Back home now, trying to focus on work. At the same time, Monte and Dan are sailing the catboat up the coast on a 200 mile adventure that I wish I was there for, but will have to be content with providing support from afar when needed. I wonder how they did this, back in the day, without cellphones, gps and google maps?!
Today we set out for La Jolla beach, rented bikes, enjoyed a picnic on the shore.
Pelicans flying overhead at La Jolla Shores:
An artist’s vantage point at La Jolla Cove:
Pelicans and seals nesting on the rocks:
Back in San Diego watching the America’s Cup boat Stars & Stripes tacking across the bay:
Safe and sound back at the Palomar lobby in time for happy hour:
Dinner tonight at Cafe Chole. Didn’t get a picture of the restaurant, but the food and the service was excellent.
Back at the penthouse, there was table dancing into the wee hours. No photos here, but what a fun time!
At the beginning of the year, I had scheduled today as an extra day off after the long weekend. Bonus! I relaxed, swam laps at the gym, and then this evening monte and I zipped over to the newly renovated Morris Williams golf course for the sunset rate. We usually can only squeeze in 9 holes before sunset. But we made good time today and finished 14. The golf course looks really great and there is a fabulous new clubhouse.
This is a shot from the 15th green looking west right before sunset. You can see the old Robert Muller airport control tower still standing in the distance.
And this is a shot of the new clubhouse as we were heading in.
Back to work tomorrow. Yay 3 day week!
We anchored out again last night in about the same place as the night before. A really pleasant night. This morning we headed back about 10am. And wouldn’t you know it…we hooked (we think) the same tree stump. This time we just snagged it. It didn’t catch us up, but it was a very heavy drag on the line. This time we tried to drag it close to shore before it fell off the anchor.
Back at home we put out the flag on the porch, grilled up some delicious cheeseburgers and are getting ready to snug in to watch a movie.
It’s not about the barbeque, though. So let me pause and say Thank You to those who bravely gave their lives in service to defend both the simple and the profound freedoms we enjoy every day.
The full Flower Moon.
We spent a nice day on the lake. We pulled anchor today and brought up a tree stump. I wish I had taken a picture but there wasn’t time. This stump was about 10-12 inches in diameter. A good 2 feet high. With roots, one of which was about 6 feet long. The windlass couldn’t handle the weight so I got to pull it up by hand. Whew!
We set anchor in the same cove tonight. Let’s see what we pull up tomorrow!
TGIF of a 3 day weekend. As much as I have been desperately awaiting this weekend to spend on the lake, I am ecstatic that we are finally getting some rain. It can rain all weekend as long as it all runs into the lake.
Monte’s zinnias are starting to bloom. These are the first ones we’ve brought inside to enjoy.
We share our property with some very friendly and vocal mockingbirds – the state bird of Texas. Here’s one:
And here’s the song that is now stuck in my head. Enjoy!
Thanks to Noreen for schlepping me to the airport in the wee hours of the morning. I’m not home yet, posting from ORD.
I got a window seat on the right side of the plane, on purpose, expressly for this (my favorite) view. Looking south, Mount Rainier is in the foreground. Mount Adams is to the left farther south. In between, even farther south and very hard to see, is Mount Hood. Mount St. Helens would be visible to the right of Rainier, except for the cloud deck sitting above it.
Colleen is up on Rainier this weekend. Don’t see her though. 
I headed into Seattle today to visit Pat & Nga and the kids. Before I hit the road I stopped by a park on the puget sound shoreline where attended girl scout camp back in the day. I remember camping, cooking, clamming and making sand sculptures here over several summers here. I dare say it has been 35 years or so since i last stood on this particular stretch of beach. It is still amazingly beautiful.
I drove my mom’s car. Not your typical dashboard.
When i got to seattle, we drove to a park on the *other* side of the puget sound to fly the kites that I gave the boys. They are master kite flyers. One shot with both of them:
One shot of Nicky:
And one shot of Will:
A great day. Back to Austin tomorrow. Goodnight!
I finally got a chance to go outside today! I went for a walk this afternoon after my last meeting. There is a new park with a huge network of trails through towering trees about a mile walk from my mom’s house. It was gorgeous. This cut log was laying next to the trail. I stopped counting at 60 rings. Thank you log, I now have Elton John’s 60 Years On ringing in my head. Now you do too.
A shot of the beautiful canopy … I like the glowing green of the leaves in this shot.
I drove jake here tonight and we cooked dinner and ate with mom. Then he played guitar for us for a while. He’s very good. He reminded me that I had taught him the basics many years ago. Very sweet.
My dad planted lilacs in the yard many years ago. They multiply like crazy in these parts.
I spent a great Mother’s Day with my mom and 3 sisters and many of my niece/nephews. We also took a trip to Tacoma to visit my brother’s family who just welcomed his first grandkid into the world. A nice day indeed. The array of colorful flowers that explode here every spring is staggering. This is a beautiful place year round, but especially this time of the year. This is one shot from my mom’s backyard.
Headed to Seattle tonight. Boarded the plane. Fell asleep. When I woke up they were asking everyone to deplane due to storms in the area. I did not know that most of the bars AND the admirals club close at 7:30. What were they thinking?! Still hoping our flight leaves after the storm passes. Here’s some of my moments…
Thank you Ray Benson’s Roadhouse Bar!!!
