Turns out the last blog code I was using, MovableType, was getting a little dusty and didn’t have all the features I’ve been wanting. So this weekend I decided to upgrade to Worpress. So far, I’ve been very impressed. Now you guys will likely see little to no difference, but if it’s easier for me, then there’s more chance I’ll acutally post stuff to this site.

So check back often, change is coming.

Side note: seems like while I was going through the process of upgrading this site, our hosting company purchased a new data center and moved all their servers over to a faster and more secure location. So, we should see, at least, a peppier site (not that it was that slow to begin with).

Alyssa and Brent needed a mini vacation, so they dropped the kids off with us for the weekend. We had a blast, even though we didn’t exactly sleep much.

FYI: I’m trying out a new way of doing photos. Give me your feedback.

After raining most of yesterday, it finally turned to snow last night and ended up making things a real mess in KC. Kate took my truck to work this morning, and found herself in a snowy ditch and rightfully frightened. She was ok, but unfortunately I sleep like a rock, and didn’t hear my phone for almost an hour. When I finally got ahold of her (or is that the other way around?) her parents were already on their way to pick her up and get her to work.

I ended up taking her car, and driving to the fateful spot along I-35. Traffic was still slow and heavy at about 10am as I parked her Honda at the snowy side of the road and walked down to inspect my truck. It didn’t take long to realize God had had a hand in keeping her safe. She has slid to a halt, only feet away from another car, which looked like it had slammed into the underbrush the night before. And that underbrush was outlining an iced over stream… something she easily could have slid into had she gone just a bit further.

I walked around my 4Runner, and thankfully it looked no worse for the wear. I got in, put it in 4 wheel drive and started flinging snow and mud. Eventually, after tearing up the shoulder of half of I-35 I finally drove her out of the ditch and parked it at a nearby QT.

All is right in the world.

Our great time in Leadville was put on hold when the Check Engine light came on when driving to Copper the first day. The trusty 4Runner got us to Colorado, but was getting sick. After a day on the slopes we stopped in at the local Napa Auto Parts store and asked if they had a computer we could hook up and diagnose the problem. The gal behind the counter started naming off some places in town that had access to a diagnostic computer… then mentioned the only foreign auto mechanic in town, who just so happened to be standing right behind us. Randy, from Cold Feet Auto, casually asked a few questions and we left the place with a gallon of coolant, hoping that was all that was wrong.

The next morning as I went to put in the coolant I noticed it wasn’t low at all. What I did notice was that the cap on the #6 spark plug had popped out. I popped it back on and we drove to the slopes for day two of skiing. That’s when I noticed a loss of power in the old truck. She just wasn’t getting up those hills like she normally does. Shur that I was getting a misfire on that spark plug, I and Ben (our music/youth pastor at church) cut our skiing short and drove to Randy’s shop in Leadville. Straight out of some movie, his old cluttered garage had a character all to itself. We walked in the front door, making our way through the narrow path carved out of mounds of discarded auto parts, most looking like they were from a fleet of model Ts. In the middle of the garage was Randy, working on an old VW van hoisted up on a jack, surrounded by so much junk, you wonder how he ever got that van there in the first place. After telling him the Check Engine light was still on, he waivered for a moment, commenting that it was awful late in the day (which it was) and that he may not have time to do much. He relented and told us to come back in an hour as he hooked the computer up to, at the very least, see if it would be safe enough for us to drive it back home. Of course just that bit of information would cost me $80.

So Ben and I walked downtown and hung out in the local coffee shop for an hour. (ended up being a great place to be… great reading material) Walking back to the shop at 5pm, I was starting to fear the worse. The hood was still up when we got there, and Randy came out a few seconds later. Thankfully it was the spark plug, and that was it. A Napa delivery guy dropped off a new plug and we chatted with the old mechanic as he replaced it, scolding me on using cheap plugs to begin with. (turns out that plug was missing it’s washer, casuing it to loose some compression and misfire. who knows how I made it this far.)

I say, walking away only $105 short with a fixed truck was pretty fortunate. God pulled me out of a pickle on that one, and taught me the value of a good spark plug to boot.

After driving through the night, we (as in Kate, I and 10 other friends from church) are Leadville, CO hitting the slopes.

Ain’t nothing better than that.