AUGUST 2018 - Our neighbors let us use their annual week at their Maui timeshare. This allowed us to get there just in time for the arrival of hurricane 'Lane', which was one of the strongest storms to hit the islands in a few years. It was quite a sight to see normally placid jungle streams turn into raging torrents in a matter of a few hours. Fortunately, the weather cleared enough for us to do some hiking in Haleakala Crater in the thin Hawaiian atmosphere above 10,000 feet elevation.
SEPTEMBER 2018 - We made our annual trip out to the Colorado River with our long-time pals from back in our Disneyland days. The featured activity this year was watching Rogers and Hammerstein musical films projected onto the garage, while singing along to all the tunes (at least some of the crowd was doing this - not everyone was as enthusiastic about the musical theater experience as were a vocal few).
NOVEMBER 2018 - Although Southern California was in the midst of several wild fires, we decided to go ahead with our plans to travel to Santa Barbara for a previously-planned trip with our friends, Betty and John. On the train ride up the coast, we were stopped near Simi Valley while Cal Fire crews put out fires that had made their way down to the train tracks. We made it through and spent a great weekend at a B&B we'd last visited more than 25 years before.
DECEMBER 2018 - Karen agreed it would be a good time for me to take a little camping trip, so my friend Mark (Windom) and I headed out to the remote Saline Valley in the Death Valley National Monument. We had no trouble getting in to the hot springs over the 60 miles of dirt roads. During our stay, some big winter storms hit at the higher elevations. While the temperatures were mild and comfortable where we were, a lot of snow was falling on the mountain passes. This made our trip out of the valley more exciting, and allowed us to hone our skills at laying on a muddy/snowy road to install and remove tire chains on the 1969 VW camper. As usual, the wonder bus got us safely home.
Karen and I also did a quick camping trip to San Elijo State Beach, where an epic surf swell and the holiday vibe were beginning to show up.
JANUARY 2019 - Karen must have noticed how beneficial the December trip had been for me, since she heartily endorsed my January ski trip. My friend Steve (another former D-Lander) invited me to join him and another friend for a week at his timeshare at the Heavenly Valley ski resort in South Lake Tahoe. It had been over 15 years since the last time I'd used alpine skis (I'm a cross-country skier by preference), so I was a little anxious about how I'd do. The biggest surprise for me was not how rusty my skiing was. Instead, it was the high price of lift tickets that put me back on my heels. Luckily, being an old guy let me ski at a relatively good discount from regular rates. During the week, we were hit with giant snowstorms (the roads to the resort were closed down for one of the days), and this allowed us to alternate our winter activities: on the days when the wind was blowing fiercely, we did some snowshoeing in the shelter of forest.
MARCH 2019 - The California winter was pretty wet, and this produced some spectacular displays of wild flowers. We did not get out to some of the crazy places, such as Lake Elsinore, to view them, but we did manage a quick trip to Chino Hills State Park. It was still early in the spring and we got a glimpse of the first blooms of California poppies, lupine and wild mustard.
MAY 2019 - This is the first time since I retired that we've been home in May. Just been hanging around (getting ready for the Indy 500, thanks to our neighbor's, Glen, model A roadster) and preparing for our next trip.
NEXT: Alaska
