Day two, Sideways Vacation

We are now staying in Buellton. We are at the "Quality" Inn in Buellton, which is a real dive. It is AAA approved but it sounds like the trucks are driving through the bathroom, I intend to let AAA know what I think! It is dirty, trash is on the ground and construction dust is in the pathways. How can this be what AAA approves of?

Other than that we are having a great time. We went to Foxen Winery [Link], Zaca Mesa Winery [Link], Fess Parker [Link] and Longoria [Link].

In general we liked Foxen less than I thought we would and Fess Parker more. The Foxen tasting room was so small we missed it the first time. Their wine was good, but not great, and the tasting room was full of bugs. It was a flying mass of flies and bees there were constantly landing all over us, we bought nothing there! At Zaca Mesa we liked their wines okay. My favorite was their 2002 Z Three Cushman Blend. It was yummy, but not $50 yummy. Their 2003 Chamisal Chardonnay was good, but not $35 good, in my opinion. The first place we bought was Fess Parker. their 2001 Santa Barbara County Syrah was a deal at $18, we bought it. It was very fruit forward and a joy on the palate. the 2001 "American Tradition Reserve" Syrah was even better, but not twice as good (even though it was twice the price.) Longoria is an old and respected name in the wine industry. Like Garretson, where we went before, I have read about Richard Longoria in Wine Spectator. Their 2003 Santa Rita Hills was very nice. With 50% Malolactic Fermentation it was buttery, but not over the top. We also liked the 2002 Santa Barbara County Syrah a lot! The 2002 "Hoo Doo Red" blend was good, fun and only $14. The Fe Ciega Pinot Noir was great, but out of our budget! We bought the Chardonnay and the blend.

We had Pea Soup at Anderson's for dinner, and no more wine. Tomorrow we are going on another adventure. We have a winery one friend told us about and a restaurant another turned us on to. Stay tuned folks for more to come!

Technorati Tags: winereview, Wine Review

First day of Fall 2005 wine adventure

September 23, 07:00, Santa Maria - We are in Santa Maria, California and I cannot get an Internet connection, so this may be late in getting posted. Yesterday we drove down 101, stopping in Paso Robles for coffee and wine tasting. We went to Garretson [Link] and Castoro Cellars [Link], and tasted and bought some really nice wine. I took the photo of the Zinfandel grapes at Castoro. They were hanging from the trellis leading up to their tasting room. The grapes grown around the winery go into their Cobble Creek Zinfandel. This some of their finest Zin, in my opinion. This is real yummy stuff, At Garretson we focused on their Syrahs. They make only Rhones. As I understand it, the Rhone region of France is an area where certain varieties of grapes were created and are grown. Like other regions of France (like Burgundy and Bordaux) grapes that are of these Rhone varieties are called Rhones. One of these Rhone varieties is Syrah. I really like Garretson's Syrahs. The owner of the winery, Mat Garretson, has been in Wine Spectator and on Grape Radio [Link] (a podcast about wine) where he was interviewed about his passion for Rhones. Their wines are so good and popular they are increasingly selling out in futures. Rhones are coming on very strong in the Paso Robles area. I have heard the area could become the Napa Valley of Rhones. Zinfandel is not a French variety, (it is principally an American variety and was developed in the USA.) Paso Robles has some very big, fruity Zins that are sometimes called Monster Zins. As the pourer at Castoro said, "Zinfandel still rules here." It is hard to imagine Paso Zins being eclipsed by Rhones as the trademark wine of the region.

After Paso Robles we drove to Santa Maria. I have not been to Santa Maria for twenty years or so. It is not the sleepy little retirement town I remember. We're staying at the Santa Maria Inn, which is nice, except the hotel's wireless network will not work with my Macintosh.

Summer is over, Fall has begun

I used to hate Fall. It was a symbol of decline, of coldness and the impending dead of Winter. Today I climbed a mountain on my bicycle. It was steep and not an easy climb and I was not the first or the oldest one to make it to top.

But, when he was my age my dad had arthritis and had a hard time walking. He could hardly climb the steps to get into the cab of a locomotive (he was a train engineer.) Eight years later he was gone. Today I climbed a mountain on my bicycle. What a great way to celebrate the end of summer. What a great way to celebrate the arrival of Fall. Pretty good for a guy my age.

Enough alike to be related?

Ever since Joanne and her husband Lee Thrall joined the club, I have heard comments about how she looks like my wife. The Saturday party was the first time I saw them together. Like me, Joanne and Lee also ride Rivendells!

It was a fantastic fifties weekend

So much happened that I cannot even begin to write it all. We had a great bike ride followed by a fantastic party at our house on Saturday. The ride was a 40 mile ride with perfect weather. Our friends John and Rosa were camping at Uvas Canyon Park, and we met them there. Saturday night we had a combined party celebrating both the end of the 2005 whine-n-dine season and my 50th birthday. Jeff ran the grill! Many others cooked and brought great food to the dinner.


Susie, Frances, Diane Chauncy and many others did a ton of work to put the party together. We had about 42 people here. I got many great cards, gifts and some great bottles of wine!

Last week I had many family and friends take me out to lunches and dinner, call and send cards. When you do it with so many wonderful friends and family, turning 50 is not so bad after all.

Sunday I put together our bike club newsletter and we had a nice dinner with Kathy and John. Here is a link to the bike club newsletter [Link, 1MB, PDF].

Family and friends helping me celebrate turning 50

So many wonderful things have happened in the last couple of days regarding family and friends doing neat things for me for my 50th birthday. For example, right now my job at San Jose State is running the University Help Desk. I have five students who work there doing first level phone support. All of them are from India and knowing them has really made me want to visit their home land. I am very proud of them. I just turned 50 and they surprised me today with a birthday cake and sang happy birthday to me. It is the students that make working at the university so special. I feel like I have been able to touch so many lives. I know they have all touched mine.

The price of truth

"Fear not the path of truth, for the lack of people walking on it," Robert Kennedy.
It is easy in the present to praise folks in the past who were willing to stand up for truth in the past and suffered the consequences for it. We see their courage but pay no cost for honoring it. We safely celebrate Galileo, Martin Luther King, Caesar Chavez and at SJSU, Tommie Smith and John Carlos. It is easy in retrospect to pay respect to these folks who stood up to the establishment, the then existing administration, when we are not in their time. It is easy to sing their praises when doing so is safe.

The real challenge is in the present, to suffer the consequences for speaking the truth when it costs your job, a better job or the wrath of your boss and/or coworkers, or worse. That is the measure of courage, in my opinion. Courage is standing up for the truth when doing so is not the easy path. Courage is standing up for the truth when standing up for the truth costs you. Too many times in my university career this is exactly what I have seen happen, good people suffer in academia for standing up for the truth. This has been happening in academia since the days of Galileo. This happens still.

SJ Bike Shop Wants to Buy Votes?

It appears STBikes, a San Jose, California bike shop, wants my vote bad enough that they may be willing to bribe me for it.

This came in my E-mail today (September 6, 2005.)

If I am reading this right, if you vote for them in Metro Magazine's [Link] "Best of Silicon Valley Contest" you will receive a discount. Plus, if I am reading this right, the more times you vote for them, the more times you will get the discount. If they win this "contest" they get "free" publicity in Metro magazine.

Am I reading this right? Is this is really as this appears to me? If so, how can this possibly be ethical?

I hear the echos of her voice

Today I was in the library, browsing. I saw a book on Eleanor Roosevelt and her mother-in-law. (It was, Sara and Eleanor: The Story of Sara Delano Roosevelt and Her Daughter-In-Law, Eleanor Roosevelt.) I said to myself, that's a Lura book!

Suddenly I was fighting tears. There, in the middle of the library I could hardly keep from crying.

The twin cities are Minneapolis and Saint Paul. It is hard to imagine them not together. Like those two cities my sister's and my birthdays are twins, a day apart. It is hard to imagine one without the other.

I hear the echo of her voice sometimes, like today in the library. I hear the echos, for a moment it seems she is present. It is still hard to believe she is gone.

Is there a dirty little secret at SJSU?

San Jose State University is a great university. It has beautiful grounds and talented faculty, students and staff. The view of Tower Hall seldom fails to inspire. But, there is something dark and dirty here. Sometimes it seems to me to be a bit of a facade when you can step a few feet away from the lovely lawns and see sights like this that just scream neglect. These dark and dirty places at SJSU that just seem to get darker and dirtier. Some messes here just never seem to get cleaned up. I don't understand why our great university tolerates such malaise and mediocrity. Is it that the folks who make decisions are so mesmerized by what they want people to see that they are blind to details that so plain and out in the open? How can our institution tolerate and fail to see the malaise that has so long been in the open and begging to be cleaned up here? That, in my opinion, is a huge mystery.

My dad's old caboose chair

I remember when I was a kid going to work many times with my dad. He was a locomotive engineer for the Southern Pacific railroad. One time we were in the railroad yard and there were three old cabooses that were marked "dismantle." They were headed to the scrap yard. My dad walked through the cabooses and in one of them he found this old chair. He loaded it up in his pickup and we took it home.

Back in those days I had a big model railroad in my bedroom. Under the model railroad I had a mattress that I slept on. The chair ended up in this room. My dad and I would spend hours running trains with whomever was operating the trains sitting in this old chair. My mom made a seat cushion for it that has long since rotted away. All this time I have kept this chair.

After I moved out, and my dad died, I held onto the chair. Both my wives declared it an eyesore and it spent years relegated to various darkrooms I have had. Later I took it to work and it sat in my old office at San Jose State for years. Lately Susie let me bring it home and it is now in our family room.

Last weekend we put Madison's baby seat in it and we enjoyed a family dinner together. It really was special to me to have my first grand child there eating with us in my dad's old caboose chair.

In and out of the saddle

In his start of the school year address University President Don Kassing told a story about the Tour de France, showed bike racing videos and told the university faculty, staff and students assembled at his Monday August 22 speech how we should be inspired by Lance Armstrong's out of the saddle hill climbing style. I was so inspired the next day that I rode my bike to work. Continuing on that thread of inspiration after I get off work today I think I will go on a bike ride. Yes, I am feeling very inspired.

Madison's point of view

The world is different when you are on your hands and knees. Everything looks so much bigger, even bugs. Dogs and cats are peers.

Yes, we all crawl before we can walk. But, seeing Madison relate to her world makes me wonder if we loose something when we stand. When we crawl the blades of grass, ladybugs and carpet fibers touch our fingers. This makes it easy to stop and appreciate the little things that once we stand we trample. When we stand we gain mobility, but does this mobility come at a cost? For the rest of our lives are we ever as close to the earth as we are when it is in the palm of our hands?

No shortage of rude motorists

The university has an abundant supply of small spaces and drivers who drive huge cars. Even when other spaces are available, drivers of land yachts will cram into the small spaces to save themselves from having to walk an extra 100 feet a day. I wonder if they are ticketed by University Police? Since they seem to do it day after day, I doubt it.

Jeff turned 27

We had a great and relaxing weekend. On Saturday we celebrated Jeff's birthday with a barbecue party at our house. It was fun. Jeff is such a fine young man. He is a real joy for all of us and we are very proud of him.

We had Jeff, Nicole and Madison as well as Sue's mom over. Earlier in the day Jeff and I went on a bike ride together. We rode from Woodside up to Skyline Blvd., along Old La Honda Rd.

Jeff's birthday started the holiday season for our family. From now until mid-January it is a constant parade of birthdays and other holidays. Nicole's birthday will end the season.

Summer whine and dine fun

The whine and dine season this summer is great fun. We have had nice weather and a fantastic group of people. This year Jeff has been co-leading the mellow rides with me and it is wonderful riding with my son. Life is good!

Great Whine and Dine Saturday with John and Rosa

Last Saturday John and Rosa had a great party for riders of the whine and dine ride. It was great fun! We started the day with a ride from Los Altos, up Old La Honda to Skyline, across to 84, back down and return to Los Altos. It was one of the most aggressive rides I have done in a long time. You know after the ride and the party, I slept like a rock!

As the after work rides wind down we may start doing more weekend whine and dine rides.

Sheehan conversation moved

I have moved my part of the Sheehan conversation off this blog and over here [Link.]

My dad's birthday

Today is my dad's birthday. I remember when I was a child laying in my bed and hearing my parents talking in the other room. I could hear their voices through the wall heater that separated my room from where they sat in the living room. They are no longer in the living room. My dad died in 1977. I remember thinking as a child how awful it would be if they died and how alone I would be. My mom is now also gone and sometimes I think about how right I was as a child. I miss them both and I can still hear their voices.

President Bush, Meet with Cindy

I found this thanks to Joe Trippi's blog [Link]. It struck a resonance with me as a father of three sons. On the way home from work I saw these folks on a corner in Willow Glen. Joe Trippi is an amazing guy who wrote an amazing book [Link], and he is leading a charge to evangelize the cause of Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq [Link.] This is the letter they are gathering signatures to. When I checked over 12,000 patriots had signed. It is a real Internet movement:

Dear Mr. Bush,

On August 3 you said the soldiers who were killed in Iraq, "died in a noble cause." Cindy Sheehan's son Casey died in Iraq, but she takes no comfort in your words. She wants to meet with you to ask you directly: Why did my son die? What was the noble cause that he died for? We, the American people, urge you to meet with Cindy Sheehan to answer her questions.

Please consider signing the petition here [Link]

Sanborn Hostel, Great Destination

On Wednesday we rode to the youth hostel on Sanborn, off highway nine. This is a great place to ride too. The hostel is this tranquil quiet place that is way off the beaten path. I can't recommend it enough. Up until the incident with the motorcyclist, that is.

ACTC cyclist assaulted by motorcyclist on my ride

Jeff and I lead Wednesday evening bike rides in Los Gatos for our bike club, the Almaden Cycling Touring Club (ACTC) called the Whine and Dine Rides. This report is from yesterdays ride:

According to former ACTC president Michael Curtis, as well as several witnesses to the incident, Curtis was injured on the evening of Wednesday August third when a motorcyclist shoved him to the ground causing him to crash. Curtis was traveling eastbound on Los Gatos Blvd near Los Gatos Saratoga Road in the bike lane.

Curtis said the motorcyclist entered the bike lane and came close to him. According to Curtis words were exchanged. Then the motorcyclist reached over to him, from his motorbike to Curtis's bicycle while both were in motion, and shoved Curtis to the ground. Curtis was riding from the end of the Wednesday club whine and dine ride to the evening dinner after the ride, also in Los Gatos.

Witnesses stopped and helped Curtis, except for one that followed the motorcycle and got his license plate number. According to police they are investigating.

I came upon the scene and went with Curtis to the hospital. Curtis was banged up, he had several wounds and some road rash but no broken bones were found.

Train vs. Cop Car, who will win? See the video!

Will the train hit the cop car? Watch and find out. While I was reading the Atlas Forum, I've found this link to a video from a recent episode of "Cops".

The circle game

The Circle Game is a Joni Mitchell song we sang around the campfire on the cross country bike ride in June. To me the song is about a child's life and the wonder of how children grow up and have children. This repeating miracle, this "carousel of time," goes on all over the world, repeating over and over billions of times over time and through all time and we are all living it. It is life.

I have been thinking of this a lot and listening to the song often. I've pondered this when I thought of my children, and friend's children, once babies, now growing up, marrying and becoming parents themselves. The carousel of time turns constantly for us all.

"And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game."

Weekend Update

Yesterday Susie and I went to San Francisco to do some furniture shopping. We have some furniture dating back to before we were married. We have already bought a new table and chairs. Our old table was bought by Sue when she came to California in 1990. Our couches are newer but are getting ragged and uncomfortable. In San Francisco, after furniture shopping, we went to Koh Samui and the Monkey [link] a decent Thai place.

This morning Jeff and I went for a 40 mile ride. It was great, we made fantastic time for us. It felt good to be riding. I love riding with my son. One flat, no problem. Then, Susie and I did more shopping. We bought a new Ekornes couch and a chair [link].

Looking back on Seattle

Washington State Epilogue
Here we are in the dog days of summer. Vacation is over. On Monday we will be returning to the mountain of work that has built up during our absences.

We went to Seattle. The second of my three sons got married to a very nice woman. We have three new grand kids. We had a number of family get togethers. We got together with old friends. We explored Seattle. We saw new places. We did new things. We had fun.

It doesn't get much better than that. Now we are home. Yesterday I went for a 35 mile bike ride. Besides work, next week we have a club meeting and more bike rides. The cats are healthy and glad we're back. (Pixel is sleeping in my lap.)

Looking back in the last two weeks a lot of new memories were made that will live in the collective memories of all of us for many decades. It was a good vacation.

Before we went home, we rode the ducks!

This is really a pleasant way to see Seattle! The ducks were great and the driver was both knowledgable and fun. He really knew the city and was entertaining. The duck went through some of the historical areas of the city and then sailed across Lake Washington.

After that we flew home. On our way home we saw the sunset from the jet. Jonathon met us at the airport and we got home by around midnight.

We explore Seattle

We have been spending the last few days exploring the Seattle area. We've been wine tasting. We went to the Ballard Locks and saw both fish and ships traverse the passage between the Sound and Lake Washington. (Lake Washington is 20 feet higher than Pugent Sound.) We went to the Gas Works and even a scooter shop.

The dinner train was a lot of fun. It runs between Renton and Woodinville and stops at Columbia Winery for wine tasting. Today we go home, but were planning to do a duck tour first.

New Family and Old Friends

New Family: Steve Sloan and Family
Steve's recent marriage brought more than a new daughter-in-law into the family, it brought three new grandkids. Sam, Saxony and Casden are Luci's kids and they are great kids. It is wonderful to have them in the family and we look forward to getting to know them more.

Old Friend: Robert Scoble
Yesterday Sue and I went to Woodinville and went wine tasting. After that we got together with Robert, Maryam and Patrick Scoble. (Yes, this is the same Patrick Scoble who is the podcaster and who at age 11 was mentioned on the Dawn and Drew Show.) It was great seeing all of them and catching up with them. Sue had never met Maryam and we had some very pleasant conversations. Bob is a Microsoft Vista evangelist and is quite a celebrity now in the geek world. (Bob was also one of the most gifted students I ever saw at San Jose State.) We had conversations about stuff geek and stuff not geek. We had a great time and shared some good food and good Washington wines.

Old Friend: Lynn Benson Johnson
My family blog is way out here on the long tail. One of my best readers is our wonderful old friend Lynn. Lynnster is a gifted writer waiting for well deserved world recognition of her talent. She is also very pregnant and she and husband Brian are waiting for the blessed event. She sent me this Email recently and I hope she doesn't kill me for putting this in my blog:

Ahh, pregnancy. Well, you know it's a boy. I'm getting HUGE and the midwives say that he's healthy. Judging by the rate he's been kicking the shit out of me, I'm inclined to agree. :) Brian first felt him move on July fourth, which was funny because it was like his end-of-independence day.

D-day is November 5th. I can't help but feel that he's going to be a bit early, but that sort of thinking can be dangerous. My mom is coming out on Nov. 5th and staying with us for two weeks, which'll be good!

After the wedding

We are still in Washington. Yesterday Fran went back. Today Kenneth goes back and we are going wine tasting. We're going to Woodinville. Later this evening we are meeting our friends the Scobles for dinner. That will be fun.

Last night we went to Monroe to Steve and Luci's for a BBQ. We visited with them, their kids and her mom. It was a nice visit and great to see them in a more relaxed setting. It is so great to see the boys and the paths their lives are taking. Their mom would be very proud of them. I know Sue and I are.

The wedding, first post

Steve and Luci had a great wedding in North Bend, Washington. I can't write a lot now so here is the first picture. Stay tuned folks!

The Rehersal Dinner

Yesterday was the rehersal dinner in Monroe, Washington. It was at The Clay Oven, a very nice Indian Restaurant Steve and Luci frequent that just happens to be located in a Red Barn gas station. It was a great dinner with family and close friends of the couple.

Here are some photos from last night:

We're staying at a B&B in Snoqualamie Falls called The House in the Trees. It is an amazing place. Owen, who owns the place with his wife Nanci, is a great host. He gave us a fantastic tour of the place.

Dinner Pictures

These photos are from our dinner yesterday:

Closer to the big day

Yesterday Fran and I went to Bainbridge Island. It was a beautiful trip over and back on the ferry and the island was very quaint. Later yesterday we finally got together with Steve and Luci. My sister Carol and her husband Stan also joined us. They are staying in the same Inn as us. Finally Ken arrived. He flew in from Sacramento after finally giving up on the idea of getting his car road worthy. More on all this later! Carol, Stan and us are having breakfast. It is raining today is Seattle.

Blogging from Bellevue

Yesterday we really enjoyed Pikes Market. It was my first time there. What an amazing place, it is like a three dimensional maze of markets, shops and places to eat. After we got to Bellevue we had a great Italian dinner at a place called "Salute of Bellevue." With dinner we had a bottle of Hodges 2002, Three Vineyards Meritage, a Bordeaux blend that was very a nice Washington red wine!

We are staying at the Silver Cloud Inn in Bellevue. We have a great 4th floor suite. We watched the Tour de France and the most recent London bombings here.

We are in Washington

Sue, her mother Fran Graziano and I are in Bellevue, Washington. We got up at 5:30 this morning. Diane Chauncy came to us an hour later and drove us to the airport. She and JC are such great friends. The flight up was good, the highlight of it was the view of Mount St. Helens with steam venting from its cone.

We went to Pike's Market in Seattle, a great place that I had never been to. Exploring the market was like exploring a maze! That was an adventure, but the real adventure was yet to come!

While we were in Seattle, Kenneth was leaving San Jose to drive to Seattle. Just outside of Elk Grove, CA his upper radiator hose broke. As I write this he is at a Honda Dealership in Elk Grove. His car will not be ready until tomorrow. He is spending tonight at Marie's in Sacramento (another great friend.) She and her husband Kirk Roby are going to pick him up and put him up for the night. I hope they have a good visit. Friends are everything!

Family matters

We are off to the great northwest. Wednesday morning we fly north with Fran to Seattle for Steve and Luci's wedding. It is going to be a big family event. Jeff, Nicole and Madison already left. They are driving up the coast. Kenneth is driving up and other family will be there. I hope to keep blogging from Washington State (if Susie will let me.) I am going on vacation until August 1st.

Meanwhile, our sick kitty Shadow has been having problems. So far it is not as serious as before and hopefully it will not put a crimp in our plans.

A good anniversary day

Eleven years ago today Susie and I were married at La Foret, a restaurant in old Almaden in San Jose. It was a wonderful wedding in a romantic setting. When we can we try to return there to celebrate on our anniversary.


Today we went there for brunch. After brunch we went to a movie. It was a great way to escape the heat wave we are having. It has been a good day!

Three Rivendell Bikes at Folsom

Theresa Sickmiller shot this photo in Folsom during the Sierra-to-the-Sea 2005. It shows Cora Haselbeck, April Manns and myself showing off our Rivendell bikes. This was a great adventure and I appreciate Theresa sending the link to the photo album that I took this from.

While my guitar gently weeps

Clicking Here, or on the photo of Jake, will take you to one of the most amazing things I have heard in my life. This music touched something very deep inside of me. When I first heard about the song I thought it was a joke, it is not. It reminded me first of Jay King, the sweet man who fought a seizure disorder that finally took his life at 53, just a few short weeks of when he was going to retire early. Also, I know it touched other parts of me that I myself am not in touch with.

I don't know what it is about this, but I have listened to this music many, many times. In my opinion. it is great. I urge you to take the time to listen to this amazing music.

Feather River Memories

The Feather River Canyon is a place I have been going to for forty years. I went their with my dad as a youngster. We used to camp at Belden and walk up to the then Western Pacific (WP) tracks to watch the trains go by. I also went their with my high school friend Paul Bermeister and his father Bud. Bud had worked for the WP the railroad that ran through the canyon then. The Union Pacific (UP) later bought the WP. I will never forget the winter trip Paul, Bud and I made then.

When the boys were little we would go there and camp for a week. In the winter my first wife Candy and I would take the then small boys to the canyon for a winter trip. Susie and I have gone there and now I have gone their with a grand child. I made a lot of great trips with good friends over the years, photographed a lot of trains in the canyon and made a lot of wonderful memories.

Memories of the old swimming hole

The old swimming hole in the Feather River Canyon was one of the boy's favorite places when they were young. It was an abandoned boy scout camp, we were told, and it was called by some "Wally World." Jeff and Steve loved to catch crawdad's there. The road down there was not good and so when we'd drive our truck down there we were often alone. The place was known mostly only to locals. Some folks would go skinny dipping there.

It was also a great place to camp. At night the river would sing us to sleep and only the occasional train passing by on the hill above would waken us. In 1990, about six months before my first wife Candy died this was the last place we went together as a family.


Since that time they built a wide and paved road down from the highway to the swimming hole. It is a state campground now. Now there are a lot of folks who swim there, but the skinny dippers are long gone. It is not the same, but it is still the same. It is still a great swimming hole.

Madison did well on trip

Madison did really well last weekend on the trip to the Feather River Canyon. She is crawling and she loved playing and crawling around the floor of Jeff and Nicole's trailer. She had plenty of hands to hold her, between her parents and two grandpas.

In memory of Jay King

I just learned this today:

Jay King died about two weeks ago. He was having heart problems, and then had some sort of seizure that made his heart stop and the doctors couldn't revive him. He was 53 years old and was also planning on taking early retirement (that would have gone into effect right about now.)

I have known Jay for a number of years. Jay worked in the College of Education as a tech. Jay was a real gentleman, with a heart of gold. Unfortunately it was not a healthy heart and he suffered from other medical problems. He had a passion for technology and a child-like curiosity for how things worked. He struggled with disabilities and one or two people who were not very accepting of his. I am proud to have known him and proud that he was my friend. The university is worse off without him and I will truly miss him. My heart goes out to his family and friends for he was a good man and was loved by many.

Feather River Revisit

After my back went out last week I did cancel leading the wine and dine ride on Wednesday evening. I also thought I was going to have to cancel on the quick weekend get away planned with son Jeff, his wife Nicole, their daughter Madison and Nicole's father George. But, I went and we had a great time. We went to the Feather River Canyon. Jeff and Nicole have a 30 foot vacation travel trailer and we stayed in an RV Park in Oroville. It was a lot of fun and we had great weather. It was great seeing some of the places I've been going to since my childhood. I used to come to this area with my father. My back is doing much better now.

Unexpected Thursday at home

I hurt my back and other stuff
I am home today after pulling out my back yesterday morning. I was loading my bike in the back of my car so that I would have it after work for our bike club's whine and dine ride. I felt my back cramp and that was it. I was not able to ride yesterday evening. I was in misery at work and went home early. I took some pills and spent a lot of time sleeping. Today the cats are keeping me company.

Weight Watchers
Seven days ago I joined weight watchers in an effort to loose about 30 pounds. I went in and got weighed today and I lost a bit more than six of those 30. I guess I am a fifth of the way there!

Kitty Update

The cats are doing well. Shadow remains healthy and is eating well. He has one of the most outgoing personalities I have ever seen in a cat. Pixel is all heart. He is healthy and loves to lean up against us as he sleeps. Tupper is doing well despite her advancing age. She brought us a little winged gift this morning. It was her first in a long time.

Unusual fourth of July

There were no fireworks for us this year. Sue was not feeling well this evening so we stayed close to home. As I am writing this I can hear fireworks going off in the neighborhood. This morning was our club's annual fourth of July pancake breakfast. The club's board of directors hosts the party. As a member of the board I was one of the hosts. We start at 6am preparing for the breakfast, so I got up at 5:30am. The breakfast went very well. After the breakfast we cleaned up and went on bike rides. Joanne Grimaldi hosted the ride I went on. It was a fun ride. It was short, only about 36 miles. We went for lunch after the ride. Then I went home. Susie came home from shopping with her mom, shortly after, not feeling well.

Scooter ride to the city

After somebody stole the battery in my scooter I had to ride it to San Francisco to get it fixed and serviced. There are no scooter shops south of San Francisco until you hit Santa Barbara. My scooter is still up there waiting for parts.

There is nothing like riding a motor scooter to San Francisco off the freeway. You can really get a sense of how Silicon Valley and San Francisco are knitted together this way.

There was a time when highway 82, The El Camino Real, was highway 101 and was the main road between San Jose and San Francisco. It is still a major road but with two freeways, 101 and 280, between the two cities, 82 is mostly used for local traffic. Few people drive between the two cities on 82. On a scooter it is almost a three hour ride. From where I start in San Jose, I ride to Los Gatos. then I take highway nine and continue straight after highway nine turns to go to Santa Cruz. I take Saratoga-Sunnyvale road to Cupertino, cut across to the Foothill Expressway, take that to Palo Alto, cut over to the El Camino Real (82) and take that to Daily City where 82 ends and the El Camino Real turns into Mission Street. Mission Street leads to the scooter shop on Mission and Tenth.

Riding through the Mission District is my favorite part. It is a maze of double parkers and left turners and Muni buses as well as open air markets, scents, sounds and people, lots of people. You really have to be on your toes here! I love the Mission, it is so alive.

Trains and Bike Races

Susie and I are watching the prologue of the Tour de France. Lance is off, the race is on! After this I am riding my scooter up to San Francisco to get it fixed.


Last night I went to the model railroad club I belong to. It is located right next to the train tracks and several trains went by.

Email from Luci

Dear friends and family,
Announcing the graduation and completion of Luci's year of Domestic Peace Corps Service. I will receive a Presidential Recognition and scholarship for $4725.00. I have further received, local scholarships and awards for my year of college. I was very fortunate to be awarded with a further $9,968.00.

My graduation date is 7-18-2005 and I am very happy to share with you my joy. Whew... I wasn't sure I'd make it as I did the high ropes course the first week and it only got harder from there. Sunburns while planting trees with the navy then onto freezing my ass off in an unheated garage to build Christmas bikes for homeless children.

By far my greatest work was with a family I have come to know and love; the Al-Maly's. Never before has there been a greater form of family unity presented to me. This man's care for his family responsibility for his aunt (who passed away) needing to be returned to Iraq for burial. I am so blessed to be called his friend. I treasure the many lessons I have learned from Mohammed this year. I cannot wait for you all to meet him at my wedding. He has respectfully agreed to attend. I cannot find enough words to thank him for the experiences that he helped me through. Nor can I thank him enough for the opportunity he gave me to advocate for his very spirited young sister. I am eternally grateful to his father for raising a man who truly is how men should be. Mr. Al-Maly has many reasons to be proud of this magnificent young man he has raised. Thank you both.

Thank you for any and all of your support.

Especially to Steve who has had to listen to constant liberal speech preparations (which he loves.) For him I am the most grateful. How I love this man. From the move in to the proposal and all the joy in between I cannot think of life without him. And there have been struggles, lets not elude to perfection on either of our parts, lol. We have shared moments when the kids let the toilet overflow and casually came out with 'I don't know mom something is up in the bathroom.' You know all the joys of parent- hood. He has been a real trooper- who would have thought he would rise to the occassion of Cazden saying 'daddy, can you wipe me?' He has yet to experience the projectile vomit instances that so often occur in the car but I am sure he will rise to that. He has overcome his indoor enthusiast attitude to rise to all the challenges of parenthood and marriage. he is a man for all seasons and I love him. Pleae pass this email on as the world needs to know these truly great examples of manhood exist. I was begining to wonder myself, lol.

Let's not forget those kids. Let's see Saxony has helped so much with lunch packing and shuttling. She is great. And Cazden well- A Priceless Memory. My first day of Service Corps I drove to work- suddenly 'mommy- mommy, I need to go potty.' We stop at the Am/Pm, but, it is fair season so they won't let you use the inside potty- there is a porta potty set up outside. It is roughly ninety degrees. We enter. His first porta potty experience. What a surprise? I am trying to geer him up. Okay honey, let's go- Well no sooner did I say that then he said, 'yuck, I am going to throw up.' I said, 'non-sense let's go potty.' Well, never again will I poo poo that comment. As he projectiled everywhere. I said okay. 'I have to go potty,' he still says. Okay. As I lift him high enough to pee, in the urinal. He pees all over my feet and shoes. Oh motherhood. Thanks for the christening into service. The rest of the year went pretty much that same way. I love ya babe.

Many thanks and much love to everyone,

Luci