Grandparent's Day Lunch

I was thrilled to have lunch with Granddaughter Kyleigh on Wednesday. This beaming 9-year old met Grandpa Clark at the appointed time in the Coyote Ridge Elementary schoolyard and off we went to lunch in the multipurpose room. Mom had packed a wonderful lunch for the two of us, so my worst fear of having cafeteria macaroni & cheese was put to rest.

Thank you Kyleigh for making your proud Grandpa feel so special and loved.

Happy Birthday Ellie! 3 Years Old!

This photo was taken on October 29, 2006 when Ellie was almost 1. How she has grown since then! My hope is that I get to see her and all the East of The Mississippi Family this year.
Have a wonderful birthday girl…especially this year when you have an additional family member to help you celebrate.

Happy Birthday, Lori!

...from the guy in the funny pants and weird glasses...

Photo Quiz

Name the person, the year, the place & the circumstan-ces.

Hint: The background is a red vinyl back seat of a station wagon and notice that there is no child restraint...

Point Reyes Lighthouse

Well, for a long time now I have wanted to see Point Reyes --and I'd still like to.

The weather forecast was accurate: Sunny and warm, high around 78F. I have no reason to believe that it was not sunny and warm --somewhere above the fog. We had intermittent glimpses of the shoreline far below the point which suggests that it really must be spectacular to see!

Getting to the lighthouse (or rather, back from it) is a challenge. After walking about 1/2 mile from the parking lot -which we enjoyed- one is greeted with a sign that warns that the return climb of 302 steps (not including the long inclines) is the equivalent of climbing the stairs of a 30-story building. We decided to take this vertiginous challenge, even though I had serious reservations. Taking it "slow & easy," the climb was not all that bad. We did stop and rest occasionally. I experienced no pain or dizziness and just a little puffing. Walking the hills of Penryn is about equivalent.

At one of the "Historic [letter] Ranches" on the way to the Point, we saw a cow birthing a calf. On the way back we stopped and watched as the mother was cleaning her newborn. They were close to the fence where we parked and we could see the whole nature show up close.

We drove out of the fog as we returned to our cottage just south of the town of Inverness. The Bayshore Cottage was an experience. What I at first thought was the cottage turned out to be the owners' home. The cottage itself was a little shed behind the home's carport. Funky is the best description we came up with. But it was fine and reasonably clean. We shared a back yard with the owner but didn't actually see anyone except their two dogs "Lulu" and "Freebs." From the back yard there is a path about 100 yards long through a garden to an old, run down gazebo at the marshy end of Tomales Bay. It is described as one that is in regular use by the local birdwatchers as a viewing location for their bird counts. Uh, OK.

If you read the description at the website http://innformation.com/ca/bayshore/ you might get a little different feeling. That is to be expected, of course. Also the living area in the photo is enhanced because the Murphy Bed is folded up (described in the write-up as a "queen sized Eurobed").

Funky. But, really, we enjoyed it a lot and have no serious complaints.

Because of the clouds and fog, we decided to leave Monday mid-morning and take a leisurely drive home. Instead of returning via Sir Francis Drake Blvd., we went over the hills toward Petaluma and cut back to Highway 37 through Novato, through Napa and up the mountain to Lake Berryessa. It was a fun road trip as we both like that kind of thing. We stopped at Monticello Dam, then continued our normal route home through Winters and Davis.

We grabbed a turkey sandwich at my local Subway and had our lunch on my patio picnic table. Joss was anxious to get home to mail a Halloween thingy to Sara. In spite of the fog, we had another wonderful, relaxing California road trip.

Photo credit: The photo was saved from the following website:
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=66

A night out at the theatre

Dinner at the Esquire Grill and a fun musical. Life is good!

California Sightseeing

At first glance, the photo at the left doesn't look like much. At second glance it looks like something brown and green with a red, snake-like line on it. So, let me explain: While enjoying a 2-night, 3-day stay at one of South Lake Tahoe's finest resorts (Thanks BLK!), we decided to explore the beautiful scenery a few miles south of Tahoe. When we informed the resort's concierge of our plans, she replied, "Oh, there's nothing out there!" Right! Nothing but nature's beauty. And, oh, is it breathtakingly beautiful! (Maybe the young lady at the concierge desk meant "there are no video games or racy bars with loud music -out there?).

This is a satellite's eye view of the mountain peak at Monitor Pass -less than 2 miles from the Nevada State line (or about 8 miles by road). On the peak there is a fire look-out station. A narrow and boulder laced road leads to the station from the pass. We decided that OBABIE could handle being Off road BABIE if we drove slowly and carefully. By slow I mean 1 -2 MPH and zig-zagging between boulders. No harm done. Unfortunately there was a locked gate near the summit. Now, do we hike the remaining 300 yards up to the station in 45 degree air at 9,000 feet? Compromise: we walk about 100 yards, take a couple of pictures, and retreat to the car.

Now, the red line: I turned on my wrist GPS gadget while we ventured up the road on foot, and left it on until we reached the Monitor Pass road. The vistas looking down on California, Nevada and Lake Topaz in between were incredible!

Dull, huh, Ms Concierge lady?!!? ;-)

OBTW: for those of you who can access Google Earth on your PC, type in "Monitor Pass, CA" When the view comes up, you can click on the camera icons and get several views of the area.

TTFN,

JJ