and had some wonderful wine and conversation catching up on the hometown gossip! It was great to hear familiar names and places.
Friday, we traveled to our favorite people watching place, Kierland Commons in Scottsdale, to allow Dale & Sherri to see how the "other half" in Arizona live. Dale & Sherri say they come from the town of Mayberry and were amazed to see the surroundings.
Here's a photo of Dale & Sherri in front of a Rolls Royce. It was one of many "EXPENSIVE" vehicles that are present in the area. We also ran across a Lamborghini and a very nice Bentley.

We walked around the area and checked out a few of the shops. One shop we walked into had a fabulous Christmas tree that DH & DW had to have a photo with. We thought it was beautiful.
With Christmas right around the corner, this tree was a reminder to us of how important friends and family are. Thanks again Dale & Sherri, for it was your love and support and the same from many others that allowed us to chase our dreams. We thank all of you!

While walking around, we ran across a sharp dressed "IMPORTANT" lady who was dressed to the hilt. She had a Teacup Maltese named Coco Chanel. Now, how many people do you know who name a dog after a brand name!!?? She was a very friendly lady and her dog was adorable! DH asked if DW could have her photo taken with Coco and the lady said absolutely! She set her bag down, the dog jumped out and DW was handed the dog. The dog is 2 years old and 2 1/2 pounds! Here is the photo.

We returned home after our adventure and relaxed. At one point, someone asked where is our laptop? DH explained that he's tried numerous times to get our wireless network working with no success. Dale being the true friend he is said "I can get that working for you".
Well, we are posting our blog from the comfort of our living room because of Dale's knowledge of networking. Here is a photo of Dale working his magic and "hooking" us up. Thanks again Dale! It works FANTASTIC!

Dale and Sherri left for the airport this afternoon and we are so bummed they had to leave. We had so much fun with them!!
Our spare bedroom is once again available for reservations. EVERYONE is welcome to visit and our door is always open. As they say on Motel 6, "we'll leave a light on for ya".
We miss all of you!

Sold, Sold, Sold!

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/
A quick blog post. DH was offered a position within the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company this evening and has accepted the position. Further details will follow soon.