March 29th: Back to Encinitas, Garage Project, Torack visit and Vancouver Friends Visit

 

Matt was going to be on a mountain biking trip for a week so Wendy decided to spruce up the garage as a surprise. The garage is actually Matt's biking haven. He keeps his bikes there, repairs and maintains them and has a stationary bike rack so he can train for hours virtually with other top athletes. Although I see it often, upon looking at the garage I realized it could use a face lift

Wendy preparing the wall

We took everything off of the walls. Then removed a lot of old dry wall tape, filled holes and repainted everything! 

Sometimes I think Linda is still looking out for me. She was always the "Supervisor." There were many projects Randy and I charged into only to be accused of lacking supervision. Like the time Randy and I were installing a window air conditioner on Guppy. We decided to drill a hole in the bottom tray to let the condensation drip out. We drilled the hole in the very corner confident that we wouldn't hit anything. All of a sudden there was a loud hissing noise. Linda and Cindy, who were not that close by said, "Sounds like you needed some supervision!" Where were we when we needed them. We were fortunate to find another air conditioning unit.  

First coat of paint

Anyway, the point of the story is that we first primed everything. Wendy trimmed and I followed with the roller. Next we put on the first coat of paint. (Always comes out better with two.) When I finished with the first coat I told Wendy, "We're going to need more paint." She said, "We should have plenty." She checked it out and here I had been using the primer for the second coat! We decided it should probably be okay. 

As it turned out, after putting the last coat of paint on, we were almost out of paint. Turns out paint doesn't go as far as primer. We used the little left to go over some spots that had some nasty stuff showing through slightly. That worked and it turned out great! And we didn't have to buy another gallon of paint! 

The garage was finished, Matt was duly impressed and appreciative. Next on the agenda was a visit from my niece Christi and her kids, JP and Kaitlyn. JP was on spring break from Washington University and Kaitlyn was on spring break from high school. They live in St. Louis. The purpose of the visit was to check out West Coast Universities and fortunately, pay us a visit.

VRBO L.A.

We rented a VRBO at Los Angeles close to Becky. It was a convenient location with plenty of space.

Rebecca, JP, Christi, Wendy, Aaron, Kaitlyn & Steve

We enjoyed hanging out at Becky's for a dunk in her swim spa and dinner. My great nephew Aaron, who lives in Venice Beach was able to join us. It was relaxing and enjoyable to catch up with everyone.

One of the Getty Museum bldgs.

The next day we went to the Getty Museum. It is an incredible museum on top of a mountain. The focus is art, gardens and fabulous architecture. You could spend a couple days going through all the art but we mostly spent time outside in the gardens.

View from the extensive gardens

You could spend a couple days going through all the art but we mostly spent time outside in the gardens.

View looking south

There is a 360 degree from the top of the Getty Museum. We could see the ocean, snow covered mountains, L.A., etc.

Van Gogh's Irises

Van Gogh's famous painting of Irises is on display as well as many other originals by famous artists

The museum admission is free except for parking. Getty was at one time the richest man in America. Fortunately, he left some of his money for others to enjoy.

Here is a link to info about J.Paul Getty Getty background

Here is a link to the Getty Museum website. Getty Photos

After the museum we HAD to go to the Persian Ice Cream Parlor on Wilshire Blvd. Kaitlyn in particular loves ice cream and searched the place out. It was kind of far and traffic but we had to check it out. Turned out it was worth it.

The flavors are unusual. Here is a link. Persian Ice cream flavors 

We had a very fun visit. The Toracks were flying out late in the afternoon so the plan was always to take in Venice Beach. Beside experiencing Venice Beach, they needed to see Aaron's place. (After all, he said he cleaned it up!) Wendy and I have been to Venice Beach. Fun once or twice but that's enough! Plus, I had just been there with Randy and Cindy.  We headed back to Encinitas knowing there would be a lot of traffic! We were correct!

Did I say March was a busy month. I met Ian Jukes around the turn of the century. I was looking for an educational speaker for our superintendents group. He was in high demand and I liked appreciated his  educational philosophy. I contacted him and he agreed to come for a session at minimal cost. The group I represented had little money so I offered to pick him up at the airport and have him stay at Linda's and my home. He said he would love to do that given all the travelling and hotel life he was used to.

We ended up talking late into the night about.... Boating of course! Turned out he had a 38 foot sailboat on Vancouver Island and loved to boat. He said, "Well you should come up for a sailing trip." I said I'd love to! I remember him saying, "Everybody says that but they don't follow thru. Don't say you want to unless you are going to come." I said, you tell me when, where and I'll be there. Turned out Linda joined me and we had a fabulous sailing trip up to Desolation Sound in Brittish Columbia. Here are some pictures from that very memorable trip.

We had a wonderful trip. I went on two more trips, (Linda decided it was lacking in creature comforts and sailing was too much work! It is a very isolated area.)

So we have stayed in touch the last 20 plus years. Ian travelled a little on the Chesapeake with Linda and me. Nicky, Ian's wife and he, visited us in California. It had been a long time since we had gotten together in person. Ian and I Facetimed every so often and he told me he and Nicky were presenting at the Malibu Library March 21st. Of course I wanted to get together. So back to L.A. I went Monday to pick them up at LAX. I found a VRBO that was conveniently located and they decided to stay for five days, 3 days after the presentation for fun. 

I took Nicky shopping Tuesday while Ian was fine tuning his presentation. We went to Walmart, and Ross Dress for Less. Nicky said there are some things she cannot get in Vancouver plus it's much less expensive. 4 hours later I said we need to get back! Nicky takes shopping to a whole new level. She brought two extra duffel bags to carry stuff back to Vancouver. 

My biking/boating friend Fran is a pediatrician and has 6 grandchildren. I told her about Ian's visit and she was interested. So I invited her to attend and spend some time with Ian and Nicky. We attended the presentation which was of course excellent. It focused on how education needs to change given technology, Artificial Intelligence, ChatGtp, etc. Reminded me of all the time I spent attempting to get critical thinking skills into the curriculum, constantly frustrated by the switch in emphasis to "Testing". Hopefully the work Ian and Nicky are doing will move us in a better  direction.

We had a 3 bedroom VRBO.  Fran planned to stay and came late Tuesday with a huge homemade apple pie! She stayed for the presentation. We hadn't eaten supper so after a torrential downpour driving through the canyon to get back, we went to Denny's for dinner. (Ian's favorite nostalgic place.) Nicky insisted we stop to get ice cream for the pie. Fortunately, I just got some to take out from Denny's. The pie was the best I've had that I can remember. 

We all like to talk so there was no down time.  

Steve, Karen, Fran, Nicky, Ian and Craig

Wednesday was a decompress morning and lunch  at the Newport Beach Yacht Club with Karen and Craig Rahn. I wanted them to meet each other, again all boaters. They are reciprocal members so we did not need to go the extra 45 minutes to get to their yacht club. We were supposed to go for an electric boat ride around the large harbor but the weather didn't cooperate. What to do? We decided the plan was to spend time together so we moved in front of the fireplace and talked for a couple hours! It worked out great.

Thursday was supposed to be a trip to the Universal Theme Park. But rain was forecast so we moved that to Friday. There was more shopping planned by Nicky. I was going to give her my car. But wonderful Fran said, "I'll go with you." I don't know Fran very well, but I know her definition of shopping is closer to mine. But she and Nicky got along great so away they went. They returned 5&1/2 hours later! When I checked on Fran she said it was fine and the conversation was great. She also was happy to get all her Easter shopping done for her three son's families!

Ian had said he wanted to go to a good Mexican restaurant while they were here. Apparently Vancouver doesn't do authentic Mexican! Becky recommended a place which worked out well. The portions were way too large, as you can see looking at Ian's plate, but the food was very tasty.

I got up early Friday to check the weather for Universal. The weather looked great. Went on line to get tickets. SOLD OUT! I called and asked if we could buy tickets at the gate. Nope! Then the more we talked about it we decided it would have been so crowded the lines would be horrendous. 

So.... Now what? We were going to my daughter Becky's for dinner. She took Ian and Nicky on an extensive tour of the Warner Brothers lot about ten years ago. They were very knowledgeable about the business and interested in everything. So they got an extensive tour from Becky. They consistently talk about that tour.  They wanted to reconnect with Becky. 

We learned that Nicky had never been to the Getty Museum. After considering options the Getty won. Ian's foot was bothering him so he stayed home. Of course I had just been to the Getty the week before, but that was okay. It's a big place. I had told Fran and Nicky about the Persian Ice Cream. Turns out Nicky loves ice cream! It was getting late because Fran was planning to drive home that night, but ice cream was on the list! We again all enjoyed it. And Fran said, "We need to take some for Becky!" I suggested the Taro-Uber which is my favorite. We also took the one remaining piece of apple pie for Becky. She ate it after we left and also said it was the best she could remember! And Taro-Uber is her favorite flavor. Lucky guess!

So now it was our final night. Nicky is an amazing packer. They had two large suitcases, two duffel bags and two back packs. That included the equipment Ian needed for his presentation. Their flight was at 8am Saturday morning. Hmmmm.... International flight, 3 hours ahead of boarding! What were they thinking! No wonder Fran went home Friday night. In spite of that Ian and I were up until almost midnight talking. I said it doesn't make much difference when we're getting up at 4:30am. Actually it all went well, no traffic to LAX and no traffic on my way back to my place in Encinitas. I did take an extensive "Nap" when I got back.

Here is a link about Ian and Nicky. They are the most laid back people you could ever meet but the work they are doing is worth following. They have presented literally, all over the world.

Ian Jukes

Books written by Ian Jukes

Dr Nicky Mohan

So, success! I met my goal to catch up before going to Arizona to see Tom, Ohio to visit with family, Hershey, PA for Erica's wedding, Exton, PA to see my niece's family back to Cleveland for my physical and then back to Encinitas! 

March 29th: Off to Flagstaff to see Tom and the other Douhard "Boys"

 Note: I added to the previous blog the day after I first posted it. I took a break and didn't mean to post it the first time.

I was able to complete cataract surgery after Randy and Cindy left. I was looking forward to it because I was also getting my nearsightedness corrected as part of the procedure. It was a long process because I had to refrain from wearing my contact lenses for three months so my eyes returned to their normal shape. My doctor did one eye at a time. I was amazed at the difference. I didn't  realize that the cataracts were blocking some brightness and colors. Having one eye only done I could tell the lamp in my place was whiter and brighter when looking through my completed eye. Once both were done I was amazed at the difference. I've worn glasses or contacts since I was 8 years old. Now I only needed reading glasses. My vision is more clear than I ever remember. I wear bifocal reading glasses so I don't need to be putting glasses on and off. Wendy said I needed frames that were bright and fun. She suggested I get a pair of frames and paint them. (She has several multi colored frames.) I decided to go for gold! 

Next on the agenda was a visit to Flagstaff, AZ to see my brother-in-law Tom. Tom is the brother that gave Linda a kidney that lasted 35 years. I dearly love Tom and will be forever grateful for his wonderful gift to our entire family. I want to point out that all of Linda's brothers were willing to donate a kidney.

Linda, her Mom and Tom

These are pictures from our ten year kidney anniversary party. It seems like it was just yesterday!

The Drouhard brothers and I all decided to visit Tom together. We stayed in Phoenix Friday night and found a steak house that was still open for supper. Prime rib was their specialty and some of us were going to go for it. I was saved from myself. They had just served their last prime rib! It was 9:30PM and we were all hungry. No prime rib but the food was great and plentiful. Dick in particular enjoyed his 23 ounce porterhouse steak! I would have been up all night!

Steve, Pat, Warren and Dick

Our rental vehicle was a huge Dodge Ram pickup truck. There had been several feet of snow in Flagstaff a couple days previous, but now the skies were clear. The rental agent informed us that they don't plow the roads down to the pavement in Flagstaff. He strongly recommended the four wheel drive truck and waived the additional upgrade charge. Nice!

The ride to Flagstaff was gorgeous. I've done it many times and I always enjoy the scenery. We start in the desert.

Then we head into the mountains. 

Next we start climbing the mountains. We went from Saguaro Cacti and desert, to scrubby little bushes, to trees up into the mountains.

We arrived at our hotel in Flagstaff. Pat and Becky did a great job finding us a place to stay. The view out my window was wonderful.

We spent the day telling old stories and catching up on the latest. Someone found this picture on Tom's bulletin board. The Drouhard family grew up on the Drouhard family farm in Loudonville. Linda, probably 10 years old or so, was walking in the woods and came upon an injured young deer. Linda to the rescue. She held the deer and started yelling for help. Fortunately her brothers heard her and came to assist. They wrapped the deer in a blanket and put it in the barn hoping it would recover. Linda fed it every day until it was healthy again and could be released. I remember Linda saying it was fun at first but having to go over to the barn to feed it every day before school got old! But when they thought it was cured and released it, and happily it hopped over the fence and ran away!

Linda's deer, she's in the back. Warren or Pat are the "Ghost"
in the upper left. Tom is on the left and Dick is on the right. 
I can hear Linda saying, "Sure, I caught the deer and
who's not clearly in the picture?!"

Tom and Warren in Tom's family room

We went out to dinner at a nice restaurant. We were looking forward to the prime rib which Tom and Pat enjoyed at Pat's last visit. It was  reportedly superb, which is why I wasn't going to order it the night before. We started with cocktails. As you might know, Tom seldom drinks alcohol but he clearly enjoyed joining in with an Old Fashioned. (I guess that's a good named cocktail for this crew!)

Herb & giant burger

Time to order. Alas, once again, no prime rib. It was no longer on the menu. But, there were other good items to choose from. Not the same, but okay! No one went hungry, especially Herb. He got the biggest hamburger I've ever seen.

From left: Pat, Dick, Steve, Warren, Tom, Medge, Rob, Herb & Sherry

Herb and Sherri live in the downstairs unit at Tom's house. They've been together with Tom for a long time and take good care of Tom. Also Edgy, her daughter Santana and her kids, are also part of Tom's Arizona family. They are wonderful people. They make certain Tom gets to dialysis 3 days a week and his basic needs are accommodated. Santana's kids are cute and keep Tom entertained.

I've always enjoyed the wildlife at Tom's. He has raised chickens, pigs, turkeys, goats, fish, ducks, and  many dogs. Currently he is down to geese, ducks and dogs. Most of the ducks are sort of wild, 50 - 100 on any given day. He feeds them 30 lbs. of bird feed per day so they don't migrate! I suggested a few years back that maybe they were supposed to migrate. He said, "They don't seem to think so!" 

Snow goose and mallard ducks

Other birds stop in on their migration. I saw 4 snow geese that had stopped by on their way south from Northern Alaska or the Arctic.

The snow goose is the light colored/gray goose in the middle.

Pat made a great leg of lamb dinner Sunday. He has his Mom's recipe that was a family favorite. It was wonderful and we all enjoyed it. I know it was always one of Tom's favorites. I'm going back out for another visit on my way to Cleveland March 31st and plan to make another leg of lamb dinner. It is almost Easter!

From left: Medge, Pat, Tom, Steve, Edgy
(The rest of the group was at the dining room table in the other room, no picture.)

We talked to Tom about coming back to Ohio for a visit. Given his diabetes and dialysis it is becoming difficult for him to get around. We of course offered to travel with him to help him. I think it will be a lot easier for us to go see him than for him to make the trek across the country. Pat and others are planning to go out in May. We know he enjoys the company and he is entertaining. As always he has a great sense of humor and many "stories."

March 29th: Fun with the Petersons (Links and more info added after the first posting yesterday)

 

After finishing with Disney World, Randy and I left everyone else behind and drove the truck to Ft. Lauderdale where we would pick up Cindy. Tom and Erica had already gone back to work, Nick, Nicky, Liam and Mea left for Canada. So Cindy flew back to Pennsylvania to deliver Eve. She no sooner arrived, dropped Eve off to her parents and then flew to Ft. Lauderdale to meet Randy and me. Our next stop was Banana Bay. 

Cindy found us a very nice hotel to stay in.

So the next morning we drove to Marathon to stay on Yesterday's Dream for five days. Randy and Cindy stayed there with us on their boat for 5-6 years during the winter so we all had a number of friends we wanted to see. It was a fun visit. Sadly, I didn't think to take any pictures!

Next, the plan was for Petersens to stay in California by me for the month of February! We rented an AirBnB on the ocean at Oceanside.

After catching our breath for a few days we went to Studio City to visit my daughter Rebecca.   

We had a good dinner and watched a movie on the big screen in her back yard.

It was a short visit but she was coming to Encinitas for another visit later in the month. Rebecca is working so had to be weekends!

London

Randy and Cindy love dogs so Rebecca's Golden Doodles were a big hit.  

No trip to Los Angeles is complete without a visit to Venice Beach. It is a very unusual place. There are everything from tattoo parlors, to restaurants, to a huge skate board park, an outdoor weight lifting club and of course a beautiful beach with a walking, skateboarding, bike riding path. 

  The skate boarding park was fun to watch. Not only was it fun but inspirational. I noticed, from a distance, a young woman riding her skate board and I couldn't figure out where her legs were. Turns out she was a double total leg amputee. She used her hands to manipulate the skate board with great skill. She was smiling, laughing and clearly had many friends.

Our place at Oceanside was very nice. We enjoyed walking on the beach, making our own dinners, as well as taking advantage of the many local restaurants. The sunsets were beautiful.

My place was only 20 minutes away so some nights we stayed there. It's only one bedroom with a sofa bed so not great for a whole month, plus more going on at Oceanside on the beach. There is a great breakfast place, the 101 Diner that we all enjoyed. One of their many specialties is crepes which Cindy and I ordered.

Next I planned a rather strenuous hike in Torrey Pines State Park. It is an incredible place. We hiked up the mountain to observe beautiful scenery, and then hiked down to the ocean. I knew enough to time our hike so we would hit the beach at low tide. At high tide you'd need to swim the mile or so back to our starting point. It worked out great! Here are a variety of pictures.

The Torey Pines State Park website has great pictures. You can see them here. Torey Pines Pics

Balboa Park

There is a wonderful park complex in San Diego called Balboa Park. There are many museums and attractions and it is fun just to walk around and look at the architecture. The grounds are very peaceful and well kept.

I learned that Cindy loves trains. There was a model railroad museum in the park that people told me was exceptional. It was a little pricey, but Cindy loves trains, so we decided to go in.

Some of the models were built to scale replicating the California terrain. The models were amazing.

Other displays were just for fun. We were amazed that the displays just kept going and going.

I got one video but many more would have been possible. 

The model railroad museum was very well worth the admission. It was not only huge, but had every kind of model train ever built. It also includes a great deal of history related to the impact of railroads on California. There were many displays. A lot of fun stuff to learn about.

The Air and Space Museum has a couple unusual aircraft outside. This one is interesting. It has "Water skis" attached. Look closely at the bottom. It was designed to see if a jet could land and take off in the water. Several were built but it was never put into production.

Here are some pictures of Balboa Park from their website. Balboa Park Pics

While we were in Encinitas, we went to Wendy's house to learn how to make rings using wire. It was pretty easy and fun. Cindy loves jewelry as you can tell from her finished products. Obviously she did not make the wedding ring. The little one was mine! It turned out rather small. We thought it might fit  on Eve's finger.

Sea lions napping

We went back to Oceanside to enjoy the waterfront. We walked over to the marina harbor where there is a small boardwalk with restaurants, ice cream, etc. There is also a floating raft where the sea lions hang out. They weren't very active and they and we could smell them from far away. 

We saw a few swimming around and as you can see from the paddle boarder, they are not skittish.

View from our Oceanside condo

We did not have an ocean view from our condo but did have a balcony that overlooked a lush landscape. Unfortunately, the sun wasn't on the balcony so it was too cold to sit out there. 

Hummingbird on branch

But I enjoyed watching some resident humming birds. I even got a fair silhouette picture. He was too fast for me to get a video.

Unfortunately, Randy had a health issue that necessitated him and Cindy to leave California early. He is doing fine. We'll need to pick up where we left off with the activities we had planned. I think they must have had a premonition about the weather. Here is a video from my window the day after they left!

I'll be seeing the Petersen family again at Erica's wedding in Hershey, PA. I'm combining that trip East with a visit to Cleveland to visit my sister and brother-in law, Julie and Jim. Also I'll get a physical there because my primary care physician is in Cleveland and I really like him. In addition, I'll go to Loudonville to spend some time with the Drouhard clan and my good friends Bob and Sue Brightbill.