We had plans to spend Sydney's first Easter with Ken and Janice and Syd's great-grandmother Miriam, but events kept them from joining us. So I spent the day working, and Joe spent it slaying dragons. Sydney spent it fighting naps. She's too young to remember our lack of holiday cheer, but I still feel like a bad mother. Maybe I'll make some deviled eggs for dinner. Or maybe not. I have a ton of laundry piled up in the laundry room.
So where is Forgotten March, Part II?! Right here ladies and gentlemen, although some of my photos seem to have been swallowed up by the cyber-universe.
Joe and I did our taxes very early this year and discovered that we had been WAY too generous to our uncle in 2005. We got a healthy return. We managed to squirrel some away, but we also managed to party like rock stars. Sears was having a sale, so we picked up an elliptical machine and a weight-machine (the pictures that are missing). We also fulfilled a life-long dream of mine and bought two kayaks. We found a REALLY great deal at a shop up in Lake Tahoe. REALLY great deal. We got two Wilderness Systems Pungo 140s (14 feet, with a huge cockpit that will accomodate a dog or small child, and amazing stability). So far spring has brought an abundance of spring showers to Sacramento (and accompanying flooding) so we haven't been able to take them out for their maiden voyage. But we are EXCITED!!!!
Joe's is on the left, mine on the right.
We drove up to Tahoe in a blizzard, with white-out conditions, and sustained winds up to 40 mph, and gusts up to 100 over passes. Thank goodness our new kayak racks worked well. I kept expecting to see a yellow boat go sailing up and over the car in front of us.
I missed to shot of the car high-centered on a
snow birm on the edge of the road. Will this do?
Beautiful Lake Tahoe, in all its angry glory.
Our other big news.....
Joe bought himself a motorcycle. What? Dejavu? I know. But this guy at work was selling his cycle, and it was a great deal, and it was an anniversary edition Harley Sportster, and we probably wouldn't find a great deal like that again, and he knew and trusted the guy, and he had just taken the safety course, and please, please please? He thinks he just got lucky. I think he wore me down slowly over a period of years. What was wrong with the bike in the garage? Other than the fact that it was probably never going to run under Joe's loving, but completely illmechanical hand, nothing. So part of the deal was that the Goldwing must find its wings and fly, fly, far away from my garage (my garage when its littered with crap, Joe's the rest of the year). By the way, I made that up, that word: illmechanical. What do you think?
Goodbye Goldie, hello Hog.
Ain't she a beaut?
Kind of pitiful all skeletonized like that, isn't she?
AND... Joe isn't allowed to buy anything else, ever again. Or until the Harley is paid off. Or until I get my new house. Whatever comes first.
Yeah for me! Oh, except of course for safety gear like gloves, a helmet, and a really nice (aka expensive) leather Harley Davidson jacket. Groan. But he DOES look hot in it.
April 9, 2006
We're back! We didn't go anywhere, but I know the site hasn't been updated in a little while. We have been busy/laid up. Soooo busy that I had sooo many pictures that the updates for March will come in (at least) two parts. We went out of town in March -- to Baskersfield to see Joe's uncle Dave race his boat. I don't know boat racing, so I'll just stick to narrating pictures. We left to head home before the races were done, but I know he was doing pretty well before we took off. Then Linda C. came to visit us for Joe's birthday. Then we went to Sears. Then Lake Tahoe -- twice. Then Justin and Stephanie briefly stopped by. Then we all got sick and laid around the house for a week, the end.
The drive to Bakersfield took about six hours, and was very stormy. We took the kid and the dog, so multiple leg-stretching/diaper changing stops were in order. While scenic, it made for a long day. Out of boredom, I re-organized Joe's CD's (or should I say organized them, as they were in no order whatsoever). I organized by artist (last name first), and then by album.
I am NOT anal.
Bull statue, windmill, and decades-old police car.
Where are we?!
Riders on the storm... doo doo doo doo doo.
We kept following them, but alas.. its a sham.
The rays shining through the clouds - gorgeous.
Joe's uncle Dave came with his wife Sue, their dogs and their RV, as did Joe's other uncle Paul and aunt Leanne. Joe's mom also drove up from Vegas. Leanne and Sue did all the cooking for the clan, and we ate like champs. Its pretty amazing what ingenuity can rustle up in an RV or over a campfire. Here was Leanne's breakfast the first morning:
Breakfast Burritos all around!
Paul and Leanne own a boat called the Lil Squirt, which once belonged to Joe's grandfather. They completely refurbished it, and it was a sight to see. Dave raced his boat, Mead Snake - in two classes. The first class was nostalgia, where old, refurbished boats couldn't go any faster than the average of what they could have back in the day. So, I think that meant that no lap could exceed 80 mph. Or something. Which meant a lot relied on how clean the turns were. The second class, I can't remember the name, but there were no speed limitations. It was the race the big boys raced.
The Lil Squirt, in all its glory.
Cool engine, no?
The little squirt takes the wheel of the Lil Squirt.
Joe and Tric check out the Mead Snake.
There is a memorial to Stefanie and Joe's grandad on the back of the Mead Snake.
Paul and Dave hitch up the boat.
Paul, Dave, and the other member of the team put the boat in the water.
"Just push this thingy down, and turn the wheel. You'll
do great!"
Dave waiting for the horn.
"That's great. Yeah, stop there. Hey man, come on! Stop! He can't race with me up here!"
Linda was presented with her
official team uniform.
I never did figure out what these space-ship looking boats were.
Our camp, with the guys surveying the competition.
Tric looks for fish or submerged ducks. Joe watches, in admiration of her hunting prowess.
The big boys I mentioned earlier.
Syd naps, snuggled in Daddy's arms.
Paul takes Joe out for a spin in the Lil Squirt.
The gang gathered around the campfire.
"Hey honey! Dinner is ready! Stop playing around out there and come eat!"
Bakersfield was full of oil pumps.
Back home, Syd checks out her craft.
Linda C. and Syd.
Very 1960's looking, isn't she?
Joe eats his birthday taquitos, made by mom, with love.
Lake Tahoe, covered in snow. You'll find out why we were here in the next post (all good sequels need a cliff-hanger).
