My Stude is done!

After almost 2 years of waiting....my Studebaker is on the road!!!

And just barely in time for the trip out to Vegas for Viva Las Vegas rockabilly festival. On Monday, when Tommy (my mechanic) was out sick, I didn't think ol' Stude was going to be done. But by Wednesday Tommy was testing her out, on Thursday I drove her home, and on Friday morning I drove her to Vegas. (Thank you fellas at Studebaker Parts and Service!!!)
I was very glad to get to drive her out of the city, as I was feeling quite jittery and nervous getting used to her on the fabulous roadways of Los Angeles. The nice long trip was good bonding time between she and I - and upon returning to LA traffic today, I felt much more comfortable then before.

The weekend was fantastic. I hadn't been to a VLV since 2001 I think it was. The festival is way bigger then it was back then. Lucky me, the first evening that I was there I found my fellow Studebaker-er. A fellow, Scott, from Colorado who owns a 53'. We had loads of fun (you know...car talk and all! :) ) and concluded with a little cruise down the strip together. So that was definately a highlight. We thought with the corresponding blue/pink colors of our cars that they were definately matched to have little Studebaker babies!

I think the other big highlight was taking 2 of my nephews, Blaise and Trey, to the "tiki" pool party on Sunday afternoon. Since kids under 5 get in without a wristband, it was just me and the guys. Dad did their hair up in mohawks, and as they said they had "rockstar hair-dos!" We definitely turned some heads when we walked into the pool (and this is an environment where its fairly hard to do that...I think you'd have to see all the characters around to really understand!) But most importantly, the three of us had tons of fun playing around in the water...spending time with family is a very precious thing.

Yet another excitement of the weekend was the addition of another tattoo to my back. It was the imagery from a C.S.Lewis quote that really solidified the concept for me...

"In the Christian story, God descends to reascend. He comes down. Down from the heights of absolute being into time and space. Down into humanity...But he goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him."

So now I have one bird diving down into the depths and one that has come up. My guy Dirk in Las Vegas did it (he's done the other 2 on my back)...I love him.

And on other news fronts, if I haven't added it before (my life has much going on in it presently) I have a big meeting with the school board people on Thursday. Perhaps that will give some direction to the next few months with my work situation. And then also...I'm going to be moving houses. (I know...a very big deal to be tagging onto the end of a post...I'm sorry.) Perhaps a lease will be signed tomorrow?! There is a group of 5 of us (plus a 3 year old!) who has decided to move in together to pursue "intentional community." We'll be moving in around the first of May (yes...a mere 2 weeks away!) The new place is exactly 1 mile from where I am now. I'm sad to leave my present neighbors and of course roomate Kim - but am excited and confident of this new step. It's been really neat how it has all come together...but I'll save that for a later topic!

Happy Trails!