Spectacular

Two days in San Francisco and we could easily do two more. Reader's Digest version - spent two days with our son touring the local area. Friday in San Francisco hitting all of the highlights. Saturday we took a drive to Sonoma to get some wine tasting in and then came back through SF for more pics. Perfect weather. No clouds, cool, but not cold. Very dry. Would love to see some of these temps back in Texas. Great city. Lots to see/do.

Heading north to Seattle for the next few days.

Later, ya'll!

Road trip!

Getting ready for a road trip is a pain.

Bags to pack. What clothes to wear/pack? How much to bring? Setting the timers. Taking care of the dog. I love to travel, hate to prep for it. Been doing this for years and still wait to the last minute to get ready. Got to leave the hacienda at 0600 and here I am sitting with a glass of good scotch and I still am only half packed. Will be another late night/early morning for me. I don't mind the early wake up call, it is getting the rest of the crew ready and on the road. I am an early riser (thanks, dad) and like to hit the road before the crack of dawn. The rest of my crew likes to take a more gradual approach to departure. Needless to say, since I am the captain of this ride, the bus leaves at 0600 and, if you ain't on the bus when it pulls out, you're under it.

So many things to see, so many people to do. Will probably overplan this gig. I am going to sweat the details until we are wheels up. I am that way for most trips. Once we are on the road/plane, I pretty much relax as it is out of my hands at that stage. Have plans for SF area. Found a tour group we will take that will give us a good overall view of the SF bay area without having to hike the hills. Hope to get to a couple of winearies in Napa.

Take care and see you on the other side.

Good luck Terri. Will be thinking of you & your dad tomorrow as we are flying out west.

Remember to smile!

On the road again

Getting ready for another road trip out west! Trying to get things together for a short hop to California to visit the son and family. I've never been to northern California, but always wanted to see Frisco. Something about the Streets of San Francisco, that Rice-a-Roni treat, the Rock, and taking a trip down Lombard Street just seems to peak my interest. This is one of those towns/places that I have never been to but have seen it a million times in the movies. Planning to take the digital to get some random shots of the obligatory sights (Alcatraz, Pier 39, Chinatown, Golden Gate, and the cable cars). This trip is mean to check up on our son and how he is doing out west, but I have always been a geek for road trips and love to travel to new places. May try to post pictures later.

Now I just need to pull out my copies of Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, and The Enforcer...

While I am on the road spending money and eating bad food, remember to keep a candle burning for Terri while she is off the grid in surgery. A brave and selfless person that we can all take a lesson from.

Full week ahead

Made it past the weekend with out any serious damage. Able to fix the brakes on my son's cars without too many scrapes/scars (although there a number of choice words expressed). Forgot how fun brake springs can be. Nothing like trying to coax a very stubborn spring back into place and have it launch clear across the garage. Seems a lot funier now that at the time. My dog has gotten to the point he will get up and leave if I start uttering any profane language, and he up & dissappeared on me for the rest of the afternoon. As much of a pain as it was, I like that sort of work and am glad to have that out of the way for now.

Much to do this week. Lots of reports to write and audit plans to make. Trying to make plans for a road trip later this month to visit my kid on the west coast. Plane tickets and car resevations booked. Now looking for a hotel that won't cost me a mortgage payment. Looking forward to a good trip when we can get all of the pre-flight prep done. Got a doctor's appointment this afternoon (dermatologist). I've already had most of the major, exciting/fun exams done and, after my round earlier this year with the urologist, figured I would get checked out for any other issues. Who ever said getting old was fun was definitely feeding me a line of bull...

Weekend work

Two days into a 3 day weekend and I am trying to get something accomplished. Yesterday was a bit of a wash. Rained throughout the day so working in the yard was out (was not really motivated for it). Spend part of the day cleaning up the garage, but still have a long ways to go. Too cluttered to suit my taste and need to knock out a few projects to make headway. Trying to work on my son's car while he is out in California for the summer. Good solid '93 Toyota that he takes to school. Been driving it while he is out on the west coast (gets way better mileage than my land barge). Trying to take care of his car before he heads off to school next month. Needs new brakes and I like those kinds of jobs (relatively simple). My other two wheels are a lot more complex and require "technicians" to affect even the most minor repairs. Used to be I could pretty much take care of the automotive maintenance for all our wheels. I've changed the brakes on several cars, rebuild a carburator, installed a new clutch, repaired a couple of water pumps in my times, but the newer rigs are a lot more complex and require more tools/equipment than I currently have. I have an old '68 Mustang I have been trying to rebuild for years but need to clear some space to work on it (see my first chore).

Good weekend for these kind of home projects. Gas prices have kept us close to home for a while but we may take a short hop out to the west coast later this month to visit our offspring. I know momma has been missing him this summer and we are trying to plan a small visit before he heads back to college. Seems like the summer has flown by and school will be starting up soon. Almost time to be planning for football trips/games...

Happy 4th of July!

As we take to the roads/parks/malls this 4th, let us pause and remember those who gave us this holiday. To all of the members of our armed forces (past & present), you have my undying grattitude. Those serving abroad have given up their holidays and time with their families for our benefit and I, for one, am truely grateful. As a former tanker in the Army, I've been there for several years and know how difficult it can be at times.

From one former treadhead to those still serving - Thanks and please take care.

aliminut