"Glacier Point & Devils Postpile"

(Sept. 25th & 29th, 2010 )

By: Ned Opdyke

nedopdyke@gmail.com

OTHER STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR

Please Allow Me To Introduce My Selves

From Here to There and Back Again

I Love Texas

Sometimes You Find Love in the Most Unexpected Places

California is My Home (But I Still Love Texas)

The Last Adventure… of 2009

Momma's Boy

Killeen Texas Is My New Home

A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend in Galveston

The Hill Country, Our 2nd Visit

A Very Strange Day

- and -

An Ongoing and Growing Selection of Misc. Musings and Melodies

About My Spiritual Evolution and Enfoldment

The Gospel According to Ned (Part I and II)

The Yucatan Peninsula vs. Hurricane Wilma

A Different Kind of Adventure Story

Spiritual Exercises… The First Steps

The Best Kind of Adventure Story

Morning Thoughts

The Sound Current

Learning From The Silence

As I Grow

A Better Life

Daily Interpretations of The Eck & Rumi

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I am still lucky. I'm not sure why God loves me as much as he does, but I am certainly forever in his debt. I survived my exodus in Texas (that sure sounds like a good title to a story, or perhaps a country western song, doesn't it?), and am now temporarily habitating at a family friend's home near Yosemite National Park, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in California. Yes, I am a very lucky man.

The following pictorial essay will update you on my physical surroundings and my thoughts about what's going on around me, and… you guessed it… inside me:

The town center is 5 miles from the home I'm staying at. This is my kind of town.

This is the Tindall cabin. My room is under the front deck. It's private, stays cool on hot days, and is very comfortable.

This almost-dead-and-now-coming-back-to-life oak tree reminded me of me. I pass it every day, on my daily walk to the little lake just ¼ mile or so from my front door.

This is Stout Lake. I built the raft about 15 years ago. It's holding up well and looks like it should last at least that much longer. I hope I do.

Ok, that gives you an idea of what's around me when I'm home. The rest of this 'story' is gonna be about what's around me when I'm not.

9/25/10 - GLACIER POINT

First stop, Rainbow Pool. It is located 17 miles from my front door, on the South Fork of The Tuolumne River on Highway 120, about 15 miles from Groveland. This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the first time I jumped off the rocks, and swam behind the falls. This is one of my favorite places in the world. It is my nirvana… my heaven on earth.

About another 12 miles up the road from Rainbow, is the north entrance into Yosemite National Park. I wish I'd counted all the times I've been here in my life. An honest estimate is 50. We'll say this was my 50th, and I'll keep track from here on out. It's impossible to see this place too often. I'm shooting for triple digits before I see it for the last time. I think Honey has been here about 15 times or so. So far.

Surprisingly, it took me driving by the turn-off 50 times, before I finally decided to drive the 16 miles out to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. One panoramic view and another one from the damn dam.

Honey just loves this view coming into the Valley from Crane Flat entrance. Me too.

Half Dome, and beyond, Clouds Rest, are the primary obstructions in this view, from Glacier Point. Words of description?… they just get in the way, don’t they? Spectacular, unbelievable, breathtaking, awe-inspiring. I just had to try a few of the first ones that come to my mind, when I take in the grandeur of Yosemite. It's only been a week since I was there, and I'm already looking forward to going back.

My heart soars and my pulse-rate drops, when I think about what it's like to be there.

I don't remember seeing this angle of Half Dome on a post card. I wonder why?

This guy was pretty funny. He said he wanted half of all the profits I got from this picture, but readily agreed with me, when I said, "Just being here is our profit."

On the following page is one of my favorite vistas of Yosemite Valley. It is on Highway 41 coming down the hill from Glacier Point from Wawona, the south entrance to the Park, out of Fresno. There are signs at the end of the mile-long tunnel, warning you to be prepared to stop for traffic and pedestrians. Do yourself a favor. Follow the warning… and  S-T-O-P.

I did something this day that I haven't done in many years… I spent about two hours, driving through the Valley floor. Honey and I went to every (paved) nook and cranny we could get to (legally). Here is what Glacier Point looked like when we were down there and looked up to where we had just come from. I wish I had a camera, other than my cell phone.

Before heading back, I detoured about 20 miles, down to El Portal entrance to the Park. The picture didn't turn out, but the one I took on my next ride, at east entrance, and Tioga Pass did! But that's the next part of this story. This Trip… six hours and 185 miles. Turn the page for our Devils Postpile ride, somewhere neither Honey nor I had been before!

9/29/10 - DEVILS POSTPILE

This ride was on a glorious Saturday afternoon, and I chose the ride 'cuz I knew I'd be in the 'High Country,' 6~10,000 feet in elevation, for most of the day, and it would be much cooler than the 90~95 degrees that was the forecast for the Greeley area, which is at about 3,000 feet.

My first stop was at Jordon Oak, off of Smith Station Road, about 5 miles out from Greeley. Story is that this oak is as old as some of the oldest redwoods, dating back to the time of Christ. Jesus that it. I hung my size-46 leather jacket it to give you an idea of the size of this thing. Allegedly its trunk has the largest circumference of any oak tree west of the Mississippi.

I decided to take another side road I'd never been on, and Honey and I found ourselves at the Crane Flat fire lookout station. This guy was a fellow member of the biker-hood, and a helicopter pilot. What a life, huh? He gets to fly low, and high!

The elevation at Crane Flat is 6,192 feet. Porcupine Flat, about 30 miles from there is around 8,000. I sure have some good memories about this place. We used it as base camp almost every summer for about 5~6 years. Mom would guard the trailer while my Dad, and my twin brother Don and I, would take hikes all over the High Country. Hey Don… would you like to collaborate on a story about the 11-day loop hike? Yes, he and I are both very VERY lucky men.

Ten more miles brought us to Olmstead Point. Marilyn, a Road Scholar, took a picture of Honey and me, enjoying the view of Clouds Rest and Half Dome, 180 degrees from the view we had of them a few days earlier, from Glacier Point.

Here's a couple pictures from and leaving Olmstead Point. For those of you who are reading this story on your computer, you may be able to play the video! If you can, please excuse my blunder when I said it was "July 29th." I guess I was feeling tipsy from the elevation. I know it wasn't from beer. I've been sober now for 13 weeks (and tobacco free for 9)!

After getting down the east slope of the Sierra's, and running down Hwy 395 about 25 miles to Mammoth Lakes, and just before getting to my destination for the day, Honey asked if I would take her picture in front of the Minaret Mountain Range. Ain't she purdy?

Devils Postpile was actually a little disappointing. It's my parents fault. They spoiled me from before the time I was born. I was conceived while they were visiting the Grand Canyon, and I grew up with what is in my opinion, the most picturesque geography in the world as my back yard. Damn them.

This is the last picture of the four entrances to Yosemite that Honey and I had been to, in the last 5 days. Tioga Pass, elevation 9,945 feet. It is on the east side of the Park. We were still about 80 miles from Greeley, but we both felt as if we were already home.

Round trip: 10 hours and 310 miles.

Next story… the entire length of Highway 49 through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, from Coarsegold at the south end near Fresno, to Loyalton at the north end, near Reno.

See you then!

"9 States in 13 Days"

... this is a story that happened 5 years ago:

CA~NV~UT~WY~MO~ID~WA~OR~CA… 3,388 miles in 13 days

                                   … from the 'lost archives'

                                                                        PREFACE

My middle daughter Ashley was going to graduate from high school, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. But as important as it was to me to be there, it was equally as important for me to turn the opportunity into an adventure.

Since road trips on Honey (my motorcycle) are one of my favorite things in the world, I decided that rather than riding directly from my home in Aptos, California, to Seattle, Washington, through the State of Oregon, I would take the 'scenic route'… through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

Unfortunately, I lost my journal-log from the trip, so this story is based only on my memories from a trip that happened almost five years ago. Mostly, it's a pictorial essay about the trip.

Day 1 - 6/10/05: Aptos, California to Austin, Nevada

The first three hours of the ride was the same route I'd taken many times in the past.
Due east, over Pacheco Pass (Hwy 156)… thru Los Banos… then Hwy 33 to Merced, then the fun part of the ride, into the foothills on Hwy 132 thru Snelling and one of my favorite pit stops at the saloon La Grange, a little blink and miss it cattle town at the edge of the Sierra Nevada mountain range foothills.

One of the reasons it's my favorite, is because of the waitress that worked there for a long time… Laura serves a killer margarita, and then for special customers, put the second one in a plastic cup to go. She trusted me. I'm usually pretty good at making people feel like they can trust me. You can trust me on that.

Normally when I'm driving this route, it's when I'm on my way to "Tokosaben," the property my family owned, and I've always driven that section of road with great care, no matter how many killer margaritas I've had.

When I was 13, my family and 4 others bought 40 acres just outside of Greely Hill, and the name I came up with was voted as the unanimous winner. Here's how I came up with the name:

I took the "T" from the Tindall family; the "O" from the Opdyke (my) family; the "KO" from the Kobiashi's; the "SA" from the Sato's; and the "BEN" from the Benthin's. The really cool thing about the name was that before we voted on the name, we all voted on our choices for which of the five 2-acre parcels each family would get to build their cabin on. Based on the statistical math (5 x 5 x 5 x 5 x 5), the odds of each family getting their first choice were 3,125 to 1. And that's what happened.

Then, as if to prove what a 'special' place it was that we were creating… the parcels that each of the families chose as their first choice, was in the same order as the way I had put the letters from their names together. The odds of that happening are 9,765,635 to 1 (3,125 x 3,125).

Basically, Tokosaben had a one in ten million chance of happening the way it did. All of the families have always felt that this was how lucky we were to be together in the place we were. Two of the families have since sold their parcels, but the feeling of 'community and love' is still being carried on to this day, and I hope it continues that way forever.

I've spent parts of 39 summers up there (and counting), enjoying that part of the Sierra's, and it never gets old.

 Stout Lake

And then Rainbow Pool, one of my favorite places in the world, located on Highway 120, about half way between Groveland and the Crane Flat entrance to Yosemite National Park.

So... back to the Adventure Ride.  It was at the La Grange Saloon that my route changed on this trip. Instead of continuing east on Hwy 132, I veered slightly to the north, and went thru the town of Sonora, over the pass with the same name on Hwy 108, and down the other side to Mono Lake.

                                                                       Elevation 9,624'

Even in June the air was cold, and the snow was deep on the sides of the road, but the pavement was warm and dry, and I remember thinking to myself that I really needed to do a lot more of these road trips. Five years later, I've written stories about this one, and seven others.

Please visit my blog listed at the beginning of this story, to read about them, and see all the other pretty pictures.

As I remounted Honey, I said good-bye to the cool mountain air, and prepared myself for the hot desert variety I was gonna be in for the next couple of days.
After reaching the bottom of the east side of the Sierras, I traveled north on Hwy 395 for just a few miles, before turning east on Hwy 50, "The Loneliest Highway in America." My day ended in Austin (Nevada) after a first day of (+/-) 570 miles.

Day 2 - 6/11/05: Austin, Nevada to Heber City, Utah

                Welcome to Utah - still on Hwy 50… and still lonely… next services 83 miles.

Besides remembering how nice the road was, unfortunately, I'm at a loss to remember anything else noteworthy. Oh… there was one thing… I remember a stretch of about 100 miles coming into Salt Lake City, where I was riding thru a cool early summer rainstorm. Day 2: 317 miles.

Day 3 - 6/12/05: Heber City, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming

                        Welcome to Wyoming - drive thru cocktails… I Love Wyoming.

It was surprisingly cold, but fortunately I'd packed my warm weather gear, and it wasn't too uncomfortable for me. And no, I did not stop at any of the drive thru's.

Day 4 - 6/13/05: Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Livingston, Montana

          The Grand Tetons

That morning it was cold… really cold… and I stopped at a random person's home and was given hot tea and as much time as I had wanted. I just love (most of) the people I meet on my adventures. Most of them are really nice. It warms me to my cockles to think about all the wonderful people on this planet. That day however, I needed a little bit more to warm my cockles.

                      The road crisscrossed the divide three times, before taking me to…

                                                                          Old Faithful

But not willing to wait another 54 minutes… I continued on, and stopped in Livingston, Montana. It was a spectacular 213 mile day.

Day 5 - 6/14/05 - Livingston, Montana to Spokane, Washington

I remember enjoying the ride and the terrain, but cannot remember anything specific about this 426 mile day.

Day 6 - 6/15/05 - Spokane, WA to Seattle, WA

Same as above about this 293 mile day.

Day 7 - 6/16/05 - Seattle and surrounding areas

I spent most of the day with Kellie, my oldest daughter. It was a gorgeous day in the Emerald City…

... but I also made time to take a ride up to a place I found just before moving back to Santa Cruz way back in 1989:

                                                                           Denny Creek

THE DENNY CREEK DOCTRINE

You need to know where to go To meet the people you want to know
Life in the city is full of illusions
People in the city are full of... Shit in the water?! Don’t you care?
What are you thinking of?
You’re a fool to live in the city

You need to know where to go
To find the people you want to know
Life in the country is simple
People in the country understand
Shit in the water, and you get
Sick of the people in the city

I want to sit on the rocks
And watch the crystalline water
Tumble across my feet... no shit In the Denny Creek water

Day 8 - 6/17/05 - Party on the patio…

 Ashley's pre-graduation party took place at her mom Mimi's house and was attended by a small handful of her friends. Including, but not limited to: (3) friends - one seated in ponytail, one dressed in yellow, and one in aqua… aunt Tracy (Mimi's sister) - standing/ eating… sister Kellie - standing next to… her (then) boyfriend (now ex-husband) Jon… and (Mimi's mother) Blah - sitting, with last name the same as the color as her hair (Grey).

Day 9 - 6/18/05 - Father's Day…

                                                             … with Daughters #1 & 2

Day 10 - 6/19/05 - Ashley's Graduation from High School

When this picture was taken, it was only the 2nd time I'd worn this shirt. The first time was for Kellie's graduation from high school, two years previously. Since then, the shirt has (only) been worn for… in order… Kellie's graduation from college, Eron's (my youngest Daughter) graduation from high school (when she was only 16!), Kellie's graduation from college, and Ashley's graduation from college. One more (at least) graduation to go, before I can 'retire' the shirt, and put it in my cedar chest along with my high school and college graduation gowns and a few other priceless heirlooms.

Some pictures of the happy occasion:

The proud parents

The loving sisters

Art & Pat, the grandparents

… Look out World!

Day 11 - 6/20/05 - Seattle, Washington to Newport Beach, Oregon

Now I was headed south, back to Santa Cruz, but I had a passenger with me. My oldest daughter (Kellie) was sitting behind me! She'd already done a fair amount of riding with me, but this was our first 'inter-state' ride.

Instead of heading due south, we went west. Luckily, Kellie is like her Dad… she doesn't like straight lines either. At one of our stops on the north coast of Oregon, we found a photo op… several years earlier, I'd picked my 'road name,' and now… I have a picture of me standing next to my namesake…

             "I am Thor, master of the universe."

Of course there's always time to stop and kiss the girls

When we got to Newport Beach (Oregon), we were greeted and welcomed by two very loving relatives. They are technically 'ex' relatives… the brother and sister in law of my second ex wife, but to me they will always be my brother and sister… the same as Tracy and David, my first ex wife's sister and brother in law.
  

                                                                   Brad and Wren
Day 11: 334 miles.

Day 12 - 6/21/05 - Newport Beach, Oregon to Arcata, CA

It's interesting to me, how different people are when they get on the back of a motorcycle. Kellie had a really hard time. She was so relaxed and comfortable, that she kept falling asleep.

Kellie and Dad:

                                             Leaving Newport Beach

Kellie and I really enjoyed the Oregon coast, even though I had to wake her up when we stopped! =)

Day 12: 308 miles.

Day 13 - 6/22/05 - Arcata, CA to Aptos, CA; the last leg!

                                  We rode thru a redwood tree in "The Avenue of the Giants"…

                                             … and across the Golden Gate, in San Francisco

I dropped Kellie off in Los Gatos, just short of Aptos, so she could hook up with her mom, and the rest of her Seattle family, to attend a family reunion that weekend. It was a tremendous adventure. A 306 mile day, and 3,338 for the trip. And for those math wizards out there, this total includes 300 miles while I was in Seattle.

The Last Adventure... (of 2009): Day 12- 130 words

Tuesday 12/29/09

I let G sleep in, and didn't rise myself until 7:30am… as a thank you for the rise she gave me earlier that morning (for a grand total of 9 out of 11).

We continued south on Hwy 1 thru Sea Ranch… Bodega Bay… another of our late breakfasts, this one in Point Arenas… then across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco… and made our last stop in Half Moon Bay, a celebratory ice cream sunday… both to mark the near end to our adventure, and the beginning of our new diet.

Got home at 3pm, 2,682 miles and a few pages and pictures of wonderful memories.  The End.

How's THAT for a non-dramatic ending to a story?

I think it might be my best one yet.

The Last Adventure... (of 2009): Day 11- 235 words

Monday 12/28/09

5:15am - Ned up.  When we checked in the night before, I'd noticed that the motel had an 'internet available' sign, but I didn't notice that it didn't say 'free'.  Catching up on my emails and live journal posts & comments was gonna hafta wait at least one more day.

It was about 425 miles to get home, and G and I had both agreed that we'd prefer to make the trip in two short days, rather than one long one.  Neither of us is ready for this adventure to be over yet.

6:45am - I woke G up and we had a nice talk about sexuality… in general, and specifically.  Yes that's right… even when we're not doing it… we talk about it.

11:00am - We did a short sidetrack out to the end of the spit at the Eureka/ Arcata Bay, the "Most dangerous port on the California coast."

Had a late breakfast (chef's salad for me), and then followed Hwy 101 inland along the Eel River to Leggett, where we turned west on Hwy 1 to Westport.  We didn't even have to get out of the truck to take this picture.

 

When we got to the coast we followed it south to Gualala, and spent the night there, and watched our last sunset of the trip from our room overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The Last Adventure... (of 2009): Day 10- 600 words

Sunday 12/27/09

5:15am - Time to get up… to lightly falling snow!  I had my coffee and smoke, and thought about sitting under the falling snowflakes in the hot tub, but decided against it.  Instead, I sat on the toilet to read, so the lights wouldn't bother our hosts, who sleep with their bedroom door open.

Because of the snow we decided to hit the road earlier than we had talked about.  We were planning on driving up to Mt. Batchelor, but with these conditions it would've meant spending another night with Jacques and Lovely, and even though they would've been more than happy to have us, we wanted to keep moving.  Incredibly and against all the odds… G and I were still enjoying each other's company!

On our way back to the highway, I missed my turn and backed up in the middle   of the road along the tracks I'd made thru the fresh snow.  There were two other trucks on the road that had to wait for me, but neither of them seemed upset and were probably laughing at me, when they saw my California plates.  I remember from my previous visit how friendly the people here are. I love (Sunriver) Oregon.

We continued slipping and sliding our way towards the highway, where it turned to fairly good driving.  There was more traffic, and the road crews had scattered gravel and dirt on the sections of road with hills and curves, and as long as we didn't make any sudden moves and were going in a straight line where there was no gravel, we were fine.

It was mostly a flat road to Klamath Falls, and by the time we got there the clouds were clearing and we even got some sunshine and some dry sections on the road.

From there we went over one more mountain pass before getting to Medford, and the warm comfort of the ocean's influence.  But even before we were out of the snow, I told G I was gonna miss it.  She agreed.  Living in Santa Cruz doesn't afford us many opportunities to be in the snow.

From Medford we followed Highway 199, a very scenic route to the coast.  I heard Honey, all the way from her garage in Santa Cruz… asking me to be sure to bring her back to this road.  There were lots of nice twists and turns… steep cliffs rising on one side of the road, and falling on the other side… and the lovely Smith River below, with more than enough swimming holes to go skinny dipping in during the heat of summer, I'm sure.

I assured Honey out loud that she'd get a chance to experience this road.  G laughed at me, but she's getting used to the way I feel about my motorcycle, and even refers to her as 'Honey' most of the time.

By the time we got to Crescent City on the northern coast of California, we were both ready for a motel with a king size bed.  G and I love to cuddle, but we also like to stretch out and be able to toss and turn at will during the night, without the fear of bashing an elbow into the face of our partner.

We'd only traveled about 275 miles that day, but the first half was slow and stressful, on snow and ice covered Hwy 97 from Sunriver, so we were both whipped puppies.  Not whipped enough however, for G to give me some lovin'.    8 for 10.

The Last Adventure... (of 2009): Day 9- 275 words

Saturday 12/26/09

5:15am - Ned up, after early morning sex with G… that's 6 out of 9 I think.

7am - G had gone back to sleep so after giving her a chance to wake up on       her own… I gave up and woke her up, as gently as possible.

8:15am - On the road only 15 minutes 'late'.  We were headed to Sunriver just south of Bend, to visit my childhood friend Jacques and his lovely wife Lovely.

There hadn't been any precipitation for over a week, but without any thawing temperatures either… the roads were still very icy.  Over about a 45-mile stretch we didn't see one other car in either direction, but we did see elk, mule deer, white tail deer, wild turkey, and several grey bushy tailed squirrels.

We saw some beautiful scenery, and G taught me a new word for a special kind of frost… hoar frost.  I'll just leave that one alone…

3:30pm - Sunriver, groceries and pizza for dinner.                                                  

4pm - Arrived Jacques & Lovely's

I went on and on about these friends of mine in one of my other stories called, "From Here to There and Back Again", so if you haven't read that one yet, and you want to hear what they are like, you'll just have to read that story too.

5pm - Finished eating…                                                                                               

6pm - Started to fade…

7pm - G and I excused ourselves to bed… for SEX!  That's twice in one day, so the current tally is 7 out of 9!  That's a batting average of .778!  Why yes, yes I am proud.  But the best part is that it's not just quantity… the quality is there too.

The Last Adventure... (of 2009): Day 8- 560 words

Friday 12/25/099 - Merry Christmas

4:45am - Up, coffee, journal notes.

6:30am - I stepped outside in the 11-degree air, to have my morning smoke and enjoyed the beautiful sound of Christmas morning… a song sung by four or five neighborhood owls.  They were signing a song that said that if the bison's weather forecast is correct… it would be a high of 23 today.

7am - I woke G up to read to her from the book I'm reading, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."

I've never been a big reader, but since I've been with G, I've developed a new, re-appreciation of the written word.  Plus… if I'm gonna be an 'author'… the least I can do is read a few books written in the same genre as my writing style.  That being said, I'm sure Robert M. Pirsig (the author of the book I'm reading) is calling his lawyers right now, preparing a suit against me, for comparing my work to his.  Here is one of my favorite lines from the book, you tell me… aren't our styles almost identical?

"I think I'll just stick to drumming," John says.  Then Chris asks, "What are you going to stick to?"

"Mah guns, boy, mah guns," I tell him.  "That's the code of the west."

They all laugh hard at this, and my speechifying seems forgiven.  When you've got a Chautauqua in your head, it's extremely hard not to inflict it on innocent people."

So… I will now continue to inflict my Chautauqua into your heads…

8:30am - I called my daughters… Eron was still asleep; Ashley was up, bright and cheery; and Kellie was sad because she was at the pharmacy picking up one of her mom's medications that she had forgotten to get the day before.  I reminded her what a wonderful daughter she is, for helping her mom, and I think it helped cheer her up a little bit.  Bless her heart, she's always had to be the adult in the family… she never had a chance to be a kid.

I napped from about 9am 'til 10 (honest… I never took naps before now), and  got up to have a snack.  I went for a walk around the neighborhood with G…  then read a little more until my next nap…

2pm - I woke up and read for another couple of hours… socialized and ate with G's family, then excused myself to bed around…

6:30pm, while they played yet another boisterous card game at the kitchen table.

Ever since my first divorce, it's been hard for me to relax and truly enjoy the holiday season.  When I left my two young daughters in Seattle, and moved back to Aptos, I left part of my soul up there, and have never been able to get it back.  I knew I had to leave Seattle… I didn't have the support group I needed after the marriage failed.  I tried to kill myself once, and I knew that if I stayed I'd try again, and maybe not be so lucky the second time.  If you missed "Please Allow Me To Introduce My Selves"... you can read more about this there.

It's gotten easier the last few years, since my daughters are basically adults now, but there is a part of me that died in Seattle back in 1989, and I don't think it will ever come back to life again.

The Last Adventure... (of 2009): Day 7- 225 words

Thursday 12/24/09 - Happy Christmas Eve Day!

5:15am - I got up, drank an entire pot of coffee, and took a short walk in the 10-degree morning air.

7am - G up.  Sex (5 out of 7).  It just keeps getting better and better.

Lounged around the house, and had breakfast at 10.

11am - I took a nap!  I never take naps!

2pm - After 12 ½ hours of sleep the night before, and another three hours today… that should get me just about caught up from the sleepless night in Seattle.  I took two walks with Skip, one for milk and chips, and another to drop off x-mas cards at the 'retirement villa' where Pat works.

3pm - Bill & Bonnie arrived.  We had a very nice lunch/ dinner, and everyone was very relaxed.  Especially Bill.

5pm - A rip roaring game of dominos.  'Simple things for simple people'… that's something my mom used to say, about how it's 'ok' to enjoy the simple things in life.  It doesn't take a million dollars or a million anythings to have a joyous life.  It's all a matter of attitude and choice.  I wish my parents were still around to meet G's family… they'd love them.

8pm - Photo op of the Dietrich kids.

 

We exchanged presents, and then…

9pm - Bed.