Memorial Day Weekend Trip

It's already Wednesday and I've yet to blog about our weekend trip over memorial Day weekend to see my parents in California. We left on Thursday after work with all three dogs in tow.








My sister Midge also made the trip and joined us late Friday night. She brought her dog also so between my parents four pups and all of ours the dogs outnumbered the people! As one of my lesbian friends said - "sounds like a lesbian gathering!


It was great fun and we had a nice visit. It's nice to actually get to see my parents in person just to give that extra sense of how they are doing. I'm very lucky to have such loving supportive parents and they seem to be doing well. My Mom just turned 72 and my Dad will be 80 next month. It's funny to visit parents and see old family pictures - such as my big hair 1979 freshman picture! Lol!



We hung out at their place while Kent got some computer issues taken care of and basically relaxed on the first day drinking marg's and visiting. The following day I was able to get an 8 mile run in before heading to Costco for Mom to pick up a new TV for Dad for his birthday - 47 inch!
It was a great deal and had a great picture. After we got that set up my mom and sister took us to the Shasta Dam where Kent and I picked up the bike trail and rode our bikes 20 miles back to Redding. My Mom has been suggesting we do this for awhile now and am I ever glad we did! It was a beautiful ride and it felt good to get the exercise! Can't wait to do it again!
















For dinner we went to a chinese restaurant that Mom loves and had dinner called Peter Cu's. It was delish! I was sure we ordered far too much food but as it turns out we ate just about every bite!
Sunday we went to the Shasta Caverns up at Lake Shasta. It's another thing we have talked about doing for years and never fit into our schedule. It was amazing. There were a lot of stairs but all of us managed well. To get there you have to take a boat across the lake and then take a bus up to the caverns. It's always nice to do something that you have always talked about doing but never taken the time.




























We put together a new stand for Dads TV, had another of Moms famous marg's and some pizza before heading off to bed for the long drive home the next day.
It was amazing that all the dogs did well together. That's a lot of dogs to have all in one place and not have too much drama. There was not even goat/dog drama this visit!




Thanks for a great visit Mom and Dad!
Later - Jim
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Four Days in Spokane

I'm on a return flight to Seattle from Spokane and have been on the go since returning from Texas! Our niece Kara graduated from Whitworth on Sunday (congratulations Kara!) in Spokane so Kent and I drove to Spokane on Sunday for her graduation and then dinner after.





It was great to see everyone and to meet Kara's new boyfriend. The tough part was getting up early the next morning and driving the 4.5 hour drive all the way back to Seattle for an early morning meeting! We left Spokane at 4 am!

The best part is that ironically I had to turn around and fly back to Spokane the very next day for an all day meeting on Wednesday! I got to spend time with my friends Loretta an Rashi! We had a great time hanging out having dinner and drinks.





Despite having a late night I was able to get up and go for a short 5 mile run and got some great pictures along the way.






























I am so lucky to have a great job and work with so many wonderful people across the entire state.

I am glad to be getting home however - it seems like I have been on the go for a long time and certainly away from home far too much!

Looking forward to the weekend and while one would think I would take to opportunity to rest up, I am actually going to run a very slow marathon on Sunday as a long training run for the San Francisco Marathon which I'll do in late July.

Have a great rest of the week and look forward to the weekend! I know I am!

Later -

Jim

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San Antonio and Reclaiming Futures

It was a long 8 day stretch in Texas and I am glad to be home. It was a great visit to both Austin and San Antonio. Kent and I had a great time as usual in Austin and then the Reclaiming Futures meeting that I attended in San Antonio was excellent! I am so grateful to be involved in such a great project that makes such a difference in the lives of young people.

I got a lot of great running in while there which is always great. I'll post later today about our whirl wind trip to Spokane for our nieces graduation. Congratulations Kara!

Jim


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Austin Update

Austin deserves any and all hype that you have ever heard about it. This is our 4th visit and every time we have a great time. From the great restaurants, gay bars, farmers market, swimming holes, and running trails - its awesome. It also has the University of Texas so in an otherwise somewhat conservative state there is a huge pocket of liberal, hip people. It's also a very active community - people are out and about running, biking, and swimming.

We arrived yesterday and promptly headed out and about to make the most of our short visit. I have a conference in San Antonio starting on Monday evening through Friday of next week. Between now and Monday it's all play time here in Austin.

We had dinner at an excellent Mexican restaurant called La Condesa.









I have a feeling since we are in Texas and it is Cinco de Mayo weekend that we will be eating a lot of mexican food! That's okay - it's one of our favorites!

We went out dancing at a sports bar called Oil Can Henry. It was packed because as we found out there is a gay softball tournament in town. We talked with a guy from Phoenix who told us all about the league and that there were 70 teams in town.

This morning we got up early and each went for a run on the trails along the Colorado River. Its my first run since the marathon last Sunday. I covered just over 8.5 miles.


From there we made it to the Farmers Market.








And a quick stop into Mellow Johnny's bike shop for a couple of new shirts.



Lunch at Foodheads which we discovered a few visits ago. I had the best squash sandwich ever!


Then on to our favorite swimming hole in Austin - Barton Springs! Another of our favorite places in Austin.


















Finally as I write this post we are beginning our Cinco de Mayo celebration and having marg's and chips on the patio of El Chile Cafe y Cantina.





Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

Jim

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