Visiting Friends in Montana

On our recent, epic 3,300 mile road trip to Yellowstone and Montana, we were very fortunate to get to catch up with many long-time friends so I wanted our first blog post to be dedicated to them!

After a quick drive up through Yellowstone, we arrived at Aaron and Julie's house in Bozeman. However, we barely recognized it! About seven years ago, they purchased a one-bedroom, one-bath house and quickly set to work expanding it. The last time we saw it, the entire house had been raised up in order to basically double the size of the house, and, frankly, it looked like it might never be completed. Today, it looks like a totally different house. They have done a great job.

And they live in a funky little neighborhood that really suits them. Check out the bicycles on the roof of the house next door.

On our first day in Bozeman, we hiked a new trail located just about a mile outside of town: Drinking Horse Mountain. Here are Aaron & Julie with their two energetic sons Wylie and Hayes (with Pat and dog Jasmine as well).


The next day, we hiked to Lava Lake, a perfect hike in the Gallatin Canyon. The trail is just six miles round trip but feels remote.

We also did some fun in-town kids' stuff on July 4th. This little train is operated by a guy who just has a love for everything railroad related, and he gives out rides for free a few times a year. Pat and Aaron rode with the boys while I took some pictures. All in all, it was a great visit!

Before leaving Bozeman, we also had breakfast with our friend Bill and his lovely wife, who we were meeting for the first time. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture but I wanted to give them a shout-out all the same.

After a few days backpacking in Yellowstone, we had the opportunity to meet up with my college roommate Jen and her husband Matt in Gardiner, MT where we went whitewater rafting. The water was actually warm (unusual in MT), and we had a great time.


After the rafting trip, we introduced Jen and Matt to the world-famous K Bar where we stuffed ourselves with food and beer. Amazingly, we also ran into an old friend from Yellowstone, Deb Cowley (Hudziak). We hadn't seen her in well over a decade, and it was such a pleasure to catch up with her a bit.

After two nights in Gardiner, we headed to Cookie City, a little town just outside the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone where we lived for two years in the mid-1990s. The Beartooth Cafe where we worked hasn't changed much at all except that our friends Scott and Vickie now own and manage the place. They treated us to a most excellent dinner. We also ran into George McCormick who, despite having a master's degree and an academic job during the winter months, remains the Beartooth Cafe's summer dishwasher. Both Pat and I have always had an affinity for George so seeing him was an unexpected bonus.

Here are Pat and I with Scott and Vickie outside the cafe. They now have four kids but most of them were visiting their Grandmother in Florida so we didn't have a chance to see them.



After several adventures in Yellowstone, it was off to Missoula, MT to visit with our good friends Casey and Jody. Together, we decided that canoeing down the Blackfoot River would be a great way to spend a day. So, off we went. Here is a great picture of Pat and I looking like total yahoos. Would you trust these two people in a boat?

I hope you enjoy this picture because it is the last one our camera would ever take. You see, Pat and I managed to capsize our canoe not just once but twice. The first time the camera happened to be in my pocket. Whoops. I put it in a dry bag after that but it was too late. Our first dunking came when Pat tried to jump out of the canoe for a swim and was a quick dunk. The second is somewhat inexplicable but we managed to capsize in a swift-moving, deep section of the river. It was quite an ordeal to wrangle the canoe (upright but full of water) to shore. Let's just say we got our money's worth from the (rented) life vests.

Despite the misadventures, our visit with Casey, Jody, and their kids, Saul and Ellie, was great.

A special thanks to all our friends who hosted us. We miss you!

Next up: Adventures in Yellowstone

Visit with Hil in San Diego

A few weeks ago, Pat and I headed down to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista where our longtime pal Hilary is coaching the women's Under 23 National Rowing Team. We met Hil 16 years ago (and several lifetimes ago, it seems) in Portland, OR where Pat and I were wintering (it was so long ago that we weren't even dating yet!), and she had just nearly completed a cross-country bicycle journey. Over the years, we have kept in touch and our paths occassionally cross.

We arrived Saturday morning, and a bored looking security guard waved us through the athlete's entrance.

We quickly met up with Hilary, and took a little tour of the training center. It was pretty neat--I think being a national-caliber athlete is a good gig, if you can get it.

Here is the lake where the rowers practice. I stuck my toes in--very warm.

We then headed to downtown San Diego where pat and I were staying. We decided to take the ferry over to Coronado just to entertain ourselves.

There was a great view of the city from Coronado.

We then hoofed the whole way across the island to see the famous Hotel Del Coronado which was built a looong time ago (1888, I believe. A more ambitious person would Google it). It was pretty cool.

The hotel had a lot of neat seaside bars, and we enjoyed a pitcher of beer (Cost: $36. Not for the faint of heart!) Later we had dinner at a Italian place in the Gas Lamp district but no pictures were produced...


The next day we wanted to look around the training center's visitors' center but it was closed.

I did, however, get to stand on the cheesy medal podium. Darn, I forgot my gold medal.

Later that night, we scored a total coup: tickets to see Sting with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for free! Well, not quite, free, we had to pay $6 each for handling and parking. Hil had scored a bunch of tickets from the training center, somehow. I've never been a huge Sting fan, so I was orginally a little uncertain.



But, the show was amazing!

Sting was a true showman, played many of the hits and didn't quit for hours. Wow, wow, wow! Overall, it was a great way to end a great weekend and see an old friend.


NEXT UP: Vacation in Yellowstone and Montana.

Trip to Sequoia National Park with Mom

A few weeks ago, my most faithful visitor, my mom, came to visit. Since this was her third trip to California, we decided to go on a road trip to Sequoia National Park rather than hanging about Long Beach. We thought it would be fun.

Unfortunately, we hadn't really considered that it would still be WINTER in Sequoia. When we arrived, we were a bit chagrinned to see 5-foot snow drifts everywhere. Apparently, the area had received unusually large snowfalls throughout the winter.

When we went to the Giant Forest to see the World's Largest Tree, The General Sherman, we were dissapointed to find the trail closed. Luckily, a very nice ranger told us we could still access the tree by taking a shuttle bus to another trailhead.

The problem with these trees is that, while beautiful, they just don't photograph well. Above are a few different angles on the General Sherman Tree. There was a ranger stationed nearby, and we considered asking him if the tree was larger than a whale but then decided that question would surely label us as foolish.

Okay, this is not our best picture but it is the only photo we have of us together all weekend. Yes, we were cold...

The trails were covered with ice and snow and very treacherous.


Later, we did find a little path that was open, so we meandered through the big trees.

This is a view of the very nice little museum at the Giant Forest. At one time, there were almost100 cabins in this area but they were inhibiting the tree growth so they were all torn down in early 1990s.

As you can see, the weather was very gloomy. I kept thinking it would snow but it never did during the day (we did get about an inch overnight).

I thought the lichens on these trees made the forest look enchanted.

Later, we drove back to Grant's Grove (we were staying there) and walked through this downed tree.

Back in the day, the Native Americans used downed Sequoias like this one as living quarters.

Then we saw the Nation's Christmas Tree, The General Grant. It was very beautiful but not enough to keep us in Sequoia another night. After two nights, we decided to head back to Long Beach a day early to enjoy some sunshine and warm up a bit.


So, the next day, rather than sightseeing in Sequoia, Pat and I gave my mom the CSULB tour. Here are mom and Pat in front of the Pyramid where Pat works.

Putt Putt on Pine: a Cautionary Tale

When my friend Myrna invited me to participate in Leadership Long Beach's annual fundraiser, Putt Putt on Pine, I took my camera in anticipation of a tame blog entry about this fundraiser where teams of four rotate through Long Beach restaurants playing a hole of miniature golf at each location. As you will soon see, the night ended up being a bit more, well, how shall we phrase it...interesting...than originally anticipated.

First, we picked up our scorecard at Smooth's Sports Bar and headed for Taco Surf for our first hole, a beer and some yummy enchiladas. Here is Monica in action.

Then it was off to George's Greek Cafe for our second hole, a great buffet and...

Ouzo Shots! We felt morally obligated to partake in this $2 bargain. That is Myrna on the left, then Kenya, me and Monica to my right.

Less dedicated golfers might have been distracted but not us. We headed to L'Opera ( a noted restaurant I've been meaning to try) for another hole. I think my score was about a 12 here...

Then it was off to Rock Bottom where we never even made it to the golf area. Instead, we headed to the bar for cocktails. Here, Myrna tries to prove that she can tie a cherry stem into a knot with her tongue. For the record: not accomplished!

We spent a little too much time at Rock Bottom so, instead of finishing our round (of golf that is, we did finish our round of drinks) we headed back to Smooth's for the event wrap up. I thought I would wait around to see if I won anything in the drawings and then head home. I anticipated being home by 10 p.m., in time for a good night's sleep.

Unfortunately, that isn't quite how it happened. Instead, we decided to go downstairs in Smooth's and have one more drink. It is always a bad sign when you end up with random strangers in your pictures, and that is exactly what happened here. Now, Eric, on the right is an old friend of Kenya's so he doesn't count. But, these two gals on the left? No idea! Myrna picked them up somewhere outside and dragged them to our table, I believe. At least they were kind enough to buy us a round of drinks before heading out...

At this point, Eric suggested that we head down to the street to a dueling piano bar which seemed like a good idea at the time.



On the walk, we passed by the Ice Bar, a very weird place not usually on my radar. However, the bar manager out front offered us a free shot if we went inside. Of course, we couldn't pass that up, so in we went. It was deserted and had a very strange vibe. We downed a quick shot and were on our way.

We finally made it to the piano bar where we sang along and did a few more shots. The night eventually ended with a few additional high jinks (which will remain unexplained here in the interest of discretion). Let's just say that you can all draw this conclusion: everyone felt pretty terrible the next day. I'm a big believer in letting off steam every now and again but this experience really made me appreciate my mostly quiet life...

San Juan Capristano

San Juan Capistrano Mission has been on my Refrigerator List since we moved to Long Beach, and a few weeks ago, we finally made the drive down to OC to check it out.

It was a perfect Sunday afternoon, and the grounds were so beautiful.

We spent some time just walking around the gardens.

Then we snuck onto the back end of the tour.

And saw the remains of the original buildings. There was a Baptism (complete with crying baby) in the chapel so we didn't get to see that part.

I'm pretty sure the Missionaries didn't have Koi in their compounds. So, can someone tell me why all the missions have them now? I'm serious--the Alamo has them, too!

Pat thought this area was the most important part of the Mission and asked that I take his picture with this sign.

Here is the close-up: yep, apparently, SJCM is where the the California wine industry was born. Who would have known?


After we had our fill of the mission, we wandered down Los Rios street, a neat little touristy area with shops and cafes. We had a late breakfast so we didn't eat but we will keep it in mind for next time.