Rock climbing with my new rig

The upgrades have already started… I bought bigger wheels and a lift kit.  I got to test it in our rock garden out front (upper left). It’s fun to see the details in the stickers and the tires (lower right).  They’ve even licensed the tire brands, Maxxis Sticky Trepadors.  I got to run with Chris’ off-road wrecker at the Oakes Quarry Park (upper right and lower left).  It’s really fun to see what you can do with these little guys, and also to try and get cool, scale rock krawling pics. I just need to add some better shocks and a little weight down low, and I should be all set.  At least you measure these upgrades in twenty dollar bills instead of thousand dollar ones! Hahahaha.  

Andy and me starting the process of moving back in

First we had to sort his stuff onto groups by priority.  Must have, like to have, probably don’t need.  It made for an impressive mess of red stuff in the garage 🤪

I drove my Jeep to buy another Jeep

Julie got me an RC Jeep for my birthday.  My nephews and brother in-law have a been placing with these 24 scale rigs for a while and I decided it looked like enough fun that I should try.  It’s early for a birthday gift, but as we were searching up what to order, we realized the local hobby shops carried them.  I was scheduled to hang out with Chris the next day at the quarry so we decided I should have one for that trip.  I thought I was selling jeeps, not buying more…

We caught Andy mid-wave

He was off to work for the day last week and headed past our place first thing.  It was fun to have him honking and waving as he drove past.

Want a $600 turtle?!

This little diamondback terrapin is $600 at the local aquarium store.  He’s cute, but that’s crazy!

The cat’s jungle gym…

They’ve made a play and lounging area of our pile of memory boxes from Julie’s parent’s stuff… It looks like we’ve acquired a mysterious THIRD black cat in this pic…

I always wanted to stop here too!

Fin Feather & Fur was right next to the cheese barn.  It’s not even the main store but was stocked with SO MUCH shooting and outdoor sports stuff.  I have never seen so many choices for so many things.  They even had a cow painted gun in one of the models I was considering.  I told Emily it should be hers❣️

Of course we had to stop here!

We’d seen Grandpa’s Cheesebarn on the way to the animals and decided we better stop on the way home.  We each found a couple different cheeses to try.  Steakhouse Onion has been our favorite by far!

2026-07-22 Majestic Meadows Otters etc

You can also see coatimundi, skunks, armadillo and porcupines in this video.  

We also enjoyed kangaroo, wallaby, baby capybara, baby goats, a newborn alpaca, jumping spiders, turkeys, and baby donkeys.

Porcupines are cool and weird little animals

We got to get up close with, feed and pet the porcupines! Their noses were so soft! It was cool to see all the various sizes of their quills.  From the large ones on their backs down to the tiniest ones around their eyes like where we would have eye lashes.  

Petting skunks!

And enjoying having them eat out of our hands and laps!

The armadillos were surprisingly interactive and cute

This one even posed for me.  They liked to get belly scratches too, but can also accidentally pinch your finger in their armor.

More babies, and quality mondays!

This alpaca (upper left) was only three hours old.  He was adorable stumbling around and talking to us.  Mom was very tolerant until it was time for him to eat.  Her body language changed to a “ok, you’re done now, please leave so he can eat” stance.  The baby capybara was sooooo cute too (middle pic).  He was just chillin’ next to his massive mamma.  The quality mondays were a highlight of the visit.  The left for joy on the end of their leash when we walked into their enclosure.  They’re actually called coatimundi but I can’t spell or even say that so I just called them qualitymonday which is what it sounds like.  We got to feed them, and watch them forage for grubs while we lead them around on their leashes.  So fun!

It was baby season.

We even enjoyed the baby goats and donkeys.  Even if one of them grabbed a mouth full of Julie’s pant leg, hahahaha.

The otters were non-stop fun and adorable❣️

They enjoyed furiously searching for EVERYTHING in your pockets (upper left).  They had simulated shells and gems they loved to play with.  The upper right pic shows him playing with his favorite one.  He would always fish around in the bucket until he found that specific orange shell.  Eventually, he would put it in your pocket or pant leg…

In the bottom right, they are starting to wind down after 20 mins of crazy and it evolved into them rolling around on their backs asking for tummy rubs and belly scratches. Lower left Julie has all four of them asleep in her lap!!