New Car

I bought a car so we'll have one for Ash & Becca to drive to school or work (someday!), especially since Becca starts school in a week and a half. It's a 2008 Mazda 3. Manual windows and door locks! So retro.

Ash, Becca, Addie & Fletcher go to Disneyland

Apparently Space Mountain is too tame for today's tastes.

New Couch

We have a new couch. It arrived Tuesday to replace our old one. The old one was the first piece of furniture Lorie and I bought together, nearly 25 years ago. The new one has a high back, so it's quite a different look for the living room.

Ashleigh's Graduation

Last weekend, Ashleigh graduated from UCLA. Friday, there was a large ceremony for the College of Letters and Sciences. The event was held in Pauley Pavillion, and Ash was way across from us, but she was at the very front.

Brad Delson of Linkin Park was the keynote speaker. He was very entertaining and the video is here.

Saturday, a smaller ceremony was held for the department. This one was held in Royce Hall and Ash walked across the stage and had her name called.
Here she is during the recessional. The processional and recessionals were played on the the pipe organ.
Afterward, I got a nice picture with Royce Hall in the background.

Aline Thompson 1924-2009

Hawks

Erin spotted a pair of hawks on this pole.
When we went to look, one of them flew away, but it conveniently landed on the pole next to us. I enhanced these photos because they were washed out due to overexposure.


Here is just the bird.

Jo Wisniewski July 10, 1952 - February 17, 2009

I went through my digital collection to see what I had. Here is Jo as Medusa, seen from the back.
This is from Lorie's 5-at-once birthday party in 1989.
This was Jo's surprise 40th birthday party. Everybody wore black because we knew she would...
"Don't take my picture!"
Summer 2002

At Lories's 50th birthday party.And some recent pictures.

Ferris Looking Pitiful on a Rainy Day

There are drier spots in the patio...

But Ferris likes to wedge himself under the eaves.

Lamp for the bar.

Lorie found a lamp to go over the bar.

Here it is in perspective.

Becca Takes Sailing Lessons

This is old news, but last month Becca took sailing lessons. Here are some photos of her returning to the dock.

Wine Tasting in Sonoma

We decided at almost the last minute to take a trip up to Sonoma and do some wine tasting. After I loaded these pictures, I saw that most of them seem to be of us sitting in some restaurant or other.

Here is a map with our route up north.

View Larger Map

Here we are having lunch at the halfway point, Harris Ranch.

We got a room cheap at the Marriott in Napa using Holly's employee discount.
We arrived just as the sun was setting outside our window.
The next morning, we awoke to find it had rained. Fortunately, it stayed dry the rest of the day.
The first place we stopped was Nicholson Ranch Winery. We stopped there because it was the first one we saw as we crossed the hills from Napa into Sonoma. We sampled some wines and bought one bottle.


Next, we stopped at Gundlach Bundschu. We missed the turn and made a U and went back because it was on a list of recommendations from Holly's friend Samantha, who lives and works in Sonoma. We were glad we did, because we sampled a bunch of different wines and liked every single one. Enough that we bought a case of wines and joined their wine club. The setting outside the tasting room was very picturesque, so I took a number of photographs. Lorie liked this lane with the oak trees. We didn't have any cause to travel up that road, so I don't know exactly where it goes. (The history of the winerey is on their web site and is pretty interesting.


I don't know what this pond is for, but the ladies posed in front of it for me.
An egret found it interesting.
Another stop was Valley of the Moon Winery. (Web site has annoying request for your birthdate.)



Finally, we took a recommendation from the guy at the first place and took a tour of Benziger Family Winery. While we were waiting for the tour to begin, we read some humorous signs, like this one.
Becca found some relief.
We boarded a tram.
And were towed up to the top of a hill were the growing conditions and grape varieties were explained to us.

Then back down to the fermentation vats.
Then we went into the cave they dug into one of the hills to provide storage that doesn't require air conditioning. The guide explained the oak barrels used for aging and what the markings mean.
Each barrel holds 288 bottles of wine. Most of them are imported from France.
Afterward, we tasted a few varieties and bought four bottles. Outside, they have displayed some old farming implements that have been found around the grounds.
Here is another tour group at the top of the hill.
The grounds are nice. Here comes Becca, remaining in good humor in spite of being too young to drink any wine.
Lorie and I went down to inquire about where we might have dinner and Holly surprised us on the way into the room.
We arrived at the restauant, 25° Brix, just as the sun set.
The desserts were nicely plated.


On the way home, we stopped for a late lunch at the Madonna Inn.