Redwood Trails Lagoon- Day One

This past weekend Damon, Shasta and I went on our first trip as a family of three. We are slowing crossing off all of the "first times" without Cyrus. My parents treated us to a lovely cabin at the Redwood Trail Lagoon, which is about 30 minutes north of Eureka nested between the mountains and the ocean. We left after work on Friday night and I kept myself entertained while Damon slept for half of the trip. The resort has camping spots, RV spots and some little log cabins. There is a pond, a museum and lots of wild elk. My dad stayed there a few weeks ago on his way home from Washington and slept amongst the elk. Of course, he knew that Damon and I would dig it, so he made us a reservation. Enjoy the photos!

We arrived at 10:30 and were sung to sleep by the sounds of elk bugles. They are in the mating season right now, so they were acting like teenagers. This is what we woke up to on Saturday morning from our porch:

Then the big boy decided to walk towards our cabin:

The Tahoe is in the foreground...see how close he is?

Here he is just walking behind our cabin:

We walked up to the pond on the property and stumbled upon this:

This elk was quite the pimp with about 40-50 gals laying around him:

The "amenities" were a little rustic, but this place isn't known for the high speed internet and operating phones!


More either tomorrow or Thursday from the second half of day one.

A Few Ranch Photos

I am finally getting caught up on posting pictures on this here blog...I cannot believe how few posts I did in September! And, who can believe that it is already October? I know that I cannot! Anyways, here are some pictures from the last week of deer hunting up at the ranch.

Taken from the top of "our hill" overlooking the newly planted vineyard in the backfield.

We have been watching this buck for 2 or 3 years, we call him the "25 buck" since he is always sitting under the 25 tractor. I was able to get some great pictures of him relaxing in the field:

Isn't he pretty?



More pictures coming tomorrow night...this time from our weekend away in Trinidad, CA!

Meet Howli the Rockstar

My dear friend Howli from Chico has always been an inspiration, a mover and a shaker, a general all-around rockstar. She studied Journalism, Political Science and Womens Studies...a triple threat with strong morals, values and opinions. THe summer of Junior year she volunteered for the Democratic party in Sacramento during the Davis governor recall. The summer before Senior year she did an internship in New York City...her and Lisa fell in love with the city that they returned after college with full-time jobs. Howli chose to work in non-profits doing public relations. Although her life has always been exciting, I wasn't prepared for her next adventure. She took a sabbatical from her job to volunteer for the Obama campaign in North Carolina. She was working 14 hours a day knocking on doors, sitting in parking lots and urging for residents to register to vote. She grew thick skin, she witnessed human compassion, and she has put her heart, sweat and tears into the job. And she loved every minute. She loved it so much that she quit her job and has now fully devoted herself to the campaign. I don't know all of the details (since she has zero time to communicate with most of the outside world) of exactly what she is doing now, but I do know that she is rockstar. I cannot imagine being that passionate about a cause...thank goodness for people like her!

This is the email that I received yesterday from Howli: "Here are some pictures from the Obama / Biden Rally in Greensboro yesterday. For those that haven't heard I had the honor of giving the field pitch (aka begging for volunteers)... which I do everyday, but it was a little different with at crowd of 20,000 + and the added bonus of introducing the ticket!! Yes Barack and Joe. No I didn't meet them, but none the less it was pretty amazing.... More details soon!!! "

Here are some pictures of our rockstar:

Look at how many people she spoke in front of!

And here is her fancy "office"

Welcome to Room 32

I slept in late on Friday, got lots of work done and then drove Alicia's car to visit her classroom at Juniper School in Escondido. She just started in the classroom last week, so she was busy getting to know the students, the school and get her classroom in order. It was so fun to meet her new co-workers and students. Everyone kept asking if we were twins...the kids just didn't understand that we weren't! Here are the pictures of Mrs. Hildebrandt's room:

I loved the blurred motion of the students in this picture. This is how it is...constant motion while Alicia is trying to give directions.

Lining up to go have 12 minutes of free time outside on a Friday afternoon.

Hello from San Diego

I am sitting in my sister's apartment right now, enjoying the sounds of the ocean. I arrived yesterday afternoon after a busy morning, traffic on the way to the the airport and a very hungry traveler. Last night, Alicia and I walked down to a beachside bar for a few rounds of margaritas and a fabulous dinner (which Geoff joined us for). They are both celebrating birthdays (Geoff's is next weekend and Alicia's is in a month), so this is the birthday celebration trip for them! Here are some pictures from the end of August...I cannot believe that it is almost the end of September now!

Here is Ryanne telling her daddy to "GO!" (See her pointed finger?) She is very demanding when she wants you to continue playing...she calls all the shots and I love it. Ready, daddy...now GO!

This pictures make my heart melt...I loved standing on my dad's shows when I was little. What little girl doesn't have those memories?

My handsome hubby...