Memory Monday: Family history

For both the Big Guy and myself, our parents are growing older; and while they’re still mostly healthy, any time we can spend together with them becomes ever more precious. As their adult children now past the midpoint of our own lives, we cherish and appreciate all the more those memories and stories our parents are able to share with […]

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Throwback Thursday: Clear Lake State Park

I have fond memories of Clear Lake going back to my childhood, when family car trips to Fort Bragg on the Mendocino coast meant traveling along the lake’s eastern shoreline (and occasionally stopping at the Foster’s Freeze in Lucerne, which is still there). Of course, Clear Lake, a very large natural lake, has many, many facets and even now I’ve […]

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Memory Monday: Snow day

I was so happy about the photos I shot last Saturday as we drove through a coast range snowstorm I nearly forgot it was actually time for Memory Monday! So instead I went through the “Korea albums” and found some images of family time in the snow to share today. These pictures provide a very good example of the nostalgic […]

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A memory of trees

I’m doing a slightly different Memory Monday today only partly because I discovered a few previously overlooked family slides. Another reason, strange as it may seem, has to do with trees. With all the powerful storms that have been blowing through our region this month, a lot of neighborhood trees have come down — many landing on vehicles and houses. […]

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Throwback Thursday: 2009 Amgen Tour of California

Along with the Big Guy, I was a roadside spectator for all but a couple of editions of the annual bike race known as the Amgen Tour of California between in the first edition in February 2006 and its final run in May 2019. I first shared these images from February 2009 soon after the event; Stage 1 took the riders from Davis to Lake Berryessa, then across the Vaca Mountains to Napa County, eventually crossing the finish line in Santa Rosa — a total of 115.9 miles. Two days before the race, Friday, the Big Guy and I drove from Sacramento to Napa to scope everything out and pick a good place to watch. We drove past the first of two King of the Mountains checkpoints, near the Monticello Dam at Lake Berryessa. After accidentally taking the wrong road, we passed through Angwin and came over Howell Mountain, the location of the second KOM, driving in the opposite direction of the race route, then down into Pope Valley. We didn’t drive the race route along the western shore of Berryessa, but we did see some pretty sites on our way back to Route 128. On Sunday, we knew exactly where we wanted to go. And despite the crazy weather we bundled up and made the trip back over to Napa. Narrow bridge near Pope Valley Somerston Vineyards Not part of the peloton! Actually, on race day the wind didn’t […]

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Buried treasure, Part 3

It’s already been a few weeks since my previous Treasure Box post, and, as promised, this one has a little bit of everything in it. Although I’m positive all these items came home with me from Mexico, I’ve long since forgotten the exact way in which I acquired them. I’m also not including here my beloved stack of Mexican comic […]

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