The Great Drive

Alright, I know that I've never been near as good as Hirotsu at updating this thing but I thought I'd give it a try. So I'll make my first installment a small tale of the Ordner Family Truckster and their Great Drive across the US.

Once we had packed all our house up into neat little boxes, quit our jobs, and handed over the keys of our house to the new owners we decided it would be fun to drive across the US to see the sights and visit my family on the East coast before heading down to New Zealand. The first leg of the trip was quite a long drive from Los Angeles, CA to Bryce Canyon, UT. We actually stopped for the night in Cedar City, UT but there's not much to tell about that place.

As a visitor to both the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon I thought that Bryce Canyon was going to be the ugly step-child to the Grand Canyon. I can say that I was pleasantly surprised. Bryce Canyon was extremely beautiful. The weather was perfect while we were there. Bryce Canyon is much more accessible than the Grand Canyon and allows for some good hikes down into the canyons. Here are a few pics from Sunset Point. This is just a general view from the lookout.

This one is of the amazing pinnacles that the rock has formed into over the many years of erosion.

We spent a few days in Bryce Canyon and it was well worth it. A little touristy to stay there but all in all it should be on your list of places to see.

After Bryce Canyon, UT we headed four hours North to Salt Lake City, UT. We stopped for lunch and were going to go out to the Great Salt Lake but then we thought about going to see a flat, dry lake-bed and didn't feel too excited about it. In the end we decided to move on. I can't remember if we drove to Green River, WY or Rock Springs, WY but it doesn't really matter since they were both very forgettable. Basically towns no bigger than a large truck stop. I would not have been surprised if we cam up on Motel Hello. For all of you that are not horror movie fans that's Motel Hell. Here is a photo that sums up 99% of Wyoming.


That's not really fair I guess. We did come across this old building built out of fossilized dinosaur bones.

It was cool until I started having visions of Leatherface busting out of the house and chasing us. We could have been chopped in broad daylight out there with no witnesses because there is absolutely no one around. Kinda freaky!

From No-Where's-Ville, WY we drove until we got tired and stayed in Gilette, WY. Again, not much to tell. The next morning we went to one of my favorite stops on the trip, Devils Tower, WY. I have to say this was much more awesome than the photo gives it credit. Not to mention I loved Close Encounters of the Third Kind and always thought it would be cool to see this place up close. It was formed by about a jillion (technical term) years of soil erosion finally uncovering a large pool of hardened lava underneath. Sweet! Here is Devils Tower in all its glory.

The actual Native American translation of this place is actually "Bear Lodge" not "Devils Tower". It is said that a giant bear clawed the sides of the mountain giving it the vertical lines along the sides.

From Devils Tower, WY it was just a quick jaunt over to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We stayed in Spearfish, SD the first night we arrived in town but left early the next morning for Deadwood.
Deadwood was a very interesting place and in its prime had an even more interesting cast of characters. Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, and Potato Creek Johnny just to name a few. They were all drawn to the Black Hills in search of gold. Legend is that Wild Bill was the fastest gun around and may have killed upwards of 113 people during showdowns with people wanting to prove how fast they were. Wild Bill was finally shot in the head at a card table with a Full House of Aces and Eights, better known thereafter as the Deadmans Hand. Wild Bill is buried in Deadwood along with other colorful folk of the time.


From Deadwood, we travelled South to see two of the largest sculptures around. The first stop was at Mount Rushmore. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be but don't get me wrong because it was plenty big. What really caught my eye was the amount of detail you could see standing there looking at it as opposed to looking at photos.

The sculptor, Gutzon Borglun, died and his son Lincoln was to continue on but they nearly ruined the whole thing when they ran into some soft stone so they left it as you see it today.
The next stop was the Crazy Horse Monument. I don't know how many of you have heard of this place but I hadn't until I was in South Dakota. It is going to be awesome if they ever getting around to finishing it. Unlike Mt. Rushmore where the carving is only on one face of the mountain, the entire mountain is being utilized for the Crazy Horse Monument. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski started this thing about fifty years ago by himself. Here is where the progress is today.

You can see the face of Crazy Horse and the white mark on the mountain is where the horses ear will be. Here is the scale sculpture that Korczak did to show you what the finished memorial will look like.

It is a herculean task to complete but his sons and daughters are continuing the quest. It's an interesting story so if you want to read more follow this link.

After a few other stops in the Black Hills of South Dakota we packed up and continued our drive Eastward along Route 90. We found ourselves pulling off of the highway to see the Prairie Homestead. One of the last remaining, in tact, homesteads still around.

This one is from 1862 and back then you got 160 acres for $18.00. You had to be on the property within 6 months of signing the deed and then had to plow 10 acres into crops and establish residence there for 5 years to be able to keep the property. I guess working at Boeing ain't so bad after all.
Here is a good photo showing how they used the hillside as part of the homestead. It helped to keep them warmer in the winter. They also grew cactus on the roof so you knew where it was and didn't walk on it.


We had a few VERY long days of driving through some flat landscape. Just when I was about to go mad, we finally reached Chicago. Home of Da' Bears, sausage, and the most complete T-rex skeleton in the world. We arrived July 4th so the place was crazy. There was a huge outdoor food festival with all kinds of yummy things. Here are a few photos of Millennium Park right next to the hotel we stayed in.


We went to the Field Museum of Natural History where they have "Sue" which is the most complete T-Rex skeleton in the world.

They also have a great Egyptian exhibit where they had quite a few artifacts and mummies as well. Here is one of the more interesting mummies.


After the Field Museum, since I am a big Blues Brothers fan, we had to find the Cook County Assessors Office. The square looks just like in the movie and the Assessors Office is right behind the sculpture.

To complete out 3 days in Chi-Town we had to go to the top of the Sears Tower. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top but the view was great. You can see the Field Museum off to the left and Soldier Field just behind it.


Well, after Chicago there isn't much about the trip to write home about. Any of you that have traveled that stretch of highway between Chicago and the East coast know that it's about as fun as watching paint dry. We passed through all kinds of small towns and farm country through Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut until we reached Rhode Island in our first stop on the Eastern seaboard. New Jersey was next on the list with quite a few visits to the Jersey Shore and lots of good Italian food. After the visiting was done we ditched our Volvo at the nearest dealer, which was hilarious, and flew back to LA to get ready for the long haul to NZ.

OK boys and girls, I think that this marathon entry should keep you busy for a bit. The next one will be the start of our life in Whangarei, New Zealand. Stay tuned!

Leaving Los Angeles

Well as most of you may or may not know we have decided to leave Los Angeles. The decision was a long time in coming. We had a lot to consider since we just built or house, the kids were happy in school and had their friends, we had our friends, and of course the LA weather. In the end we decided that we could have a better quality of life elsewhere so we sold our house, packed it all up, and moved to New Zealand. Our house went on the market in February of 2007. Escrow was closed in June of 2007. Michelle and I quit our jobs in June and made plans to drive across the US to see my family before we left for New Zealand. We had a nice trip across the US and finally made our trip down under. It was hard to say goodbye to our house, Topanga, and the nice weather. Most of all it was hardest to say goodbye to our friends and family. Hopefully we'll have a lot of visitors come down to New Zealand to see us. Do you have your plane tickets yet?

Holiday in the Southern Hemisphere

This year we were lucky enough to spend the holidays in New Zealand. Three weeks of visiting family and friends and getting out and about. After an uneventful 12 hour flight where we tried to pass the time sleeping or watching a multitude of movies, we finally landed in Auckland on December 15th. My Sister-In-Law and Brother-In-Law were there at the airport to meet us and help with the kids and the bags. We immediately went out to find a good Kiwi bacon and eggs breakfast.

We spent the next few days out in West Auckland in the town of Waitakere. I was able to tag along with my Brother-In-Law to one of his 18' skiff races. A skiff is basically a high performance sailboat. Go here to learn more. I helped to unload the skiffs and get them rigged up to race. I was then able to score a spot on the chase boat ans spent the rest of the afternoon out of the water watching the race first hand. No, I didn't have the camera but lucky thing since right at the end of therace there was a HUGE downpour and besides I had to get i and out of the water to help with the boats.

A few days after that my Brother-In-Law and I went out mountain biking at a place just North of Waitakere called Woodhill. All I can say is that you have to bring your "A" game for this place. Woodhill provides, and I quote, "We provide over 100kms of riding on over 50 trails with hundreds of different jumps, stunts and man-made riding structures." Tht is no lie! The place is a highlight reel waiting to happen. If your boys are feeling big that day you could be a star of wind up in intensive care. Both come with a sweet story of how awesome you rode or how gnarly the crash was. Check out the Woodhill website here. Needless to say we had an awesome time with only a few minor impacts with the ground, trees, or other immovable objects.

After a few days in Waitakere we then sped up to Whangarei to Michelle's Mums house for Christmas. Here is where I will insert the gratuitous sheep photo that comes with all New Zealand holidays.

This fella lives next door at the neighbors place with two other wooly friends. They keep the neighbors lawn nice and low. No mower required there. Emily and Aengus loved to go out every moring to feed them.

We had a great Christmas with loads of family to eat the moutain of food that was prepared. We went to see Michelles Dad and the extended family. All hell broke loose when Aengus got his Christmas gift from Grandad. A Super Soaker watergun. In no time flat everyone had to take a turn soaking another member of the family. After visiting Grandad we went to see some of our friends. They had a real Kiwi Christmas going on and both of my kids joined in. Slip and slide on Christmas Day! Here is Aengus on the slide.

With Emily not far behind!


After Christmas we went to explore some of our favorite beaches in Northland. We went to Matapouri, which is one of my favorites, to have a picnic, a swim, and maybe a little hike. Here is where we pitched our blankets. Under a Pahutakawa tree right on the beach. Here is Michelle and her Mum with all the lunch goodies.

After we ate some lunch Aengus and I started off for a little hike.

Here is a good look at Matapouri. It is a really nice little cove with the left side protected from the surf so the little kids can swim and on the right you can catch a good wave on some days.


When we were tired of hanging around in Whangarei we decided to drive down to visit some friends of ours that just moved to New Zealand from Topanga, CA. The Kirby family arrived in NZ on December 27. They moved to a little town called Raglan about 2 hours south of Auckland on the Wild West Coast. The Kirby's were just getting settled in when we crashed the party. They were very gracious hosts. The have an awsome place right on the water in Raglan Harbor. Here is the view from their back yard.

So right down a little path through their property takes you right to the waters edge. The Kirby's wated little time in getting a few kayaks to paddle around the harbor in so we had to go for a spin.

We stayed with the Kirby's for New Years and had a great time hanging around Raglan. It's a great little town and world renowned for the surfing. I didn't get to surf but the kayaking was fantastic. We had a short rain shower while we were there and caught this good pic.

It made me think of LA for the first time since I got to NZ. I thought to myself, "Lep, I found your damn pot o'gold now!!" It was a sad goodbye to the Kirby family after the New Year but we had to jam back to Auckland to meet up with Nik and Chris(Sister & Borther In-Law). Michelle and the kids did some last minute shopping. We also went to the top of the Auckland Sky Tower which for some reason I had not done before. It was a beautiful day and we had an awesome view.

You can see the waterfront and the land mass just out in the harbor is the suburb of Devonport and out past that is Rangitoto Island. Obvious that it's a volcano isn't it? Well for the last few days we just bummed around Auckland and frequented our favorite areas Parnell and The Quay(The Waterfront) and all the cafes and bars we could fit into each day. We wound up meeting an old rugby pal of mine in the city for a bite and some rehashing of old rugby tales. The Kirby family came up to Auckland on our last day to see us off as well as having Nik and Chris with us. We all hit an Irish pub in Parnell called "The Bog" and threw down a pint(or two) of Guinness to put our trip to NZ to a close. We all said our goodbyes and dragged ourselves to the airport for another marathon flight.

We made it back to Topanga alright but we have all had NZ on our minds since we returned. It was great to see our family and friends again and we hope to see them soon. It was nice to be back home though and the kids got to have another small Christmas since Santa left some presents for them in Topanga. It took us about 4-5 days to get back on Topanga time but we're all sorted out now. Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday as well and maybe if I take another trip soon you won't have to wait 12 months for another post.

Tour of California

Well, finally have some more time to get another entry in. I had the opportunity to go and see the last leg of the Tour of California down in Redondo Beach. I took Emily and went down to Redondo Beach with the Hodgson and Ireland families. I was lucky enough to get hooked up with a VIP pass prior to the race thanks to the Hodgsons. The VIP area was a row of tents along the start/finish line with a great view of the riders going by, all the big screen TVs that you could want to watch the race, free promo gear, and best of all free food and booze. It was luxury spectating at its finest. Anyway, since I was so close I got to take a few good photos as the riders moved up for the start of the race.

Here is a good photo of Bobby Julich heading to the start line.


This next photo has George Hincapie in the foreground followed by Floyd Landis(Tour winner), David Zabriskie(#9 hiding behind Floyd), and Bobby Julich getting ready for 1.5 hours of pain.


This last photo is the peloton passing by with Floyd Landis right in the middle behind his team mate Martin Perdiguero.

As you can see, the rest of the Phonak team were right there to support Floyd.

If there was one bad point it was the crappy music that they kept pumping out of the huge speakers at the start/finish line. You couldn't even hear the announcers! All in all, it was not a bad day though. I didn't score as much cool promo stuff as I would have liked but I did get a sweet Phonak hat! The crit format was good since it allowed you to see the riders come by more than once and the flat course allowed them to hold some speed as they came by. I would definitely recommend attending the race and plan on being down there agin next year. Who knows, if the Tour of California organizers get smart I may get to see a stage come through Topanga!

About time for a new post.....

Well, I have to say that I let the blog entires slack quite a bit. I figured it is time for an update on the life and times. There is a lot of news to report. The Fall of 2005 was a little slow. We celebrated our first Thanksgiving in our new home. It was one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I have ever had. The Hodgson and Grossman families joined us along with the ver popular Uncle Terry. Michelle cooked a fantastic turkey and everyone brought something special of their own to add to the feast. We all ate outside on our patio and enjoyed the warm weather, great company, and fantatic food. It was a really special day and I was happy to have spent it with my family and friends.

Not too long afterwards we had out first Christmas in our home. Michelle and the kids did some great holiday decorating. To clebrate the first Christmas we decided to buy a 10' tree since we now had room for one that size. We trekked on to Home Depot and found a perfect tree in the mix in only about 3 tries. Once the Home Depot guys put the tree on the roof of the car I knew I was going to have some problems. Being 10' the tree was a lot heavier that I was used to. To make a long story short, it took me about 2 days to get the tree set up in the living room with help from Uncle Terry. Also, most places do not sell tree stands big enough for a tree that size to be careful. I had to do some major modifications of the tree trunk.

On December 27 we headed oout to the East coast to visit my family. It was a nice trip. We spent the first few days in NYC and spent time in Little Italy, a whole day at the Natural History Museum, and a few hours to get to the top of the Empire State Building. Emily and Aengus had a great time, especially at the Museum. We took the train back down to NJ where we hung out with my Mom and Grandfather. Made a stop to see my good friend Phil and his family. Sadly enough, we all wound up getting a stomach virus and had to take Aengus to the hospital to get some fluids in him since his vomitting was horrible. By the time we had to get back on the plane for California the virus had passed and we were all feeling much better. It would have been crappy plane ride back if we still had the bug. Flying and puking ado not mix.

The end of the year saw our friend and colleague Karen Fergason, aka Fergie, pack up here stuff along with her husband Steve and head down to the Southern Hemisphere for a 7 month trek in New Zealand and Australia. They have been keeping us informed of their trip through their blog. The trip sound slike it has been a blast and they have taken some awesome photos. I warn you though, by looking through this blog you may find yourself longing to trek the Milford sound so badly that you pack up and take off. Which is not a bad thing.

Michelle and I went to the openeing of the Paul Smith store here in Los Angeles. I'm defintiely not about the fashion/clothing thing but it was a great place to do some people watching. Many interesting, and some down right crazy people, attend these things. Got to meet Paul Smith and have a quick chat. Free drinks and snack made things even better. Some of the clothes were cool but $300 for a shirt is a little steep. We had a good time with our freinds Michael, Gill, and Charlie. Michelle looked great all dressed up and was chatting with all kinds of folks. It was nice to go out without the kids for once.

Besides that things have been quiet. Some good things to note:
It has rained in Los Angeles, finally!
Super 14 season started up and the Hurricanes are on top right now!
Six Nations Tournament is in full swing. Let hope Scotland can take the title this year!
Today is Talk in Third Person Day! Please visit the official website and support the fun!

OK, that pretty much sums it up. We are all doing well and looking forward to some good times this spring. You may want to come up and visit us in topanga if you get the chance.

The Sport of Kings......RUGBY!

Yes, RUGBY!! A fantastic team sport that does not get enough press in the U.S. but overseas you will find a tremendous fan base and following. Almost as fanatical as Soccer in some countries. Right now one of the most prestigious tournaments is taking place in the Southern hemisphere, the Tri-Nations. The Tri-Nations Tournament brings together the three top rugby nations in the world; New Zealand (All-Blacks), Australia (Wallabies), and South Africa (Springboks). So, this years Tri-Nations has been going on for the last 4 weeks or so. This last wekend saw New Zealand beat South Africa in a spectaucular matchup of power and skill. South Africa has been the team to beat this year coming back in to the form which has eluded them the past few years. New Zealand had just enough to pull out the victory and has positioned themselves to take the Tri-Nations title if they can pull off a win this coming weekend in Australia. I am sure the All-Blacks will stomp the Wallabies to take the title. As you can tell, I am an All-Blacks fan. New Zealand needs this win and they are hungry for it. There has been a lot of change within the All-Blacks squad and a win would give the team some well needed confidence.

Just to give you a quick line or two about rugby, it is a sport with 15 players per side. A field, or pitch, about the same size as a soocer field is used. It is a continuous game like soccer but, of course, much more physical. In simple terms, it has been defined as "Kill the Guy with the Ball" with rules. You can find out more about the rules, the pitch, and the players by follwing the links.

If you are interested, you can find out some history on the Tri-Nations tournament here.

Camping at El Capitan

Did some camping with the family and friends at El Capitan Canyon over the weekend. Besides my family, the Hodgson family(Michael, Gill, Lilly, Maudie, & Lucy) came along to camp with us. Started the trip off with my first Century!! Rode 110 miles up the California coast from Topanga to El Capitan with my friend Michael. It took us just about 7 hours for the trip and we passed some beautiful coast since most of the ride as along old Hwy 1 which runs along the west side of the Hwy 101. We had very little head wind, thankfully, and no mechanical problems. Ran in to some crazy folks in Port Hueneme when we stopped to get a refill on the GatorAde. Some guy pulled up to the store in his car looking for a place to hide since his wife just called the police on him for domestic violence. Port Hueneme is all about class.

After 110 miles in the saddle we were really happy to make it to El Capitan as you would guess. The girls met us there with the cars and all of our gear. After unpacking we had a chance to look around. It is a really nice camp ground with good proximity to the beach and loads of hiking trails. We stayed our first night in a safari tent which I would recommend especially in the summer months.

After the tent we moved over to one of the cabins. Nice but not recommended. A little too pricey for what you really get and it definitely does not feel like camping.
The weather was good. Thick marine layer in the moring but it burned off just after lunch. The beach was nice but no good surf. Of course I brought my board but the SW swell was blocked by the Channel Islands.
We took a few good hikes and brought along a picnic with us each time so we could enjoy the views while having some lunch. Enjoyed cooking over the fire in the evenings and then turing the cook fire into a five alarm inferno aftewards is always my favorite.
Michelle, Michael, Gill, and myself got a chance to go out to have dinner one night. Michael took us to the Los Olivos Cafe which was made famous by the movie Sideways. I have not seen it so I can'y say how much like the movie it was. Good food and really good wine.
By Tuesday it was time to go home. We bid the Hodgsons a farewell, since they were staying a few days longer, and made the drive back to Topanga. All in all a really good get away but it was great to get back home.