September 29th

We got up early and went to the airfield to try and get an early morning flight, but Vince was there doing the annual.  Apparently Thursday morning is the time when Lincoln is hopping - there were a lot of planes coming and going, and doing circuits.  Mum and I ended up going up for 30 minutes at Vince's insistence, and afterwards we went for frozen yogurt.

In the evening, we met Scott and Becky for dinner.

September 28th

We decided to go up to Apple Hill, mainly to get some apple wine.  We took the van, and it's developed a worrying wobble from the rear end.  I was figuring it had lost a wheel weight, but I couldn't see any sign of this when we got there.  We went to a couple of orchards, and things were a lot worse on the way home - not a wheel weight then.  Running in neutral proved that it was unlikely to be an engine mount, so I was thinking along the lines of a CV joint, or a wheel bearing, and limped home.  Not one, but two of the tyres are starting to separate.  I briefly spoke to Stephan at the Autohaus about the Yokohama Geolandar tyres he's running, and then ordered a set of those.  They're light truck tyres, so are going to be a lot stronger than the passenger tyres I'm currently running, despite the 1600lb per corner weight rating.  Hopefully they'll be in in a couple of days.  In the meantime I'll put the spare on to replace the crappiest tyre, and not drive the van anywhere.

September 27th

Mum and Vic were going to some nursery or other, and looking for shoes, so Dad and I went to see about a test drive in a Chevy Volt.  I came away very impressed, as it's obviously quiet, but it's quick and handles pretty well.  In a perfect world, I'd be looking to drive it with the onboard generator running, to see how noisy that is, but meh.  So, a 20 minute, 12 mile test drive used 3.7KWh - about 90 minutes of absolute peak daylight generation from the solar panels on the roof.  And that, ladies and germs, is why it's so hard to get away from petrol as a fuel source.

On the way back, we stopped at Harbor Freight, so Dad could see how you can buy enough tools to hurt your back carrying them for $25.  Then we went to Fry's, where he ended up with a Macbook Air.  And an iPod Touch to replace his PDA.  Pretty much the rest of the day was spent playing with those - it only took us 15 minutes to figure out how to click on stuff.  I sense a fairly steep learning curve :o)

September 26th

Dad and I went over to Freedom Field to check that Vince is still alive - we've not managed to get hold of him for about 2 weeks.  He's blaming his phone.

We went to Best Buy and the Apple store, as it's starting to look like Dad's going to get a Mac, and in the evening met Gwen and Walter for dinner, then went over to their house so Mum and Dad could see it.

September 25th

We got up early and went to Ed Levin, where Vic did one flight from the 1750', and 2 from the 600' launch.  Afterwards we went to her mother's for dinner, and so everybody could meet up.

Tilly was happy to see us when we got home - she'd spent the day with her Aunty Gwen, but she was a little bit off around bed time.  She woke up at 4am and was sick, and was right as rain after that.

September 24th

We just pottered around for the day.  Vic and Mum went to a nursery, and Dad and I went to Fry's to look at toys.  They picked us up and we went to dinner at the Claim Jumper, only to find that they no longer server liver or brisket, so they're probably off our list of things to do next visit.

September 23rd

I got up early and took the Van into San Francisco to work from the office.  Mum and Dad showed up at lunch time, so we threw their stuff in the van and went to lunch.  They wandered off, and after work we headed home again.  It was a pretty long trip back, as it seems everybody was slowing down to look at everything.  When we got home, Tilly ran out into the garage and went to jump into the van, but there was somebody there already, which she found most upsetting :o)  Everything worked out OK, and she spent the rest of her evening playing ball.