A challenge from Monique

I was challenged by a herding colleague with the following task:

Choose your "Top 10" in one of the following categories: Movies, Songs, Musicals, Cars, Bands or Sports. You must provide at least one point to defend why the item makes your Top 10. I challenge DeltaBluez Stockdogs, carefullyconstructednoise, My Hybrid Life.

So, I will choose 2 top 10's actually, one about Cars, as the challenge outlines above, and one about dog breeds.

Let's start with cars; I'll do dog breeds later...

#10 - The 2007 Fleetwood PaceArrow motorhome, with slideouts. The PaceArrow also signifies the successful dog show handlers at dog shows. If you had a PaceArrow, you won a lot. They are pretty luxurious. And, can you imagine how many dogs you could get in here?

The best-in-show way to go to dog events

#9 - Fiat 500. My aunt Maisie in England has driven a Fiat like this for many years - she's on her 3rd one I think. They are pretty tiny and yet, just so likable.

Aunt Maisie LOVES these things. They are pretty cute.

#8 - Jaguar XK8 Convertible aka "The Shaguar". Who doesn't love Austin Powers and that cool car he drove in the movies? I love it.

#7 - 2003 Subaru WRX STi Rally edition. Fast, nimble, fun, and it wins international rally competitions. The WRX line is by far one of the best sports car lines ever created (and I had a 2004 WRX at one time)

#6 - Gravedigger, the Monster Truck. I don't feel justification is necessary here. GD has been around forever, even had it's own cartoon. Outlived Bigfoot too (whatever happened to Bigfoot?). When I think "monster truck" I always think "Gravedigger."

#5 - 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle, in orange of course. This was my first car, got it in high school as a hand-me-down from my sister (was also her first car!). It was a solid car, albeit it leaked exhaust fumes into the cabin and you actually had to scrape ice off the outside AND the inside of the car windows. Aren't all Bugs like that though?

#4 - Audi A8L. Oh yes, this will be mine one day. I first recognized the A8 in my favorite movie, Ronin. It is the ultimate car and you can find me sitting in one at the car show this past year here on my blog. It has ultra-suede roof panels for crying out loud! So comfortable.

#3 - 2005 Audi Allroad. Okay, this is the car Jerill has right now. It's a tank, based on an A6 but with a sturdier, hardier everything. I was able to get to Diane's farm on the worst snow day in this car, along her crazy, icy road. I was actually passing other Audi's and Subaru WRXs that were abandoned on the road! In this car, you can get anywhere. It also kicked-butt on all these other cars in a German road test (the road was driving up a skihill!). See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx2mgPw33r4

#2 - 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Series 5. I know a lot about this car because my dad owns one. Basically, this is the same car as was in the James Bond movie Goldfinger. The movie was filmed in 1963 and used the Series 5 DB4 for the movie, however, in 1964, the DB5s were built and so everyone thinks the car is a DB5. The car rocks and is just timeless in its looks and performance.

I got this pic of Dad's car from Flickr - some schmuck photographed it while it was entered in the Annual British Car Show in Bellevue, WA

#1 - Of course, to not disappoint, the number one car, according to My Hybrid Life, is of course, the 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid. Duh, what did you really think I was going to put!?

Thanksgiving and then some

Well, this 2008 Thanksgiving came and went. Jerill was in Michigan visiting his family (2 brothers, 1 sister and 1 mom) for the week so I had the place to myself with exception of the 5 animals of course.

Thanksgiving Eve I went to the Winstanley's home for cocktails (Jack and Coke is THE drink of the season). Then on Thursday I picked up my parents in Jerill's new car and headed to my sister's house in Redmond for a traditional turkey feast. I have to say, our food was really great this year. My sis makes an excellent turkey, mom does great pies and roasts and I bring the veggies. I have a great recipe for Butternut Squash with Maple Syrup which replaced our traditional sweet potatoes with toasted marshmallows. 4lbs of butternut squash, cubed. Assorted cinnamon, nutmeg and paprika. Pour on the syrup. Bake in a big pile on a baking sheet (with parchment paper) and viola, a tasty alternative to sweet potatoes.

Friday was the only day I really got to "sleep in." For those of you who really know me, this means I slept till about 8:00 a.m. I tinkered around the house and then headed off to the farm to pick up Scott the dog and do some practice runs with him. Practicing REALLY helped me as my trial on Saturday went great - I got 2nd place in my Ranch course (out of 10 competitors). And while I was running a non-compete round in Pro-Novice (me being the novice and Scott being the Pro) I ended up scoring in the middle of the pack of participants. I'm really starting to get it and I like to trial. The people have been great so far. You'd never guess, really, who out there are herding sheep with dogs anymore. People of all walks of life do it!

I picked Jerill up from the airport on Saturday night. I was driving my mom's giant pickup truck that she lets me borrow for trials (I had four dogs with me). It was a little freaky as I'm not used to driving anything that large in traffic, but I managed to pull through. I guess I'll need to get used to a truck anyway since I'm getting one in the Spring. And, it's not like Jerill's new car is a "compact" vehicle by any means - it weighs as much as a truck and drives like a tank.

So, now parked next to my beautiful 45mpg Civic Hybrid sits a 2005 Audi Allroad. It's black, it's comfortable and it's got heated seats in the front and the back. The car actually has a lot of cool features to it - far more than the Hybrid does. However, Jerill is only getting 16/22mpg. Of course, while Jerill was in Michigan, I drove it everyday and thoroughly enjoyed the heated seats, moonroof and, although I'm pretty good with a map, the navigation system. I haven't come up with a good name for it yet, but it JUST pulled into the driveway! Time to address those meatball subs I promised to make for dinner!

Dream Cars

Okay, not that my Hybrid isn't nice or anything, but I have to say I fell for a few cars at this year's Seattle Auto Show. Jerill and I went to the Show on Sunday with my parents, Carole and Arnold. I inherited my interest in cars from my parents who have probably had more cars that I care to count - some of which have been quite cool including a '67 Mustang, a Jag, an MG, and even a Model T. Here are some of the goodies from the show...

Okay, this is the Audi A8L - this is my dream car for commuting.
It's HUGE, comfortable and totally awesome. Quattro AWD, auto-everything.
And, it's really fast. MSRP around $87K to start.

Can't forget the new Aston Martin - same model as the one in the upcoming James Bond movie. This one will run you about $300K. This car is nice but I don't really WANT it like I want the Audi A8L or the other white one...

My Dad jumped into the 'fun' car they had at the show - the Flinstones Car. It was pretty plasticy but still pretty cute.
I believe it actually does run - although this one didn't appear to be powered by foot-power.

And, in my opinion, the creme de le creme of cars. The Porsche GT2. I've always loved the GT3 and this is their newest model into the line of Porsche Supercars. You can drive this as your every-day car, and then race it in Grand Prix events. Totally sexy, totally fast, totally Porsche. MSRP $197K



After the auto show, we decided to visit the new Snoqualmie Casino that just opened last Thursday. It was busy but bearable. We ate dinner in the Buffet as my parents are retired and LOVE buffets. This one is definitely better than the OCB (Old Country Buffet), and ALMOST as good as the Buffet in the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. They offered a nice array of meats, seafood and Asian foods. Their desserts were pretty good (chocolate covered cream puffs and sundae bar). We didn't gamble one cent though. However, I will probably be back this week (Thurs?) to eat at the Sushi place in the Casino and try my luck at those 3 cent slot machines.