Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! We've been enjoying the past few days as one big Halloween-A-Palooza and hope you too have been enjoying a safe and exciting Halloween weekend. We've already won a costume contest, taken our baby out for her first Trick-or-Treat and observed our annual viewing of "The Nightmare Before Christmas". There's still one more day to go, and it's the official 31st of October holiday. I'm looking forward to finishing up the festivities with a bang.

Plane Cheesy

It looks like SkyWest has a new snack they're serving on their flights, at least the ones between SLC and JAC (Jackson Hole, WY). Hannah knows I enjoy inflight snacks (and SkyWest serves some particularly good ones) and is always nice enough to bring me a sample from a flight she's been on. SkyWest also serves a cookie from "Coach's Oats" in several flavors. Hannah knows I love them and feretts hers away to share with me back home. These cheese crackers are cute enough they're almost hard to eat. I hope they become a long time fixture for SkyWest.

Saint Louis Gateway Arch

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was completed on this day in 1965 (and dedicated in the next year). I thought it was quite ironic (don'tcha think) to note that the St. Louis Cardinals lost the world series in their hometown just a day before the 39th anniversary of this monuments completion. Mystical alignment of the stars or plain old coincidence? I guess we'll know if they win 'The Series' next year. Hopefully 40 is a lucky number for the 'Cards'.

Doug's November Novel

I'm jumping into uncharted waters this November with a blog dedicated to writing a novel. I'm an official participant of NaNoWriMo:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over talent and craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved. (NaNoWriMo site)

I'm intrigued enough by the concept I think I'm gonna try it out. I don't really know if I'll be able to find time to write 50,000 words in a month, and I don't know exactly what I'm going to wrtie about, but apparently, it doesn't matter. Conceptualy, a 175 page novel should come out of this blog I've created on the suggestion of Blogger specifically for the writing event. So visit dougnovel.blogspot.com to keep up on my progress, point out my shortcomings, offer suggestions, balk at my procrastination, and possibly read an entire book by the end of the month.

Slide Devil, Slide

This is a local geological phenomenon called "Devil's Slide" I'm not exactly sure what causes the limestone outcroppings. There are some other instances of rock jutting out from the mountains nearby but none are as tall and none are in a pair like "Devil's Slide" If you're interested in seeing it, just drive Interstate 84 about 10 miles west of the I-80 interchange. A small observation platform is available on each side of the freeway.

Doug's Brithday Excursion:Backtracking our day.

This is the GPS track of our trip out to Antelope Island. Salt Lake City is just off the map below the the elevation profile on the right side. You may note Bridger Bay on the north end of the island. This is a fantastic place to observe the Great Salt Lake with a sprawling sandy beach setup to accomadate swimmers. Swimming in the lake is a completely unique experience. The high salt content of the lake creates an incredible amout of bouyancy - It is almost impossible for a person to sink in the lake. All that salt can be a bit sticky though so it's handy to have showers available on the beach to wash off the salt.

Doug's Brithday Excursion:Antelope Island geocaching

For my birthday Hannah endulged in spending a day geocaching with me on Antelope Island. Antelope Island is in the southern portion of the Great Salt Lake and is accessible only by boat (which is impossible in the lake's drought ridden state) or by a causeway built to access the north tip of the island. We took the causeway and had a blast seeing the unique enviornment and the incredible view of the wastach front (where most all the homes in the area and downtown Salt Lake City are.) Mom and Emma are posing with the lake in the background and the wasatch range in the distance. The lake only gets about 15 feet deep here (and 35 feet at it's deepest point) in the wettest years. You can see the dry expanse of salt beach, exposed by years of dry weather, between the water and the grassy hills.

Doug's Brithday Excursion:Where the buffalo still roam

Antelope Island is well known across the country for being one of the last remaining bison preserves and one of the few places that the animals can run wild. They can't get away from the preserve (it is an island) and access to the public can be monitored as well. This buffalo was sitting about 50 yards from the road.

A spoonful of sugar?

We could have used all the medicine you might have put down our throats this week. We've passed different illness back and forth and we're not quite done yet it seems.

There's been a nasty virus going around that brings on stomach sickness, literally one of the 24 hour variety you hear about. Emma had it first (poor kid) then Dad, and then Mom, and then Grandma and Grandpa. On top of that. Mom's been fighting a nasty cold all week. She coughs all night and sleeps very little.

Here's hoping we all feel better soon! In the mean time, you'd be well advised to STAY AWAY from the Ingrams for a while.

Thank You Everyone

I've been thinking about what a great weekend I've had. It's heart warming to think of all the people who put so much work into making me feel like my existance is not only worthwhile, but a special part of thier lives. From being treated to dinner, to all the wonderful (and very thoughtful) presents, to just having everyone around to say cheers. To everyone who made these things possible, I offer a heartfelt "Thank You".

Happy Birthday To Me

It was my birthday yesterday. I figured I should at least mention it on my own blog.

Wow, too bad I've got the dish

Davis county catches up with the 80's! Davis County Cable 17 was launched on October 1st with a compelte lack of community anticipation. Looks like we've joined the many lucky people who can review - in the comfort of thier own homes mind you - county court schedules, burn day status, public service announcements and other relatively worthless information that can be found in a myriad of other ways. In fact, the folks in this county are far more familiar with using the alternative methods of information gathering. Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll be public access so you can see lame cooking shows and washed up Wayne's World wannabes! Ahh, my tax dollars at work.

Thanks for visiting!

I refreshed my blog a moment ago when I happily noted that I had reached a significant milestone: four hundred visitors to my blog! Now, the majority of those visitors didn't stay for long, but any kind of traffic like that for a private site with no real services offered is quite good, even for blogs which get more quick visits (especially since blogger updated the toolbar). So thanks to all of you who come back to check up and those of you who styaed long enough to decided you wanted to leave. We'll keep updating, adding, and of course, posting.

Barenaked For The Holidays

I've just returned from the land-o-naked with great news! The Barenaked Ladies have produced a new Christmas-type album. It apparently was released on October 5th, at least in Canada. I'm trying to find info on the US release.

Steve reports on the bands blog that it is completely indy, recorded on Steve's farm with their own money on thier own time. He seems to be quite happy with that. After the way "Everything For Everyone" turned out, they might want to think about letting a good producer do more decision making for them.

Regardless, I'm excited about this album and look forward to adding it to my Christmas collection.

Star Wars Episode 3 to open in May '05

I was watching some RSS feeds and noticed a listing that reported the last Star Wars movie, Episode Three, will reach theatres for the opening of the summer movie season in May 2005. I grabbed my light saber and did a little dance I was so excited. After being dissapointed this year by so many setbacks in production, it seemed like this last installment would take forever to come. Now, we need only wait. As you're waiting, perhaps you've wondered how you would be addressed if you too were a Jedi. You no longer need to wait for you mediclorian count to find out:

What's your Jedi Name?

First Name:

Last Name:

Mother's Maiden Name:

Hometown:

Name of a prescription drug:

Hannah's so cute!

This is my cute wife Hannah. It was her birthday yesterday. All the extended family on my side got together for pictures amongst the fall colors, and I had the foresight to bring my camera along too. As we were walking back to our car, I had a second to snap a few pictures. This one instantly became my favorite. Hannah's birthday became a great occasion for me to remember how wonderful she is and how fortunate I am to be married to her. She's such a beautiful woman, someone I love seeing, someone who's appearance I appreciate every day. It makes me sad to think of all the things I do to make her life more difficult. I'm a fortunate man. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Give it to me straight

I hope many of you saw the travel log and returned to see our latest adventures during the two week Trip-A-Palooza. I wanted the log to be fun, informative and more than anything, to give the folks at home the chance to come along for the ride. I'd appreciate your feedback on how well I met those goals:

What did you think of the Trip-A-Palooza travel log?
	It needed more photos/audioblogs/posts - Gimme the detials!
	It was just right - Not overwhelming, not vague.
	It had way to much stuff - Streamline photo picks and give me the bottom line.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

If you would like to make extended comments or suggestions please feel free to click the comments link below. Thanks for voting, and most of all, thanks for visiting!

Have you seen this puppy?

This is Jay Dog, Emma's favorite puppy by far. He made it through our entire trip only to dissapear the night we returned. We're not sure if he's around the airport or around our house, but if you see him please let us know!

Back to business

We're back home and back in the regular routine already. We're pulling together all our photos and video in preperation to show them to the folks who didn't get to come along. Emma seems mighty happy to be home with all her toys and familiar surroundings. Dad is still working off his cold and mom is back in the office. As is usually the case with a good trip, I find I'm keeping little trinkets that remind me of the good times on the road nearby.

The Great Ingram Adventure:Trip-A-Palooza - Day 14

Trip-A-Palooza draws to a close with an early evening flight back to SLC. We're going to squeeze in a little swimming and a little lunch before we rush off for this last flight. I gotta say, I'm feeling a little melencoly to see this trip/vacation/excursion/adventure come to an end. I've gotten used to living from a suitcase (and I've gotten used to Disneyland and room service too.) But all good things must come to an end, and we'll do that today.

Doug is happy :-)

After several days with no luck finding my visor, we found an identical replacement that we thought was unavailable. We had searched high and low without success and thought that perhaps the visor was no longer made. Hannah saved the day when we she searched in a gift shop in Downtown Disney. Thanks Hon!

Daddy Daughter Day at Disneyland

Driving the 105.

I finally coaxed Emma back to sleep after mom left for work at the L.A. training center. Looks like it was less Doug and more puppy that lulled her into this slumber.

The Great Ingram Adventure:Trip-A-Palooza - Day 13

Trip-A-Palooza is in it's final phases now. Mom is working today in L.A. and will be in meetings tomorrow as well. We're in a Courtyard right next to LAX now instead of near the park so things are less in vacation mode and more work tip mode. Emma and I will still drive back to Anaheim for the day I think and we'll have dinner with mom on the park later tonight. It's mom choice for dinner tonight, so she'd better message us with her picks!

The monorail station has been given a face lift and we've seen a submarine in the harbor with unconfirmed rumors of a resurection.

Space mountain is still closed and apparently will be till may. Wondering if it's more than a paint job.

It's a fairly busy day here at Disneyland but the standby wait time for Indy is still only 30 minutes.

I'm hoping Disney is bringing the buzz light year ride to tomorrow land. The old circle vision is boarded up for a project.

The Great Ingram Adventure:Trip-A-Palooza - Day 12Emma's First Disneyland Trip

Doug is sad :-(

I lost a favored Disneyland souvenir today and I can't help but be a little depressed about it. When we purchased our annual passes in the spring we decided to save our souvenier money to help recoup the massive cash loss and gear up for buying more things at a return visit. I convinced Hannah to let me break that pact for one item, a visor that had caught my eye. I desperatly needed something to keep the sun off my face while visiting the park and I was excited to think of return trips sporting my official head gear.

I had a lot of fun wearing it through the summer and I tried desperatly not to wear it out too fast. Unfortunatly I lost that little piece of memerobilia somewhere in the space between Small World, Pirates and Peter Pan. I'm guessing that's about 50 - 80 acres. I'm hoping it turns up. It's really not a big deal. I'll enjoy my vacation just the same. It just seems to sting more when I loose something that reminds me of happy places and happy times with my favorite person, my wife Hannah.

A change in the weather brings a bright sunny day at disneyland and the busiest we've seen yet. Still short lines and lots of smiles

The Great Ingram Adventure:Trip-A-Palooza - Day 11Emma's First Disneyland Trip

I got to park on my favorite level! I... uh... took the picture to remember where I parked!

Hannah and Emma outside Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty's castle. Today marked a frist ride on Alice in Wonderland for both Emma and Hannah.

Just another day in the happiest place on earth.

The Great Ingram Adventure:Trip-A-Palooza - Day 10Emma's First Disneyland Trip

Today is the tenth day of of trip overall, our second day in Disneyland, and Emma's first day as a nine month old!