January 31, 2004

We're slowly getting back into our routine. Linda and I are both back into the groove with our fitness programs - it's funny how easy it is and how good it makes you feel. I just don't understand why I always wind up slacking off on exercising and start eating lousy food - maybe this time we'll be able to keep it up for a while ..............

Mom kept a daily journal most of her adult life and most of her notebooks from 1983 to late 2002 were easy to find in the house. I'm going to make a project of transcribing them - I've purchased Dragon Naturally Speaking which converts the spoken word into typed word. This will enable me (I hope) to transcribe her journals in some reasonable time. Mom always talked about some day writing a book of her experiences, but time ran out on her. I'm sure her thoughts and insights will be valuable to a lot of people and I think she'd like to share them.

Paul discovered a lot of photos of Mom in her early days. He's scanned some of them and is sending more for me to scan. It looks like I have a lot of work ahead.

January 19, 2004

My Mom was laid to rest at the Riverview Cemetery in Hamilton on Wednesday, January 14, 2004. There was a great turnout at her funeral and many words were spoken in her tribute. She will be missed by many, many people. Her obituary can be seen by clicking on Eve K. Printz. I am working on a more complete tribute to her life which will be included on our web page in the near future.

January 10, 2004

My Mom passed away early Friday morning.  May she rest in peace.

December 16, 2003

We drove our new Toyota up to Montana as planned and arrived back home Saturday evening. Mom is indeed nearing the end of her journey.  She is soooo tired.  We were able to share some time with her and let her know we're thinking of her.  The evening before we left, Merrill arrived to spend some time with Mom and Dad - they were glad to see him.  We hadn't seen Merrill for many years and it was good to spend some time with him.

We saw plenty of snow and ice during this trip - makes me remember why I moved to California. Click here to see a couple of photos taken on our way home.

Kyle called tonight - he and Debbie are going to arrive Saturday for the Christmas holidays. We've missed him and it's going to be good to have him around for a while.

December 7, 2003

Linda's dad and mom are back home - Les's leg is healing well and he got rid of his cast on December 1. They hired a 24/7 helper until Les is back to normal.  Les had been a little under the weather while they were here and he wound up in the hospital for a couple of days to treat extreme dehydration and the beginnings of kidney failure. When he got out of the hospital, he looked better than he has in a year or so - let's hope he can maintain his current condition. We've been trying to convince them they need to be in an assisted living environment but I think all our advice has fallen on deaf ears.

My mom is slowly slipping away according to reports we get from Montana - every day she gets a little weaker, sleeps a little longer and tires a little more easily. We've decided to take a drive up there and give her a hug - we're leaving first thing in the morning.

Debbie and Kyle were able to drive to Hamilton this weekend and see her - Sandi reports that she was really glad to see them. I'm glad they could make it.

Neither of us is in the mood for the holidays this year.  Thanksgiving was a bust - I won't go into the gory details.  Rather than join the Christmas festivities, we've decided to shine the whole thing - no gifts, no dinners, no nothing. We're going to drive over to the coast and spend a few days relaxing by the ocean.  We'll celebrate the New Year with Bob and Donna and start over in 2004.

November 8, 2003

A lot of changes in the Printz household in the last couple of weeks.  Linda's Dad broke his ankle bad enough to require orthopedic surgery to repair.  He will be out of commission for 6 to 8 weeks. Until he gets back on his feet, he and Ina are staying with us - so far everything is going well, but life is a lot different around here.

Linda and I bought a 2004 Toyota Corolla last week.  The Dodge Dakota has made little sense since we moved off our 20 acres.  We sold all our dirt bikes, Kyle moved, Linda doesn't like 4x4 roads and I haven't hauled anything since we moved ..... also I'm getting real tired of getting 15 mpg. Photos.

We went out to lunch with Bob and Donna the other day, and although we couldn't stay long because of our parent sitting duties, we had a good visit. We also had a pretty good lunch.

October 25, 2003

We just returned from spending 3 days with Bob and Donna in the mountains near Downieville.  Clean air, spectacular scenery, good company ....... it's the kind of thing that refreshes one's soul. Photos.

I talked to Kyle Sunday evening and received an email from Debbie Tuesday.  It sounds like they're already settled in and enjoying their new house.  Kyle has already met some of the neighbor kids his age - I hope one of them turns out to be a good buddy.

I forgot to mention last time that Linda and I took our annual Columbus Day motorcycle ride into the High Sierras to see the foliage of autumn.  We sure do love the mountains around here. Photos.

October 17, 2003

Kyle and Debbie left today for Spokane. For over 5 years, Kyle has spent nearly every weekend with us and we're going to miss him.  We wish them both much luck making new friends and getting settled into their new home.

Kyle's classmates held a bon voyage picnic luncheon for him and Debbie yesterday at Lyon's Park in Placerville.  They have a lot of good friends in this area that are sad to see them go. Photos

We visited Les & Ina this evening and shared a steak dinner with them - we also had some cake, pie, and ice cream to celebrate Les's 77th birthday.

October 9, 2003

It looks like fall has arrived in the Sacramento area. We've had a couple of weeks with clear skies and temperatures in the 80's. I used to love the hot days of summer, but in recent years, I can't say I'm sad to see the cooler weather.

Kyle and Debbie are making preparations to move - they plan to leave for the Spokane area October 17. We're going to miss them.

The other day Linda, Kyle and I went for a drive in the mountains. We visited several lakes in the Sierra and saw a lot of high country. Much of the area we visited was devastated by a huge forest fire some years back and the hillsides are now covered with 8-10 foot pine trees which were apparently planted. I planned to take some photos, but ........ someone forget the camera.

Bob and Donna visited last week - we had a nice visit and I didn't even lose too much in our usual poker game. We decided to spend a few days together later this month in Downieville, an old gold mining town at the north end of Highway 49. Linda and Donna are going out on the town tonight to see a play, 42nd Street in Sacramento.

September 11, 2003

Today is a day of remembrance and reflection. We all have our own thoughts about what happened and what our response should be.  Let's pray the world's leaders can figure out how to deal with terrorism.

Kyle and I drove the Dakota up to Montana - we left August 7 and returned on August 15.  Kyle was disappointed that we didn't do any gopher hunting - apparently gophers are smarter than people and during the heat of August, they're cooling off in their underground homes.  Jay took us fishing one day and it was an experience Kyle won't soon forget. Check out our photos. Kyle enjoyed spending time with Paul - he really misses the times he and Paul spent hiking around our place in Latrobe. They were able to spend an entire day shooting, and, that helped make Kyle's trip a success.

In all our travels this summer, I managed to gain 20 pounds - it's back to dieting and working out too much. About 8 pounds has grudgingly gone somewhere else so the situation isn't hopeless. Linda and I are enjoying being back home and are enjoying the amenities here in our new neighborhood. I'm making good use of the workout room and we've done a lot of swimming and hot tubbing.

Debbie has sold their house and has purchased another house in Washington.  Escrow closes on both deals in the middle of October.  Life is sure going to be a lot different without Kyle and Debbie in our daily lives. I can't say I'm looking forward to their leaving.

Linda's parents have moved out of their apartment into a two-bedroom mobile home in a very, very nice park.  

August 5, 2003

We arrived back home in the afternoon of July 14 after traveling 8,420 miles in 7 weeks on the road. The trip was a resounding success. Our country is indeed an amazing place. We were both astounded at the vastness. Neither of us had been anywhere other than the West and we thought things were much more crowded in the East and South - NOT SO! There's plenty of space. The lushness of the south was particularly surprising to both of us. Click here to see a map of our route.

We took plenty of pictures and Linda is in the process of putting together a day-by-day web journal of our trip. Until she completes her journal, click here to see a brief description of our trip.

Day after tomorrow, Kyle and I are headed to Montana again. I've been promising Kyle all year that I'd take him gopher hunting in the Big Hole and summer is quickly coming to an end - he starts school on August 18.

Debbie and Kyle are planning to move to Spokane. She's put her house on the market and made a contingency offer on a place up there. Now we're all waiting to see how things play out.

Tomorrow, Linda and I will have been married 20 years. Where does the time go?

May 27, 2003

We're outa here - back in mid-July.

May 16, 2003

Things are looking up. Winter seems to be over - we've had nothing but clear skies and warm weather for over a week. We got the Goldwing out of the shop Tuesday and our motorcycle trip to the Atlantic Ocean can't be far off.  Linda and I took a 140 mile ride for a bran muffin Wednesday afternoon and everything checks out. Linda has a doctor's appointment in the morning of May 27 and we plan to depart when she's finished.  We have no return date planned other than mid July sometime. Our plan consists of 3 stops:

1) Asheville, NC - Linda and Donna have talked about the Biltmore Estate near Asheville for some time. One rainy day last winter, Linda told me she'd like to visit there one day, and I jokingly said the only way I would go there is by motorcycle. Linda said: "You're on, let's go this spring". Well, my bluff had been called, so what could I do.

2) Great Falls, MT - One of Linda's friends moved to Great Falls from here a couple of years ago and Linda would like to see the Victorian house they are restoring.

3) Hamilton, MT - My folks' 63rd anniversary will be July 8 and we plan to be there.

Other than that, we plan to have no plan.  We'll get up each day and head east on what looks to be the most interesting route.  We'll avoid the Interstate Highways and major cities and try to hit all the little towns.  After we visit the Biltmore Estate, we'll continue on to the Atlantic Ocean, then turn around and head back west towards Montana.

Linda continues to stay busy with the Red Cross and I'm still content to hang out and keep myself amused with whatever seems interesting at the moment.

April 30, 2003

Today is kind of a sad day - the 5th anniversary of Kevin's death. Debbie and Kyle seem to be doing well, as do we - one day at a time. Still, he's dearly missed..................

April 13, 2003

Income taxes are done and ready to mail in. This time of year always makes me sick. No matter how we attempt to manage the withholding, we wind up having to come up with a couple thousand dollars every year. In a month or so I'll probably settle back down.

Our short motorcycle trip last week didn't happen - the weather and the Goldwing both decided to give us problems.

The weatherman just said it snowed three feet in the mountains this weekend. Last Friday it snowed a couple of feet in the mountains, and on the way to karate, I actually had to drive through a small snowstorm that dumped a couple of inches on the freeway.

We fixed one major problem on the Goldwing, but now, the charging system doesn't seem to work. Tomorrow, it's back in the shop. We're still planning to head for the east coast in May sometime - of course this assumes we have a running motorcycle and some money left after paying for all the motorcycle repairs. I guess I shouldn't complain ...... I'd rather deal with the problems here than on the road.

Other than motorcycle problems, life continues to go well. Linda and I continue to enjoy good health - Kyle and Debbie seem happy and busy, and summer is around the corner.

I've been playing around with making movies on the computer. The biggest effort is transferring videos from tape to the computer. It's a long tedious process.

March 20, 2003

My Dad, Kyle and I are another year older. This year I applied for Social Security benefits so it's getting harder to deny that I might be getting to be old. Oh well ................

Tonight we seem to be at war. Jon is over there in harm's way and would probably appreciate any support you can offer. Our thoughts are with him and his shipmates.

March 6, 2003

Wow! I can't believe how late I am in updating this page. Maybe it's because there hasn't been much excitement around here. Everything goes very well in Northern California - Linda and I are living happily ever after in our new home and enjoying the new freedom and conveniences it provides.

We celebrated Linda's birthday this year by traveling with our friends Bob and Donna to the Central Coast to see Hearst Castle. Click Here to see more including photos.

Linda has been attending services at the small church across from the entrance to Versante. In addition to the regular Sunday services, she is attending a Bible study class about the life and ministry of John the disciple. It seems to have become her all-consuming passion. She is always reading and taking notes.

In addition to her Red Cross work, Linda has started volunteering at the Snowline Hospice Thrift Shop. She is working one day a week. She likes what she does there -- it's right up a woman's alley apparently -- pricing clothes and putting them out on the racks for sale. She has even brought home a couple of good finds.

We've had some nice weather this year. Everyone is starting to get a little concerned as we continue to fall behind in our rainfall, but you can't be too unhappy about clear, blue skies with temperatures in the 60s. We've broken out our motorcycles and bicycles and done a few rides. We're enjoying the motorcycle riding so much we're planning a cross-country trip on the Gold Wing to North Carolina in May - we plan to take about a month or so. We've always wanted to take such a trip and Linda came up with a good reason - to see the Biltmore Estates. We plan a shorter, warm-up trip in April to explore some parts of Northeastern California we haven't seen yet.

Kyle is doing well in school this year, turning in some very, very good report cards. We continue to spend a lot of time with him. This week he's staying with us while his Mom takes a Mexican Cruise.

December 31, 2002

We're living in our new home! There's still lots of unpacking and plenty of things to get done, but we're pretty much settled in. The house and area are everything we'd hoped they might be.

Again, Bob & Donna - Thank you!

We had a very nice Christmas this year.  Debbie and Kyle came over early in the afternoon of Christmas Eve and we exchanged gifts and had a little visit.  Later in the day, we went over to Bob & Donna's and shared a wonderful dinner, gift exchange, and visit with their family.  Christmas day we shared with Linda's parents at their place -- we had a great dinner and received a beautiful Christmas and housewarming gift, a clock that plays music on the hour. Thanks everyone, it has been one eventful year!

This year has been a disaster for my normal activities - I haven't been keeping up with my martial arts training, my bicycle is getting rusty, I'm out of shape and 15 pounds overweight, my motorcycles are feeling unwanted.  Somehow, the turmoil of selling our house and moving drained all my motivation.  Tomorrow seems like a good day to get started!

December 3, 2002

Tomorrow is the walk-thru for our new house. This day seems to have taken forever to get here. Another week to fix any problems we might identify and escrow will finally close.

Things are going well at Bob and Donna's house - at least from our point of view. So far we all seem to be compatible. Thanksgiving went well. Between the two families, 19 people were over. Donna and Linda really outdid themselves as dinner was excellent.

November 4, 2002

Moving day is upon us. Escrow is scheduled to close November 8. Today the movers were here and hauled virtually everything away - all we're left with is a bed, a dresser, some delicate items such as house plants, and some cleaning supplies. Our plan is to spend tomorrow cleaning up and Wednesday moving our remaining stuff over to Bob & Donna's house. We originally planned our move for Thursday, but as luck would have it, the first rain in many moons is scheduled on that day.

We have a tentative move-in date on our new house: November 27. They're going to have to hurry to make that date.

If we're lucky, the next entry to this page will be made at our new home.

October 17, 2002

It looks like we may have actually sold our house. Our original buyer never did come up with any money and on October 7 the deal fell through. However, another buyer came along - this one with some real money. Our deal is now in escrow and should close on November 6. The only problem we have is that our new house won't be ready until early December. Bob and Donna have solved that problem by offering us a room in their house. We really appreciate the help.

Linda and I drove up to Montana for a few days and found everyone in good health and spirits. It looks like Paul and Brandon and their dogs have injected a lot of life into the Royal and Eve Printz household. Dad hasn't looked better in years and Mom continues to make small but steady gains.

Linda did her usual volunteer work at the annual Skandi-Fest in Turlock the last weekend in September. She had a great time and came back with another T-shirt for me.

We saw a very good movie the other day called "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". We highly recommend it for the uplifting feeling you have when you leave the theater.

September 22, 2002

Whoops! Another change in plans. Since September 8, we've had another offer on the house higher than the first offer. The only problem was the original buyer wasn't interested in pulling out - turns out to be a good thing since the backup offer was withdrawn a week later anyway.

Also, Linda and I decided we really didn't want to move for the sake of moving. Our original plan was to change our way of life and moving to a house in Cameron Park wasn't really going to change much other than we'd be in a neighborhood - so we withdrew our offer on that house. We found a small "active adult" community in El Dorado Hills that offered everything we were looking for - everything is included in the homeowners' association dues - gated security, all exterior building maintenance, landscaping, landscape maintenance, clubhouse with workout area and swimming pool, insurance, water, sewer, and a host of other amenities. We put our money down on a place that should be ready around November 15. Again, everything hinges on our buyer coming up with some real money which doesn't seem real promising at this time.

We've decided we'll keep our house on the market until the "active adult" community can no longer hold onto the place we want. If that deal falls through, we've decided we'll stay on our 20 acres and make some changes so we can change our lifestyle somewhat. The main thing we would like to do is travel for a couple of weeks whenever the notion strikes without worrying about all the plants, trees, and hedges dying. Automate watering should take care of that problem and we intend to install such a system if we stay.

We attended the wedding of Julie and Garry Thomas yesterday at Stinson Beach. They rented a couple of really nice houses right on the beach and put up all their guests in style. The ceremony was unconventional, entertaining, and touching. We had a nice day with lots of good company, good scenery, and the cool coast. We've been having a run of 4 continuous day with temperatures over 100 degrees with no real relief in sight.

September 8, 2002

We found a house we like in the Cameron Park area. We've negotiated a price with the owners and the deal is currently in escrow. Only one small problem ---- the people that are buying our house are having problems with their buyer, something about the financing. This puts both of our deals in a little trouble. At this point nobody seems to know what's going on - all we know is that escrow on the sale of our house was scheduled to close September 10 and is now scheduled for October 4. We have packed up virtually everything and are now eating off paper plates. Everyone is holding their breath and hoping everything will work out. We'll see.

Paul and Brandon have made the move to Montana. They arrived there this week and are in the process of getting settled in. I talked to Paul yesterday and he seems happy to be there.

August 19, 2002

Linda and I have just returned home from a scouting trip to Arizona and have decided to continue making our home in this area. In another month we will be homeless and are now scurrying around trying to find a new place to live.

How did we get in this predicament? This spring, the housing market was looking up in this area, so we put our place up for sale. For years, Linda and I had dreamed of cashing in, moving to a less expensive place, and doing a lot of traveling. Arizona seemed like the logical place, although neither of us had ever been there. We planned a trip in August to check out Arizona, although in the back of our minds, the move to Arizona seemed a foregone conclusion. The day before we left for Arizona, we received an offer on the house. We countered, the buyers countered back, and an agreement was reached the second day we were in Arizona - we had sold our house. Although Arizona had some good points, Linda and I finally came to the conclusion that this move wasn't right. It was hard to leave family and friends behind. We also came to appreciate our foothills and mountains as we spent day after day in the desert. Anyway ............ here we are looking for a new home.

This time, we are looking for something a little closer to civilization with a little less property to keep going. We still plan to travel a lot and need a place that can be left alone for more than a day or two. Linda and I spent the whole day (our first since returning from Arizona) driving by properties that looked promising on the Internet. We have identified 5 or 6 places that look really good and will check them out as soon as possible. We also saw another 10 or so places that look OK and will also check them out if necessary.

Paul and Brandon are also making a change. They are moving up to Montana to be closer to the folks. Paul, Dan, Roderick, and Brandon are coming over August 24th for our last get-together before they leave August 30. We'll miss having them in the area.

July 17, 2002

Linda's brother, Wayne, was found dead in his apartment on July 8, his 54th birthday. He could have died as early as June 24 according to the coroner. The cause of death is pending, however, it was apparently of natural causes. We are all devastated, especially, Linda, Lester, and Ina.

A memorial service was held on Saturday, July 13 in Martinez where Wayne worked and lived these past 25 years or so. It was a moving service that was well attended by Wayne's friends and family. We'll all miss Wayne.

July 1, 2002

We're back from Hawaii. Linda wound up $389 short of her $3500 goal but she made up the difference out of her own pocket and competed in the Kona Marathon. She decided to do the half marathon finishing in 540th place, completing the more than 13 miles in 4 hours and 4 minutes. Quite an accomplishment!

Kyle and I made our motorcycle trip to Montana in early June. From now on, we'll wait until July - we ran into snow at Cascade, Idaho. Kyle and I both became sick while we were holed up there. Some kind of virus that had us both upchucking. Kyle was up all night the first night and I was up all night the third night. Jay took Kyle and me gopher hunting up in the Big Hole and there are now at least 10 fewer gophers in the area.

The news from Montana is good. Mom continues to improve and Dad hasn't looked better in years.

May 6, 2002

Mom is back home and slowly recovering. Sandi has done a lot of work to make life easier for Mom and Dad. She has had ramps installed on the side and back porches to make getting in and out a little easier. She has also purchased a couple of special tilt-up chairs that provide a help in getting up. Also, the bathtub is coming out (may be gone already) to be replaced with a walk-in shower. For the short-term, there is 24/7 live-in assistance being provided until Mom is able to get in and out of bed by herself.

This is a big life style change for everyone concerned. I hope the adjustment period is smooth and quick.

Linda and I are embarking on a life style change of our own. The real estate market is booming in this area and we've put our home up for sale. We don't know exactly what we'll do if it actually sells, but we have a few ideas. We've been looking into retirement communities and have a couple spotted in Arizona. This summer, we plan to pay a short visit to the area and see if we can stand the heat. If our house sells before we find another location, we just plan to rent something here until the end of summer. We'll see how it all plays out - the ball is now rolling and has taken on a life of its own.

Kyle and I are planning a motorcycle trip to Montana June 4 -16. Last summer, Jay promised to take Kyle gopher hunting this year and Kyle has been looking forward to this trip and planning it for nearly a year.

Linda and I drove over to Reno on April 28 and spent some time with Jay and Janie at the NRA Convention. We had a few meals, lost some money, and had a lot of good conversation. Jay introduced us to some of his fellow NRA Board Directors - they were all extremely nice people. Also, every one of them had done something to distinguish themselves in life and some of them are quite famous. I was especially honored to meet General Joe Foss, a WWII U.S. Marine fighter pilot, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Linda's training for the marathon progresses. I've been doing a little road work with her and I can tell you that distances over 10 miles are far, far, far. It looks like Linda needs a few more wealthy friends - the contributions have quit coming in and she's still $750 short. She'll have to make up the difference if she wants to compete - something tells me that she'll do it.

Linda has taken on more responsibilities with the American Red Cross. She is now a Chapter Duty Officer or CDO, in addition to being a Disaster Action Team member. This means she is on call after hours and on the weekends one week a month (or more) to activate disaster teams should the need arise. She has so far responded to three events. These events did not call for team activation, but she did have to calm down some clients over the phone. When we move, I guess Linda will volunteer for the Red Cross in Arizona. She said there is a chapter in Phoenix that she will probably pay a visit to.

April 5, 2002

More bad news. Last Friday, Mom took a tumble and broke her hip. She was immediately taken to Missoula and on Sunday, March 31, she underwent surgery to have it pinned. She survived the surgery OK and is now on the mend. As you might imagine, she now has to undergo many hours of very painful rehabilitation.

In the meantime, Sandi is running herself ragged traveling back and forth to Missoula to visit Mom and spending as much time as she can with Dad to ease his fears and loneliness. Jay is out of town and Sandi has no one with which to share the burden. Understandably, Dad is lonesome and somewhat depressed about the situation. It might not hurt to pick up the phone and give one or both of them a call. I'm sure they would both appreciate the support.

March 6, 2002

Mom is home from the hospital and on the road to recovery from her recent gall bladder surgery.  She had a few rough days that had everyone worried.  Debbie, Kyle, Paul, Linda, and I drove up to Montana to lend our support to both her and Dad.  We didn't spend much time there, only a couple of days, but I believe our presence and the presence of Jon and Ashley buoyed up Mom's spirits.  For a description of our adventure, including a couple of photos, click here.

Just for the record, I believe that Sandi probably saved Mom's life - she is making an heroic effort in her support of Mom and Dad.  I feel a lot better knowing that she and Jay are close by. Thanks Sandi!

I'll never again complain about California weather.  The first morning we were there, I looked outside at the thermometer on Jay's deck and it read -4 degrees.  The high that day was in the 20s.  Our windshield washer froze up somewhere in Nevada and stayed frozen until we got home.  Today it's raining with temperatures in the 50s - it seems downright tropical.

Linda's training for the marathon is going well. While we were in Montana, she was able to work in an 8-mile run/walk. The money keeps trickling in and she is optimistic she'll meet her goal.

February 5, 2002

Our rainy season seems to be over - we're at least having a welcome break. The past couple of weeks have been wonderful - a little cool maybe. We did have a couple of weeks when it dipped into the 20s at night and didn't get out of the 40's in the daytime, but it has been warming up to near 60 lately. Another 30 degrees or so and I'll be happy.

Linda has committed herself to quite a challenge. She's going to run the Kona Marathon as part of a fund raising event for the American Stroke Association. The deal is - she raises $3500 for them by May 23 and they will provide the necessary training, travel, and support for her to compete on June 23.

Linda also has been doing some work with the Red Cross.  She is on a Disaster Action Team, which responds to local events.  She has been called out on two house fires where the occupants had to be put up in a hotel because the houses were destroyed.  This evening she went to the Chapter office for a meeting to get ready for a big statewide drill that will be happening in May.  Hopefully, it will just be a drill and not the real thing.

Kevin's KZ1000 lives again. Last week, we got it back on the road. It took a lot of time and money, but now that it's back on the road, I'm glad we did it. I had a lot of help from some of Kevin's friends who are now my friends.  Click here for some photos and the story of Kevin's KZ1000.

January 1, 2002

Happy New Year folks. It's been another great year in Latrobe - we hope you can say the same.

Forrest's birth day was December 29 - he would have been six this year. It sure doesn't seem like so much time has passed since his death. We wonder what he would be like if he were still here. Happy Birthday Forrest.

Bob and Donna came over late yesterday and helped us usher in the New Year. Linda and Donna fleeced Bob and me out of our hard earned money with some skillful card tricks.

Christmas was kind of a fractured affair this year. Linda and I participated in three Christmas celebrations. On Sunday, December 23, Linda, Kyle and I spent the day eating and exchanging gifts at the Brown's house with Bob, Donna, Candace, and Anthony. On Monday morning, December 24, we went out to breakfast with Debbie and Rick, then spent an hour or so at Debbie and Kyle's house. That afternoon, we went to Les and Ina's house - Ina was recuperating from foot surgery and didn't feel up to making the trip to our place. On Christmas day, Paul, Dan, Roderick, and Brandon were able to come over and share the day with us.

Linda cooked up another feast on Thanksgiving and nearly everyone showed up for a nice visit. Wayne was unable to break away from his job because they were working seven days a week to finish a job on time. Paul, Dan, Roderick, Brandon, Les, Ina, Bob, Donna, Candace, Anthony and Bob's mom, Lorena were all here. Bob's mom was quite a hit with the group. We all hope she's able to make it again sometime. Unfortunately, we were all so busy visiting that nobody thought to take any pictures.

Linda and I continue to keep busy and happy in our retirement. It's hard to believe how we ever found the time to go to work every day. On December 19, Linda spent the morning sorting and packing food baskets at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds to be distributed to the needy. She reported that it was interesting but hard work! She also ran into a couple of her old Caltrans buddies there who were also volunteering their morning.

The rainy season seems to have arrived. According to my records, we've received nearly 13 inches of rain in the past couple of months - way above average. There's plenty of snow in the mountains also. Some of the ski resorts are reporting over 10 feet of base. So far, so good. It seems that California is always in some kind of water crisis - drought or floods. Maybe this year we can just have a nice, normal year.

October 29, 2001

I must be really busy. I see it's been over 2 months since I've updated this page. Hopefully, someone still reads it now and again - I apologize to those who do.

I've discovered how to program a Palm Pilot. Linda and I have both traded up - we each have a Sony Clie. These devices have very high resolution color displays and memory expansion capability - much more fun than the vanilla Palm Pilots. Linda's even plays music. If anyone has need for a simple Palm Pilot program, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Linda has joined the Red Cross volunteers and is spending quite a bit of time getting trained up. She is on a Disaster Action Team which will render assistance to disaster victims. She's also on the ballot for a position on the Board of the Latrobe Fire Protection District - I guess I'll vote for her next week.

Linda helped put on this year's Skandi Fest in Turlock. Kyle and I drove down and spent the afternoon. Lots of neat things to see and do.

I'm still content to selfishly pursue my own desires. I was awarded a Black Belt in Koden Kan Karate at a ceremony on October 5. Funny, I expected to be able to fly or something, but I'm still the same old guy. Still a struggle to stay in shape - lots of bicycle riding. It's supposed to rain tonight so I suppose summer is over and I'm going to have to start hitting the gym again. I'd rather be outside.

Linda's folks seem to be doing O.K. They spent last week in Monterey.

Kyle and Debbie are also doing well. We still see Kyle every weekend.

Paul is keeping busy up in Grass Valley. We don't see too much of him and Brandon lately. Hopefully we'll have a chance to visit over the holidays.

We really need the rain. Our pond is almost dried up for the first time in the 12 years we've been up here.. We've stopped watering the lawn and are talking about some landscaping that won't take so much irrigation.

We hear that Jon is scheduled to join the action in the Middle East in early December. Debbie says he's planning to spend Thanksgiving in Hamilton and she and Kyle are planning to drive up there also. We're planning to stay home and share our Thanksgiving with Linda's parents, and Paul and his family.

Linda and I drove to Montana in early September to help Mom celebrate her 81st birthday. We had a nice visit with them. Sandi and Jay were both out of town - I suspect they both decided to leave when they heard we were on the way again. We've made three trips up there this year. We had a little adventure by taking the McGruder Corridor from Elk City, Idaho to Conner, Montana - 120 miles of mostly dirt road between two wilderness areas. It's supposed to be the most isolated road in the country. To add to the adventure, it snowed 6-8 inches the night before - we had a few moments but thankfully, we had 4-wheel drive which made life easier. We traversed three mountain passes all of which had considerable snow.

August 15, 2001

Today would have been Kevin's 38th birthday - he's in our thoughts.

Our trip to Hawaii with Kyle, Bob, Donna, Candace, and Anthony was a success. We enjoyed lots of hanging out at the beach and generally taking it easy.

As much as I like laying around the beach, snorkeling, and playing in the surf, it's sure nice to get back home - there's something especially nice about sleeping in your own bed and eating your own food. I also enjoy getting back into my normal routines. I've been doing my normal things, a little karate, a little bicycle riding, a little motorcycle riding, a few chores ...... I sure do enjoy being retired. Linda's planning a run for public office - she has put her name on the ballot for a spot on the board of the Latrobe Fire Protection District. Who knows what's next - replacing Dianne Feinstein?

Just before we left for Hawaii, our dirt road was chip sealed. While we were gone, our driveway was also chip sealed by the same outfit. It sure is a lot nicer around here without all the dust. We're even thinking of washing our vehicles.

Linda's mom is still in the hospital. They have determined her problems are the result of a staph infection she picked up during her first back surgery on June 11. Right now it looks like she has another couple of weeks before they get it cleared up. She's getting pretty homesick by now.

July 20, 2001

It looks like I've neglected to keep this page current again.

We're getting ready for our Hawaii trip - we leave July 29 for a week in Oahu. We're all looking forward to a little beach time.

I've finally finished all my black belt requirements - there will be a belt ceremony in early October and I will be one of the candidates receiving a black belt.

I spent most of June whacking weeds which didn't leave much time to do anything exciting. We (Linda, Kyle, and I) traveled to Montana the first week in July and had a great visit with everyone. We spent several days with Sandi and Pete and another couple with Jay and Janie and another couple of days with Ken, Sharon, and Shelby. We got to spend some time with Mom and Dad and helped them celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary on July 8.

Jay took Kyle on his first gopher hunting trip - fortunately for the gophers, it was a cloudy day and they got skunked.

On June 11, Linda's mom had back surgery to correct a nerve conflict with some bone spurs. She's had quite a time. After the surgery, the pain didn't seem to go away and she never really got back on her feet. After several attempts at rehab with no relief, she was admitted back into the hospital and it was found that she had a system-wide infection leading from an abscess on her spine. She was operated on again to remove the abscess - she's still in the hospital as of today. When she gets out, it looks like she'll have to endure another round of rehab before she's ready to go home.

June 3, 2001

Well, it didn't take long to decide on another trip to Hawaii - We went to the Sacramento Jazz Festival with Bob & Donna Memorial Day weekend and watched Candace perform in the parade.  After the parade we played some cards and during our conversations someone suggested we take the grandkids to Hawaii. Sounded like a great idea - Bob, Donna, Candace, Anthony, Linda, Kyle and I are going to spend the week of July 30 - August 6 at the same beach house on Oahu

Linda has been busy with her volunteer work at Marshall Park coordinating weddings. She has done four or five of them in the last couple of months. She really likes the people she works with and she is having a good time. She reports that each wedding is unique and each one leaves her uplifted and in great spirits afterward.

I'm getting ready for my annual battle with the weeds - I'll spend 40-50 hours with my weed-eater over the next month or so. I hope to finish before July 1 so we can make our annual pilgrimage to Montana. We had a dry winter and May was the hottest on record - It promises to be a bear of a fire season. We've already had one close call and summer is still a ways off.

The next time I enter something on this page, I should be a Black Belt. I've been testing since late January and Thursday I should be finished.

Kyle is out of school for the summer - he says he's retired for a while. He and I went on a 12 mile bicycle ride today - we both really enjoy these rides in the country. We talked about taking some longer rides when he gets to be 15 or so. Maybe we'll try a trip to Montana or something.

I have received news that one of my old beer drinking buddies, Melvin "Dano" Corwin died on April 30, 2001 at Cottonwood, Arizona due to complications from diabetes and recent surgery. I hadn't seen Dano for about 10 years, although I could have looked him up several times. When will I ever learn that tomorrow or next time doesn't always get here.

May 8, 2001

We've been back from Hawaii (Oahu) for a week now. We stayed at the same beachside house as last August. Linda and I joke about going on vacation when you're retired - how do you do that when life is just one long vacation? It is sure nice to lay around on the beach and enjoy each other's company. We had three days of sunny skies and four days of rain and wind. Even the rain over there is nice. The first day we were there we drove around the island - it was raining on us and in the mountains left of the highway. The sun was shining from the ocean and this created the most spectacular rainbow I've ever seen - it was a full 180 degrees with colors so vibrant they looked fake. The leading end of the rainbow was about 100 feet away and followed us as we drove down the highway - we looked in vain for the pot of gold. I'll remember that rainbow for the rest of my life. We spent all the rainy days driving around and the sunny days snorkeling and laying around on the beach. If you're reading this you know you'll also have to look at a couple of photos - Linda - Doug.

We had a little excitement a couple of days after we got home. On Wednesday evening, about 4:30 or so, we heard a helicopter flying very, very low and close to our house. We rushed outside to see what was going on and were surprised to see a column of smoke approaching our house from the east - it was huge. The helicopter had picked up a load of water from the river and he dumped it as we watched - it didn't look too far away and we were sure the fire would be on us in a few minutes. The wind was blowing about 30 mph. I turned on the pump to the pond and we dragged a couple of garden hoses out in preparation for putting out any embers that might fall on the roof of the house or garage. The smoke was billowing a couple of hundred feet in the air, and it was also getting real smoky where we were standing. I was thinking about how puny the garden hoses seemed when we heard some noise on the road below our place. It turned out to be a couple of fire engines and a water tanker. When they turned up our driveway I was overwhelmed with relief - I had already started thinking of what we would do if our home burned down. A firefighter asked me to show him all the buildings then he asked us to leave for our own safety. We didn't argue - we left. To make a long story short - they stopped the fire short of our property and we didn't lose anything. I've scanned in the newspaper article describing the events.

One last piece of news - Linda has sold both her motorcycles. She says she'd rather ride behind me than fight the traffic.

We're planning a week-long trip to Montana with Kyle in July. We'll try to time it so we're there for the Fourth and also for Mom and Dad's 63rd wedding anniversary on July 8.

April 2, 2001

We just returned from an afternoon with Bob and Donna. Today is Donna's birthday and we went over to take her out to lunch. Somehow Bob picked up the check so we wound up inviting ourselves over for a free lunch.

Jay and Rod had a coin show in Sacramento and were able to spend a couple of days with us on the way in and out. They headed back for Hamilton this morning. It's always nice to see them. Jay reports that all is well in Montana.

Linda continues her training at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. She is currently spending a few hours working at each of several jobs to get the feel of the park and help decide what particular things she'll work on. She is really learning a lot about the early history of the area.

Kyle had his first baseball game (photo) on March 31. His team played well but didn't have the good fortune to win. All the coaches and parents are very supportive and everyone enjoyed the day.

Linda, Kyle and I have each gained another year but we seem to be none the worse for wear. Linda surprised me with a little party on March 17 by inviting a group of people up here without my knowledge. Paul took me on a hike to the river with Brandon and Kyle while everyone was arriving. When we returned from the river - SURPRISE!!!    I must be the most gullible person on the planet - I never suspect a thing and even when I walk in on everyone it takes me a couple of seconds to get it.

We enjoyed our week in Palm Springs. As we planned we spent a lot of time driving around the desert (photo1 photo2) and also spent some time soaking the the hot tub and swimming pool. The Chamber of Commerce brags about 350 days of sunshine every year - we saw three of the remaining 15 days. On one of the days there was over 1/2 inches of rainfall, some kind of record for the area. For that reason we didn't spend as much time pool side as we originally planned.

We've decided to put off our trip to Alaska after checking out the distance on a map. Instead we're planning to check out New Mexico this fall.

February 21, 2001

Life continues to go well in Latrobe. We recently joined the local sports club and there is plenty there to keep us busy. They have a fully equipped weight room, an aerobics room with every kind of treadmill, stairwalker, stationary bicycle, ski machine, and rowing machine known to man along with swimming pools, hot tubs, spas, tennis courts, basketball courts .... you get the idea. We try to make it there every day - we spend most of our time on the treadmill trying to burn a few calories. I recently started a little weight training - we'll see if any of this stuff works.

Linda has started doing a little volunteer work. On February 1st she started a ten-week (1 full day/week) training program at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. When she is finished with this course she will go to work at the park a day or so a week. There are many jobs to be done and she won't know what she'd like to do until her training is complete. She also has begun delivering food with the local "Meals on Wheels" program.

Kyle will be playing baseball this spring. Last weekend he did real well in the local Little League tryouts and he will be drafted by a team next week, start practice on March 1 and opening day will be March 31. He's never played baseball before and he is really excited about getting a chance to play.

We've arranged for a little travel in the coming months. The first week of March we'll be in Palm Springs laying around the swimming pool and driving around the desert. The last week in April we're going back to the same place on Oahu we were last year. We've also been talking about taking a drive up to Alaska in late summer or early fall. I imaging we'll also get up to Montana one of these days.

The holidays also went well in Latrobe. On Christmas day the regular group came over for dinner and we exchanged gifts. We also had a gift exchange with Debbie and Kyle and a separate gift exchange with Bob and Donna.

December 4, 2000

I think this approaches a record for procrastination - nearly three months without updating our page? We had some change in plans - we changed our trip to Palm Springs to the middle of February. Neither of us was ready to leave home again so soon after returning from Hawaii.

On Thanksgiving Day Linda hosted a traditional feast for myself, Les and Ina, Wayne, Paul, Brandon, and Dan. Not much excitement, but a pleasant visit was had by all. Kyle spent the weekend on the coast, near Bodega Bay with Debbie and her family.

We bought a new pickup in early November, a 2001 Dodge Dakota 4x4. We took it to Las Vegas for the free, three-day, two-night stay Linda found on the Internet. We drove on dirt roads from South of Bishop, California to Scotty's Castle, a distance of about 80 miles. It was an interesting ride - but really pretty tame.

Las Vegas was really something! This was Linda's first visit and I haven't seen it since about 1968. We stayed in a real nice condo called Desert Paradise Resort, just a mile or so off the strip. We spent most of our time around Caesar's Palace and Bellagio. I could spend hours describing everything but you have to see it to appreciate it. The fountain show at Bellagio was especially interesting. According to Linda, the atmosphere in Caesar's Palace and Bellagio reminded her a lot of Italy.

In October, Dad took a fall and banged his head and hurt his leg and shoulder. There was some hemorrhaging in his brain that wasn't discovered for several days. The symptoms were serious and we were worried he had suffered a stroke, so LInda and I drove to Montana. By the time we got there, the crisis had passed and he was well on his way to recovery. He spent a couple of weeks in physical therapy and then returned home where he seems to be doing OK.

When we got to Montana, LInda called her folks to let them know we arrived OK only to find out that her Dad had been rushed to the hospital and was in the Intensive Care Unit. He had had some minor surgery a week earlier and was experiencing some unusual bleeding. It all cleared up in a couple of days but the doctors never really found out what was causing it. He went home after a couple of days and seems to be doing OK.

The last weekend in September, Linda attended the Skandi-Fest in Turlock. Every year she attends this festival to celebrate her Scandinavian heritage. Her folks usually go, but this year they weren't able to attend.

September 8, 2000

We returned from our trip to Hawaii on August 19.  Somehow it has taken me three weeks to get all the photos on line and to write up a description of our trip.  Hawaii is sure a great place.  To read about our trip click Hawaii2000; to view some pictures, click HawaiiPictures2000.

We spent the first week on Oahu and the second week on the Big Island.  Strangely, Linda and I both like Oahu better.  We stayed North of the Honolulu/Waikiki area near Hauula.  It has a rural flavor, the people are nice, and the beaches are not crowded.  As we drove further north, the flavor remained.  On the Big Island, however, we found that nearly all the good places were swarming with people.  The coast is largely inaccessible and there are very few beaches because the island isn't old enough.  Also, Kilauea emits a lot of sulfur dioxide (2500 tons/day they say) and the prevailing winds blow it to the Kailua-Kona area, resulting in a smog like condition called VOG by the locals.  Very unpleasant stuff.  There was a lot to like, however, and we enjoyed our stay there as well.

Every time we go to Hawaii, Linda and I spend some time considering how it would be like to live over there.  We always check out the real estate market.  One of these days, we might just do it.

On October 1, we’re off to Palm Springs for a week.  Linda keeps stumbling on these deals that are just too good to pass up.  In November we're off again for a week in Las Vegas – this one is for free, except for enduring a timeshare pitch.

In between trips, not much is getting done around here.  I'm finding it hard to get into any kind of routine and my karate, bicycling, and working out is all suffering.  I don’t think we’ll be doing so much traveling next year.

August 2, 2000

We’re baaaaaack – but not for long. 

Linda and Donna had a great time in Europe!  To read about their adventures, click Europe2000 – to view some pictures of their trip, click EuropePictures2000.

Kyle and I also had a great time on our motorcycle trip.  To read about our adventures, click Montana2000 – to view some pictures from our trip, click MontanaPictures2000.

Tomorrow Linda, Kyle and I are taking off for Hawaii – we’ll drive to San Francisco, stay overnight in a motel, and catch a plane first thing in the morning.

We spent most of the time between trips resting from one and getting ready for the other.  Frankly, although I’m looking forward to spending some time in Hawaii, I’ll be glad to get back and settle into my normal, dull routine.  If I have much more vacationing, I’ll weigh 300 pounds.

June 16, 2000

We’re both getting ready for our upcoming trips from June 25 to July 14.  Linda will be heading for Europe with our friend Donna Brown - Kyle and I will be off on our motorcycle trip to Montana.

Linda and Donna went to a “Bon Voyage Party” last Sunday where they wound up some of the last minute details.  Click Here to see a brief itinerary and map of their trip.

I’m waiting for the last minute to get ready for the motorcycle trip.  I've got my hands full trying to get enough weeds cut down so I won’t have to worry about the place burning up while we’re gone.  Today is the end of a 4-day heat wave that saw temperatures as high as 107 Wednesday.

Linda got a little taste of piloting a motorcycle on our May trip to Montana and decided she’d like to have a street motorcycle that was large enough to go on some serious trips.  She purchased a 2000 Yamaha Virago 535 a couple of weeks ago and she is really enjoying it.  Take a look.

On June 9, Brandon graduated from the 8^th grade.  We drove up to Grass Valley for the ceremony that was held at Empire Mine State Park.  There were 79 graduates and more than 700 people were in the audience – pretty good turnout.  It’s good to see that we've got a good crop of young people coming up.

May 22, 2000

Uncle Bill's funeral was held in Redding on Saturday, May 20, 2000. My Mom and Ken flew to Sacramento and we all (Mom, Ken, Linda, Paul, Brandon, and myself attended. There were a lot of folks up there I hadn't seen in many a year. It was a nice tribute to Uncle Bill and we will all miss him. Paul took some pictures and they are available from my home page - see the link to Uncle Bill's Page.

May 14, 2000

Uncle Bill passed away Saturday from complications due to his heart surgery. He was much admired by me and the people I know - his great knowledge and sense of adventure will be sorely missed. Our condolences to Jan and the kids.

May 12, 2000

Uncle Bill Mayer had to have bypass surgery about a week ago and as far as I know he's still in the hospital. There were some complications but he seems to be doing somewhat better at last word. It wouldn't hurt to put him in your prayers.

It looks like another couple of months have passed so I better add something. Jay and I talked while we were in Montana and it looks like each of us is using the other for justification in not updating our web page. I told him that whenever I feel guilty for not having updated my web page, I look at his to see when his was last updated. If he hasn't updated his for a while, then I feel justified in letting mine go a little longer. He laughed and said his does the same thing.

We returned from our Montana trip May 7. We stayed with Sandi and Pete while we were there and we sure enjoyed their hospitality. They were very busy getting started on their spring planting and yard work. They've also done some work on their house and are planning some more. They both seem to be doing well.

We got to spend a day visiting with Jay and Janie - they took us to dinner at a place in Charlos Heights which was a pleasant change from our usual haunts, the Koffee Kup and 4 B's. They both look well and prosperous.

We also spent a day at Ken and Sharon's place. Sharon prepared a delicious roast beef dinner. It was so good that I couldn't help myself from eating too much, but hey, I was on vacation. Their family is also doing well. They put in a lot of work in their place and every time we're there they've added something new.

If you click on the links in the following paragraphs you can see a couple of photos we took.

We also got to spend some time with Mom and Dad. I'm always surprised by how good they look. Mom looks more like her old self - it looks like the pacemaker is doing a lot of good. They both say they feel well and I believe it. I hope to be doing half as well when I'm their age - actually, I will be happy just to actually be their age some day.

LInda and I took our dual-purpose motorcycles as planned. We took two trips in Montana. On the first trip we took the Old Darby Road from Hamilton to Darby. On the way we stopped at Como Lake and took the trip over the hill into Lost Horse. I'd never been in this area and was surprised at the rugged beauty of the area - we came around one turn and it looked like glacier park. The next day, we decided to head for Burnt Fork Lake, east of Corvallis. I'd never been on the east side of the Valley, other than a few trips on the bench, and I was really surprised at how rugged the mountains were. It never occurred to me that there were such views of the valley from up there. We never made it to the Lake - when we got near the snow level, it got real cold and started looking like rain, so we turned around and headed for the warmth of a coffee shop.

On the way home, we stopped at Arco and took the motorcycles out to the Great Rift, east of the Craters of the Moon. It was very cool and very, very windy when we took off. When we got about 25 miles out, we started to run into a lot of patches of 6-8 inch thick dust - it would splash up on our legs like water. The further we went, the worse it got. After a few miles of that and a couple of near spills, we decided we'd had enough and headed back for shelter. I can't say too much about the scenery out there - the most exciting thing that happened was that we scared up a couple of antelope.

Linda and I both enjoy this type of adventure and plan to do much more of it in the future. We have so many dirt roads scoped out that it will take the next 20 years to hit them all.

We went on our trip to Lake Tahoe. For $39 it was a real bargain. We also got a $50 meal and $50 worth of gift certificates at a local tourist shop. It was a real pleasant three days. The condo sales pitch was a little unpleasant - but we survived.

March 8, 2000

The year is going great so far.  I'm a little slow in keeping my web site up to date but I have great plans.  I have some new development software and I plan to completely redesign my site over the summer.

Yesterday was Dad's birthday - Happy Birthday, Dad.

Friday is Sandi and Pete's anniversary - Happy Anniversary Sandi & Pete!

March is a busy month for birthdays - Happy Birthday greetings also to Kyle, me, Cheryl, and Jim.

On February 27, everyone came over to help Linda celebrate her birthday - the big five-oh.  Les, Ina, Wayne, Bob, Donna, Anthony, Candace, Paul, Brandon, Dan, Roderick, and Kyle were all here.  We spent the afternoon visiting, went out for dinner, and had ice cream and cake in the evening.

Linda is now retired - her last day of work was February 17.  We're both enjoying not having to go to work.  We're currently spending a lot of time trying to get in shape and catching up on chores around the place.  Also, we're finding plenty of time to relax and take it easy.  Last weekend, for example, we took a drive to the Ukiah area to check out Cow Mountain, an off-road motorcycling area.  While we were in the area, we decided to drive over to the coast.  Travel like this is a lot different when you really don't have to be back until you're good and ready.  We both felt the lack of a deadline and it made the trip extra enjoyable.

We have a very busy summer planned.

• In early April, we have a four-day stay arranged at Lake Tahoe - Linda stumbled onto a deal on the Internet that was too good to pass up - $39 for the entire package, if we listen to a 90 minute sales pitch for a condo.
• In late April we plan a short trip to visit folks in Montana.
• In late June, Linda is leaving for a three-week trip to Europe.  Kyle and I are planning a three-week motorcycle trip of the Western United States.
• In August, Linda, Kyle, and I will be going to Hawaii for two weeks.  We plan to spend a week on Oahu so Kyle can see where Kevin used to work and play while he was at Pearl Harbor.  We plan to spend the other week on the Big Island.
• In early October we're going on a five-day trip to Palm Springs - another "deal too good to pass up" that Linda came across on the Internet.  We plan to take our dual-purpose bikes (see below) to explore some of California's high desert area.

Linda and I have become interested in seeing some of the country from roads and trails that are accessible only by off-road vehicles and vehicles like jeeps.  We've located literally thousands of miles of dirt roads and trails in California, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado and Utah that we'd like to see.

To accomplish this, I bought a new motorcycle, a Kawasaki KLR650.  This is what they call a dual-purpose motorcycle and is designed to be able to drive off the highway as well as on the highway.  As I explained to Linda's Mom when she asked me why I needed two motorcycles - the Goldwing is like a Cadillac, the KLR650 is like a Jeep.  Actually I now have three motorcycles.  The other one is a Honda XR200 which is strictly for off-road riding.

We looked high and low for a dual-purpose motorcycle for Linda but couldn't find one that fit her.  They were all way too tall for her.  We decided to modify her Honda XR100 dirt bike so that it could also be licensed for the highway, thus making it a dual-purpose motorcycle.  It is currently in the shop and we expect it will be finished in another couple of weeks.

We plan to take both dual-purpose motorcycles, by trailer, to Montana with us and explore whatever roads we happen to run across.  In previous trips, we have run across many, many dirt roads heading off into the mountains that have signs that say such things as "Hidden Lake - 43 miles" or "Scotty's Castle - 55 miles".  We've always been fascinated by these roads, but have never had the time or vehicle required to take such a trip - this time we plan to see what's there.

January 5,  2000

It looks like Y2K was a fizzle - thank you very much.

The holidays were quiet here in Latrobe.

On Christmas Eve we went over to Bob and Donna's for dinner and to exchange gifts.  Some of their family was also there and we all had a pleasant visit.

Our plans for Christmas Day largely evaporated for a variety of reasons.  Debbie and Kyle spent the holidays in Idaho.  Mom's adventure early in the Christmas week had us all worried for a while - thank God it all worked out OK.  Paul decided it was time for a visit to Montana, so he and Brandon went to Montana for the holidays.  Dan had originally planned to spend Christmas with us and celebrate the New Year in Mexico.  His travel plans fell through and he had to leave early - before Christmas - for Mexico.  On Christmas Eve, Roderick called to say he was sick and wouldn't make it to dinner on Christmas Day.  On Christmas Day, Wayne was so sick he couldn't make the trip from the Bay Area.  That left Linda's folks and us.  Strangely, Les had originally planned to host the group at their apartment but we all decided there wasn't enough room and we moved it to our house.  Les would do the cooking and bring it up here.  As it turned out, there were only the four of us and there would have been plenty of room, but they came up here anyway.  Les made a ham - it was delicious.

On December 21, the people in my office threw me a retirement luncheon.  More people showed up than I expected - it must have been the Bud's Sandwiches.  I was presented with a GPS Receiver - this is a device that determines your position on the earth by receiving signals from orbiting satellites.  With this information it is possible to do many interesting things.  I've already spent many hours playing with it and will put it to practical use this summer on some cross-country bicycle and motorcycle trips.

Don't be afraid to drop us an email message once in a while.

December 9, 1999

Another month has gone by already - time is sure flying - I must be having fun.  We had a nice Thanksgiving.  Linda did the honors again, cooking a delicious Turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  Linda's parents, Wayne, Paul, Brandon, Kyle, Bob & Donna Brown, Candace and Anthony were over and we all had a nice visit.  Debbie hosted a Thanksgiving meal for her family at her house where they had a good turnout with friends and relatives coming from all over, including Nevada, Washington, and Idaho.

Before Thanksgiving, Linda and I went to the coast and spend a few days.  It's always relaxing to be at the ocean.  We stayed in a nice motel and also splurged for dinner.  Somehow I always feel like we get ripped off when we spend $50 - $75 for a meal - the food never lives up to expectation.  This time we both ordered a chicken breast dinner - what we got was more like sparrow breast.  Even with that, we had both enjoyed our little trip.  One of the highlights of our weekend was a drive to the Point Reyes Lighthouse.  It's hung out there about half way down a 600'  or 800'  cliff and the only way down is to take the stairs - there are 300 steps.  Included are a couple of  photos taken along the beach near Bodega Bay.

In the last month or so, I've upgraded my computer - adding an 18 GB Hard Drive, 64 MB more memory, and a CD-RW.  I now have all the tools I need to organize all my photos and to start doing some more razoo stuff with my web page.  We've also changed to a new ISP and our email addresses have changed.  We can have 20 email addresses so we've included a separate address for everyone - they are:

      doug@dougprintz.com
      linda@dougprintz.com
      kyle@dougprintz.com

I guess you can figure out which addresses go with which people.  The address of  our web site has also changed.   The new address is www.dougprintz.com.  There will be some overlap - I don't plan to be entirely switched over until February 1, 2000 and both the old and the new addresses will work until then.  Our old email addresses, however, will not be valid after December 31, 1999.

Linda and I continue to keep busy.  We are both looking forward to March 1, 2000 which is when Linda will retire.  We plan to celebrate by spending a week in Las Vegas with Bob and Donna.  We plan to do more sight-seeing and relaxing than gambling - yeah, right.

We still see a lot of Kyle - which is good!  He stayed with us for 4 days last week while Debbie was out of town at a wedding.  Kyle and I went motorcycle riding and he had a crash that put his bike out of commission for a while.  I'll be getting the welding done tomorrow and parts are on order.  He went off a jump a little fast and  the front wheel came up and over - he landed with the motorcycle on top of him.  As luck would have it, a couple of guys parked near us turned out to be paramedics and checked him over - he was shaken up some, but not injured.

Debbie seems to be doing well and keeping busy.  She continues to improve her new house and is making a nice home there.

November 5, 1999

In September I mentioned that Dad had completed the display case for the flag Debbie received at Kevin's funeral.  He also made a display board for Kevin's ceremonial fireman's ax.  Debbie and Kyle currently have both items displayed on their living room wall.  Here's the picture I promised.

Halloween, 1999

I've been retired over a month now - it sure is great.  About a year after he retired, my old boss, Bob Francis came back to the office for some reason and when we asked him how he was passing the time, he said "You know, I can't figure out how the hell I ever found time to come to work."  We all thought he was kidding, but that's exactly how I'm feeling.  It seems like I don't have enough time for everything I want to do.

Yesterday we spent the day with Bob and Donna Brown.  Bob and I went to the Computer Show at Cal Expo.  It's amazing how much hardware and software there is - and how inexpensive it seems.  I wound up buying a bunch of language learning CDs for Linda in preparation for her and Donna's trip to Europe next June.  She was looking for things on Spanish, German, Italian, and French.  I was able to find something for each of them.  At this very moment she is going through the Italian CD and is excited by all the information available.  She just came into the room making advances in some strange language - I think it was Italian.

While Bob and I were at the Computer Show, Linda, Donna, Kyle, Candace, and Anthony went to the local library where there were some Halloween doings.  The kids participated in some Halloween oriented crafts and for their efforts each walked off with a bag of candy.  They also enjoyed some Spanish dancers and a cowboy doing rope tricks.  In the evening, the kids played video games and watched movies while Linda stole all our money after conning us into a game of poker.

Linda spent last week attending the Traffic Safety Academy, training usually reserved for Traffic Engineers.  She will use the training in her new job.  I don't think I've mentioned much about it, but several months ago, Linda transferred into a line division to work directly with the engineers rather than the administrative unit she was previously in.  Previously, she helped the engineers with their personnel matters, contracts, training and the like.  Now she works directly with the engineers, helping them perform their studies and develop their reports.  Quite a change of pace.

The previous weekend we were again out with Bob, Donna and the kids to Silver Bend, a farm on the Sacramento River that annually dresses up for Halloween.  They had a pumpkin patch, hay maze, a train ride on a real turn-of-the-century railroad that still operates on the ranch, hay rides in an old (circa 1920) Mack Truck, and a host of other old farm equipment that was still in running condition.  Very interesting.  The kids played for more than an hour on an old stack of straw bales.  There were always about 15 kids playing their hearts out - they thought it was the best place on the farm.

Paul is getting on his feet.  He has wheels now and is in the process of getting settled in Grass Valley.

I signed up for the Apprentice Black Belt exam in November - now all I have to do is get serious about studying and practicing my material.  Committing to the exam forces me to get to work - I don't want to embarrass myself and the instructors by looking like a bozo on test night.  The theory sounds good!

Debbie and I have begun a weekly bicycle ride on Friday mornings.  The first couple of weeks we rode on the American River Bike Trail and the last couple of weeks we've ridden along the north side of Jenkinson Reservoir, near Sly Park.  Julie has come along on all but one ride.  Last week it was a little chilly - summer is over, at least above 3000 feet.

I'm in the middle of upgrading my computer - adding a new photo printer, an 18GB hard drive, 128MB memory, and a CD-RW .  Tomorrow I install the CD-RW and will then be able to make my own CDs.  I'm really looking forward to that.  I just installed the new printer and 18GB hard drive last week  and the memory is scheduled to arrive this week.  I should have all the tools I need to get all out photos computerized, catagorized, and CDs made to enjoy them.  Our photo library is rapidly increasing now that we have a digital camera and if I don't get things somewhat organized it won't be very useful.

October 1, 1999

September 22 was my last day of work - I'm now retired.  My official retirement date will be July 1, 2000 and until then I'll be running out my leave time.

Paul's last day of work was September 27 - he's also retired.  He plans to settle in the Grass Valley area to be closer to Jessica and Brandon.  Good Luck Paul!

Linda's dad had surgery on Monday to restore his eardrum in his left ear.  Good Luck Les!

Linda spent Tuesday and Wednesday in the Bay Area attending a Traffic Engineers' Conference she organized.  She took the job on extremely short notice and pulled it off - everything went well.

Last weekend Linda spent a couple of days working at the Skandi-Fest in Turlock,  an annual celebration of the Scandinavian way of life.  Her folks also went down and helped the attendees with RV's get situated for the event.  Kyle and I went on a motorcycle ride on Saturday and found ourselves headed for Turlock also.  We spent the afternoon eating Hamburgers and checking everything out.  We ran into Linda when we arrived, but she was working.  We eventually reconnected and spent a little time with her.  Kyle and I  both enjoyed ourselves and will probably go back next year.

I lost a couple of friends last month.  Jeff Hawes, a long time friend and co-worker died in his sleep at the age of 42.  The exact cause of death hasn't been determined.  He leaves a wife and two small children.  Dennis Pacheco died of pancreatic cancer after a long struggle.  I didn't know Dennis real well, but I worked with his wife, Margie for over 10 years and consider her to be one of my dear friends.  They retired several years ago and moved to Hawaii.

September 7, 1999

Dad finished up the display case for the flag that was presented to Debbie at Kevin's funeral.  He did a really fine job!

Sunday, Bob, Donna, Candace and Anthony came up and we had a little party to celebrate Bob's birthday.  Kyle was also here and everyone enjoyed the day.  We had our traditional card game and a couple of hands are worth mentioning.  I had 4 Aces in a hand of 5-card draw - we use 2 jokers but is was still a pretty good hand.  Bob had 4 Jacks in a game of 7-card with nothing wild.

A couple of weeks ago, Linda, Kyle and I went for a hike in the mountains.  We hiked to a small lake in the Carson Pass area on Highway 88.  The weather was perfect and the scenery was spectacular.  I don't know why we don't do more of this sort of thing.  It's a great way to escape the heat.

On August 21, Paul, Dan, Roderick, Brandon, and Kyle came up to spend the day remembering Kevin.  Paul, Dan, and Roderick barbequed some hamburgers and we all ate till we were ready to burst ( I know I did!).

August 18, 1999

Kyle and I (Doug) and Jessica took a trip to Montana to help celebrate Barbara and Aaron's 50th wedding anniversary.  We had a good trip and everyone enjoyed themselves a lot.  I saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in many, many years.  I haven't kept in touch very well over the years and at times I really regret it.  I always promise myself I'll try to do better, but the years go by so fast .......  A couple of old Daly Avenue neighborhood kids showed up - I hadn't seen them for over 40 years - probably closer to 50 years.  We took a few photos along the way - click here to see a sample.

Jon, Luly, and Ashley also came up to attend the reunion and visit everyone.  I want to thank Sandi and Pete for their hospitality in putting us all up.  A little crowded but everyone was comfortable.  They always make everyone feel at home.

Kyle got a new 24 speed mountain bike just before we left so he and I took our bikes along.  We rode into Hamilton (10 mile round trip) a couple of times and also took a 15 mile tour of the West Side with Pete.  Kyle and I also took a bicycle tour of Craters of the Moon National Monument on the way home (Jessica flew back) and hiked every trail in the place.  The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed it.  I wish I'd done more of that type of thing when I was younger.  Oh well, I plan to do plenty of it from now on.

Dad finished up a mounting board for the Kevin's Bronze Fireman's Ax.  He's also making a display case for the Flag presented to Debbie at the funeral.  These items deserve to be displayed in a prominent place.

On August 15, Paul, Linda and I got together and put together several on-line photo albums to represent a small portion of Kevin's life in recognition of what would have been his 36th birthday.  If you are reading this before September 1, you will have already seen it.  If it is after September 1, click here.

Paul, Dan, Rodney, Brandon and Jessica are planning to come up for a barbecue Saturday.  We plan to make this a day of remembering Kevin and sharing memories.  We were unable to get together on August 15 so this is second best.

Linda and I are continuing our countdown to retirement - Linda has 199 days left.  I think I'll quit the same day Linda does - I have some vacation time to run out.  We continue in our normal pursuits - everyone is happy and healthy.

Debbie is in the process of moving into her new home.  She wound up buying her sister's  house in Placerville.  We still see a lot of Kyle and he also seems to be doing quite well.  His school year won't start until September 7 as his school is in the middle of some construction that didn't get finished in time...

July 12, 1999

Linda and I have just returned from a week in Montana. The primary reason for the trip wasto help Mom & Dad celebrate their 60th Wedding Anneversary. Sandi, Pete, Jay, Janie, Linda, and I took Mom and Dad out to dinner at the Outpost, a nice restaurant south of Darby. We all enjoyed an evening of good food and conversation. See photos.

We also spent a day with Ken, Sharon, Nicole, and Shelby.  We found them all to be in good health and spirits.

Paul's daughter, Jessica graduated from the 8th grade with honors in June.  She was the top student and the top athelete in her class.  Paul is rightfully very proud of Jessica.  Good job Jessica.

Tomorrow it's back to work.

June 16, 1999

Kyle and I have been doing a lot of dirt bike riding.  I entered Kyle into a motocross race June 11, and although he did well, it is obvious he needs more experience on that track.  I took some pictures:  Checking the Track, At the Starting Line, Racing, Kyle's Fans.

The Friday night races are a regular event (every other Friday) and the other racers have been on the track dozens of times - this was Kyle's first time since 1997.  Sunday, we were riding at our home track at Prairie City and Kyle was running away from everyone - even a couple of kids that beat him Friday.  It seems obvious that he needs to learn the new track.   I talked it over with his mom, and I am going to enter him into every race that we're both in the area.  As luck would have it, he's going to miss the next month - he just left yesterday for Elko, Nevada to spend a couple of weeks with Nick and then he's on to Idaho for a week or so.  When he gets back, Linda and I will be in Montana - it looks like the next race will be July 23.

Linda has really prettied up things around here.  She has flowers planted all over the place and they really look nice.  Now, if the deer and the rabbits will just leave them alone .....

The song birds seem to have returned.  When we first moved up here in 1989, it seemed there always thousands of birds in the area.  Their singing provided a comforting background sound that was far superior to silence.  Then one year they seemed to be gone.  In the spring a few birds would show up to eat our fruit but there seemed to be no song birds.  We speculated that our cat, Pepper must be keeping them away.  Then I read an article somewhere that said that 90 percent of the songbirds in the US had disappeared - and nobody seemed to know where they had gone.  This year they seem to be back and the air is again filled with their songs - it's really much nicer now that they're back.

By the way I got an email from Tamara Printz in Puyallup Washington asking if we have any family in Coeur d" Alene.  Does anyone know if we do?  Maybe we're related to her.                                        .

May 26, 1999

We've been keeping fairly busy around here.  I've included a few pictures from the last couple of months.  Click Here. It looks like most of you are keeping busy, as well - I haven't got an email from anyone in a long time and I think everyone owes me one.  Springtime has finally arrived.  The typical daytime temperature for the last three weeks has been in the 80's with sunny skies - PERFECT!

A couple of weekends ago, Linda, Kyle and I took the tour at a local gold mine, the Kennedy mine near Jackson.  It has been abandoned since WW II but in the last couple of years a group has got together to make an historic attraction out of it.  We learned a lot  about hard-rock gold mining in this area and a lot more about the local history.  Unfortunately, Kyle wasn't really interested - he wanted to go underground.  Unfortunately, the mine is now entirely flooded.  The guide said that when the mine was operating, they had to bring up 80,000 gallons of water a day in buckets from a depth of 5900 feet.

On May 15, I participated in a karate tournament in Jackson (that's when I noticed they were having tours at Kennedy mine) and took first place in my old-timer division.

Last Friday we spent the evening with Bob and Donna Brown and I won enough a poker to buy a cup of coffee.  This weekend, they're coming up here and I suppose they expect to get even.

Last Saturday, Kyle and I went dirt bike riding at Prairie City.  As usual we had a great time.  For some reason, we had the park pretty much to ourselves - we saw only four other motorcycles all afternoon.  The lack of people made it especially enjoyable - we ran across a hen turkey with her chicks and some rabbits.  Kyle always gets a kick out of close encounters with wild animals.  Actually so do I.  Kyle expressed some regrets that he never gets to race any more without his dad to take him so after our ride we went to a local motorcycle shop to see how to go about getting him in one.  It looks like I'll be entering him into a race on June 11 and another one on August 27.

Last Sunday, Kyle and I went for a bicycle ride on the American River Bike Trail.  Saturday, Kyle tried riding Linda's  18-speed mountain bike and really liked it.  Until then, his riding had been limited to 20" bikes with a maximum of 5 speeds.  He wanted to try it out on a real ride, so off we went.  He kept going and going until after 10 miles I insisted we turn around.  He was really excited that now he can keep up.  Actually, he was really smoking along.  He was in the lead the entire time and on the flat areas we were often cruising along 16 - 18 mph.  We stopped at Goethe Park in Rancho Cordova and were lucky enough to catch a group of live-steamer railroaders running their miniature trains.  They have an extensive facility at Goethe Park, including a Roundhouse where they work on their trains, and what seems to be miles of track with bridges, towers, and sidings.  There were dozens of trains and most of them were taking people for rides - we, of course, had to go for a ride and had a pretty good time.

It looks like Kyle may have inherited some of Dad's interest in working with wood.  After we returned from our bicycle ride Sunday, Kyle got it in his head that he wanted to make a gun rack for his BB gun because he was tired of seeing it laying around the garage.  He found some boards and starting sawing.  I asked him what he had in mind since I thought I could provide some helpful advice.  He tried to explain it to me but I still couldn't see what he had in mind.  Finally I asked him to draw up what he was thinking about - he actually put together a pretty good set of plans for what he was thinking.  It looked like it would work so I helped a little with the measuring and cutting out a circular pattern . Check it out.

Debbie got to Switzerland OK and is having a good time.  She called last Saturday morning to talk to Kyle.  She should be getting home Friday.  Kyle will sure be glad to see her - he's been staying with the Bridgemans, us, and his Aunt Kelly.

May 3, 1999

The spaghetti dinner at Debbie's place was nice.  More than a dozen of Kevn's friends and family gathered to remember him by swapping memories.  Jon and Mom also called and I had a nice chat with both of them.  Jon also spoke at length to Debbie and Paul.

I placed an "In Memorium" notice for Kevin in the local Sacramento and Placerville newspapers.  One of our old next-door neighbors and Kevin's best friend, Gil, from our Orangevale days circa 1973 saw the notice and tracked me down.  He and Kevin kept in touch for several years after we moved to Rosemont but eventually they lost contact.  Gil wasn't aware of what had happened to Kevin and wanted to know how it had happened.  We talked on the phone and shared some memories.  Strangely, he had recently gone through some of his old photos and saw some of Kevin and had been wondering what ever happened to him.  Gil promised to visit us and share his photos with us.

Paul, Brandon and Kyle spent the weekend with us.

It's raining outside at the moment.  I don't know if Spring will ever get here.  Last week, although the temperatures were in the low 70's, the constant wind ruined any illusions of summer.  Saturday morning we woke up to cloudy skies with temperatures in the 40's.  It soon started to drizzle and the cold, wet weather continues today.

April 27, 1999

Friday will be the first anniversary of Kevin's death.  Sometimes it seems like such a short time and other times it seems like it occurred long ago.  Debbie is going to have a spaghetti dinner at her house Friday evening and has invited Kevin's friends, coworkers, and family to share memories of Kevin.  We haven't seen Paul for a couple of months and we're hoping he'll be able to make it.

Debbie has sold her house - she will have to be out by the first of June.  She has her eye on a house in Coloma with some acreage and has made a bid on it - she should know if it was accepted in a couple of days.

Debbie is getting ready for a trip to Switzerland in mid May.

Kyle has just recovered from a bout of pneumonia.  Debbie took him to the doctor with cold symptoms and was prescribed antibiotics.  About a week later, he was staying at our house and he seemed very quiet for Kyle.  He was content to watch TV and stay in the house - not like him at all.  That evening he began coughing and it got so severe that he vomited.  His temperature was 102.7.  Debbie took him to ER the following night when he started coughing again and they found fluid in his lungs.  He's OK now, back in school and feeling well.

Sunday we spent the day with Linda's folks.  Ina celebrated another birthday April 22.

The previous weekend Kyle, Linda, and I went bowling.  My thumb is recovering from a little injury so I didn't bowl but Linda and Kyle has a good time - actually I had a good time too just watching.  In fact, we all enjoyed it so much that I'm going to be trying it again when my thumb heals up.  I haven't bowled for over 10 years.

We celebrated everyone's (Linda, Me, Donna Brown) birthday with Bob & Donna in early April by spending the evening going out to dinner and playing cards.

Other than that, Linda and I are keeping busy around the place - Spring has finally arrived and there always seems to be something to do around here.  We are planning a trip to Montana in early July and will be there for the folks' 60th anniversary.  I'll be making another trip to Montana in August to help celebrate Barbara and Aaron's 50th anniversary.  Linda will be unable to make it and I'm planning to bring Kyle with me.  If Paul can make it, maybe he'll be there, too.  Linda is planning a trip to Europe in June of 2000 and we are planning another trip to Hawaii in August 2000.  We've invited Kyle to come with us and we plan to spend a couple of days on Oahu to show him where his Dad spent some time.

Hopefully, my next entry won't be so far off .

March 14, 1999

Well, another year has come and gone and Linda and I are each another year older.  Today was especially poignant for me, it's my first birthday without Kevin.  I missed his card which always brightened my day.    Also, I could always look forward to a gift that he had carefully crafted with his own hands.  I don't know how he managed, but he always seemed to make me something I didn't know I needed but after I had it, I could never know how I got along without it.  And I missed his phone call which had become an annual ritual for an exchange of affections.  Kyle called to wish me a happy birthday this morning and for a second I had the thought that maybe Kevin had put the notion in his head.

Kyle celebrated his birthday yesterday with family and friends at Wild Things, a place where kids can play in a cage-like enclosure that includes things like swings, rooms full of  rubber balls, trampolines, monkey bars, tunnels, stairs, and a host of other fun things.  There was plenty of pizza, drinks, ice cream, and cake.  He also made quite a haul in the gift department.

We had a brief visit with Jay last Monday - he is providing security for a coin show being held at the Sacramento Convention Center and stopped by on his way in.  The show ends today and he expects to stop here again tomorrow and head back for Montana on Tuesday.

Linda will soon be transferring to another job and is looking  forward to the change.

Linda and I have both been doing a lot of soul searching lately and have decided that we're both tired of working and we think we are going to retire in March of 2000.

February 19, 1999

We're back from our trip - we both had a great time  Jay, if the following sounds familiar, it's because I copied it from my email to you last night.

We spent the first 7 days in a studio apartment that was part of a private individual's house.  It was located on the extreme north end of the island, only a couple of miles from the end of the road.  It was a short walk across the street to one of the best snorkeling beaches on Kauai and we spent several days doing nothing but laying on the beach and snorkeling the reef.  We pretty much had the whole ocean to ourselves.

We took a cliff side hike early in our stay.  The views were fantastic.  A camera, no matter how good, just can't do justice to the scenery.

The last 5 days we spent at the Kauai Marriott, the island's most luxurious resorts.  Linda got the most fantastic deal - nobody could believe it.  For $600 we stayed there 5 days/4 nights, were provided a rental car, and were given $150 in coupons that could be spent like cash.  The Marriott has its own private beach among other things and we had full access to all the facilities.  It turned out  we had to sit through a 1 hour timeshare pitch, but it wasn't hard to resist.  We lived like royalty for those 5 days.  As an example of prices in that place, the Valentine's day breakfast buffet was on special at $28 a person.  What a deal.  Good thing we had the coupons.

We didn't do anything real exciting like a helicopter ride or boat trip.  Instead we laid around on the beach, swam, hiked, and drove around to all the interesting sites we could locate.  It was great.

I bought a throw-away waterproof camera and made some underwater shots while I was snorkeling.  They all pretty much look alike and you have to look real hard to see the fish.

February 3, 1999

Life goes on in Latrobe.  Everything is going pretty well but nothing exciting has happened.  We've had Kyle over a couple of times and we always enjoy his company.  We're working on a model battleship that Kyle and Debbie found in a ministorage place Kevin rented.  Kevin apparently started it and didn't get around to finishing it - Kyle and I decided to finish it up as a keepsake.  Progress is slow but sure - we've completed the wood work on the hull and will soon begin on the deck and superstructure.  It's huge, about 4 feet long.

Linda and I are heading for Hawaii tomorrow evening.  We drive to San Francisco and fly out early Friday morning - we'll be back on the 17th.  We will be going to Kauai.  We're both looking forward to some sun and ocean.  I'll fill everyone in when we get back.

I've finally made some progress on the Web pages in memory of Kevin and Forrest.  Check it out.  It's only a beginning, I have much, much more I intend to put out there.  If anyone has any memories or stories of Kevin or Forrest you'd like to share, please let me know and I'll include them.  Please write them up the way you want to see them and include some kind of date - your best guess is good enough.

January 4, 1999

The new year is off to a good start.  Bob & Donna, Paul, and Kyle were here with us New Year's Eve to welcome in the new year.  We played some with the computer, watched a little TV, and played some poker.  At 12:00 Midnight we drank a toast to the new year with apple cider, went outside, and made as much noise as possible by banging on pots and pans.  Pretty tame by most standards but we all enjoyed it.

Kyle stayed with from New Year's Eve until yesterday.  Yesterday Kyle, Paul, and went on a bicycle ride from Cameron Park to the cemetery and had a brief visit at Kevin and Forrest's grave site.  On January 2, Kyle, Paul and I went motorcycle riding at Prairie City off-road vehicle park.  Paul and Kyle went on a commando mission to the river Saturday night.  Kyle had quite an adventure.

On Forrest's birthday, Debbie and Kyle, along with Julie and her family paid a visit to Forrest's grave to remember his birthday.  They left some toys at the gravesite and some balloons which they released to the sky.  Yesterday at the cemetery,, Kyle was exploring while I was visiting with Kevin and Forrest.  He found one of the balloons in a field a hundred yards or so away and we tied it to the tree by the headstone.Paul, Kevin, Debbie, Kyle, Forrest, Lee, Julie, Ryan, Chelsey and Austin were over today to celebrate Kevin's 34th birthday.

December 29, 1998

Last night we actually made contact with Nicole over the Internet with the "PeopleLink" software I emailed everyone about.  I started the software on the off-chance that someone else would too.  After about 15 minutes, the "chime" sounded and Ken & Sharon's name turned blue.  I asked how the weather was and we were off and running.  Linda was on our other computer and we were able to get a three-way conversation going.  I assume we could add as many people as where available.  Neat Stuff! 

On Christmas Day Les & Ina, Wayne, Paul, Dan, and Roderick spent the afternoon at our place.  Les whipped up a real nice ham dinner that received compliments from everyone.  We phoned Mom & Dad early in the evening and everyone had a chance to exchange Christmas greetings.  In the afternoon, we had a visitor that entertained us for a little while - see picture.

Debbie rented a house at the beach near Jenner and she and Kyle along with Debbie's parents, and sisters and their families spent Christmas week there.  Debbie wanted to do something completely different thisv year for Christmas.  The weather was nice the whole time and they apparently had a great week.

On Christmas Eve we stopped in at Bob and Donna Brown's house after work to exchange a few gifts.  Donna's sister, Lorraine was there with Ed, Kelly, and Brianna.  Candace and Anthony were there with Marnie and Bob, and Angela dropped by with Andrea, Christopher and Ray.  We had a buffet lunch, visited and exchanged gifts.  Everyone seems to be doing well and enjoyed the afternoon.

We actually had some snow and cold about a week before Christmas.  It snowed a couple of inches in Cameron Park and it stuck around for a few days.  We even had a skiff at our house.  For several days after we had black ice on the local roads that cause a lot of havoc.

On December 19, Linda, Kyle and I went to a Christmas party hosted by one of Linda's coworkers.  There were about 50 people present.  Santa dropped by and children and adults alike enjoyed his presence.  Nice party!!

Kyle's school put on a Christmas contata December 17 and 18.  Linda and I went to watch and ran into Debbie's folks who had come to watch with Chelsey, Ryan, and Austin.    We had a nice visit  with Linda and Mike before and after the show.  The show went well.  We enjoyed watching the enthusiastic kids acting and singing their hearts out.  Of course there's always a few kids who's minds are somewhere else - it's fun watching them too.  Kyle seemed to enjoy his time in the spotlight.  He sang  in the choir and was also a shepherd in a couple of the sketches.

December 14, 1998

Linda's church, the Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church put on a super Christmas show last Saturday and Sunday evenings.  It was an excellent show with outstanding  music and acting.  I usually don't attend such events, but Linda was a shepherd and had been going to rehearsals all week so I wanted to see what she was up to.

We're busy trying to get ready for Christmas.  One evening we came home from work to find a Christmas tree on our front porch.  We thought it had been delivered by mistake, however, there was nothing to indicate where it might belong so we thought we'd wait a few days and see if someone claimed it.  Turns out that Linda's folks left it for us.  It is a nice tree and looks pretty good in our living room.

Brandon & Jessica are on line.  I'm sure they would be glad to hear from everyone.

Not much else to report - Happy Holidays Everyone.

December 2, 1998

Kevin and Forrest's headstone has finally arrived and is now installed.  To see how it looks, click here.

We've been keeping busy around here.  I've been spending a lot of time working on my karate.  I'm currently testing for my Red Belt.  Friday I took to first half of the test which consists of demonstrating various blocks, strikes, and  forms - it took about 2 hours to complete but it seemed to go fairly well.  The second half of the test will be held on December 18 and will consist of showing the techniques in application.  I'm not sure I'll be ready for the December test and may wait until January.  Linda is keeping busy working on a special project for Christmas.

On Thanksgiving weekend we had a housefull - Bob, Donna and their grandchildren Candace and Anthony - Linda's folks and brother Wayne - Paul, Dan, and Roderick.  Linda cooked another fantastic meal and we all had a good visit.  We spent a lot of time playing with my new digital camera, the results of which you can see by clicking on the links in this paragraph.  Brandon and Jessica were unable to make it for Thanksgiving, but Brandon was able to come over Saturday and we had a short visit with Jessica on Sunday evening at her place.

Kyle was traveling.  He flew to San Diego to visit his uncle Jon, Luly, and Ashley for a few days and also dropped in on his Grandma Jackie.  Jon, Kyle, and the rest of his family then drove up to Montana to spend Thanksgiving with the family in Montana.

On November 14, our friends Dwight and Donna Brown came over for the evening and we had an enjoyable evening.  Donna, if I haven't mentioned it before is one of my karate buddies.  Their son, Kyle is one of the Black Belts at Orr Brothers' dojo.

November 11, 1998

Linda and I spent a three-day weekend before Veterans' Day on the coast.  Linda had purchased a luxury package at the Albion Inn as a Christmas present for us last year and we decided it was time we used it.  It was perfect!  We had a wonderful cabin with a full ocean view from its private deck.  It also came with a fireplace and it had a bathroom bigger than most motel rooms.  Contrary to the weather forecasts, the skies were blue and sunny and the temperatures were pleasant.  There was a postcard view everywhere one looked.

Today, Veterans' Day, we spent hanging out at home.  Linda's folks dropped in for a visit and we had a nice chat.

November 2, 1998

Halloween came and went uneventfully - Linda and I stayed home and didn't have a single trick-or-treater.  That makes 9 Halloweens in a row without a single kid showing up.  One more advantage of living in the country.

Yesterday, Kyle participated in the annual Hare Scrambles cross-country motorcycle race at Prairie City Off Road Vehicle Park.  This type of race is a fairly long course of a mile of so with a 45 minute time limit.  The person that goes the furthest in the 45 minutes wins.  Kyle took 4th place in his division, 10 years old and under.  Nick Collins, expert motorcycle rider, and long time friend of Debbie's family and  Kevin, helped Kyle out a lot for this race.  He did a fine job.  His mom, me, Nick, Julie, Lee, Ryan, and Austin were there to watch along with other friends of Debbie and Nick.

I finally broke down and ordered a digital camera (Kodak DC260) so there will be a lot of pictures posted here from now on.  I expect it to be delivered in the next week or so - I can hardly wait.

The pictures of Kyle in the link above and the jack-o-lantern carving were captured from our camcorder with a Snappy.  I'm not real happy with the quality of those pictures - although they are fine for small snapshots, they fall apart when enlarged or zoomed.  The Kodak digital camera is supposed to be top of the line and I'm expecting a lot from it.

October 30, 1998

The trip to the pumpkin patch last weekend got called of on account of rain.  Wouldn't you know it - beautiful weather for weeks, plan a day, and it rains.  Oh well.  We spent the day with Kyle watching rented movies.  On Sunday the weather cleared up and we took a run up to Apple Hill with the idea of visiting one of their pumpkin patches.  There were so many people there that we didn't even try to stop - people lined up for miles on the local roads.  We wound up buying a few pumpkins at Safeway and carving jack-o-lanterns on our front porch.

October 22, 1998

Things have been pretty quiet around here the past month.  This coming weekend we're planning a trip to a couple of local pumpkin patches with Bob & Donna, Candace, Anthony, and Kyle.  We always enjoy getting out with Bob and Donna and the kids.

Last weekend, Linda and I went to Lake Tahoe for the annual karate "tournament of champions" put on by the Golden State Karate Association (GSKA).   Our people did real well - our demo team won their competition, our Sensei Shawn won the heavyweight black belt sparring championship, and about another dozen or so of our students won the championship belts in their divisions including yours truly.  Linda made a few bucks gambling, more than enough to offset my losses.

Weekend before that we went to Anthony's birthday party with Kyle at Scandia, a family amusement center.  We played miniature golf, arcade games, racing cars, and bumper boats.  Also ate some pizza, ice cream, and cake.  An enjoyable day.

A friend of Kevin and Debbie  is helping Kyle pursue his motorcycle interests.  He was a professional motorcycle rider and Kevin thought a lot of him and his ability.  He has taken Kyle out riding a couple of times in the past month and says Kyle has some natural talent.  He entered Kyle in a "hare scramble" race next weekend.  The only problem is that he lives in Elko, Nevada which is over 300 miles away from here.  I understand he is thinking of relocating to the Placerville area which would really be good for Kyle.

Everyone continues to move forward, dealing with their pain in their own way.  Linda, Debbie, Kyle, and I are all attending grief counseling - surprisingly to me, it seems to help.

September 28, 1998

This weekend Linda is in Turlock attending the annual Skandi Fest, an annual celebration of the Scandinavian way of life.  They have such events as continuous folk dancing and music on outdoor stages, crafts, exhibits, workshops, foods of all kinds and many other interesting events.   Linda got conned into going down there a couple of years ago to help run one of the booths and she's been going back ever since.  This year her folks went down there with her.  It sounds too much like work to me. 

Kyle and I are hanging out this weekend.  We originally planned to go motorcycle riding, but this morning dawned with cloudy skies and rain so we chickened out.  Instead we are playing on the computer, watching TV, practicing reading and math, and running a few errands.  On our trip to town this afternoon, we saw a lot of wildlife.  Right out of the driveway we came across a flock of about 10 turkeys.  A few miles down the road we came across the body of a fox or coyote that had been hit by a car.  A few more miles and we spotted a three-foot rattlesnake on the shoulder of the road which we stopped and examined for a while before it crawled off into the grass.  On the way home we spotted a tarantula walking down the road as if he owned it.  As we turned into the driveway, a couple of large turkey vultures rose up and flew right over the pickup - we disturbed them as they were cleaning up a dead rabbit.

On September 12, Paul, Bob & Donna Brown with Candace and Anthony, and Kyle were over.  We took them all down to the river for an afternoon of swimming and a picnic lunch.

On September 5, Paul, Bob & Donna Brown and Candace and Anthony were over to spend the day and we talked a lot about Forrest and his Dad.  It's nice to have good friends in these difficult times.

We buried Forrest on September 3rd in the same plot as his Dad.

August 25, 1998

I stopped at the cemetery the other day and the tree has been planted at the head of Kevin's grave.  It's a healthy looking Liquid Amber tree about 10 feet tall. The headstone is still a month or so away from being delivered.

Debbie and Kyle spent the weekend on the Rubicon trail with their jeep.  This is a world -famous off-road adventure and I can't wait to hear their stories.  Kyle started back to school August 17 and seems to be doing well.   He'd never admit it but I think he enjoys school.

Not much excitement in the foothills.  Linda continues to improve the place by planting flowers, shrubs, etc. around the area.   I'm nearing the end of my annual weed-eating ordeal.  The late spring rains and cool weather have made for some mighty thick, tall weeds this year - the good news is that with the cool weather, fire danger has been generally low giving me plenty of time to complete my cleanup.

August 16, 1998

Yesterday, August 15 would have been Kevin's 35th birthday.   Jon came up from San Diego.  Jon, Debbie, Kyle, Paul, Linda and I all went out to breakfast, and after breakfast we all went out to the cemetery to visit Kevin's grave.  Debbie played Titanic songs as we all stood around the grave thinking about Kevin.  We then all went to our place where we spent the day looking at old pictures and telling stories of Kevin.  Paul whipped up a batch of Kraut Nip, an old German dish of sauerkraut and noodles that was one of Kevin's favorites.  Unfortunately, his taste is shared only by Paul and me - the rest of the folks turned up their noses to this fine meal.  Jon whipped up a batch of his own recipe, "The world's best salsa" - I have to admit that it is the best I've ever had.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEVIN - WISH YOU WERE HERE!!

August 12, 1998

Kyle stayed  with us from Friday evening till yesterday evening .   Paul also spent the weekend here and we all had a good time.  On Saturday, we went to a karate tournament in Jackson.  On Sunday, we spent the day swimming in the Consumnes River below our place.  That is such a great place I'm not sure why we don't go down there every day in the summer.  Kyle had an eventful day - with Uncle Paul's encouragement he swam all the way across the river in water that was over 10 feet deep.  It was so easy for him that he spent the rest of the day swimming back and forth.  He also picked up a few pointers on diving and staying under water.   Monday, Kyle and I went back down to the river again.  This time it was obvious that Kyle's lessons on diving and staying under water had taken root.  He made a couple of really good dives from shore and was able to toss a rock into about 4 feet of water then dive down and retrieve it.

Saturday, Paul is coming back up and we are planning to spend the day remembering Kevin - August 15 would have been his 35th birthday.  We'll look at all the pictures we have of  Kevin and try to remember the occasions and anything else they remind us of.  We then plan to drive out to the cemetery and visit his grave.

I don't think I've mentioned it before - One day while we were driving on our vacation, I got to thinking about Kevin being buried here in Cameron Park with no other family members in the cemetery.  I decided that I'd like to buried with him when my time comes so Linda & I purchased a couple of plots next to him.   Somehow, it comforts me to know he won't be alone for eternity - as corny as that sounds.

July 19, 1998

The toxicology report from Kevin's autopsy is in.  He died of   pulmonary edema resulting from "a fairly fulminant bacterial pneumonia".   I had to look up "fulminant" - it means rapidly occurring with great intensity.

Kyle spent most of  the last week with us - he's a delight to have around.  We spent a couple of days down at the river where we fished a little and swam a lot.  Kyle surprised me with his ability to swim.  We also spent a couple of afternoons riding dirt bikes.

July 7, 1998

Linda and I just returned from vacation.  We drove to Vancouver, B.C., where we met Linda's parents, boarded the Regal Princess, and went on a 7-day cruise of Alaska's Inland Passage. We saw dolphins, whales, killer whales, glaciers, and lots of historical sites and magnificent scenery.  I can't speak for Linda, but I also seem to have put on about 10 pounds.

On the way home, we drove across Canada through Kamloops, Golden, Lake Louise, Banff, and Calgary.  We then traveled throughout Glacier Park then on to Hamilton, Montana where we spent the 4th of July weekend with my family.  Everyone up there seems to be in good health and spirits.

Tomorrow it's back to work - it's going to be tough.

Paul's daughter, Jessica, is turning out to be quite a runner in the middle distances such as the 200 meter and 400 meter.  She has been whipping all the competition in local track meets even beating 8th grade boys even though she's only in the 7th grade.  She was invited to participate in a national event in Spokane, Washington on July 2 and although she didn't win, she made a decent showing.

June 15, 1998

I can't believe a month has gone by.  On one hand it seems like years since the May 15 entry and yet it also seems like only yesterday.   Time is a funny thing.

Mike and Carol Honnold and Sandy Hall from work came up Sunday and planted a dogwood tree in our yard in Kevin's memory.  That tree is going to mean a lot to us.   I'll get some photographs of it and post them somewhere on my web site.  I'm still working on a web page for Kevin.  It's still too early, though.  Every time I sit down to work on it I break down and can't do a thing for hours.

We're all getting on with life - changed though it is without Kevin.   It almost seems like I'm starting  my life over.  I don't even think about some of the things I used to think were most important in life.  And now, there are things that seem very important that I never even thought about before.  I think everyone close to Kevin is experiencing something similar - at least that's the reading I'm getting.

Debbie is still busy with winding up Kevin's life, dealing with Forrest's condition and keeping up a home for Kyle.  She's a strong woman and seems to have a handle on things.

Kyle is also coping.  He misses his dad, of course, but all his thoughts and actions are positive.  His teacher, Mrs. Usi reports that he is doing well at school.  Kyle has a new motorcycle - a Kawasaki KX60.  He and his dad   picked it out last winter and were in the process of selling his old KTM to finance the purchase of the new one.  The KTM finally sold and Kyle is now the proud owner of his dream machine.  The KX60 has a six-speed transmission where the KTM had an automatic clutch so Kyle is learning how to shift gears.  We've only been out twice but  he seems to be getting the hang of it quite quickly.  The next thing we have to work on is stopping - Sunday he ran into a chain link fence at about 20 mph because he couldn't remember how to stop.  He had the wind knocked out of him but other than that, he is OK - the KX60 is OK also.  Shawn Orr and I were talking the other night and he told me that he'd like to share his knowledge with Kyle.  He mentioned that he and Mel lost their Dad when he was 2 and Mel was 7.  His karate instructor, Sensei Omega was a big influence in their lives and he'd like to be an influence in Kyle's life.  I mentioned our discussion to Kyle and he was really honored that Sensei Shawn was thinking about him.  Kyle started taking the Orr Brothers'  gymnastics class last Tuesday and seems to like it.

Linda and I are leaving Thursday for a 7-day cruise through Alaska's Inland passage.  We're going to take a couple of days to drive up to Vancouver where we'll catch the boat.  On the way back home, we plan to take an extra week to spend the 4th of July in Montana with Family.

Bob and Donna Brown, Anthony, Candace, Linda, Kyle, and I went to the El Dorado County Fair Saturday and had an enjoyable outing.  The kids got to go on plenty of rides and the adults spent a lot of time walking around in the warm sun.   It looks like summer may finally be here.

May 15, 1998

The numbness seems to be wearing off a little each day and life goes on.  We still have Kyle until Debbie settles into a routine at home with Forrest.  Kyle returned to school this week.  As luck would have it, he got sick the first day with what turned out to be strep throat.   He returned to school yesterday and his teacher reports that he is doing extremely well.  He's interacting well with the other kids, he's attentive in class, he's participating in classroom discussion and even leading the discussion from time to time.   He also volunteered to discuss finding his Dad.  I sometimes think he may be handling things better than any of us.  He and I have had many discussions about his Dad's death in the past couple of weeks and I am in awe of his intelligence, good sense, and his positive attitude even in the face of the terrible events of the last several months.

May 10, 1998

There is no easy way to say this.  Kevin was found dead the morning of April 30, 1998 by Kyle, his oldest son.   He was buried at Green Valley Cemetery in the Cameron Park area on Thursday, May 7 with the full Fire Department ceremony.  Over 800 people attended services including 400 uniformed firefighters.  He was taken from the church to the cemetery in a funeral procession that included 60 fire engines and other fire vehicles from departments all over the Sacramento area.  The ceremony at the gravesite included a three-helicopter fly-over.  I am so proud to be his father .......

I will post more information when I can get myself moving again, but, for now, the preliminary cause of death is pulmonary edema.  He had been complaining of headaches and vomiting for the past week or so that everyone attributed to the stress of Forrest being in the hospital and trying to keep a semblance of a normal life for Kyle.  That evening, he fell asleep in his favorite easy chair and didn't wake up.   It was an apparent peaceful way to go.  He was found with his hands folded in his lap and his face looked just like he was asleep.  A subsequent autopsy determined the cause of death was pulmonary edema resulting from "a fairly fulminant bacterial pneumonia".

April 28, 1998

Life in the foothills goes on.  It looks like winter may finally be over, AT LAST!!  Six months of winter is NOT why I live in California.  The last few days have seen temperatures in the 80's and the five-day forecast is for more of the same.  Now maybe I'll get a chance to break in my new bicycle.

Forrest's condition continues to decline and we are all struggling in our own ways to deal with the situation.  The tremendous support from friends and community continues to be a source of comfort.

Kyle had a month vacation  for his Easter break from his year-round school.  He spend about 10 days with his Grandma Jackie in Southern California and also spent a few days in Mexico at the beach.  He also spent 3 days at our house last week and it's always a pleasure to have him around.  His good nature, intelligence, and zest for life, always makes me feel better.  By the way, Kyle's tests are in and HE DOESN'T HAVE MLD!!!

My partial retirement goes well.  I still don't have time to get everything done.  I wonder how I ever had time to go to work every day.  My physical fitness routine is starting to pay off - I've last 25 pounds in the last three months and I've never felt better in my life.

Linda has embarked on a landscaping project to improve the looks of our place.  She is taking advantage of the abundance of rocks in our area to delineate paths to various areas she is creating to relax in the shade and enjoy the scenery.   She is going to spend $10 a week on plants to enhance these areas and paths.  So far, I really like what she's done.

March 23, 1998

Some bad news - Jim Clarkson's fiancé, Laura, was killed in an auto wreck on March 14, the victim of a drunk driver being pursued by the police.

Kevin and his friends Jeff Thompson and Shawn Trever painted Kevin and Debbie's house in a single day on March 15.  It really looks good.  Debbie is working on spiffing up the inside of the house and her changes are also looking good.  They're also doing some landscaping work in the back yard.

Linda, Kyle, and I have each celebrated another birthday.

Kevin, Debbie, Kyle and Forrest went to Disneyland in early March courtesy of Make-a-Wish.  Everyone had a good time.

February 6, 1998

Kevin and Debbie took off this morning to spend a few days in Las Vegas with several other couples.  They plan to return home Monday (Feb 9) evening.   We all hope this will give them a much needed break from the stress and strain of dealing with Forrest's problems 24 hours a day.  Kevin's mother came up from Southern California and will watch over Forrest.  Kyle will be spending a few days with us.

January 30, 1998

The party to celebrate Les and Ina's 50th Wedding Anniversary went off without a hitch on January 10.  Sixty people attended, ate a great meal of turkey and mashed potatoes, and had a good time socializing with one another.  All of Les's immediate family came from out of town to be at the party including Lurlen and Janet Knight, Karen Cespedez, and Joyce Dowdle from Bountiful, Utah, and Florence Jentzsch from Portland, Oregon.  Also attending was Les's cousin from Santa Maria, California, Dixie Turner, and her husband, Tom, and grandson, Mason.   Harley Sittner, Ruth Kell, Florence Jentzsch and Linda made speeches to toast/roast Les and Ina.  Florence not only profiled Les's 70 years, but she brought some old pictures and an old war ribbon that her brother sent her from overseas when he was serving in the Navy during WWII.  She treasured that ribbon then and still does now.   Bridget Richner from the old Joyce's Restaurant in Shingle Springs made a beautiful cake that resembled their original wedding cake.  The only difference was that Bridget used fresh roses to adorn the layers.  Eleanor Gereghty presented a money tree to Les and Ina that had been very ornately decorated with a whole lotta green .   Wayne provided the champagne and sparkling cider for the toasts; there's plenty left over, so it looks like Wayne will be having several parties in the coming months...hope his friends like champagne....  Last, but not least, Bonnie Otto, of the Wooden Nickel Jazz Band, entertained us very well on the keyboard.  There were disposable cameras on the tables and I think the guests enjoyed themselves taking pictures to record the evening.  We wanted to make this a surprise party, but when you have two retired snowbirds on the loose, you have to make sure they're going to be in town, so Les knew something was going on, but he was surprised at how many people came from out-of-town to be there.  Ina was taken completely by surprise -- she thought Wayne was just taking them out to dinner.

The following week, Les and Ina took Linda and me out to dinner at Macaroni's in Roseville, compliments of Wendell and Norma Hull.  None of us had been there before.  It was an interesting dinner house with an equally interesting menu.  It was difficult to choose from the numerous selections until we heard the special of the day.  Les and I had salmon, the special of the day, Linda had pork chops, and Ina had an Italian meal that I can never seem to remember the name of.   All the dishes were very good and we all enjoyed the conversational evening.   Afterwards, Linda and I wandered around the strip mall and browsed the computer and book stores -- our favorite types of stores.  We made it through without spending any money, which is a minor miracle.

I've started a page for Forrest to keep people up-to-date on his condition and I'll include news about him and events related to him on that page rather than on this page.

January 5, 1998

The holidays have come and gone and time rolls on. I can't seem to update this page fast enough.

On January 3 a party was held to celebrate Forrest's second birthday - his birthday was actually on December 29. There was a good turnout and Forrest seemed to understand what was going on as everyone sang "Happy Birthday to Forrest". Debbie arranged to have the party in a room in one of Placerville's historic buildings that is now home for a coffee shop. It was a very interesting building, with stone floors on the second story, a cellar that went 200 feet underground (used to be a gold mine), and many other interesting features. Good job Debbie.

Bob and Donna were over to help us bring in the New Year. We continued our tradition of playing poker and toasting the new year with sparkling apple cider. Quite a change from my old days.

On Christmas Day we had a crowd at our house. Kevin & Debbie & Kyle & Forrest, Paul & Dan & Roderick, Les & Ina & Wayne were all able to come. We had lots of good food, compliments of Linda, good conversation, and a lot of presents. I went to the dump the following day with a pickup load comprised entirely of debris from the presents. In the week following Christmas, Kyle and I tried out his new bicycle by taking a 10 mile ride on the American River Bike Trail. Kyle made the 10 miles with no trouble at all - This summer he wants to attempt a ride all the way into Sacramento which is about 30 miles. We'll make arrangements to have someone (probably Linda) pick us up at the other end - 60 miles might be a little too far.

On Thanksgiving, Kevin & Debbie & Kyle & Forrest, Paul & Jessica & Brandon & Dan & Roderick, Wayne, and Bob & Donna were all over for dinner. The holidays always give me an excuse to eat too much and I always seem to give in. It's terrible being weak.

November 20, 1997

The family is in shock over some recent devastating news. Kevin and Debbie's youngest son Forrest has been diagnosed with "Metachromatic Leukodystropy", a rare, hereditary, disorder for which there is no treatment. Some basic information about the disease can be found at the following link: MLD Foundation

September 20, 1997

Linda and I took a short trip to Montana September 11-17.  Since we drove, most of the time was spent traveling, but we did manage to get in about three days visiting.  We stayed with the folks.  On Saturday, we went with Mom & Dad to Arlee where we visited Ken & Sharon.  They seem to be doing pretty good - they've done a lot of work on their place and it really is coming along.  It looks like there's not much left to do.  Nicole and Shelby are doing quite well and have each won awards with their animals.  Nicole spends some time at the computer and seems to handle all the email chores. That evening we went out to dinner at a new place called "The Edge" with Mom & Dad, Sandi & Pete, and Jay & Janie.  On Sunday Jay took Linda & me to Lake Como for an afternoon of driving around in his boat.  Very enjoyable - Janie even caught a fish.  Sunday evening Mom made Kraut Nip - it's been a long time since I've tasted that.

We ran into Bernie and Andy at the Koffee Kup but didn't get a chance to talk much as we were just crossing paths.  Andy dropped over to the folk's house and we talked for about half an hour.  He's really looking good - been working out and it shows.  Bernie came over to the folks for Kraut Nip Sunday evening and we chit chatted a little bit.

August 17, 1997

Paul, Kevin, Debbie, Kyle, Forrest, Lee, Julie, Ryan, Chelsey and Austin were over today to celebrate Kevin's 34th birthday.

July 15, 1997

We had a large group over for the 4th (5th actually).  Kevin, Debbie, Kyle, Forrest, Paul, Dan, Rod, Ina, Les, Wayne, Bob, Donna, Candace, and Anthony spent the day visiting and eating.  I'm always amazed that Linda can put on such a spread and still have time to visit.

June 29, 1997

Linda got back yesterday from a two-week trip to Europe where she attended the International Church Music Festival in Bern, Switzerland with the Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church. After the Festival, the group toured Switzerland, Holland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

While Linda was gone, Kyle and I took a weeklong car trip to Montana.  We spent some time at the ocean and the redwoods on the way home. Enjoyable but uneventful.

Last Friday I completed testing for my First-degree Brown Belt.  It seemed to go well and I'm expecting to be presented with my Brown Belt in the next week or so.

Kyle was in a couple of moto-cross races at the El Dorado County Fair and took a third place and a second place - not too bad.

I've submitted my application to go on a partial retirement.  Beginning October 1, 1997 I will be 60% retired working only two days a week.  Maybe now I'll have the time to pursue my real-life interests.  I only hope we have enough money to continue eating.

April 20, 1997

Kevin and Debbie recently got a computer and will soon be on-line.  I'll put their email address as soon as they get signed up. Jay and Rod were in San Francisco for a coin show at the end of March and stopped in for a couple of days. Jon happened to be in Fallon, Nevada for maneuvers at the same time and he was able to stop by for a visit at the same time. Paul, Rod, Dan, and Kevin and his family also stopped by that weekend and we all had a visit. We got an email from Jon.  He's stationed on the USS NIMITZ currently cruising off the West Coast of Mexico. 

December 30, 1996

Linda's folks were in town and spent some time with us over Christmas.

On Christmas Eve Kevin, Debbie, Kyle, Forrest, Linda's folks, and Wayne came over - we ate dinner and exchanged presents.

On Christmas Day Linda's folks and Wayne were over again.   Paul, Dan and Roderick spent the day here also.

Linda and I are planning to spend New Year's Eve with our friends Bob & Donna Brown at their house.

November, 1996

We took a couple of weeks off before Thanksgiving and took a trip to Hurricane, Utah to see Linda's folks who are spending the winter there. We spent a few days there taking in the sites of Zion National Park, and other local attractions. We took the long way home, stopping in Monument Valley, Glen Canyon Dam, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Yuma, and the Salton Sea.