The Sat. Morn. Post, Vol. 11 - San Clemente, part 2

Continuing from my post last Saturday morning . . . our family was on a vacation and we were celebrating my son, Brady's, 16th birthday. We took a weekend trip to San Clemente - a beach city in south Orange County, CA, about an hour away from were we live in La Habra, in north Orange County. As a matter of fact, our two cities are on opposite corners of the county. Enough of the geography lesson.

Brady is on a co-ed cheer squad called the California Allstars. Brady and his friends all met this year, and all (including Brady) are new to the squad. Last year, the squad won the 2009 World Championship. Brady only invited friends from his cheer squad to his birthday party (he did not invite any of his friends from school). The first to arrive were (L-R) Julian, (Brady), Tyler and Kiara.

Not too long after, a couple of others arrived: Chris and Jaylen, who are brothers, and who both cheer on the squad. They are new to the squad this year too. Once all the guest arrived, we took that long walk (nudge-nudge; wink-wink) across the street to the beach, and hung out for a while.

The older kids tumbled on the sand, entertaining the people on the pier above. My daughter Nina, her friend Alyssa, and Chris and Jaylen's little brother and sister made sand castles and waded in ankle-deep water. Here the kids make a pyramid thing in the shadow of the pier.

Just the boys on the beach goofing around. I'm sure you don't recognize it, but the white house on the bluff above Brady's head was the a home of San Clemente's founder, Ole Hanson.

After much fun and sun, we were ready to come in to open presents and eat cake. One of Brady's gifts was several dollar bills taped together like a continuous string. Brady loved this gift a little too much.
Here are all of Brady's party guests (L-R) Chris (holding his baby sister Mya), Tyler, Julian, Kiara, Jaylen and Brady:

Here is Brady's birthday cake. Albertson's makes a great cake, and my wife Laura loves to order this particular one. We have ordered this same cake for several birthday parties - sometimes filled with fresh strawberries, but not this time.

We had a great weekend, and everyone who attended Brady's party had a great time. By Sunday morning, we were all pack up and ready to check out, and in about an hour's time we were back home.

Moving up to the present time, it's Labor Day Weekend, and that means I have labor to do around the house. Oh, that's right; I get to do that every weekend. Well at least this weekend I can watch UCLA play football, and I'm one week away from NFL football. It's the most wonderful time of the year. See you next Saturday morning.

The Sat. Morn. Post - Vol. 10 - San Clemente, Part 1

Hi there! This Saturday morning I'll reflect back to last weekend: our family vacation to San Clemente, where we celebrated our son Brady's 16th birthday. Thanks to my wife Laura's wonderful grandparents, Bertha and Gil, to whom we owe so very much. Bertha and Gil have a timeshare on the beach in San Clemente. They graciously allowed us to use it for the weekend to host Brady's 16th birthday party. If it were not for Bertha and Gil, we could not have had this wonderful family vacation and birthday celebration.

And it couldn't have been a nicer weekend. It was not blazing hot as it sometimes is in late August here in Southern California. And we didn't have to travel far. Brady's guests didn't have to go far out of their way either. Lets look at the pictures, shall we?

First up is the view from the balcony of our room looking straight out (west). This is San Clemente Pier:
This picture was taken from the same spot, but with the lens pointed a little to the right.
What you can't see in either of the pictures above, is the train tracks. Amtrak, Metrolink, and Coaster all share the tracks, and trains run frequently between 7:00 a.m. ish and 7:00 p.m. ish. It doesn't take long to get use to the bells at the crossing (which you can barely see in the top picture), but the train horns are somewhat louder.

Also, the two pictures taken above were actually taken on Sunday morning, the last day we were there. All of the remaining pictures in this post were taken on Friday, the first full day we were there. The morning cloud cover was so thick you would think we were experiencing June Gloom.

Laura loves taking pictures of the two of us, but by holding the camera herself - as opposed to allowing someone else to hold the camera and take the picture of us. She took 8 of these pictures, most of them cut off the top of my head from just above my sun glasses. This is the best of that bunch of 8 (in my opinion). I chose one where both of us had a nice smile, but doing so I had to pick one that didn't show what was written on my hat. I will not spell out the whole name, but the initials are UCLA.
Our daughter Nina brought a friend with her: Alyssa. Here they are sitting on the back of the life guard's jeep. We took a walk the Friday evening out on to the pier, and along the beach. It was noticeably cooler than during the day, and that June Gloom cloud cover only got thicker.

Here we have me and Laura taken by Brady. (see, my hat isn't chopped off). Laura is holding up my beer belly, as I am sucking in.

And here without me having to move an inch, we have the birthday boy, Brady, and Nina.

So this concludes the "family" portion of our vacation. The part 2 portion of my post will focus on Brady's birthday party. See you next Saturday morning.

A Family Outing - Part Two

Since so much time has passed since my last post, you might want to go back and read part one of this two-part story – or not. Anyway, I left off at our lunch break. In addition to yummy sandwiches, chips and drinks, we decided to watch a movie and relax a bit. I was particularly tired due to little sleep the night before, and all the extra effort I had to put forth to tow Nina back from the North Pole.

Since we had to turn the generator on to watch the movie, Laura decided to plug in the crock pot and start to slow cook our dinner. This was a first. (Not Laura cooking dinner; that was a second – Ha!) This was the first time we brought out a crock pot to the desert. I’m normally not in favor of running the generator for hours on end, but I made an exception this time. While Laura and Nina watched the movie, I opted to take a nap. Brady had since returned from Competition Hill with the rest of the group, and immediately went to his friend’s motor home to play video games.

When I awoke, the movie was not quite over. I took a peek outside and noticed people were getting ready for a ride. This time the group was going to Sperry Wash. Laura was willing to go, but Nina wasn’t. Her thumb was still hurting from the earlier ride. Brady came in the trailer to get a towel, and proceeded to put his riding equipment on. By the way, Sperry Wash does have water running through it. It’s a small stream that comes from high up in the desert mountains, and the water is very refreshing to play in on warm days. This was still a warm day considering it was late October.

Laura told me to go with the group, but I stayed back with her and Nina. I’ve learned over time when to go play and when to stay. This was not a big boy’s ride of hard dirt trails and a rest stop for some beer drinking. That would have been okay to for me to go. This ride had wives and kids, and if I went without her, there would be attitude to deal with. So we watched another movie.

The group returned an hour and a half later and all was well. Brady said they found an area in the wash to play in where the water pooled. Next to our trailer was where the club King & Queen (Dan & Leslie) were parked. We noticed they were setting up tables for the Happy Hour festivities. People bring finger foods (hot wings, etc.) and the club provides drinks. It’s a fun and delicious way to socialize. We didn’t prepare anything to take, and it was later than usual for a Happy Hour event (nearly 5:00 p.m.). With our slow-cooked dinner nearly done, which we were looking forward to; we didn’t want to spoil our appetite with Happy Hour.

What happened next was unbelievable. Out of nowhere, a blast of wind came and nearly knocked everyone off their feet. We were in our trailer and it began to shake in the wind. The people outside enjoying Happy Hour were forced to flee inside the King’s trailer to make the best of things. The wind driven sand affected our visibility. We had trouble seeing the trailers across camp on the other side of the fire pit. The dunes and mountains in the distance could no longer be seen. It dropped about 20 degrees in temperature in about 30 minutes. We’ve experienced wind many times in the desert, but not like this.

We proceeded to eat dinner, and hoped that the wind would die down. All of the kids (not just ours) were looking forward to going Trick-Or-Treating. Yes, this was the club’s annual Halloween Ride (usually held a week or two before Halloween). This is a long-standing tradition where the kids get dress up in their costumes and go from trailer to trailer getting candy. Things didn’t look good this year.

The wind never let up. Darkness fell quickly, and things got worse. The wind somehow caused the awning on a trailer of one of our member’s to open up like a sail. There was no way there could be a campfire that night. I don’t think anyone could start a fire to begin with, but if there was one any trailer downwind would be in trouble. Visibility was so bad we couldn’t see any other camps of people around us. I had to put on my helmet and goggles just to go outside and secure our quads. I had to bring everything else inside (folding chairs, equipment boxes, etc.).

All night long that wind blew and our trailer shook. Laura, Nina and I continued watching movies. Brady was in the motor home next to us with his friends Joey and Amanda playing video games. Nina and Laura worried that our trailer might tip over. I told them it wouldn’t, but knew deep down it was possible. The thing that made us safe was that I never detached the trailer from our truck. The truck held us like an anchor. We went to bed, but did not get a good night’s sleep. The wind and blowing sand disturbed us. It was loud, and continued to shake the trailer until about 4:00 a.m.

Sunday morning came about and we awoke to calm clear weather. Here's a picture of the dunes from a distance:


Due to the wind, small sand dunes (only inches high) had formed around our trailers and vehicles. This was caused by the sand blowing against them all night and then dropping to the ground. Some people went riding, but I opted not to. We took our time packing up and eventually left by 12:00 noon. This locale takes about 4 ½ hours to return home from, so I wanted to get going before I got caught up in the traffic returning from Las Vegas and State Line.

We stopped in Victorville for an early dinner at Red Lobster where Laura’s sister, Sara works. She joined us during her break, and we had a nice visit. We continued our drive home. My mom had called worried about us because there was so much wind being reported on the news. Also worrying her were wildfires that had been breaking out everywhere.

The wind we experienced at the bottom of the Cajon pass was strong, but nothing like what we experienced at Dumont. As we got closer to home, we noticed the smoke from the fire that had broken out in Southeast Orange County – the one in Santiago Canyon. In the days that followed, the winds in Southern California fueled the fires from Ventura to San Diego. The smoke in the L.A. basin lingered in the air for days.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who lost their homes as a result of the fires. Our club ride that started off as great family fun and turned into a bit of a bummer pales in comparison to all those people who lost everything.

A Family Outing - Part One

Well it only took 5 months, but we finally made it back out to the desert – as a family. If I haven’t made that clear in the past, let me clarify that doing things as a family is really important to me. It reminds me of my childhood, and when my parents took my sisters and me on family vacations.

So this past weekend, the four of us went to the desert and met up with our off road club to do some riding. As it turned out, we only went on one group ride, but it was a long ride. We went all the way to the North Pole!

No, really; the North Pole. You see, at Dumont Dunes, there’s a destination at the north-most point called the North Pole. At this spot there is a pole, and fashioned to it is a mailbox labeled Santa. I’m not making this up, there really is a pole with a mailbox on it, and all the kids put their letters to Santa in it. We took group pictures to prove it. Here's one of Nina writing her letter to Santa:

I hope she's asking Santa to give her daddy a brand new quad, but I'm guessing she didn't. Here's one of Nina putting her letter in the mailbox:

After a few refreshments, we got ready to ride back to camp. We took one last picture of the North Pole by itself (you can see part of a dune behind it). This dune was tiny compared to where we were going next:For those of you reading who haven’t checked out my club blog, let me explain that my daughter Nina is a novice rider. She’s only been riding her quad less than one year, but more specifically this is only her fourth club ride. She’s never gone on a long group ride before, only short family putt-putts. To make things more challenging, there’s a lot of sand at Dumont (thus the name Dunes). So poor little Nina in her little 50cc quad struggled, and slowed the pace down.

On the way there, Brady zipped along at a faster pace. He and other riders would sometimes take side trails or climb up small sand dunes. Brady had a good time, because he got to hang out with his friend Joey. Joey, his sister Amanda, and their parents Butch and Patty, are very nice people. We only get to see them a few times each year, mostly at club rides. Laura and I hung out at the back of the pack with Nina, but bringing up the rear of our group was Butch and Patty in their buggy, and Pablo and Carol in their sand rail.

The trip back was even more challenging because we took a different route. We headed straight back to Competition Hill, where the expert riders take their quads and sand rails high up the steep face of the dune. Nina couldn’t make it this route without assistance. I brought a tow rope with me just in case (I’ve had to tow her back before). She complained that her thumb hurt her too much to continue riding. She has yet to build up some resistance for holding her thumb against the throttle.

Everyone else arrived at Competition Hill before us. I knew I still had a ways to go to reach our camp, so the three of us continued back while the rest of the group hung out there. Some of the more experienced riders went up the face of Competition Hill. Everyone else just watched.

Once back at camp it was time for lunch. The weather was great at this time. It was sunny and warm (probably around 82), and there was no wind. So we changed out of our riding clothes and in to shorts and T-shirts. We ate, drank, and were otherwise merry. I knew there would be a later ride to Sperry Wash, which is a great place to go riding. I will continue with that part of the story in my next post. Please check back for more of the story. Thanks.

School Days, School Daze

Last Fri. night I attended a high school reunion of sorts. It was not my graduating class reunion, but rather, a reunion of all band members of my high school during the years of our beloved band director, Mr. Haar. I attended Richard Gahr High School in Cerritos, CA, and graduated in 1979. Mr. Haar was the first band director at Gahr, which opened around 1965, and remained there until 1989. He was such an influence to so many students, and made an impact on so many lives, it was no surprise that a celebration in his honor was finally held.

So yes, I was a member of my high school band, and I'm proud of that. In the marching and concert bands I played clarinet during my first two years, and bass clarinet in my second two years. In the dance band (jazz, big band music, etc.) I played piano. My three sisters were also members of the same band, under the direction of the same teacher, Mr. Haar. The only difference is that Mr. Haar left Gahr H.S. after my youngest sister's first year in high school. Us three older siblings got four years of Mr. Haar.

There's a wonderful web site set up an run by one of the Gahr Band alumni, which I will link for you here. If you feel compelled to, please check it out. If you're looking for my goofy picture, you won't find it very easily. It's under the photo album link - 1979 - a few pages in. The only one I could make out was the band officers' picture, and the quality is pretty bad. I think it was scanned right out of the year book.

Back to the reunion story. It was good to see so many of my friends from so long ago. I have done a poor job in keeping in touch with them. In fact, there are only two that I've seen on occasion over the past couple of years: Janeen and Dorothy. Both were at the little Christmas gathering that Laura and I had last December. But several other band alumni who graduated in my year, and the neighboring years, were there Fri. night, and I hadn't seen them in years. All three of my sisters were there, including Diana who lives in Portland, OR. Diana is on the reunion planning committee, and was there with her husband Scott.

Even my mom, a band booster, and my grandmother were present. There were quite a few band boosters present. This was also nice, because I hadn't seen some of these people (parents of my schoolmates) since about the time we graduated high school.

Laura and I arrived fashionably late, and I started recognizing familiar faces. Laura had not met most of these people, so I made many introductions. (Side note: Laura would have met some of these people - the ones who graduated with me in '79, but we didn't attend my 20th H.S. reunion. It was held the week before our wedding, and we had too many things going on). We found Mr. Haar right away, and greeted him and talked for a couple of minutes. As the guest of honor, he was being sought by many former students.

Laura and I went through the buffet line and sat at our table. My sister Diana had arranged to have other people from my year with me. That included Janeen, accompanied by her husband, Bob; Janeen's mom, Liz; twin sisters Marci and Mary Jo - all the way from Colorado; Mike; and Dorothy (class of '80) accompanied by her mom. Russ (class of '78) squeeze in to make a cozy 11. We no sooner sat down when the video presentation began.

A stream of pictures were shown from all years of students, parents, and Mr. Haar, all set to band music. Some was concert music, some was marching band music, and of course the pictures matched. There was even a tribute to some of the students and boosters who have died since graduation.

Following the video presentation, the reunion chair made a speech honoring Mr. Haar. Then Mr. Haar himself made a speech. As the evening went on, people visited with each other (and Mr. Haar), browsed through old year books and various photo albums that people brought, and otherwise had a good time.

We took a few pictures, which I will post soon, as an addendum to this post. We didn't stay too late though. The following morning was Laura's and Nina's first game of the season; a scrimmage, and we knew we wouldn't be able to sleep in. Right now, cheer leading is running our lives.

I was okay with leaving the reunion anyway. I had visited enough, and I'm not really good in these type of social situations. I was not exactly blessed with the gift of gab; I don't easily strike up conversations about any hip topic, and don't have a lot to say about much anyway. Ask me about something I know about or I like, and I'm good for a couple of words, but other than that - I got nothing. So we left, but it was an enjoyable evening.

Fourth Of July BBQ

As I sit here at my computer killing time and waiting for nightfall - so that Laura, the kids, and I can go outside and watch the fireworks display at the high school; it's time to blog about the way I celebrated our Independence Day. First of all, let me take this time to thank God for blessing me by allowing me to exist here in America. With everything that's going on in the world, there is no place I'd rather be, and I am deeply grateful.

We had been planning for a relaxing day at home with some food to BBQ and maybe a swim in the pool. Laura had invited our good friends Frank and Elaine, and their kids Jared and Frankie, to join us for the day, but they didn't confirm until late yesterday. No problem; glad they decided to be with us.

Laura loves to decorate, and as you can see by the signs flanking the walkway from our driveway to our front door, they are in theme with the holiday:

Once our guests arrived, the kids couldn't wait to jump in the pool. It was about 90 degrees today (the air temperature, not the pool water) and more humid than it has been lately. The kids couldn't care less; they were going swimming whether it was 60 or 100. As they splashed around and played, Laura, Elaine, Frank and I sat and talked and enjoyed refreshments.

We got the kids to sit still for one second while we took this picture of them. From left-to-right that's Jared, Frankie, Nina, and Brady.

After a beer or two, I started barbecuing for everyone. This is a brand new barbecue that I got as a Father's Day present from Laura and the kids. As I was downloading these pictures to my blog Laura asked me if I posted the ones from Father's Day. No I didn't - I politely answered. NOTE TO SELF - Post Father's Day pictures as an addendum to that post.

Why yes, that is chicken (the lighter meat on the left) and carne asada (the darker meat on the right). Doesn't it look tasty? We also had rice, beans and tortillas as a main course, and chips, salsa, veggies and dip as an appetizer.

I just love Brady's face in this next picture. He didn't want his picture taken in the first place, and didn't want to get out of the pool to eat in the second place. Oh well - at least the kids got to eat before the grown ups.

Here we are right after we ate. We're all smiling because we told the kids they have to wait 1/2 hour before they can go swimming again, and we were able to enjoy some peace and quite for a while. From left-to-right is Frank, me, Laura, and Elaine.

Dessert was a banana and strawberry pie decorated in Fourth of July holiday fashion. A home-made pie from the fine bakers at Marie Calendar's. Thank you, Elaine!

While we enjoyed our dessert, the kids enjoyed their dessert - a second swim in the pool. I got them to settle down for a few minutes to snap this picture:

Okay, I've got to go. I here fireworks popping outside, and my beer has emptied. The play list I've been listening to on my iPod is nearly over (I have some Beatles songs with John on lead cued up for tonight as I'm writing). I hope all of you have enjoyed your Independence Day - whatever you have chosen to do. Let Freedom Ring!