Keeping Busy

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

2011-12-12T22:15:00.000-08:00

Citrus ripens in December in my backyard.

The navel oranges a almost ready to pick, they are the juiciest.

Lili had a guest visit her little tent condo... Dean.

Dean with Shannon, we went to see the Christmas Train arrive at the Claremont Station.

Dean, Brandon and Lacey in front of the train.

Shannon decorated the tree, it's a mini-tree.

I baked some pumpkin bread, brownies and lacey oatmeal cookies.

Dining room decorated for a dinner party.

Going to Amanda and Keith's Christmas Party.

The cousins and Melissa. Lacey, Melissa, Shannon, Kristen and Amanda.

Trouble times two.

Our party table.

Carl and I, our 21st Wedding Anniversary.

Rondi, Betty, Sandi, Gloria and Louise.

The men-folk and Ruth. Our once-a-year get-together with retired co-workers from NHRA.

This covers the first half of the month and today is only the 12th. I love the holidays, especially since Shannon and Grant moved back. Looking forward to more festivities.

Kathy

Grant's First Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T20:11:00.001-08:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

That your family and friends all gathered together to create a delicious meal.

That you shared the day together, laughing and relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

I got up early and took the turkey out of the fridge, cleaned it and started boiling up the giblets for the gravy. I was in the kitchen all day preparing the Thanksgiving meal. Waaa Waaa Waaa.....

Carl was up in his office catching up on work after returning from an 11 day fishing trip.

Grant drove down to Huntington Beach to go surfing.

Shannon was in my office, scanning her latest art and putting it up on her Etsy shop.

I had planned to have all the meal timed to eat at 4 pm. Everything was on schedule. After cooking for 4 hours, I took out the turkey and let it sit on a tray while I started the gravy. Then, I noticed the pink juices gathering around the turkey on the white tray. The flippin' turkey wasn't done. Damn! I put it back in the oven. With the stuffing already cooking in a dish and the yams cooking. I waited 1/2 hour and checked it. Still not done, but now the stuffing is burned on the bottom and the yams are self-mashed by being overcooked. We ended up eating around 5:30, burned stuffing, I forgot to make the asparagus.

Everyone loved the meal anyway. I have decided that next year I'm going out to dinner.

Grant's first official Thanksgiving meal here in America.

Our little family of four, plus one dog.

Grant had two servings, wait until the turkey hits him, triptofanes.

Diving in to the meal!

What's Thanksgiving without putting olives on your fingers?

And on your teeth?

Shannon looking lovely.

Next comes Christmas. And Christmas shopping. =)

Kathy

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-11-16T18:19:00.001-08:00

Fashion's finest from La Verne.
This is what I wore today, "Around the House". Brown on Brown, and they don't even match. The pants are stretch comfy with a wide elastic stretch waist from LL Bean. The top, brown, with quarter sleeves, slightly too short to be wearing over stretchy pants, comes from Macy's 3 years ago. But, who cares, I'm in the house and nobody sees me.

PS. I have brown slippers that match, also from LL Bean.

Kathy

The Big Day

2011-10-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Shannon and Grant were married on Saturday, October 1, 2011. The wedding took place in Santa Ana, at my dad's shop. It was held in a 50 x 30 ft. tent with tables and chairs, a full bar, a live band, lots of hot rods and we even fired up a front engine dragster during dinner.

The guests waiting for the Bride to arrive.

Shannon and Carl (dad) drove up in a 1954 Chevy.

Carl walking Shannon down the aisle. Her dress was vintage '50's style. Her bouquet was made of pink roses. This is where the tears started for most, but amazingly I did not cry a tear. I was so happy with the wedding.

They took the wedding vows on a black and white checkered dance floor. The ceremony was sweet and somewhat entertaining, as you can imagine with Grant and Shannon. When asked what she loved about Grant, she had told the minister that he was tall and funny.

The Wedding Kiss!

Carl, Me, Shannon and Grant, after the ceremony.

The Father Daughter dance was to Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World". So sweet.

What more could a couple ask for in a wedding?

Now we have a son-in-law. Yay.

Shannon will do a full blog when they return from their mini-honeymoon. This is just a teaser blog for those who are anxious to see what it all looked like.

Thank you all for being so supportive through all this.

Love to All, Kathy

Famous Artist

2011-09-03T08:19:00.001-07:00

Something new and exciting to blog about!!!
Hot Rod New Zealand Magazine did a 3 page article on Shannon and her art.

She's getting her name out there, so if you want a portrait, give her a jingle.
Click on the picture one time, it will open then click again to be able to read the text.

Right now she's working on the California Hot Rod Reunion portraits, while planning a wedding. 27 days to go.

Kathy

Welcome to America

2011-08-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

They made it through customs! It took 1-1/2 hours and finally they came walking around the corner. Carl and I thought that maybe something had gone wrong. Just way too many people being processed by way too few agents.

The tired and happy travelers, with dad.

That's everything they own on that luggage cart.

Welcome home kids, sign courtesy of Rondi and Neil.

Shannon getting reacquainted with Lili.

Welcome home baskets with the basics, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, a Tom Tom GPS for Grant, a new hummingbird feeder for Grant.

Getting settled in.

Today, Monday, we've spent the whole entire day out shopping.

Wednesday we're going to Bonneville.

More to come of the adventures of the return to the empty nest.

Kathy

The Big Catch

2011-08-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

It took 3 years, but Shannon finally caught the big one and is bringing him home.
Grant and Shannon are on their way home to live in California.

Photo by Tomas Stehlik

I'm looking forward to all the excitement with them being here and planning their upcoming wedding.

Crystal Cove

2011-07-18T19:21:00.000-07:00

On any typical Sunday, Rondi, Teresa and I go to breakfast, then we try hard to come up with something to buy. This way we can go on the hunt, to find the perfect thing to buy. We usually go to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Home Goods, Costco and numerous other stores, to find the perfect thing to buy. And, we usually have a stash of coupons for our discounts.

This Sunday was different. We hadn't made any plans to get together. It was 10 am, I was sitting at the kitchen table drinking my coffee and reading the jobs section of the LA Times (for the kids). The phone rang and it was Rondi, still lounging in bed watching TV or reading. She said that Teresa was also lounging in bed watching TV. They were game to get out and do something.

I told them that I would come up with something different to do that did not include shopping. It was a beautiful warm day so I thought we need to be at the beach. A nice restaurant overlooking the waves for lunch would be perfect. Then I remembered a news story from last week about a camp area opening up at Crystal Cove. I've always wanted to go see that area so I looked online to see if there was a restaurant, and there was. We headed down the freeway and I was going to surprise the both of them.

We drove to Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach and headed south. Crystal Cove is located about halfway between Newport Beach and Laguna. We parked in the lot on the inland side of PCH and took the shuttle bus to the Beachcomber Cafe, paying the $1 fee. It took us down a winding road to the beach below, then we walked a dirt trail and found the cafe.

There is a place to rent umbrellas, chairs, sun block and just about anything.

Families with lots of kids and beach umbrellas scattered all up and down the small sandy beach.

We put our name in for lunch at the cafe and had a 2 hour wait. We explored while waiting. Teresa and I were busy taking pictures.

Crystal Cove was owned by the Irvine company and in the late 1930's a development of 46 cottages were built and lived in along the beach and bluffs.

The State of California purchased Crystal Cove from The Irvine Company in 1979, and declared it Crystal Cove State Park and put it in the National Register of Historic Places.

Looking towards the tide pools.

The original cottages still stand, sort of, and are all being restored. About half of them have been completed and the other half are falling down. It's amazing how close you can lay your towel to the old cottages. Nobody seems to tamper with them. (click on photo to see larger, then click again)

This cottage looks like it's broken right down the middle.

Teresa and Rondi walking in the wet sand. This was the perfect day as far as weather goes.

Me.

Tidepools with critters all around.

This is the Beachcomber Bar, part of the Cafe. I had a delicious Bloody Mary.

An original cottage, restored.

A possible subject for a watercolor painting.

This is the visitor center, another restored cottage. It had pictures on the walls of life at the beach back in the day. Crystal Cove has been the setting for many motion pictures.

All in all it was a wonderful adventure with my two close friends. I can't wait to go back there and take Carl, and anyone else who would like to join us.

Kathy

LA Roadster Show Weekend

2011-06-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

Father's Day Weekend is also known as The LA Roadster Show Weekend. For as many years as I can remember, that's where we spent Father's Day. It would be the family gathering place before ours kids were born; and then later we would bring them to the show. All six kids; Shannon, Amanda, Lacey, Kristen, Erik and Grant, playing, running around, eating and having fun. The tradition continues with the new set grandkids, Ryder and Dean.

Carl and Roy reserved spaces together in a triple space booth inside building 4 of the Fairplex. The entire show has been reformatted, everything has changed. It was nice being inside the building, but we missed out on the show going on outside. I like the way it used to be better.

Friday was set-up day. I brought Shannon's art to sell at the show for the first time. I also brought some race car parts to sell for dad, sort of a swap meet booth.

Friday afternoon was the So-Cal Speed Shop Open House. We went there and checked out the current projects and visited with all the hot rod friends. Afterwards we ended up at JP's Sportsbar for Pizza and cocktails. Garth Hogan is in town from New Zealand, so he and Tom joined us and Neil and Rondi for dinner. I drank too much, as usual; that place makes the best Vodka Tonic. Let's just say... I don't remember some of that evening....funny!

Saturday morning, up at 5:30, wishing it was 10:30. Got ready and to the show by 7 AM.

My table faced Roy's table.

Here's all the beautiful art by Shannon. I sold 6 pieces this weekend and gave out quite a few brochures. Hopefully she will get some commission work from this.

Roy and Robert, selling and giving away West Coast Street Rods t-shirts, and candy.

Then on Sunday, Father's Day, the gang all showed up. Here's Amanda and Keith.

Carl was selling his shiney parts. He brought his race car to show and attract.

I brought dad's old race car parts that were going to be sold at a swap meet. I sold most of them.

Ryder really likes Uncle Carl and wanted to help him.

Sunday's art table.

Ryder and his Grandpa-Roy. Those two are very close.

So sweet.

That's all of dad's parts that are left to sell, on the pink top table.

Dean, Lacey and Brandon came. The boys liked playing inside the chassis with their "Cars" cars.

Carl's display.

The boys had their own car show.

Lacey and Brandon. Lacey looking lovely in her "Maxi" dress.

Dean cannot wait to drive this car someday. He's practicing already.

A photographer discovered Dean in the cars and started snapping photos. Dean, the ham, did some serious smiling for her. He's been taught to "smile and say cheese", and does a fine job of it.

Both boys were driving. Ryder is pretty shy for pictures.

Dean is stepping on the gas and hanging on for dear life. That was so funny, he was horizontal, and red-faced.

It was a great day with the family and next time Shannon and Grant will be here to spend it with us and to set-up her own booth. I had two kid-sized art pieces left over, so Dean and Ryder received them to hang in their rooms. They know that Shannon painted them.

Dean got the Deuce in the Sunrise on the Salt, and Ryder chose Al Teague's Red Roadster.

Thank you Cousin Shannon.....

It was a fun weekend. I got to spend time with my brothers (hence the headache) and got to talk to so many old friends that I haven't seen for a long time.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Kathy

A Busy 2 Weeks

2011-05-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

This blog post consists of three different events/days. I forgot that each picture needs to be placed by last/first. Even though the events are in order, the activities that day are backwards. Oh well you'll get the idea.
going backwards....
We ended up the day at Lacey and Brandon's house for a BBQ to celebrate Mother's Day and get our friends, Mel, Craig, Brianna, Jack and Ruby to meet my family. The guys were in the backyard. To the left is Keith (Amanda's husband), Craig (NZ), Carl (my hubby) and Carl (my bro).

Us girls inside, laughing, drinking Margaritas and having fun. Amanda, Lacey, Mel, Me, Kristen and Kathleen.

Earlier in the day, the Kiwi family and Carl and I took the Metrolink from Fullerton into Union Station Los Angeles. Then took the Red Line to Hollywood and finally to the Frolic Room, so Mel could enjoy a fast beer with the boys. The kids and I hung out at the Pantages Theater next door, just in the entry way.

Before that, we strolled Hollywood Blvd. Mel Jack and Brianna in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theater. Us girls and Jack did some souviner shopping while Carl and Craig got a head start to the Frolic Room.

Brianna and Jack with Shrek.

Mel with Nicolas Cage.

Jack and Brianna in front of the Chinese Theater, standing on top of some movie star's hand and feet prints.

Marilyn and Brianna.

This is the red line subway to Hollywood from Union Station.

Jack and his Mexican Wrestling mask.

This is "Trashcan Jack", famous Mexican Wrestler.

We started out the day at Olvera Street after taking the train from Fullerton to Union Station. We shopped a bit, then each got a taquito, then walked to Philipe's for a french dip sandwich.

Starting off the day, Mother's Day, on the Metrolink to LA.

Monday, Mel, Craig and family and Amanda, Keith and Ryder spent the day at Disneyland.

On Tuesday, we all met up at Amanda's apartment, then went to the Huntington Beach street fair. Lacey and family and Kristen met us there.

We walked to the end of the pier and had dinner at Ruby's diner. The balloon guy made wearable balloons for the girls and swords for the boys. (kids only)

Craig, Mel, Brianna, Jack and Ruby stayed in Anaheim for the week and flew back to New Zealand on Friday (13th). They were in the USA for 6 weeks and put over 6000 miles on their motorhome, seeing the country.

Now, fastforward to this weekend. Again, the pictures will be in the bass-ackwards order, but it really doesn't matter. Carl and I drove up to central California to visit some friends and party.

Carl thinks that this will be his Corvette some day. Ha.

Nice Corvette collection.

The backyard in the evening with his collection of 50's cars.

Looking in the shop/play area, a front engine dragster.

A rare 1954 Corvette.

Wild Boar on the Piano

Every mans dream shop, in his backyard.

His own machine shop.

Earlier in the day, we enjoyed a cocktail by the pool.

This is the TV Room, off of the pool, behind the main house.

In same room are quite a few ribbons for his prize horses.

Looking across the pool to the outdoor kitchen, waterfall and hot tub to the left.

Inside the house, behind the bar is the room where collectible cars and boats are displayed.

Doesn't everyone keep their car collection inside their house???

This bear was from Montana originally.

So was this Bison.

To the right on the fireplace is a Moose.

Inside the bar/game room.

I spent most of my time sitting at the bar.

A fantastic party, good friends, good food and drinks in a spectacular place.

Nice personal collection of autos.

Looking through the horse corral to the stable house, behind the main house.

We sure had a fun two weeks. Seems like a month ago this all started. Time is flying by and we are making the most of it.

Kathy

Washington, D.C. -- continued

2011-05-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

Our trip to DC was based around the "Azalea Walk". Brian's cousin Rich and his wife Laurel hold an open house party at their home in Alexandria, VA. Last year after returning from the party, Brian and Betty said, you guys would love it. So, we booked our flights and crashed their party.
The entire neighborhood is full of blooming Azaleas and it's quite beautiful, and also a good reason to eat and drink and socialize. We decided to make a week long vacation out of it and tour around the D.C. area.

During the party, Carl and I walked the neighborhood to see the marvelous homes and blooms.

Carl and Brian, unplanned, happened to wear the exact same outfits, down to the same buttons on their shirts. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle (you know), Frick and Frack.

Betty and Brian at the house before all the guests arrived. Eventually about 50 people showed up, all bringing trays of food. I took on the job as official taste-tester.

Me in front of one of the neighbor's homes.

This is Talia, the darling grand-daughter of Betty and Brian. She's a very smart and cute little gal. She is a fashionista and chose her own outfit for the party.

La Verne's finest has-beens and cast-offs, doing what they do best.

This is Nate and his dad, Tom. Tom is married to Megan, but I never did get any photos of her at the party. Hmmmmm. Nate is Talia's little brother.

Brian and his twin cousin, two funny guys. I met so many interesting people at the party, the house is beautiful, the weather was great. Thanks for inviting us.

Today is Sunday. We slept in, took the Metro to Union Station and had some breakfast in the station.

After breakfast we bought 2-day passes on the hop-on hop-off tour bus, that goes all around the D.C. area, stopping at all of the monuments.

This is Union Station. All of the buildings in Washington, D.C. are so old and majestic, for American standards.

This is Ford's Theater, where President Abraham Lincoln was murdered. The line was massive, so we passed on that stop.

The Avon Walk for breast cancer was taking place through the streets, so some streets were blocked.

I wondered about the blue sign over the Pennsylvania Ave. street sign that read Evacuation Route. Are they expecting a Tsunami?

The Washington Monument, so tall and proud.

Our first stop was the Jefferson Memorial.

Look at how tall that statue is, compared to the people near the bottom. You can click on any photo once, then again to enlarge.

Next stop, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. A fairly new memorial and one of the best.

The bread lines.

The memorial has four sections, each with a water element, and each a different time of FDR's life.

Using the camera timer, while waiting for the bus to pick us up.

Next stop, the Lincoln Memorial. Each and every memorial is so awesome, everyone should make a point to see them at some time in their life.

All of these monuments are pretty emotional.

Near the Lincoln is the Korean War Memorial. This one is awesome. Larger than life statues of soldiers, walking through the jungle with all of their gear and the strain on their faces. These are two Korean War Veterans who were gathered with others to visit the memorials. It was pretty emotional, I was choked up and teary-eyed.

Part of the same memorial is a long wall with faces of soldiers etched into the granite.

Then we took a really long walk to the World War II Memorial, Carl was about ready to fold by then.

From there we walked another 1/2 mile to the Vietnam Memorial. Again, you have to see it and all of the names of soldiers who died for their country?? Very very sad.

Even though we were so tired, we continued on the double decker bus tour, across the Potomac River and on the Arlington Cemetery. We did a whole lot more walking. Up hills, around bends, sometimes confused. The first stop was at JF Kennedy's gravesite and the Eternal Flame. Jackie Kennedy lies next to John.

We then walked up to the top of Arlington to see the Arlington House, General Lee's home.

The rooms were empty mostly, this is what they would look like furnished.

We made it just in time for the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Very precise and very emotional.

We caught the bus back to the Metro after that and headed back to our hotel. I was starved, hadn't eaten since breakfast. We found a terrific Italian restaurant down the street from our hotel and we each had our own custom pizza, the best ever.

Monday was day two of the double decker bus tour. We took the metro to the Smithsonian stop, which put us right next to the Air and Space Museum. We covered every inch of that museum, must have been there for at least 2 hours. Below, Carl is trying to figure out what kind of dry lakes car he can put this engine into.

These are missle rockets. Ka Bammm!

Look! There we are. Inside the helmet.

This is the Wright Brother's Flyer. I learned a lot, doesn't mean I'll remember any of it.

You can only imagine how large this museum is.

It was time for lunch, so we went to a sports bar near the Capitol. After that we walked past the Newseum, a museum all about news. In front of the building are newspaper front pages from all over the country. Guess what they read?? BIN LADEN IS DEAD! Oh Ya, good news, and to be in D.C. when it happened.

Next stop, the National Art Gallery. We saw paintings from the famous artists; Renior, Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, on and on.

Carl in the rotunda of the gallery.

We had a tour of the Capitol on our first day in D.C., but we entered from underneath the building, and I wanted to go up the steps and see it from the front. Carl and I walked to the Capitol from the Gallery. All the news media were stationed in front of the Capitol building for their 4:00 news reports. This reporter was standing on a suitcase box for some height.

This is Carl's photo of the Capitol building. I think he was glad that he saw it up close and in front.

The tourist.

This is what I was looking for the first time we visited the White House, the Rose Garden view, which is the back of the White House. I wasn't sure we could see it, but we figured it out. There sure is lots of security and more because of Bin Laden.

We walked around to the front of the White House, expecting to see huge crowds because of last nights extermination of the bearded rat-bastard. Hardly anyone was there at all. There was this smelly-rotten radical troublemaker, with his sign reading the only God is Allah. I told Carl that I was going to run by him and push over his suitcase and keep running. He talked me down. So we walked off.

Last stop for the day was the White House Gift Store, down the street. I bought some postcards, so we got to take our picture in the Oval Office, well, a backdrop and a desk, inside the gift store. Carl thinks he's the President.

On Tuesday, we checked out of our hotel. Betty and Brian picked us up at 10:15 and drove us to Great Falls, VA. Ultimately, we will go to our new hotel, right next to Dulles Airport so we can fly out early on Wednesday morning.

We are standing by the Potomac River, on the Virginia side, and Maryland is on the other side. The snowmelt causes the river to swell and the power of the water is incredible.

We walked around the park and watched a video in the visitor's center all about George Washington. That's the way they should have taught us when we were in school. I didn't learn much back then, and it's fun to learn it now. Not that I will remember much for very long.

We then drove to Leesburg, VA and had lunch at Lightfoot.

It was once a bank building, so beautiful.

The four of us ready to enjoy a terrific lunch.

My salad was the best ever. I wish I had one right now. It had chicken, raspberries, almonds, goat cheese, pears, oranges, and much more.

We then drove through the countryside to West Virginia to visit Betty and Brian's friends, Anne and Frank. They build a beautiful log cabin home, way out in the middle of nowhere, and they love it.

This is the view from their backyard, hills and trees. They have a balcony patio that goes all around the house.

The four Amigos. Anne wants to come to California just for Margarita Night. We'll let her know when the next party is on. Great people and a wonderful vacation.

I took 880 photos, deleted about 200, and chose these for the blog. I hope you get to see this party of the country someday if you haven't already. It's our country, our history and so different from California. I still love California best, but it's great to get around.

Kathy

D.C. First 3 Days

2011-04-30T08:11:00.001-07:00

We arrived on Wednesday morning 4-27 after flying a red-eye flight on Tuesday night.
We took a 2 hour nap, then got ready for our first day in D.C.

Brian and Betty swooped us up in the Volvo, in front of our hotel at 11 am.

Betty had discovered a free organ concert at the National Cathedral, and Carl loves organ music.

We walked through the Cathedral, which felt like being at Notre Dame in Paris.

An organist gave a brief explanation about this organ, then played 3 songs - Carl was in heaven.

Inside the National Cathedral.

After the mini-concert, the Tracy's took us to their condo in Silver Spring, Md, showing us the neighborhoods in route. Then we went to McGinty's Irish Pub, Brian's hangout, and had a beer.

We then walked to Jackies for dinner. I had pork chop and "fiddlehead ferns" which tasted sort of like a green bean. All very delicious.

After a fun first day, we caught the Metro back or our hotel. Washington, D.C. has the best public transportation, so easy to get anywhere.

On Thursday morning, we took the Metro to the Capitol stop and met Betty and Brian for a tour of the Capitol. Betty had arranged a private tour for us through our local Congressman's office in Glendora. A young man from Claremont, who is an intern going to Dartmouth, gave us the tour. We walked from Drier's office building, through an underbuilding tunnel and came up inside the Capitol. This is looking down on the new Capitol Visitor's center.

I'm standing on the center of Washington, D.C. George Washington decided that this is the spot, the city was divided into four quadrants from there.

Our tour guide, Raza.

Looking up in the Rotunda.

All of the other tours had about 50 people in them.

This is the tunnel under the Capitol. We went through metal detectors and they looked through our purses.

The 4 of us in front of David Drier's office. This does not mean that I like him.

We walked to Old Ebbitt's Grill for lunch. Carol had suggested that we eat there. The oldest pub in DC.

I had a crab cake. Yummy!

After lunch, Betty and Brian went home. Carl and I walked about. Saw the White House from outside the fence. Betty tried to get a tour for us, but we were not allowed in.

We walked to the Smithsonian American History Museum. Here are the Ruby slippers from "The Wizard of OZ".

This is the dress that Michelle Obama wore to the inauguration. We saw all the First Lady gowns.

We were both exhausted.

This is a zoomed in photo of the Capitol building from the other end of the Mall.

The Washington Monument behind us.

That evening, Carl and I ate dinner at Ruth's Chris, overlooking Reagan National Airport and we could see all of DC, from the 11th floor restaurant.

We went to bed early, because Friday was THE WEDDING!!!! I was up at 5 AM and turned on the TV. Just then I saw Prince William being driven to Westminster Cathedral. Carl woke up and we watched it all. A great moment in history and a really good feeling, with all the other bullshit going on in the world.

Friday was Carl's big day out. We took the Metro to the Tracy's condo and borrowed their car. Then we drove to Baltimore to see the Coast Guard Cutter that Carl was on for 2 years. It was one of those moments, lump in throat.

This is the radio room where Carl worked for 2 years. He communicated in Morse Code.

This is the USCGC Taney.

We have been lucky so far with great weather.

Today is Saturday. We walked to the Corner Bakery for breakfast and we'll be getting ready for the Azalea Party, leaving at 2:30. I'll take plenty of pictures of the flowers for the next post.

We are having a super vacation so far and are finally adjusting to the time change.

Kathy

We Made It

2011-04-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

It's 5:20 am California time, 8:20 DC time. I've been up all night. We were able to check into our room early, so now it's nap time. Brian and Betty will pick us up at 11 for a full tour day. Going to Congress.

We flew Virgin America, a nice airline, LAX to DC, nonstop.

Will continue this blog as we do exciting stuff.

TBC (to be continued)

Mr. Bunny at the door

2011-04-24T12:49:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter one and all!

I was preparing for our annual Easter Breakfast with the gang and the door bell rang. It was too early, people weren't coming until 9 am. Lili barked and ran to the door. I opened it. It was Mr. Bunny, standing there, all alone. He brought the newspapers for us. I welcomed him to the center of our table, where he has proudly stood for at least 5 or 6 years, or maybe more.

The Azalea's are in full bloom, it's Springtime.

I cooked up 2 pounds of bacon.

Brandie with brother, Troy and sis-in-law, Janna. All of them in their Angel's red outfits. They're headed to the Anaheim Angels game right after breakfast. That's Mr. Bunny on the table. He lives at Teresa's house during his off-season.

Carol and Joni, comparing drinks.

Teresa in her Easter lavender top with matching earrings. The food was awesome, I'm still stuffed and it's already 1 pm. We had bacon, ham, potatoes, tortilla casarole, English muffins, fresh fruit, 2 custom cinnamon rolls, brownies, coffee, bloody Mary's, Mamosa's, and last but not least... Easter Eggs.

Carl stopped chewing and posed for his Easter portrait.

Even Lili enjoyed some bacon crisps on her dog food.

Mr. Bunny wanted a picture with me and Carl.

After the party, the flowers should open up right when we leave for our trip to Washington, DC.

We painted calla lilies for our last project in the watercolor class.

This one is the second attempt.

I planted cilantro and basil a couple of weeks ago and they are starting to grow.

I hope everyone has a nice Easter and enjoys time with their loves ones and friends.

Happy Spring!

Kathy

Toooo-Lips and Purple Apples

2011-04-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

I finished 2 paintings that I've been working on in class. This windmill is from a photo I found online, tulip fields in Holland.

In class we did a project using the "vanishing purple" process. You paint in all the shadows with purple, laying down your values, darks and lights.

After, you paint color and the purple shows through as the shadowing. Pretty cool!

This week we will be painting Callalilies for Easter.

Taaaa Daaaaa,

Kathy

Thursday's Tourists

2011-04-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

Our good friend, Peter, made a stop over in Los Angeles on his around the world business trip. He had one full day to hang out with us, so we decided that he should see the good stuff in LA and Hollywood. We caught the Metrolink train from the North Pomona station at 11:30, arrived at Union Station Los Angeles around 12:30. The train station is old and glorious in Art Deco design. Pete inside the waiting area at Union Station.

After showing him the sights of the station we walked across the street to one of our favorite places, Olvera Street. We had planned to get taquitos but changed our minds for the full sit down lunch with Margaritas at one of the restaurants in the center. We had an outside table so we could watch the people. The place was packed. Turned out to be opening day of the baseball season, Los Angeles Dodgers playing the San Francisco Giants. There was a shuttle bus from Union Station to the Dodger game so Olvera Street was full of people eating and drinking wearing their Dodger Blue outfits.

This is the entrance to Olvera Street. For those who have not been here, the center of the street is filled with stores selling authentic "hecho en Mexico" wares; hats, sarapes, sombreros, marachas, candy, food, chachkies galore. Mariachi bands stroll the streets, playing their wonderful music.

After lunch we went back to Union Station and caught the Red Line metro to Hollywood and Vine. The metro station is right under the new W Hotel, a really swank place, where the music and movie stars hang out. Pete and I did a quick tour of the lobby and lounges there. I probably would not recognize a famous person if they were right in front of me. Carl waited outside looking for the usual action on the streets. We headed across the street to the "FROLIC ROOM", right next to the Pantages Theater.

Something about this little bar, we have so much fun there. It must be the drinks combined with the best Juke Box in the West. You have a sense of going back in time to the old Hollywood days - you just sit, chat and drink.

This is it! Just one single bar, a cool bartender, Mike, the Angels game was on TV, right before the Dodger's game. We had a couple of drinks, then decided to walk up Hollywood Blvd, to Highland and show Pete the Kodak Theater and the crazies who hang out there.

Across the street from Hollywood and Highland center you can see the Hollywood sign on the hill in the background.

Pete with the Hollywood sign behind him, only it's too bright to see.

The streets were being closed off because they were going to film a TV show that evening, "Wonder Woman". I didn't even know that show was on TV. It's a remake of the old show.

Pete is in front of the ticket booth at the El Capitan Theater. There was a line of people waiting for the Jimmy Kimmel show. We were asked if we would like to be in the audience, but we didn't have the time, would miss our last train home.

...and all the stars that never were are parking cars and pumping gas ! ! ! The Hollywood characters, Spiderman and Captain? something, pose with tourists for a buck.

In front of the Chinese Theater, Helen Mirren had placed her hands and feet in cement 4 days before. It would have been great to see her in person. They are waiting for her cement to dry before placing it.

I had to take a picture of these strange looking mannequins in the window of some hip looking shop.

They look like something from an old circus or fun zone, like I should be shooting a water pistol into their mouths.

Here's the Hollywood and Vine sign as we walked back for dinner.

We ate at Musso and Frank Grill. From 1919, the oldest restaurant in Hollywood. The best quality food and ambiance; industry people gathered at the bar making deals and schmoozing. This is our table, don't we look famous?

Here's a short video of our dinner plates. Yummy!

After dinner we made one more stop at the Frolic Room. I only had a diet coke then. During that day I had.... a Cadillac Margarita at Olvera Street, a Bloody Mary, a Corona beer, and a shot of Silver Cuervo Tequila at the Frolic Room, a Vodka Tonic with dinner and That's It! I'm surprised that I didn't feel like crapola the next day. We caught the Red Line back to Union Station and the last Metrolink train back to Pomona. Rondi was kind enough to pick us up at 10 pm, and Sean was nice to take us there in the morning.

We had the perfect one-day vacation, right in our own town.

Adios, Kathy

Joni's BBQ and Pretend City

2011-03-20T16:01:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was warm and sunny, the perfect day for a BBQ. Rondi, Sean and Steph put together a nice party for Joni's birthday. Neil was the social director, this time, his assignment was to entertain Carl. Here's Joni with her big birthday smile on.

Teresa, Billie (in the background), Brandie and Crazy Lori chatting it up.

Sean and Stephanie, chef and his assistant.

Neil, doing his job, entertaining Carl. I don't think either of them ever moved from those seats all day.

Carl and I, posing it up.

Joni and Carol. Blue was the color of the day.

Guess who's picture is missing from this BBQ blog??? Rondi, our hostess. Next time, I must take her picture...

That was last weekend... this weekend Ryder stayed with us. I met Amanda at Brea Mall on Friday afternoon to do the child swap. The traffic was so stopped going back north, I decided to call Lacey, so Ryder and I went to Buena Park to visit them. Ryder and Dean love playing together. They played in the backyard on the swings and rode bikes. We went to Chile's for dinner, then drove home around 9 pm.

On Saturday morning (late) we picked up Lacey and Dean and headed to Irvine, to Pretend City. It's a kids hands-on museum. A city just their size. There's a post office, market, farm, gas station, hospital, bank, art school, fishing, a stage with musical instruments and costumes. Each place had the clothing to wear to go to work there.

The boys were working the dispatch desk for the police department here.

Ryder is pumping gas and cleaning the windows of this car.

There's also a garage to repair cars.

The beach is behind the boys. They're going to repair this BMW next.

Going for a spin

Ryder is a construction worker, screwing in screws and bolts with the tools hanging from the wall.

He seemed to take to this job.

Dean in his construction guy wear.

They fitted plumbing pipes. This is such a great place for kids, but I wouldn't go on a Saturday like we did... way too many kids.

There's a theater stage with musical instruments and costumes. Dean found the symbols and the tamborine went on his head. He looked and acted like one of those little wind up monkeys, like from "Phantom of the Opera". He was hysterical and had everyone laughing. I think that Lacey got him on video.

I did to Ryder what I used to do to Shannon as a kid. Make her wear the goofiest stuff. I suggested that he wear those patent leather lime green boots. They covered his entire legs, so funny. Ryder is much shyer than Dean. I think Dean will be an entertainer like his dad and grandpa.

Then we headed to the grocery store. The boys filled their shopping baskets with fake food and went to the cashier (another kid) to pay and check out. There was plenty of play money at the bank.

Ryder trying his hand at cashiering.

Lacey took so many more photos and I'm sure that she will blog about the day.

We ate a late lunch at Dave and Buster's, dropped off Lacey and Dean at home and went home.

Amanda picked up Ryder on Sunday afternoon. Carl and I enjoyed his visit with us. He's a good boy.

Kathy

St. Paddy's Day

2011-03-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

I wore green today while I delivered "Meals on Wheels" to 10 local senior citizens. I volunteered to help out and it's been a few weeks so far, I'm liking it. The people are so nice and really appreciate having a hot meal delivered. I'm earning my Senior Girl Scout badge, ha ha.

I got these flowers from Trader Joes before Carl got home, and they're still pretty.

I bought a new little table from Pier 1 Imports last weekend, it hides all of the cords, and fireplace valve, and ugly stuff. I like it, and "amazingly", so does Carl.

When I see an "outstanding" photo on a friends blog or Facebook, I steal it, and put it in "My Pictures". When my computer screen saver comes up I get to see them. This one of Dean is just so great. He fell asleep with his toy car in his mouth. Good picture capturing, Lacey.

Google sure has made it difficult to organize a blog post. The pictures have a mind of their own, you can't line up the text on the left. Not sure what they are thinking.

I will be watching Ryder this weekend, so I'm sure that I should have a very entertaining blog post next week.

Oh ya, dad started acupunture for his back and leg pain. I'm hoping he has good results. Roy the pin cushion.

Have a great weekend!
Kathy

Sunday Evening

2011-03-06T21:15:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the big day! Carl returns after 3 weeks in New Zealand. I'll be toting him home from LAX in the AM. It will be good to have him home. Lili and I miss the mighty fisherman.
I've done "WHAT??" while he's been gone??? Who knows....
I know, I've painted a few pictures in watercolor class. Here they are...

That's all the excitement here in La Verne.

Kathy

It's Been C O L D !!

2011-02-28T17:19:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning at 6:37 am, the temperature was 32 F = Freezing. The same day as the Winternationals drag race, down the street.

The bird bath was frozen over. Was pretty funny watching the birds trying to drink.

Today, Betty and I took a trip to Forest Lawn in Glendale. She had ordered a grave marker for her grandfather, for some reason, he never had one.

Video of the grave search...

Me in front of the Mausoleum (Michael Jackson's place of rest). Man.... I didn't realize how the big red heart stands out on my chest.

On Thursday, I joined Teresa for an event at the museum that she was photographing. I'm wearing my new tops. I joined in on a table of friends there, and got dessert!

Last weekend I visited Al Teague, and took him a copy of Shannon's drawing of him. We have the original, this is it framed.

This is Al Teague, holding the original drawing. Shannon mailed it from New Zealand. Al and Jane loved the drawing. Great job, Shannon.

That's all the excitement I've had this last week.

This is my orange tree. I'm practicing with the new Blogger Editor.

Ta Ta, Kathy

Kathy....Party of One

2011-02-17T21:42:00.001-08:00

In between storms I decided to make the most of the sunny day, plus large surf was expected at the beaches, so I took off for Orange County just after making my Meals on Wheels deliveries.
As you can see, Lili wouldn't notice that I wasn't home.

I stopped at Dad's shop to drop off his two new pairs of New Balance shoes that I had ordered for him on the web. Then I headed down to Newport Beach. The tide was out, way out. I've never seen it out so far. There was a sand berm in front of the Dory fish huts to protect them from the expected high tides and large surf. You can click on the picture, then click again to see all the detail up close.

In the background is Blackies and the Beach Ball, a couple of old-time bars, and other shops. I took a walk to the end of the pier, watched the people fishing.

People in the water could walk out pretty far and still the water only went to their knees. Really weird for So-Cal beaches.

Stand up surfing???

Seagull posing in front of lots of mini people.

Front row seating for the seagulls on the sand berm.

The Dory, since 1891.

Looking out at the berm and the pier.

The Newport Beach Pier.

After walking on the sand for a while, I wandered over to the row of shops. I found the ice-cream/bakery shop (of course). I had a coffee and a macaroon (only one). Sat on the wall by the beach and watched the pidgeons, who all thought that I should share my macaroon with them... Hell NO!

So then I drove down the Balboa Peninsula to the Balboa Pier and parked there, still looking for the huge waves. Having to use the toilet, I headed in to Cabo Cantina first. Then I felt obligated to sit at the bar and have a beer. I didn't realize it was 2 for one Happy Hour, so I ended up with 2 Corona Lites. So then I had to order chips and salsa to help the beer taste better. Then I had to run back to my car in between beers to put more quarters in the meter. Brother...

About an hour later I headed for the Balboa Pier. There's a Ruby's Diner at the end of the pier.

The sun was setting and it was getting pretty cold.

Looking at Cabo Cantina with the red roof, from the pier.

The beach at Balboa was completely different from Newport. The surf had created a sand bar with a steep drop to the water, and the surf was coming in.

Approaching Ruby's, two strange little white birds were strolling in front of me.

This guy looks like he's up to something sneeky. Like he wants to sell me a watch or something.

This guy is the king of the shit covered trash bin.

So then I took a walk down the street from the pier to the arcade and the harbor. The town was completely empty, very strange.

Cool old sign.

I walked around by the Pavillion and the Ferris Wheel, all the shops were closed. So I walked back to my car and drove to the ferry and crossed on it over to Balboa Island.

I drove on the island over to the main street, parked, and got a chocolate covered frozen banana. Then I walked around and looked in the store windows.

Then I headed home, most of the traffic had cleared up.

So that was my mini vacation, all by myself. I really enjoyed it.

Two Blogs in One Day

2011-02-16T20:13:00.001-08:00

It was so windy and rainy all day. You can see snow in the local mountains behind our house. I stayed inside and did ???, don't know where the day went....

By sunset, the storm had moved out and there was a spectacular sunset.

I love the clouds with the sun's light reflecting on them.

Almost down.

The sun has set....

I've taken so many photos of the sunset over the 20 years we've lived in this house. It's always such a beautiful sight, just breathtaking.

We're expecting another storm on Friday. Thursday I go to Zumba class, then deliver for "Meals on Wheels". The old folks are so sweet and so are the other volunteers who deliver.

Tootles,
Kathy

Guarding the Home Front

2011-02-16T10:54:00.001-08:00

I don't blog very often because there's not much to write about.
Carl is visiting Shannon and friends in New Zealand. When he arrived at her home, they Skyped me. I took this snapshot from my Skype camera of them. They are having a good time.

Here's a video of today's weather. I'll just stay inside and keep dry and warm.

That's all I know for now.

Kathy

Roadster Show and Museum

2011-01-30T14:46:00.001-08:00

The "Show" is in town, the Grand National Roadster Show, at the Fairplex, just down the street. Carl and I, and my brother, Carl, decided to spend the day at the show and also attend a special event at the museum in the evening.

Art Chrisman's Hustler 1.

Art Chrisman's #25 Dragster.

Mr. Kenny Hoover and the ex-Roy Fjastad Streamliner on Spectre Products Steroids. This is dad's old streamliner, rebuilt to the max. It went 415 at Bonneville in October 2010, with a Cadillac motor.

Amir Rosenbaum owns and drives this magnificent machine.

Inside the roadster show, we marveled at some trippy vehicles. Ed Roth's creation.

Loved this truck, twinkle lights on the floor around it.

I photographed this for Lacey's boy, Dean. He loves hot rods.

Look!! One of Roy Jr's tshirts = West Coast Street Rods.

This beauty went 304.+ MPH at Bonneville. I guess I shouldn't worry about the short wheelbase in Carl's new roadster. = o

1934 Hiboy Ford Roadster - Davidson Beck Cummins

Just liked the look of those shiney rears.

A gold nugget!

Radical Hot Rod! must click on this photo, to enlarge 2 x to see up close.

Jack Chrisman Model A Sedan, restored by Jim Travis.

The Chrisman Coupe.

The Chrisman #25 car.

The Hustler 1.

The Beast - fully restored by Dr. Mark Brinker. This is the car that Art Chrisman drove to get into the Bonneville 200 MPH Club.

Later that evening, 6 pm to be exact, a special event was held inside the museum, by invitation only. Bill Lindig, the gentleman who purchased the #25 Car and the Hustler 1 from Art Chrisman, generously donated both cars to the Wally Parks Motorsports Museum. He wants them to be available for all to enjoy when they visit the museum. A presentation took place, along with food and drinks. Art could not attend, so I made a video for him to view the next day.

I took it to him on Saturday and he loved it. So glad he was able to see how much everyone loves him.

The presentation.

This 'n That

2011-01-24T22:36:00.001-08:00

It's Monday night and I just finished watching the Bachelor, my favorite show. Tuesday night is watercolor class and here is last weeks painting. I put the final touches on it tonight while watching TV.

Saturday was "work on the race car" day at dad's shop. Here I am in between Julian and Jarmo, lucky for me the wide angle lens makes me look really small. Ha Ha. Photo by Heikki.

This is Janne Kutja from Finland. He's on tour here with Heikki, better known as Heinekin. Janne is a fine artist and showed me his portfolio of hot rod art. This is his first time to California. You can see his art at http://www.jannekutja.com/

The front suspension was mounted to the car today, then off to the Red Hill Diner for lunch.

Pat, Dennis, Jarmo and Heinekin.

Roy's 'splaining things to them.

A pair of Fins.

The Full-Bore Button grooving machine.

Toy car made by Butch from Bonneville. A treasured hand-made hotrod, proudly displayed on the Full-Bore counter.

That's it.

Kathy

Girls Gone Bloggin'

2011-01-22T16:11:00.000-08:00

Four cute cousins have started a new blog "Girls Gone Bloggin". This is a way to communicate the daily adventures in their lives.

http://girlsgonebloggin.blogspot.com/

Follow them......

Lili visits the Beauty Parlor

2011-01-19T16:38:00.000-08:00

Lili was in need of a bath, haircut and nails trimmed. I saw on Facebook that Tom (Leah's son) was working at a dog salon as a bather-nail-gland-guy and is training to groom dogs. He was looking for practice customers so I took Lili there today for a groom.
This is Lili before.

Here they are! Tom and Lili.

She's groomed perfectly. Looks like a puppy again.

Tom was so gentle with her, she was his first. They'll always have a bond.

If you're looking for a groomer in Tustin area, let me know and I'll hook you up.

She looks good for an old dog - 14 1/2 years old.

Kathy

Art Class

2011-01-11T22:34:00.000-08:00

Watercolor class is back in session. Tonight was free paint, so I took a photo from Anna's blog and painted from it. This is Castle Point Lighthouse, located in the very southmost part of the North Island, New Zealand. I had admired the photo since she put it up, so I borrowed it.

I've been working on websites, did the 2011 updates for La Verne Cool Cruise http://www.coolcruise.net/ .

I turned the big "55" on Sunday!! Yikes!! We had pizza and beer at the local sports bar with the group from the 'hood. Great fun.

Tomorrow is Mexican lunch at the Little Onion with dad and the group from Santa Ana. Kenny Hoover will ride down with me and Carl. Brother, Carl, will be there too.

How's that for excitement?? Woooo Hoooo!!

Adios, Kathy

Out with the old, 2010 - In with the new, 2011

2011-01-01T19:39:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over! Yay! We did have a very nice Christmas day. Dad and brother, Carl, came over to our house. I made the full turkey dinner. I bought the turkey just before leaving for New Zealand, I just can't pass up the discount price on turkeys at Thanksgiving. We had a really pleasant evening, discussing all of the world problems and solving very few.

On Wednesday (29th) Carl and Lili and I left for Pismo Beach to ring in the New Year. This has become a tradition for us, joining our neighbors, the Britt family. They have been going to Pismo for either Christmas or New Years for ten years or so. We decided to join them a few years ago and we're hooked.

We found a nice motel on the water that allows pets. The entire motel is full of dogs, but it's very clean and nice, no poopies anywhere. Our room was a small one with a double bed. We stayed one night in that room with Lili sleeping between us. Between the snoring (Carl) and the panting (Lili) I had an extremely bad first night sleep.

We went to the Britt's room, overlooking the water, with a full kitchen.... Well! I immediately went to the front desk and upgraded us to the same size room, but without the view. Our accommodations were perfect from that point on.

This is the view from their room, the sun setting on Thursday night.

It must be a great surfing spot, there were plenty of surfers.

Thursday night was our "Jocko's" dinner night. An 84 year old Santa Maria-style steakhouse in Nipomo, with a bar full of locals, cowboys, families. The drinks are way too strong, I had to dilute mine after sipping it down a bit. The meats are perfectly cooked over an oak wood pit BBQ. They melt in your mouth....

Carl and Brandie were lucky enought to snag a couple of bar stools, but that meant they had to order drinks for the rest of us.

Stephanie and Sean, lovie dovie =).

The big drawback of the evening was.... we waited 3 hours for our table. We had reservations for 7:30, arrived at 7:00 to start early at the bar, never sat down until 10 pm. By then we were all starved, and drunk, and I was a little beligerant (so was Joni for that matter).

We didn't eat until almost 11 pm. But.. I must say, the food was delicious as usual. Next time we're going to make our reservations for 5 pm; be the first ones there. The problem was that the large parties before us didn't want to leave. We were about all ready to go pull them out of their chairs.

The happy group, seated and awaiting the big meal.

I finally took two forks and shredded my placemat in frustration. Then ordered a Corona.

Now I'm happy.

Lili had such a great time in Pismo. She's suddenly just like a young dog. She walked for miles up and down the beach. She hasn't moved that much in years. Something about the sand and the birds and the fresh air inspires her.

Here's our new room, so nice.

A kitchen, fresh coffee, a fridge instead of a cooler.

Friday, New Year's Eve, we headed to the beach for the big fire and fun. It was pretty cold and breezy. Sean and Neil built a warm fire and kept it going until about 10:30, when we all decided to go to our warm hotel rooms.

Carl and me, burrrrrr.

Brandie hosted the wood, thanks Brandie. I was a designated driver so I didn't drink. Nobody had too much, just enough for some pretty good laughs. We made S'mores, hosted by Cathy and Tim Peron. Thanks C & T.

Another wonderful adventure in Pismo, was had by all. A great way to say good-bye to a year and welcome in a new year. There was friendship, laughter, good food, cocktails, all in a beautiful central California coastal town. I can't wait for next year. We will make it up there before that.

A healthy and happy 2011 to all.

Kathy

Pre-Christmas Gathering

2010-12-23T23:43:00.000-08:00

'Twas the night before, the night before, Christmas. Our family is so large now and spread out, I asked the girls if we could meet with the little ones before Christmas, so we got together tonight.
Lacey and Dean met us at Amanda and Keith's home. We visited and even talked to Shannon on Skype for an hour. Kristen had to work, so we missed her a bunch.

Lacey, Amanda, Dean and Ryder.

This stocking played music. After this we met up with Brandon and his work Christmas party at a restaurant in Seal Beach. Roy Jr. joined us. We had a terrific meal and lots of fun. There were about 15 or more people.

This is a funny 3 minute video of Dean and Ryder dancing. Kids make me laugh, they are too cute.

Merry Christmas to all, I hope you enjoy your families.

Kathy

CHRISTMAS CRAWL V

2010-12-19T20:18:00.001-08:00

This year marked our Fifth Community Christmas Crawl, and it was better than ever. The crawl consists of good friends, lots of booze, and tasty food; in that order. Brandie and Joni hosted the first stop with a full selection of holiday cheer and appetizers.

Patrick and Justin, wearing matching sport coats, Neil, Cathy and her nutcracker crunk cup.

Lori in the center with her mom on the right and Beverly on the left. It looks like mom just did a jello shooter!!

Here's the Britt Family, Neil, Stephanie, Rondi and grizzly Sean. Notice the little faces in the background (Cathy and Patrick).

Neil and Pete wearing their matching Santa beards.

Tim and myself, he's looking much fancier than I, with his gold holiday necklace.

Ron, Matt and Kelley, telling tall tales.

Carl with Brian, Betty and Teresa.

Brandie and Lori - having fun.

The bar was a very popular place.

There's Joni on the couch, wearing her flashing necklace.

Carol, Nancy and Yvonne all in their Christmas sweaters.

Nooooo - Carl with a bottle of Jack Daniels????

Pete and Carl.

Hi guys!

Cathy, Justin and Tim wearing clothes right from the '80's.

Teresa was styling in her "jeggings" and boots.

Me and Teresa.

Next stop (and last stop) - the Britt house. As we entered the door, Neil took our pictures in front of the custom wall. Brian, Nancy, Yvonne, Carol and Pete. At this house we had dinner and dessert and more holiday cheer. Everyone brought sweets, chile and salad, and our hosts made roast beef and potatoes and more. The house was decorated festively.

Brian and Betty.

Sisters!

Here's Neil, the photographer. Tonight he gave us our pictures from last year. Such a great idea.

The bowling team getting organized for their photo.

Brian and Pete.

Awww, aren't we cute?? A minute just after that shot I was firing off some f-bombs, but no big deal. I may have scared a couple of the men. It was the Moonshine, provided by Pete.

I had a huge time, did not follow my planned alcohol restriction, had a jello shooter to start off and ended the night with lemon Moonshine. It took 'til noon on Sunday for the drunk to wear off. But, I sure had fun. Thank you to our hosts and to all of my good friends, it's an honor to party with you.

Merry Christmas,

Kathy

Second Week in New Zealand

2010-12-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

Shannon is just starting the job search process. She looks so cute in her interview outfit.

On Thursday we spent the day in Auckland (downtown), had lunch at the Sky Tower. There was a humongous Christmas Tree in the center of the lobby. The Sky Tower is similar to the Space Needle, with a gambling casino. A big tourist spot.

Outside, looking up at the tower, there was a car mounted to the side of it. This gives you an idea of how huge the tower is.

I felt like taking a stroll around the city, but Shannon wasn't up for it, so we walked one block.

Next we headed to the Botanic Gardens, south of the city. I had been there twice before on my other trips here, but now the flowers are all in full bloom.

The gardens are located on many acres of land (?not sure how many) with lakes and paths.

Skinny-Minny

We sat in the building for a while perfecting our camera adjustments. After the gardens we went to Craig and Mel's to stay with Ruby while they attended a Christmas party.

Shannon entered her art in a show where all pieces measured 10 x 10. Her's is the little robot to the right of her. On Friday we planned for and shopped for the party on Saturday. We stopped by the exhibit on our way to shop.

It's a great idea for an exhibit.

On Friday night we met Alina and Tom for Indian food. Grant makes it a point to screw up pictures, so I'm posting this one anyway, because Shannon and I look alright.

Tom and Alina. It was so good to meet Tom and to see Alina again.

Saturday the party started at 3 pm, we prepared all day for it. Made potato salad, salsa, margarita mix, guacamole.

Dinner was great, hamburgers and salads. Peter, Rebecca and Sybilla and Mel, Craig and Ruby all came and brought goodies for the meal. We had such a great time. Carl joined us for a time on Skype. The guys got to chat with him.

R U B Y !

Today is Sunday and we are getting ready to take the ferry to Rangitoto Island to do some hiking. I hope I make it. Photos to follow.

Kathy

The First Week in NZ

2010-11-29T01:21:00.000-08:00

I've been here a week and two days now. The first or second day, we hit the thrift store and got two old wooden tables. Shannon is sanding them down and going to paint them dark blue. She has projects going all the time, gardening, sewing, decorating.

I can't remember what day we did what, but here we are at Mission Beach, where we had Mexican food for lunch.

On Friday afternoon, we drove up North to Grant's family bach (vacation house). It's on a peninsula in Doubtless Bay, a four hour drive from Auckland. This is the sandy beach in front of the bach. The tide was out and left interesting wave patterns in the sand. Cars drive on the beach like at Pismo.

They were having a "suck your stomach in" contest. Also shell gathering.

This is the view from the front porch. We saw dolphins jumping out of the water on Sunday morning.

This is the bach, it has one bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, garage with a boat inside. The couch folds out to a bed. I got the bedroom.

Sunday morning before we drove home.

We stopped at a Maori memorial hill with a 360 degree view. I forgot the name of it.

We stopped on the way back to Auckland at Russell. Took the car ferry from Pahia to Russell.

I'm standing in front of the Bay of Islands Swordfish Club, where Carl and I had a great time last year. We love Russell.

We had lunch at a cafe with our table on the edge of the beach. This is the view from our table, the Russell pier.

This was the best. A little girl and her older brother were playing on the sand. She wanted to roll a huge rock to the water from the top of the boardwalk. She tried once, then got out her long stick and instructed her brother to move the rock. This little guy tried to lift it and shove it, and finally figured out that he could flop it end over end to move down the sand. All the while, the sister had her stick pointing and swinging just like a conductor. He did finally get the rock to the water. We all laughed and now it's a joke between Shannon and Grant, she had the wand and he moves the rock. You should click 2 times on the picture to see up close.

We decided to take the long and winding road home, instead of the straight 2 lane highway. We traveled the coastal road, hardly passing other cars. We stopped at a beach for Grant to do some surfing. The beach was shared with a cow pasture.

Grant got in a couple of rides, the waves weren't big enough.

Pulled over to look out at the coast. It's completely empty with beautiful beaches. We got home around 8:30 after a full day of driving and stopping to see the sights.

Today is Monday. Grant went to work. Shannon and I went to One Tree Hill and had lunch at the cafe there. We walked around, I wanted to see some sheep, but couldn't find any.

We did a short hike.

Tonight we made taco's for dinner. Delicious! I made salsa, chopped all by hand. Shannon made guacamole. We had Bananarama's (we made that up) OJ, Bananas, Tequila, Ice - like a smoothie.

It's 11:30 PM here and I'm off to bed. I'll post again in a couple of days.

I'm enjoying my time with the young-un's.

Kathy

A Tour of Shannon's House (Grant's Too)

2010-11-24T19:23:00.001-08:00

I made a short video of the house.

That's it for the day.
Kathy

Wednesday Here--November 24th

2010-11-23T22:51:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we visited Peter and Sybilla. We passed this cute house with two cats sleeping on the porch.

Sybilla was so happy to see Shannon, they went upstairs and both put on Fairy outfits.

Shannon got a magic wand in the face!

Monday we went grocery shopping and to the vege market.

Today we shopped at a thrift store and found 2 cute little nesting tables for the house. We came home and worked in the yard, planting flowers.

This is Takapuna with Rangatoto island in the background. Had a nice salad for lunch at Sumosalad.

Tomorrow is Thursday here, so we're going to have Thanksgiving. We'll have a large chicken (turkey is way too expensive here) stuffing, gravy and pumpkin pie.

I'm starting to recover from my cold. Thank goodness.

Adios for now.

Kathy

I"m Here in NZ

2010-11-20T15:58:00.000-08:00

I made it. Have a cold. Now I lost my voice.
Grant and Shannon in their new Christmas clothes. We celebrated early.

Shannon made delicious spaghetti dinner, wearing her new apron.

It's now Sunday here and we are off to Devonport to have lunch.

See ya.

Kathy

A day with Ryder

2010-11-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

Ryder stayed over Saturday night. He helped my put away the utensils from the dishwasher.

He's a happy little helper.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, we visited the local airport, Brackett Field. He loves watching the airplanes take off and land. They've made a little park for us to sit and watch, with two ride on airplanes for the kids.

It was a perfect day.

Ryder borrowed my extra sunglasses.

This was a neat plane. I know nothing about planes.

Then we headed to the train depot to watch the Metrolink trains.

Because it was Sunday, we had to wait for 40 minutes for the next train. We headed to McDonald's, grabbed lunch, then back to the depot to watch the trains. We got to see two, one in each direction.

I'm all packed and ready for New Zealand on Thursday. I took a picture of my luggage, just in case it gets lost. It has before and I went for two days in the same clothes.

I'm so excited to be spending 3 weeks with Shannon and Grant. I hope they're ready for me.

I'll try and post to my blog during my vacation.

Adios, Kathy

Saturday Night Surprise Party

2010-10-31T22:58:00.001-07:00

On Saturday night there was a surprise birthday party for Greg Sharp. A hundred or so of his friends and family were there to celebrate. Donna (his love), the girls from the museum and Donna's family put together this wonderful surprise for Greg, and he was surprised.

I took only a few photos and mostly video. The video is long (15 minutes) even though it has been edited down. Here it is.

Greg and his cousins.

We wrote a note to Greg.

Anthony Lugo asked Louie Senter to sign his Indy brick.

Greg's coat and tie were removed immediately.

Carl with Louis Senter.

Louise McClelland made a fabulous quilt for Greg. She is so clever.

Shannon drew a portrait of Greg and sent it from New Zealand.

CHRR Bakersfield 2010

2010-10-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Carl left for Bakersfield on Thursday morning to be with the fellow Cacklefesters at the CHRR. More time with the guys is a good thing, besides they had to report in at the driver's meeting to make sure everyone was on the same page when it came to firing up these old/restored gems.

I hitched a ride with Pete because we only wanted to go up for the day on Friday and return after the honoree presentations that evening. His buddy, Tom Prufer, was being inducted and I wanted to take pictures of Shannon's portraits, and also see everyone get inducted. It's always such a nice tribute to people who have made their mark in all aspects of racing.

We arrived at Famoso Raceway at noon. I joined up with Carl and Kuhl and the gang. (not Kool and the Gang "It's a Celebration..") You can click on the pictures to see larger, more detail, up-close, you know the drill. Then click again and you can see really close.

It was friggen' hot and humid.

The "Fast Guys" planning their next move.

Each group took turns firing up the dragsters.

Roy, dad, made a few of his old SPE throttle pedals and gave one to the Wiebe guys, Wayne and Gary. They were thrilled and showed me how it looks back in the car. Really NICE guys.

Greg was checking up on me to make sure I hadn't opened up a booth, selling my wares, without going through the proper channels and paying, like last year. Ha! Donna looks like she's having fun, trying to stay cool.

Art Chrisman chatting with his buddies.

Great banner!

I walked the length of the drag strip, watched a few cars run, while leaning on the fence at the end. Took only a few photos this time. This is a restoration of Burt Munro's Indian Motorcycle that ran at Bonneville.

I visited dad's tree, dedicated by Pat and Mike. First I had to get a wet paper towel from the guy selling beer, to wipe off the bird crap that was all over it.

It has grown to be a lovely tree, providing lots of shade. Notice it branched into two, one from Mike and one from Pat.

I like the look of this pick-up.

I suppose it's almost Halloween and these guys are ready with their haunted panel truck.

Mike found the reason that one of the cars wouldn't fire up. This little plug was stuck in the fuel pump. They'll never live it down.

Just before we left the track to go to the Double Tree Hotel, we talked Eddie into taking an helicopter ride. He has never flown on anything, so this is it.

Eddie's helicopter ride video. I made up a short video for him to remember his first trip up.

The traffic getting off of the freeway to the hotel was horrible. Turns out some bonehead crashed into the Carl's Jr. light post and up into the parking lot.

Here are the photos of the Honoree Portraits, all drawn by Shannon. This is Bill Bagshaw.

Don Long the chassis builder.

Tom Prufer.

Steinegger and Eschenbaugh. Al Eschenbaugh still races and just became a Bonneville 200 MPH Club member last year. Larry Steinegger passed away in 2006 (I believe) and his son was there to receive the honor for him.

This is Tom Hanna, famous car builder and current Bonneville race car builder.

Al "Mousie" Marcellus. He sure had a lot to say up there, some stuff pretty juicy.

And the surprise of the evening, Dave McClelland received a special honor for his dedication to the reunion and the museum and drag racing. He got his own Wally Trophy. Shannon drew this extra portrait without anyone knowing.

Video of Dave McClelland receiving a Wally trophy.

Dave with his portrait.

All of the honorees (less Hanna)

After the reception, they fired up 3 race cars in the hotel parking lot. Then Pete and I blasted home. Carl stayed, the cacklefest was to take place the next day, Saturday evening. He was home by 10 pm Saturday.

So that's the reunion, from my perspective.

Kathy

A Funday Sunday

2010-10-11T11:47:00.001-07:00

I get Westways magazine from the Auto Club and they have a calendar with upcoming events. Under the Halloween happenings section I saw an exhibit for "BUG INVASION" at the Discovery Science Center aka "The Cube" in Santa Ana.

So I called the kids, Lacey, Brandon, Dean, Amanda, Keith, Ryder, Kristen and they were all up for a day of adventure. We met at 11:30 (some of us were late, hahaha).

Off of the 5 Freeway in Santa Ana there is this huge cube. I always wondered about it. Here's a little information about the Cube. There are three perfect 3D geometric shapes in nature: the sphere, the pyramid and the cube. Architecturally, the sphere has been built at Disneyworld and the pyramid has been built at the Louvre, the Luxor in Las Vegas and the California State University, Long Beach basketball arena.
The Cube has not been built before. Thus, Discovery Science Center architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica thought that The Cube would be the perfect icon for Orange County’s science center. The Board of Directors concurred and it was incorporated into the center’s plans.
Go to the web for more information. www.discoverycube.org I highly recommend taking your kids there. Or you can just borrow someone else's kids if you don't have any.

A replica of the Spaceship Endeavour sits in the parking lot.

Dean, Bubba and Lacey.

We waited for a while for Keith, Amanda and Ryder to show up. That's OK, the weather was great. I gave Dean the gifts from Mel, Craig and Ruby and he held onto them waiting to give Ryder his gifts. A Kiwi bird and a Rugby ball.

Finally Batman (Ryder) arrived and got his goodies from Dean.

On the schedule of events on the web, they listed a "Halloween Spider Mash Dance and a Costume Parade" at 2:00. The Ryder wore his Batman costume and looked very strong. Unfortunately he was the only kid in the place with a costume on, but that didn't matter because he WAS Batman. As we were leaving at 1:30 kids showed up in costume, but by then we were starved and wanted to go.

The girls, waiting to get started.

The mandatory "gift store" on the right and a dinosaur hanging from the ceiling.

The first activity was the "bed of nails" Bubba went first.

Then Kristen.

Very brave of her.

There was a screen and you danced in front of it.

Bug Invasion - a HUGE Praying Mantis. I think Ryder was shocked.

He wasn't sure about going in there.

That thing was about 25 feet or more. Here's Kristen.

There were all kinds of bugs on display. This is an educational place, hence the "Science" in the name.

Giant carpenter ants. Bubba happens to be an exterminator, so it was pretty funny.

You put on 3-D glasses and walked through a fog curtain to a maze of flourescent 3-D flowers and bugs on walls.

Amanda in the 3-D room.

Rats to pet. NO THANKS! The kids liked them.

This is a smoke ring maker. You push down on a large rubber ring.

And a huge ring of smoke (dry ice) flies up to the ceiling.

Dean and Bubba made the smoke rings too.

Water ran over sand to show erosion.

We went inside the Cube and there was a rocketship capsule

This is a wind tunnel. The wind shot down at 78 mph. Lacey said it was really a strange feeling, dried out her eyes.

Keith and Ryder went in.

Then Dean and Ryder. They loved it. They weren't crying, that is an excited face.

Dean borrowed the batman mask for a while.

Simulated Hockey game, Keith was the goalie. He would watch a screen in front of him and a hockey player would shoot a puck at him and the puck would shoot out of the wall. Keith caught a couple of them and blocked some. I think maybe one slipped by on the ground.

Amanda the Zamboni driver. The Zamboni is the machine that resurfaces the ice rinks. Sort of moves like a forklift.

Here she is on the Zamboni, wearing the Batman mask. Big fun!

Ryder was a hockey player.

Not sure about this face. I think it may be nap time.

So we left the science center and drove down the street to the Block at Orange and had lunch at Dave and Buster's. It's basically a funzone with all kinds of electronic games, but with bars and dining tables all through it. The food was great. The boys attached their Kiwis to their straws.

After eating, they played some games. Here they are on a motorcyle simulator.

Then they went on a Jet Fighter simulator.

I had a wonderful time with the kids, old ones and little ones. We should get together again soon, maybe a bonefire at the beach before the weather cools down. Thank you guys for hanging out with this old broad. Love you all.

Kathy

The Bonneville Team Party 2010

2010-10-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

It's Bonneville Team party time. I went to Sprouts for some veges, mainly the cabbage. Shannon told me that I should eat more vegetables, so I loaded up on them.

A boring video for most, but I'm sure that Shannon will like it. You have to remember, the purpose of my blog is to keep in touch with my daughter, who moved to the other side of the world. This way she can see what she's missing here. Miss you sweety, especially at party time.

The Party is ready to start so I thought that I'd take a video of the pre-party house.

Donnie - what a peach! Ribs and chicken from Famous Dave's BBQ. The best!

The Margarator hard at work to quench the thirst of us, well, me especially.

The ladies, Lynne, Sheryl, Sherry and Linda.

Mike and Pat

Famous and Fast race car driver, Kenny Hoover, joined the guys for the feast.

Carl... chatting and bar-tending.

Everyone wore their colorful shirts.

Dennis, looking very hip and cool in his Foster Grants.

Dad, Thanks for providing the vehicle for all of us to get together and be a team. You are the nucleus of Team 777, it's your drive, desire, creativeness, ingenuity, passion and of course dollars that provides us all with a fun time at Bonneville. I wish you weren't hurting so badly.

And me. Kathy. The historian, wife, mother, margarita drinker, party host. I enjoy having friends here at our home. The time flys by so fast. I'm preparing, then I'm saying good-night. Wham!

We had the perfect weather for the party. The guys sat in the back yard and the gals in the house.... as it should be.

AAAhhhhhh, this is the life.....

Pretty ladies.

Thanks everyone for coming. We watched the video of our time at Bonneville at Speedweek, the high times and the low ones. All very entertaining.

That's it! Kathy

Watercolor Class

2010-10-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evenings I take a watercolor class in Claremont. I've been taking that class now for about 5 years or so with the same instructor, Aida Hughes. She's great! I've also taken a few other classes with different instructors.

Tonight I painted from a photo I took on Friday in Oceanside. I'll give this one to Mary and Per.

Three weeks ago I painted this fruit stand from a photo I took at Pike's Market in Seattle, while on our cruise vacation.

Last week we painted sunflowers, this is my original painting. The next version of this painting is just tweeked a slight bit in Photoshop, using the levels adjustment.

Photoshop of same painting. Pretty cool.

We always start off the class by painting pears. I added a different background this time to change it up a bit. I call it Three Pears and the Milky Way.

Next week we will be painting a landscape. Hmmmm.

Kathy

Oceanside

2010-10-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

Weird weather we've been having in So-Cal these last few days. First it was 106 degrees, then the next day it got cloudy and we had rain and lightning strikes. On Thursday I came home from working at the Fair and the helicopters were dipping into the reservoir for water to put out some spot fires in the hills, caused by the lightening.
This picture is of the sunset Thursday, it is not a fire.

Another shot of the sunset from our backyard.

On Friday, we drove down to Oceanside for the day and stayed at our friend's condo right on the sand. It's located between the pier and the harbor. The weather was perfect. We spent the entire day and evening out on the balcony.

Fairly large waves.

Best view!

Great wave photo, I must say.

I took about 50 photos of waves. I tried to paint "plein Aire" while there, but I cannot paint waves. This way I can practice with the photos.

Little Sandpiper birds are so cute, they dig for sandcrabs when the wave goes back, then run from it when comes up. I can watch them for hours.

A pod of dolphins were playing in the waves. I didn't get the picture, but we saw a dolphin surf the wave.

More waves.

Mary and Per, who own the condo, came to have dinner with us. It was great, they brought the dinner with them. Carl and Per barbequed steaks, Mary made baked potatoes, and I tossed the salad she had made. I did make my own Vodka Tonics, and had a few of them.

Later, I was taking pictures, can you see me behind the glasses through the mirror?

Me and the flying dolphin.

Carl with a dolphin on his head.

Saturday morning, a huge amphibious Navy craft drove from the water onto the sand. It looked like something from Waterworld.

Here is the condo.

We love it down there. Thank you Mary and Per for letting us stay the night.

Kathy

Bargain of the Week!

2010-09-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

Shannon asked when I was going to change my blog. She's bored with the Alaska entry, and with my orange background. So I thought, what's new around here. Then I remembered the pile of clothes that I bought for her for the upcoming birthday. I already showed them to her on Skype, just to make sure she wanted them all.
Kohl's was having the season clearance sale, where already marked down items were marked down an additional 80%. You won't believe what I paid for the lot. See answer below....

Four summer dresses, oh ya, and the sales here are timed perfectly because in New Zealand, the seasons are opposite of ours. Summer is coming there.

And a cute skirt!

Two lightweight cover tops.

Love the back of the black one, it has two ruffles.

Casual tops for the beach.

different angle.

Black tops, can't have enough of them.

The one on the left has sequines on the straps.

Grand total for 4-dresses, 8 tops and a skirt ==$106.00

Amazing, I saved $368.00 from the original prices.

I started my watercolor art class again last week, we always start with pears. I must have 10 paintings of pears. So this time I changed it up a bit. Pears and the milky way??

Well Shannon - are you happy now? Love you. MOM

Our Cruise to Alaska

2010-09-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

I will begin by telling you that there are waaaayyyy too many pictures on this blog, so grab a glass of wine and relax and enjoy. Below you will see some pretty awesome sights and beautiful sea, sky and land. You can click on a picture to enlarge it, then click on it again to fully enlarge, just do not do that on any pictures of me. I don't need to be any larger.

We started out in Seattle and stayed there 2 nights before our cruise so we could tour around the city. Sid and Judy Waterman joined us in Oakland, where our plane stopped on the way to Seattle. The fun is about to begin.

The big pink suitcase made it without falling apart. I ordered a limo to pick us up from the airport, and they sent a stretch limo. Of course everyone figured we must be important.

Off to a good start.

Horrible picture of me, just look at Sid.

A little dirt on the big-pink.

We took a cab to Pike Place Market on Friday morning, a first for the three of them, I have been there many times. This is the famous fish market where they throw the fish across the market.

The flowers are so spectacular and only $5.00 for a huge bunch. I wish I could have taken some for the ship cabin.

Carl and Sid taking it all in.

Friday was Judy's birthday, so Sid had made reservations for dinner for the four of us at the top of the Space Needle.

We got there early so we would enjoy the sunset as we spun slowly around and saw the views.

Judy was looking radiant on her birthday.

Looking down on Lake Union.

The setting sun.

They'll have another... thank you.

Her good friend, Inga sent Judy some special chocolate to the restaurant and they surprised her.

Looking up at the Needle in the dark.

This is it, our Ship, the Golden Princess and we are just about to board her.

All cruises start off with the emergency drill, quite fun.

I sure wanted to blow that whistle, but didn't want to start anything.

Off we go....

Good-bye Seattle. Oh, by the way, we had the warmest day in Seattle.

And the party begins...line dancing and even the Makarena!

First day at sea, we had breakfast delivered to our cabin, walked to the buffet for lunch, and it was Formal Night, so we dressed up for dinner. Ate in the Bernini dining room at table 19 with our favorite waiter, Noel. Judy and Sid met Captain Calabrese before dinner.

The 3 level plaza, sort of the little "City" on the ship.

Don't we clean up well....

We were at sea all day on Sunday and on Monday we docked in Juneau.

Carl and I took a tour for the day which included a visit to the Salmon Hatchery. Below are the steps the salmon swim up so they can lay eggs, I missed all the details, but I'm sure you all know how it works.

I was busy with the important stuff, like sticking my head on a wooden painting.

And looking at a stuffed Bald Eagle.

Carl got stuck in a bear's mouth.

He posed for a picture.

This is not a stage prop scene from The Sound of Music. This is an actual place, looking back at the Mendenhall Glacier.

Here's our tour bus, have you ever seen such blue sky. All day I took huge breaths and held it in, the air was the cleanest and crispest ever.

We toured a garden, all mossy and damp, and beautiful. I was looking for the fairies who obviously live there.

The visitors center at the Mendenhall Glacier.

Like I said earlier, this is a good picture to click on and view larger.

Notice the chunks of glacier that have broken off , "calved", from the glacier.

See.... proof.... I was there.

The town of Juneau. We went to the Red Dog Saloon, because #1 it is a huge tourist spot, and #2 Carl had visited it when he was 20 years old in the Coast Guard. Only thing... they would not let him in then = too young.

We left the Red Dog Saloon and walked the streets to find the "Alaskan Hotel" and very old bar. It used to be a brothel and I think just about every place we went to in Alaska used to be a brothel.

Inside the Alaskan Bar

This is more our type of bar.

Walking back to the ship.

Look at the reflection on the water, wow.

Thatsa Bigga Boata.

On Tuesday we arrived in Skagway at 7 am. Carl and I took another tour, this time on the White Pass railroad. We went on a very old train up the path through the mountains, where the gold miners used to travel to find gold.

The train tracks hugged the steep hillsides with only about 10 inches of earth on the side, looking down.

This old bridge is out of commission, thankfully.

We took the new bridge.

This is so funny. We were actually in the tunnel that we were entering in the photo above. It was pitch black, so I took a flash picture. Check out the girl in front of our seat, MAN... she took the dark opportunity to lay one on her man. Little did she know, her picture was taken. Ha Ha.

Now we are in Fraser BC Canada. We exited the train there and boarded a bus which would take us back to Skagway on the Yukon Highway.

All Aboard! No, actually All Off!

We stopped at the Alaska border, everyone was taking pictures and a nice person offered to take ours.

Looking across at the train we just left up in Fraser. The Yukon highway is across the valley from the tracks.

We stopped at Liarsville, an original Miner's camp from gold run era. It's a tent city where they could get just about anything and I mean anything.

This is a Malamute.

The Golden Princess furthest out.

Here we are. Notice the perfect weather, still. We got so lucky, I never even wore my new heavy warm coat.

Our ship in Skagway. Carl got bit by a Tundra bug there. His hand swelled up, it looked like a rubber glove blown up like a balloon.

Wednesday we pulled into Glacier Bay arount 6 am. The water was so calm

The best views of glaciers.

I loved the reflections in the water.

This is called an hanging glacier, because it doesn't go to the water.

Approaching the Marjorie Glacier.

We had a perfect view from our cabin balcony.

Carl's photo of the glacier mountains behind the glacier.

Ice chunks broke off while we were watching. We floated there for about 1/2 hour.

Our cabin neighbors, Sid and Judy with her new hat.

Bye-bye glacier

Oh, you know Carl! I can only imagine what he is thinking there.

The only time I was cold on the cruise was in Glacier Bay, duh.

OK, back to the bar.

Thursday = Ketchikan. Arrived in port at 7 am and we took a walking tour.

Yum... sounds tasty!

We did finally have some rain here.

The rainiest place in North America.

Our guide is a Tlingit (pronounced Clinget) a native Alaskan. The guy in the red coat. Very nice and informative.

This is called "Creek Street", basically brothel row. Salmon swim upstream here also.

We left Ketchikan at 12 noon and sailed all day down the inside passage. It rained all the way.

On Friday we were at sea, still and arrived in Victoria BC around 7 pm. We decided to stay on the ship and have a relaxing "last night".

Hardly anyone was in the restaurant because they all got off in Victoria. Our waiters gave both of us couples and anniversary cake and had all of the waiters come and sing to us. It was pretty funny because it wasn't either of our anniversaries. But the waiters and nothing much else to do, and they all had a laugh.

On Saturday, we had to be off of the Ship by 8 am. Took a cab to Pike's Market, had breakfast at a great coffee shop. Then... we had nothing to do. Look at those 3, they were going to panhandle. Then we caught a cab to the airport and our flights weren't until 4 and 5 pm.

What a wonderful cruise. I highly recommend Princess Cruise Lines, great service and friendly workers. Also I'm so glad that I got to see Alaska, what a beautiful place. It was great having Sid and Judy cruise with us, made for much more entertainment.

That's all Folks!

Kathy

Visitors from New Zealand

2010-09-01T11:32:00.001-07:00

Quick blog, then we're off to Alaska.

Mel and Craig and Ruby came to visit us on Saturday. We had a Margarita night in their honor and all the neighbors came. BBQ'd tri-tip and chicken. Here's Neil meeting Ruby.

Ruby is eating her first California orange right off the tree, ate right through the peel.

Good Fun!

The Margarator behind the Kiwis.

Grandpa Pete and Ruby hit it off.

On Sunday we visited the NHRA Museum.

Had a preview of the new exhibit "Axes and Axles", which is famous guitars and cars owned by musicians. Craig is in front of Billy Gibbon's Cadzilla.

Mel and Ruby.

After the museum we stopped at "IN-N-OUT", their very first time. We did the double-double, shakes and fries. YUM!

On Monday, it was the BIG SHOP TOUR DAY! Started at Full-Bore, Art Chrismans, and Squeak's. I'm taking Ruby for a ride on Roy's scooter, she loved it and kept trying to turn the knob so we'd go faster.

Then we moved to Roy's motorcycle.

Spent some time with Art, he showed them around. Art is crazy about Ruby, he loves kids.

From there we went to Mike Kuhl's shop, then he drove with us to Steve Davis' shop, and then to Chip Foose's shop. I think Mel was the most excited to meet Chip! He gave us a tour and spent some good time with us. Very nice guy.

After all that we went to West Coast Street Rods and saw Roy and the family. From there we went to the Huntington Beach Pier to have dinner at Ruby's diner.

It was a chilly evening and windy too.

Inside, ready to order.

Keith, Ryder and Amanda.

Carl and I.

After dinner we walked down Main Street and looked in the shops. Finally Ryder warmed up to Ruby, he was being a goofy boy up until then. I warned her about dating California Guys.

Tuesday we had dinner at La Paloma, so Craig and Mel can try real Mexican food in traditional environment.

Today, Carl and Craig visited So-Cal Speed Shop and returned with a new hat for Ruby.

They are visiting friends up in Valencia for dinner and tomorrow we will all be off in opposite directions, them very south to New Zealand, and us very north to Alaska.

It's been great fun having them here.

Adios, Kathy

Ryder and Lili

2010-08-25T11:49:00.001-07:00

Ryder came to visit us on Saturday and Sunday. It was so hot outside that we just stayed in the house and played. On Sunday afternoon he and I went to the movies and watched Toy Story 3 even though we both had seen it before.

Ryder liked Lili's chair and ramp. She finally gave in and let him sit on it with her. She was worn out, trying to avoid him. They became buddies after time.

Amanda and Keith pick-up him up in the evening on Sunday, after spending the day paddle boarding at Dana Point. I was worn out most of the day on Monday. I'm old.

Kathy

Speedweek - Part Two

2010-08-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

I did a blog post on the Team 777 blog. Look at the column to the right under My Blog List, and click on Full-bore Race Team 777 blog, to view it.

Speedweek - Part One

2010-08-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

This is a short sample of the fun we had at Bonneville. It will take me a couple of days to put a proper blog up on the Team 777 blog site. But for now, please enjoy our first evening at the Rainbow hotel.

Will post more soon,
Kathy

The Big Pink Suitcase

2010-08-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

So, I'm trying to plan for our cruise, what to wear! I'm doing the "How do I look?" pictures for Shannon to critique. If you click twice on the picture, you should be able to get a close up. Just don't look at the face.

I bought 3 pairs of linen baggy legged pants in white, black and grey. I got a black and a grey sequined tank top, and a purple cheap tank and I have others colors already. I have a couple of lightweight over jackets, sweaters. My goal is to mix and match for the evenings. We have 2 formal nights, but I am NOT wearing a formal. Pants are it!!!

Layers!! Ha Ha.

THIS IS FOR LACEY!!! I bought a 29" pullman suitcase today. I think you will fit, you'll have to bend your legs.

TJ Maxx has the cheapest luggage. This is a super lightweight one, Delsey, since I can only bring one piece of luggage, at 50 lbs. max, when I visit Shannon in November. The only color and only Delsey luggage was this Pepto Bismal Pink one. It's going to get filthy, but at least I will see it when it comes down the luggage ramp. Speaking of ramps, the ramp to the chair on the right is for Lili, since she cannot make it up or down anymore without it.

Start dieting Lacey. It's going to be a tight fit.

Kathy

Stay-cation LA to San Diego

2010-08-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

First.... Nothing to do with our trip... Just want to show Shannon that Dad is wearing the t-shirt that you and Grant brought to him from Australia. It's now his favorite one and very comfortable.

Now... about our 2 day staycation train trip to San Diego. On Thursday, July 29th, the Dodgers were playing the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego. What a great excuse to take a short 2-day vacation. Carl and I and Betty and Brian packed up a backpack with a few items and caught the early train from Claremont to LA Union Station. From there we boarded the Surfliner to San Diego. I have always wanted to do that, so this was the perfect reason to.

At the end of this blog is a condensed movie video of our adventure, but first a few photos.

From the train window we all spied two huge piles of chopped wood and thought of Shannon.

A lifeguard shack at San Clemente beach.

Our seats were three rows up from the field directly in front of third base. If you enlarge this picture by clicking once, then again you can actually see Carl standing and buying a bottle of water from the vendor guy. Carl is wearing black pants and white shirt.

Our travel buddies, Betty and Brian. Brian put this entire trip together, thank you!

The Geico Gecko mascot, a colorful guy.

It was a sell-out crowd of 42,000 people. Dr. Oz threw out the first pitch.

After the ball game (Dodger's lost) we walked to DeMedici Italian restaurant in the GasLamp District of San Diego, just a few blocks away. We enjoyed delicious food, great service in a very classy place. After dinner we walked down 5th Street, which happened to be full of party-ers, just like Las Vegas - but San Diego on a Thursday night. We stopped at the GasLamp Strip Club for a drink. Nobody stripped, it's a restaurant and bar and they serve meats that you cook for yourself on a grill. I think it means a strip of meat. The bartender, who Carl had the hots for, poured a mean drink. She was very cute and was wearing fishnet stockings and short shorts. We walked back to our hotel by 11 or 11:30???

The next day we took the train to LA and visited Olvera Street and our favorite Mexican restaurant. Ate lunch and enjoyed a Margarita.

Here we are in front of all the trinkets for sale.

We cannot get near LA without stopping at the Frolic Room.

The Pantages Theater outside entry. In the old days, the Academy Awards were held here.

Across the street is the W Hotel, were the Hollywood elite hang out.

This is the Fullerton train depot. We sort of got on the wrong train at Union Station and it was headed back to Oceanside, so we got off in Fullerton, waited a bit and caught the next train back to LA. Caught the 8:05 train to Claremont and made it home.

Now for the video. It's about 6 minutes long, so if you have nothing better to do for 6 minutes, I hope you enjoy my handiwork.

Thanks for looking and "PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS"

Kathy

I Miss My Daughter

2010-07-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

I suppose I'm being melancholy but I really miss you Shannon. I was looking through old videos on my computer and came across this one.

When I would talk to Shannon on Skype I would snap pictures of her. Then I put them together with some music. So cute. These are from the very first days when she went to New Zealand. She missed home at first. Sybilla was just a baby.

Now she's moving into a new house this weekend, signed a one-year lease. I'll just have to visit you and see you on Skype.

Love you, Mom

After Reading This Blog, You all will Say "Kathy, Get a Life"!!

2010-07-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

This is what I've been doing for the last week. Carl went fishing, so I worked on the house.
The landscapers finally came and did the work I had requested. They removed all the hodge-podge plants, leveled and put sod in the yard.

My plan is to put a large pot with a bush or tree in it just to the left of the front window.

The house was recently painted and I'm really happy with the look.

My little flowerbed in the patio.

The gladiolas bloomed so nicely, those were from Carl's mom's bulbs she shared with me years ago.

While Carl was fishing, I painted the hallway wall.

It's sort of our "gallery" wall and has had so many nails and holes in it, it really needed a fresh coat of paint.

Now for my latest YouTube movie of the week:

Not much to blog about. Hope you were slightly entertained.

Thanks for looking.

Kathy