• Saturday Tunes

    With the truck unpacked, the mega job of unpacking everything has begun. Later today we plan to head to Ikea to start picking out new living room and bedroom furniture. But for now we’re just kind of hanging out, taking things out of boxes, and trying to have a down day. 

    In the meantime, I’m working on some videos and listening to music. Here are my next 10 tunes. As usual, totally random, ratings included.

    #1 Persuasion of You by Collective Soul *****

    #2 Elevation by U2 *****

    #3 Thanksgiving Song by Adam Sandler *****

    #4 Selah by Hillsong United ****

    #5 Bless the Lord by Shaun Groves ***

    #6 Listen to the Music by The Doobie Brothers *****

    #7 Getting into You by Relient K ****

    #8 Reaching by Leeland ****

    #9 Shipping Up to Boston by Dropkick Murphy’s *****

    #10 Slide by Goo Goo Dolls *****

    David Crowder is HotBonus: If you are into Crowder head over to the David Crowder Band’s website for a free song download from their new live album/DVD. 

  • We’ve landed

    Yesterday Megan and I made it to San Diego with about an hour to spare. Our plan worked out perfectly! We were able to drop off all the stuff from the car at the new house just in time to head to the airport and pick up Kristen, Paul, and Lovely as they arrived from Detroit. From there we headed back to the house to do a little “nesting” and get everyone settled. Everyone is having a good time exploring their new surroundings.

    Personally, my surprise joy came when I went grocery shopping. It may sound like something silly to get excited about… but it was a blast! Since there are so many ethnicities in our community the grocery store is packed with new flavors and things to try. I think I came home with 20 different juices that we’ve either never had or have not had access to in a long time.

    The truck gets delivered later this afternoon. So we’ll have the weekend to unpack the truck and start getting organized. Yup, it feels really real now.

    One cool thing that happened yesterday is that we started meeting our neighbors. Although the house is a lot smaller I can tell we are going to like living here a lot.

    video update: It’s going to take me a few days to get all the videos online. We took so much video… getting days 4 & 5 of Travels With Stoney done is just going to take me a little bit. Plus, I’ve got a massive backlog of work!

  • Travels With Stoney: Day Three


    Today is the last day of “big driving” as we have about 500 miles to get to Las Vegas. We’ll stay the night with my mom and then be off to San Diego early Thursday morning.

  • Travels with Stoney: Day Two


    This takes us from Southern Illinois to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Much more to come!

  • Travels With Stoney: The Megan Song

  • Travels with Stoney: Day One


    This video is a bit random, but I think you’ll like it. Megan pretty much stars in it and I do some commentary. The random girl in the middle with the fish, that’s my friend Angie & Chris’s daughter Grace.

    There are many more videos coming. Megan has shot nearly 3 hours of video in two days. There is a lot to sort through still.

  • Travels with Stoney: Day 1 & 2 in the books

    Travels with Stoney

    Megan and I are safely tucked into a hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma. So far it has been an awesome trip. We’ve covered about 1100 miles. Both of my passengers are doing great. Megan is passing the time by playing with the video camera, making signs for her window, and learning all about the license plate game. Stoney is passing the time by sleeping. We’ve turned the passenger seat area into a dog bed and he seems to be comfortable. His favorite part of the trip so far is rest areas… lots to smell. 

    There is lots to show and tons of video to produce. Megan has taken more than 150 video clips! Since we’re going to shack up here for a long morning (they have a pool for Megan) I’ll be working on getting as bunch of videos to time their release over the next several days. If you subscribe to my YouTube feed you won’t have to wait. But you know you like suspense.

    Not “live” enough for you? Head over to my Twitter page and get up-to-the-minute updates from me every 15 minutes or so. 

  • Travels with Stoney: The Prelude

    travels with stoneyThe trip begins in just two hours. Everyone is still asleep at my in-laws house but I’m wide awake. Go figure. There are a couple pre-trip things I thought were worth mentioning.

    #1 Travels with Charlie. If you’ve never read the Steinbeck book which this trip is named after you should check it out. Travels with Charlie: In Search of America is a classic.

    #2 Participate in the journey. You can track our journey here. The best way to get in contact with us on the trip is by leaving a comment. Through the magic of mobile internet I’ll get your comment pretty soon. Feel free to ask Megan, Stoney, or Adam pretty much anything about our trip. We’ll either comment back directly on the blog or in a video. I can’t guarantee I’ll answer any emails during the trip.

    #3 Track our progress. Follow me on Twitter and I’ll be posting a lot about the trip in 140 characters or less. Also, I’ve started using Bright Kite. So if you use that you’ll want to friend me. But if you don’t, my Bright Kite updates appear on my Twitter feed. If we follow one another, just remember that the best way to contact me on the trip is to leave a comment. I’m going to try to minimize my “driving while twittering.” Twitpics are another story. I tend to do that while I drive.

    #4 Meet up. Check out our route. We’re still open to meeting up with people along the way. Again, a comment is a great way to make that happen. I’ll contact you via the email you leave in the comment dialogue.

    #5 Videos. Megan and I will be making daily videos of our travels. I can’t guarantee a regular broadcast schedule or anything like that. Nor can I guarantee what will be on them. But if you know me, you know they should be fun.

    #6 Today. In just a couple hours the first leg of our journey begins. This takes us out of Michigan, through the left half of Ohio, bisecting Indiana, and landing on the eastern shores of Illinois.

    Bon voyage!

  • President Bush is the Man

    George Bush Checks out Volleyball Players ButtOK, so I’ve firmly established that I am writing GW Bush in as my vote in November. Patti pointed this out to me over at the NBC Olympic site, you’ll probably be seeing this on Jon Stewart for sure on Monday.

    Quick reminder about why we love the President. He’s all dude. The kind of guy you’d invite over for a BBQ.

    Check out more pictures of Mr. Bush in China.

  • Travels with Stoney: The Rundown

    So here is the itenerary of my trip to San Diego. Of course, it’s a little odd to write about a trip to San Diego when I’m currently sitting in a hotel room in San Diego but let’s just pretend prepositional phrases don’t matter, OK?

    Sunday: Detroit to Terre Haute, IN. Having lunch in the Cincinnati area with Angie and Chris before bisecting Indiana like a carrot. We’re spending the night at my friend Gene’s crib. Should be fun.

    Monday: Terre Haute, IN to Tulsa, OK. This is mucho state day. Kicking it off with breakfast in Vinncennes, IN with my grandma. Then we’re blowing through Illinois, coasting across Missouri, waving at Kansas, and trekking into Oklahoma for dinner with PK in Tulsa. Anyone want to meet up in the St. Louis area?

    Tuesday: Tulsa, OK to Albuquerque, NM. Other than lunch with Len in Amarillo, this is a quiet day as we drive into brownness. It’s days like this that we’ll be having fun exploring stuff.

    Wednesday: Albuquerque, NM to Las Vegas, NV. Originally I was going to try to make it to San Diego on Wednesday. But it’s about 750 miles and unless the Camry drops into a stealth mode and we can drive 120 all day, I just don’t want to go that far. Plus, kicking it with my mom in Vegas sounds like fun. Maybe we’ll take Stoney for a walk on the strip?

    Thursday: Las Vegas, NV to San Diego, CA. The home stretch is only a 5 hour drive. Should be a good time as we finally drop out of the brown and start to see the greenish that is San Diego.

    Of course, we’re documenting this trip with a combination of video, pictures, stories, and “other media” to be discovered. Megan and Stoney are ready, are you?