South Dakota vacation

We took a few days off to drive up to South Dakota. There's so much to see and do there and the weather was beautiful. We drove through Custer State Park, went to Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park and Wind Cave National Park. Other than Rushmore, one highlight was Bear Country USA, a drive-through park with lots of close-up wildlife and of course, lots of bears.

Like several of our recent getaways, we rented a house from ww.vrbo.com. It was a cool, secluded two-story cabin, nicely appointed and with a welcome hot tub. The house sat alongside a river and was surrounded by lots of trees. Only about 7 miles west of Rapid City and close to all the attractions.

R&R in the desert

Carolyn and I managed to sneak away to Tuscon for a relaxing week of resting, Spring training baseball, lots of Mexican food and no work! We have discovered the joys of www.vrbo.com, renting vacation houses from their owners. We found this very cool, contemporary 1-bedroom place there. It was on 3.3 acres of Saguaro cactus teeming with wildlife and very comfortable. It's within a short drive of the city and close to everything, including the Rockies ballpark, Hi Corbett Field. Instead of a hotel, renting a house allows lots of peace, cooking if you want and lots of room. We had a private patio, spa, full kitchen, high ceilings, and peace and quiet.  In addition to exploring what Tuscon has to offer (a lot) we also ventured down 44 miles south to Tubac, Arizona, a kind of artist colony, housed in lots of old buildings and plenty of Mexican influence, that was a lot of fun to visit. It turned out to be the perfect time in the desert with daytime temps up in the mid 70s and very cool at night. 

TajGarage remodel

Last weekend we had a kind of family project which should have been my project and started out that way. Some time ago Carolyn suggested that I should remodel my garage and get rid of all the open storage there that just looked tacky. She obviously didn't realize the full impact of that suggestion as it turned into a complete make-over with all new cabinets, workbenches and a new floor. Monica & Chris and James came over Saturday afternoon to help lay the floor and I'm sure glad they did as it was a bigger job than I had anticipated. There was a lot of moving junk around, but Chris spent two days sitting on the floor to lay down the interlocking plastic tiles. Thanks Chris. The end result is beautiful and now all that's left is sorting all my junk and putting it away. My advice in all this is, sell everything first. 

Uncle George passes

This entry is long overdue. My uncle George passed away just days before last year's Pearl Harbor day celebration. He was a war hero, a Pearl Harbor survivor aboard the USS Oklahoma battleship. We were most fortunate last year to be able to spend some time with him and his wonderful family in connection with the dedication of a very special memorial to the men who died aboard his ship. It was a moving ceremony some 66 years after the attack where 429 sailors and Marines died aboard the Okie, and we were so honored to be among those witnessing the dedication and remembering those who served during that tragic time. Though we don't see our Hawaiian branch of the family very much, they are always in our thoughts and prayers and know that, like us, they miss that awesome guy very much. Rest in peace Uncle George.

Family (+1) cruise 2009

What a great time. On January 3 we took off for a Mexican Riviera cruise aboard the ms Oosterdam of the Holland American line. We made three stops, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas. In our family (+1) group were Jim & Carolyn, Judi & Steadman (Carolyn's sister and bro-in-law), son James, daughter Monica & husband Chris and a friend of James', Jeremy Song. We did about everything one could do onboard the ship and when it came to shore excursions, we each had a different idea of what to do. Mostly we just had fun and every night at dinner we gathered to share our experiences. It was also relaxing if we wanted it to be and much warmer than at home during that week!

Happy 2009

Well, we once again made it past midnight thanks to the coercion of Gary & Cheryl. In year's past we've been known to celebrate the new year on New York time so we can get to bed at our usual time. Guess we're getting old. We spent a most enjoyable evening with Gary & Cheryl and their friends, John & Alexandra Smith, neighbors of ours, so the drive home was also enjoyable and very short. Here's hoping that 2009 is a much better year for all of us because 2008 certainly sucked! We wish everyone a happy & prosperous new year.