20th Anniversary

When we got married in 1984, our honeymoon consisted of driving Gail's car from California where she worked to St. Louis where we were going to live.  We started the honeymoon in San Francisco, staying at the Chancellor Hotel on Union Square.  We did the normal tourist stuff, and after a couple of days, we got in the car and started driving across America.  (stories for future posts)

20 years later, we were living in Seattle and I wanted to do something special for our Anniversary.  We planned on taking a camping trip that weekend to celebrate.  At least, that's what she thought.

Unbeknownst to her, I had gotten a couple of tickets to San Francisco and reservations at the same hotel we honeymooned at, and left this letter on the bed in the morning. 

I’m sorry to break it to you, but we will not be going camping this weekend like we planned.  It was all a ruse to keep you from scheduling anything else.  What we are doing is still a surprise, but I’ll fill you in on some of the details. 

• The kids aren’t coming,
• We’ll be heading to the airport in the afternoon,
• We’ll be returning on Sunday afternoon. 

Susie will be staying with the kids, and she’ll be coming around 1pm to get the briefing.  What I’d like for you to do is the following:

• Pack a suitcase with clothes for a temperate climate.  You’ll need 4 outfits, three casual, and one a little dressier. 
• Pack a camera, jacket, and a day bag (purse, fanny pack, or whatever you wish) and whatever else you think you may need for a weekend away,
• Call Jackie and tell her that she won’t be dog sitting after all,
• Call the neighbors and tell them we won’t be golfing with them,
• Call the Airline and tell them that Susie will be dropping off Deanne,
• Sign the attached form,
• Think of what instructions to tell Susie when she get to our house. 

I’ll be home about the same time as Susie, so if there are other things we have to go over, we can do it then. 

Happy Anniversary  

Needless to say, we had a good weekend.  Even got artwork to furnish the house, but again, that's another story.  

The Love of My Life

On a hot, muggy day in June of 1984, I committed my life to this wonderful woman.  We met in college in the marching band but didn't start dating until senior year.  After we graduated, I moved to St. Louis, Missouri and she moved to Arcata, California, and we started a 2 year long-distance relationship. 

Back in those days, that was not as easy as it is today.  We wrote letters to each other and only were able to talk to each other once per week for an hour or so.  Long distance bills averaged about $100 per month, so talking more often was not feasible. 

I proposed to her on Christmas Eve, 1983, and I have to admit it was the best thing I've done in my life.  I loved this woman back then, and I continue to love her today.  I can't imagine what my life would have turned into if I didn't marry her. 

Thank you, Gail, for saying yes. 

Christmas Candle

After our children grew up and went to college, we began to host exchange students attending a local community college.  Some stayed all year, and some only a few months.

During 2014 and 2015, the college had an agreement with a high school in Herning, Denmark where an entire class would come over to study in America for two months.  In 2015, Camilla came to stay with us.

Tall and blond, like most Danish girls I've met, she was very outgoing, not wasting her opportunity to see America.  Her mother worked at a Christmas store in Denmark, so Camilla brought us tradition Danish Christmas Candle.  It says, God Jul (Happy Christmas) in Danish and has numbers along the side.  As she explained, you were supposed to burn the candle each night until you get to the day, counting down until Christmas.  (As you can see, we weren't very consistent burning our candle.)

Camilla was only with us from October 2nd through December 2nd so she was not around for Christmas that year.  Since it was her favorite time of the year, we broke out the Christmas decorations and put up the tree right after Thanksgiving.  Camilla, Ai, and Beryl, our three students for the year, enjoyed opening up the Christmas decorations and putting them up on the tree.

When Gail and I actually travel to Europe together, we will have to stop by Herning and look up Camilla and Nadja.  Too bad the school decided to go to San Francisco in 2016. 

Daughters

One of my favorite images also dates from our summer vacation in 2001 and includes a photo of my daughters.  They are hiding behind a tree we found while hiking or camping, and I liked the juxtaposition of the knarled trunk and the faces of the girls.

When we were pregnant with the youngest, I was often asked if I wanted a boy.  My response was always that I hoped it would be another girl, since I had two older sisters growing up.  I couldn't imagine growing up as a boy with three older sisters.

The oldest, Maria, is now married and is expecting in September.  At their ultrasound, they found out that they were expecting a girl.  Carrying in the family tradition, I guess.

Looking forward to spoiling another generation. 

Coins

NPS Quarters - 2010 through 2015

Some of the images I want to share are mementos that I have collected over the years.  Some of them I will be disposing of, but some of them are just things I'm collecting (for now).

One of the mementos that I have been collecting are proof sets of the National Park Service quarters.  I loved what the US Mint did with the State quarters, and one of my daughters has the proof sets of those quarters.  When the Park Service quarters came out, I decided that I would like to get them.

I'm not a coin collector, by nature, but I thought these were cool.

I also learned that it's really hard to take pictures of shiny things.

Welcome

A big part of this blog revolves around images.  As I find images, they bring to mind stories, and this is where I get to share the stories.

My first image is a picture of me relaxing in Zion National Park.  It's not a great photo, but it shows me doing what I love.

It was taken back in 2001.  In August.  In the heat.  I remember that we were planning on taking a hike, but it was 100+ degrees and when we got to the trailhead, it was on the other side of the Virgin river.

We never got  past the stream.  The kids were playing elsewhere in the stream, and I found a nice shady spot to watch them while cooling off my feet. 

I'm a National Parks Service junkie, so much so that I have created a spreadsheet with all the sites that are under the management of the National Park Service.  I've kept track of all the sites I've visited, along with the dates and if we got a Passport stamp at the park.

I know.  There are people I can talk to about that.