Kite Festival

April, Karen, Mick and I all went to Long Beach, Washington.  We stayed in a 

cabin on Monday and Tuesday evening.  We attended the annual Kite Festival.  
We toured the Long Beach Peninsula all the way north to Oysterville, and south to Cape Disappointment and Ilwaco Harbor.

A Trip to the Coast to Celebrate

Karen and I are leaving for a trip to Bandon, Oregon.  We will camp in a yurt at Bullard's Beach State Park.  Lots of beach, estuary, and tide pool exploring by foot.  The weather is expected to be clear and cool this week, and Interstate 5 should be passable without tire chains.  Bandon is about 35 miles south of Coos Bay, Oregon, and this small town is set alongside the Coquille River.  

This week we will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary and my 71 birthday. Lots of good memories and good accomplishments for both of us and our families.  

We are both now fully retired - Karen in June of 2014 and I in June of 2016. Both of us are in fairly good health and in cheery moods.  

December 2015

We enjoyed visiting with family and friends in California, Oregon, and Washington all during this past month of December.

Karen and I just returned today to Red Bluff after being in Oregon for 8 days.  Back to our normal home and work routines.

We are both in good health and wish the same for others.

Happy Holidays to All.  









 

Sonoma County Trip

Philip and Margaret, Janet and Paul, and Karen and Mike all met last Thursday morning in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California for a vacation trip.  We visited the Luther Burbank house in Santa Rosa, enjoyed lunch in Occidental, came down Coleman Valley Road, walked the trails at Bodega Head, and stayed two nights in Bodega Bay.  On Friday, we went up the coast up to Salt Point State Park, toured Fort Ross State Park, and returned to Bodega Bay.  Much fine dining and delightful Sonoma Valley wine to drink.  Beautiful weather!  A very enjoyable trip for Karen and I.  Great to visit with my brothers and sisters-in-law.

Karen and I drove down on Wednesday, via State 20 by Clear Lake, and went shopping in Sebastopol, and then stayed overnight in Windsor.   We came home on Saturday back to the hot North Sacramento Valley.  I miss the cool ocean breezes already.

Happy Father's Day to all the decent, hardworking, kind, and responsible fathers.  A job well done, men!  Keep up the good work!   A father's job is never done. 

 

"Hotel California" by the Eagles band.

Summer Vacation

I work part-time for the Corning Union Elementary School District during the school year.  I work 117 days each calendar year.  My last day of work for the 2014-2015 school year was yesterday.  I am now on "summer vacation" until August 16th.  Karen retired in June of 2014.

I walk 3.6 miles in the morning each day starting at 5:10 am; with laps interspersed with Taijiquan forms practice.  I teach yoga 3 or 4 evenings each week from 5:20 - 6:40 pm.  I lift weights at the gym 5 days each week from 4 to 5 pm.

We both work on home improvement projects, water, and garden each day.  During the hottest time of each day, we read, research and write indoors.  We use a simple evaporation cooler and a couple of fans to keep us comfortable during the hottest time of each summer day. 

This summer I will complete Phase 4 (indexing and concordance) for my Tao Te Ching project.  As usual, I will post to the Cloud Hands Blog each day. 

We listen to a lot of New Age music in MP3 digital format as well as use Pandora.  I also listen to a good deal of string quartet music.

I have four books of intellectual history that I plan to read, as well as the Essays of Michel de Montaigne.

This summer I will learn and use Photoshop CS5, AskSam 6, and the Atlantis word processor. 

I plan to watch parts of the Tour de France starting on July 4th. I enjoy the scenic and historical commentary, as well, of course, as the tactics and athleticism of the bike riders.  I seldom have ridden a bike in my lifetime, although I rode small motorcycles for 12 years for transportation in the city. 

Karen and I will complete the repair, painting, and remodeling of our back porch.  We will finish removing three dead trees and four overgrown trees in the wrong locations.  We will rent a dumpster and clean up materials stored in our far south field. We will tend our summer vegetable garden and enjoy the harvests. 

Our children and their families will be visiting us in late June and early July.  Karen and I will join my two brothers and their wives in Bodega Bay, California, and in Peyton, Colorado, for the Blaize Reunion.  Karen and I will also go up to Portland once. 

So, assuming good health, we will have a busy, productive, and pleasurable summer vacation.

If our son is fortunate enough to get a kidney transplant (he has waited 4 years), then Karen will go to Portland for six weeks to help him during recovery, and we will help with finances.  That event would make it a wonderful and perfect summer.

Vacation Trip to Newport, Oregon

We went on vacation to the Oregon coast.  We traveled from Gold's Beach to Newport.  We camped at South Beach State Park in Newport, Oregon.  Cool, mostly clear skies, and windy along the coastal region.

On the first day we drove north up Interstate 5 to Grants Pass.  Then we drove west on the Bear Mountain Coastal Route to Gold's Beach.  We stayed at Jot's Resort on the north side of the harbor at Gold's Beach.   

We joined our daughter's family, the Flinn's, for camping at South Beach in Newport.   We played each day at a different beach along the coast.  

Yesterday, we came home.  We went from Newport to Waldport, then east along the Alsea River for 40 miles to the small burg of Alsea.  Then, we drove east to Monroe through some dense rainforest like environments.  Then, we drove south on Interstate 5 for 370 miles to Red Bluff. 

I will post some pictures later.

Central Washington State Travels

April and Michael Garofalo, Karen and I drove from our campground at Whidbey Island, south to Seattle, east to Yakima, and then south on U.S Highway 97 to the Columbia River near The Dalles.  Then, the next day, Karen and I drove south on U.S. 97 to Bend, Oregon.  On the next day we drove to Weed, California, and then home to Red Bluff.  

Wheat fields in the Yakima Valley and Mt. Adams west of Yakima and Toppenish, Washington.  This area is mostly part of the Yakama Nation of Native American Indians.

Olympic National Park

Kalloch Beach in Olympic National Park.

 

Alicia, Sean, Makenna, and Katelyn Flin at Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park.   

Katelyn, Alicia, Karen and Makenna at Crescent Lake.  

Olympic National Park, Washington

Janet Garofalo, Karen Garofalo, Paul Garofalo, Mike Garofalo at the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park

Karen Garofalo at Olympic National Park in the State of Washington.

April and Mick, Mike, Paul, and Janet Garofalo at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. Paul and Mike are brothers. 

We all met in Portland and enjoyed sight seeing and socializing.  We all then drove up I5 to Tacoma, Washington, west to the coast, and then north into the Olympic National Park.