Our Long Weekend in Death Valley, 2014

 Looking down into Death Valley from Dante's View

Furnace Creek Ranch Diner 

Hiking in Golden Canyon 

 John's Hoodoo

 Playing at the Devil's Golf Course

Our Hike Up to the Natural Bridge 

There's a little sign up about half way up that says Sea Level

 Mosaic Canyon at the end of a long day of hiking

 The marble walls of a very narrow stretch of  Mosaic Canyon

Scotty's Castle before our tours on Monday

Zip Lining in Big Bear

On Saturday, John and I, along with Heidi, Ned, Ella and Asher; went up to Big Bear Lake for a zip lining adventure.  We had purchased Groupon packages for Christmas and needed to use them before they expired.

All harnessed up and ready to fly.

Our Entire Zip-Lining Group Up 95 Feet Waiting for the Next Zip (as you can see, we were all harnessed in).

We had a great time up in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains.


 Here is a video of John coming down the final zip line.

Our Balloon Ride -- Up With 10 Passengers, Down with 6...What's Up (or Down) With That?

All my life I've looked forward to someday going up in a hot air balloon. I think it all may have started with my early obsession with the Wizard of Oz. When we were kids, there were no videos and when this movie came on TV once a year, it was a big deal. We carefully laid out blankets in front of the black and white TV (we knew that OZ was in color but it didn't matter to us), popped popcorn, and nothing could drag us away.

Last year, I bought a prepaid discounted balloon ride package from Zozi and intented to use it last summer. When William got so sick, we completely put this out of our minds. Finally, a couple of Saturdays ago, John and I finally found ourselves stepping into a big wicker basket ready to go up in a multi-colored balloon, lifted up by nothing more than hot air, to float where ever the breeze happened to blow us.

On that early morning, after a week of sky-cleaning Santa Ana winds, we met at the Perris Airport at 6 am. We got into a big Ford passenger van and were driven south and east to McCall Road where, in a large undeveloped field, four large balloons, some from Perris, others up from Temecula, were being laid out on huge tarps to begin the inflation process. The ride was relaxing and everything I’d hoped it would be. We were fortunate enough to have 4 parachutists with us...2 with "flying Squirrel" suits and two that went straight down. The two with the winged suits really soared down and out quite a way north from the balloon. It really looks like they were flying and they really took their time before they pulled their chutes.

If you watch about two minutes into this video, you’ll see just what we experienced from the balloon. (This was taken on a different flight, but from the same company we few with, Above the Rest Hot Air Ballooning out of Perris.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEhDkIhOexs

Because we had the jumpers with us, we had to climb to up around seven or eight thousand feet. We were so high that we could see the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles, Catalina Island and over the mountains into Orange County. Watching these jumpers step out of the basket, onto the wooden plank, work up their nerves and then take their plunges, made our own balloon ride so much more fun.

On a balloon ride, you literally go where the winds blow you. After about an hour long ride, the pilot has to be pretty creative on where he chooses to land (to avoid power lines, houses and other developed areas). He keeps in close communication with his ground crew so they can be there to help pack up the balloon and get the passengers back on the van. (The same ground crew picked up each of the parachutists earlier.)

When our pilot, Phil, picked his landing spot and started descending, he warned us all to bend our knees and hold on tight. We obeyed and had a blast as the basket tipped onto its side and skidded accross an alfalfa field over several yards. I wasn't the only laughing out loud through this crazy landing. (If you're crazy enough to go up 7,000 feet in a balloon and enjoy watching four of your fellow passengers leap off into thin air, you're just nuts enough to think a sideways skidding landing is great entertainment.)
I whole-heartedly recommend a ballon ride to anyone! John is afraid of heights and gets scared on a Ferris wheel, but, he didn't get a bit nervous on our high flying adventure. It really feels and is safe and is a great way to spend an early, clear morning.

What do Weird Al Yankovich and I Have in Common? We Both "Lost on Jeopardy"!

One of the crazier challenging things I chose to do this year was to go on national (possibly international) TV and very probably make a fool of myself! Each year, over 100,000 people take the Jeopardy on-line test and of those, only 400 people are selected to be contestants on the show. I was, depending how you look at it, one of those fortunate or one of those deluded people who think they’ve got a chance. But, let me tell you, being a successful, winning contestant is not as easy as it looks at home. First of all, the people you’re playing against are no dummies and those darn buzzers are impossible to master – at least for me. I went in with a fear that I’d be one of those poor schleps that were in the red when the game got to Final Jeopardy and had to leave the stage. When the real game began I was totally challenged by not being able to ring in many times (you’ve seen those players going crazy with their thumbs – I think that was me), ringing in too quickly or hesitating just a millisecond too long and missing out on what should have been an easy answer.

Putting myself out there to be on this show was a bit of a risk, but, the way I look at this experience and, pretty much life in general is, “why the heck not?”. I’m proud that I tested well enough to qualify and performed strongly enough in the auditions to be selected. The taping day at the studio was a blast. My taping date was back in November of 2011. Let me tell you, you don't get any questions or study materials before you test, audition or tape. You bring in just what you happen to know and just hope that the categories are consistent with your personal data base.

Of course, I got to meet Alex Trebek and meet Jimmy from the Clue Crew. Those of us who taped in the afternoon got to eat lunch at the Sony Canteen and see a lot of behind the scenes studio happenings in the production of Jeopardy. I got to have my make-up done by an artist and, hey, even the runners up win some money.

Since moving to California in the mid 80’s, I’ve had the opportunity to be on several game shows including Scrabble, The Home Shopping Game, Joker’s Wild, Win Ben Stein’s Money, Shop ‘Til You Drop, Crosswords and now, Jeopardy. I actually did win Ben Stein’s money in 1997; and Heidi and I won a ton of prizes and a fun weeklong ski trip to Vermont in 2004. You win some and you lose some. I’ve found I do much better when I’m not focused on winning but just focus on enjoying the experience itself.

I apologize for not posting this earlier. I was feeling very insecure about not winning and didn't want to invite the world to watch me lose, but I realize now that was a mistake. Although, it was just slightly painful for me to watch -- I know that other people are not so critical (so I'll keep a copy and try to share it in the future).

By the way, I did stay in through final Jeopardy but still came in third. Now what to do with my big $1,000 prize? (I'll report on that in a future blog.)

http://www.swrnn.com/2012/03/02/local-game-show-veteran-to-take-on-jeopardy-tonight/

A Day at the Fair

It was such a beautiful day today that John and I decided to go out to the Riverside County Fair and Date Festival in Indio.

Of course, we enjoyed a date shake -- I've been wanting to try one of those for at least 20 years. And, as I thought I would -- I loved it. We also had fun in all the display buildings. We saw some agricultural displays, a big train set, lots of arts and crafts, paintings and photographs...and we just sat and people watched for quite a while too.

We both played with some world musical instruments.

I got to ride a camel (check out my guide there with his gold turban).

And, I had my picture taken with Randy Caballero...a bantam weight boxer.

(I wish I was bantam weight....)

A New Old Bench for Our House

William’s summer long hospital stay was followed up by just a few weeks of normal life. After our trip to Washington D.C. and Virginia, John became very sick in late September. After a week of high fevers and abdominal pain at home, he spent over a week in the hospital, had numerous tests and eventually, invasive gall bladder surgery. After that, he had to spend another month at home recuperating and still dealing with some post–surgical issues. Now he and Baby William have very nearly matching (and long) abdominal scars. I’ve always said those two have an uncanny connection, and so it continues.

So, for the month or so that John was pretty seriously ill, it just didn’t feel right to leave him at home or in the hospital just so I could go out and do some of the activities I had planned for this Fall. I did, however, have one great find – an antique bench for our living/dining room. I came across it one afternoon at an antique store near the hospital as I was taking a walk just to get out to get some fresh air and exercise. I had been looking for a unique (and hopefully antique) bench for the wall along the stairs in our dining room for a few years now. I wanted to add some practical seating to complement the large dining room table – to replace the accent table along the wall.

So, I still need to paint the wall and get some more dramatic artwork, but, since that might take a while, here’s a photo of the bench itself for now.

In looking at the shopmark on the bench and after talking with the owner of the antique store (and doing a little research on my own), I found that the bench was made by the Ford and Johnson Furniture Company out of Chicago. They were in business between 1867 and 1913 and were among the exhibitors at the International Universal Exposition in Paris in 1900 (along with Louis Comfort Tiffany).

One of the features I like best about this bench is the shield and star motif across the back of the bench...very American and a nice Arts and Crafts touch.

This particular bench was in Chicago’s Union (train) Station for most of the 20th century. When they remodeled the Chicago train station a few years ago, the Los Angeles Shriners purchased much of the furniture. The Shriners divided up the lots and somehow, this particular bench made it to our local antique store, and now, to our home.

Ford, J. S., Johnson and Company

Maker: Ford, J. S., Johnson and CompanyYear: 1867-1913

Reference: The Official Price Guide to American Arts & Crafts 3rd Ed., David Rago and Bruce Johnson

Notes: Ford, J. S., Johnson and Co. Chicago retailer. 1867-1913. John S. Ford and Henry W. Johnson, founders. Factory in Michigan City, IN. Called second largest chair manufacturer in US; various styles; high quality Arts &Crafts. Red shopmark.

Washington D.C. and Virginia

To some people a vacation means doing nothing. If I want to lay around and do nothing, I’ll just stay home and save the money. To me a vacation means getting out and seeing new places, trying new foods, and, best of all, learning something new. Staying in bed beyond, say, 8:00 (at home or on the road) becomes kind of tortuous for me. I often just get up and leave the room for a walk, jog or to get a snack and read the local paper while my poor exhausted traveling companions snooze away. (Some of my favorite times have often been these little solitary reprieves.)

So, with that, earlier this year, I got an email from United Airlines saying that I had 49,750 frequent flyer miles that were about to expire if I didn’t use them within a week or two. So, back in February, I had to look ahead and think of someplace John and I could fly to later on this year. In the end, (after buying up a missing 250 miles) we just picked Washington D.C. We’re both history nerds and love United States and Civil War history so this seemed like a good plan.

I got a great deal on one of those bidding websites (it was Hotwire...for some reason, I just can't ever remember the name of that website) for a great room at the Capital Hilton (just a block up 16th street from the White House).

That's our hotel across the street there..
….yeah, us and the Obama’s were pretty much next door neighbors for one week in September.

And, who knew, that with our great deal, our room key also got us passage to the VIP lounge on the 13th floor with breakfast and a fridge stocked with pop anytime we wanted it. OK, so, we’re really easy to impress…free breakfast and cans of pop make me pretty happy.

We’d been to D.C. once before back in 2005 with a great group of students and teachers from Grace Yokley Middle School where John taught. Mr. Collin Kenny and Randy Garrett, both history teachers and engaging historians really made that trip come alive for us -- especially, Yorktown, Gettysburg and Williamsburg. But, on that tour, there were a few stops we weren’t able to make, so this time, I contacted our congressman’s office and go tickets for the White House Tour, the Capitol; the Supreme Court, and the Kennedy Center. We also stopped to see the National Cathedral but found that it was closed down from some damage from the huge East Coast Earthquake (did you sense a bit of mocking in that statement?) a week or two before our trip. We went to several of the Smithsonian Museums as well as the Folger Shakespeare Library (I'd just finished reading two good books about Shakespeare "Will in the World" by Stephen Greenblatt and "Shakespeare, the World as Stage" by Bill Bryson) and just had to visit after this place's collection of folios was mentioned in the latter.John in the long dark main hall of the Folger Library

A highlight was a boat tour up the Potomac.

We also went to the National Archives and saw the original Declaration of Independence and Constitution (now I want to see National Treasure again). We ate in fancy pants places and at dives, and, as usual, I like the dives best. Our most memorable meal was the one Saturday night we were there eating at a Peruvian restaurant near our hotel, called, what else, but, The Casa Blanca. Because we were the only people there for a while, we had the owner turn the channel to ESPN. We watched the entire BYU game, cheering for a win even as the place filled up through the evening and we just kept getting refills on our sodas. Another night we grabbed pizza near the hotel and ate it in our room while we watched the TV version of the movie “Gran Torino” in our room. I’ve given a lot of thought to the story in that movie since that night – I’m not sure what the original uncut version was like, but I highly recommend the edited version we saw..

After a few days in the city, we were ready to head out and see a few other sites. We first went by to see the Washington DC temple

then headed to Manassass to the see the sites of the 1st and 2nd battles of Bull Run.

Looking for Civil War ghosts in the basement of an old inn that was used as a hospital at Bull Run.

We HAD to eat at least once at the Golden Corral buffet and it didn’t disappoint (steak, shrimp, hush puppies, okra, sweet potatoes, and lots of desserts.) I don’t know if they have these buffets in California and if there are any near me, I really don’t want to know. Eating at these palaces of gluttony is a treat I want to reserve just for my infrequent visits to the south. And, beyond the food, oh, just the people watching at this place was worth the price of admission. And we fit right in after a long day on the road.

We loved our relaxing day at Mount Vernon (on our last trip we spent a morning at Monticello; they’re both amazing homes).

I dragged John to a Cuban restaurant (Kuba, Kuba) in Richmond I found on the Food Network site. I loved it, he remained reluctant. It was in a great old neighborhood though which was totally worth seeing up close and walking through.

We spent a day in Richmond, toured the Confederate White House & Confederate Museum drove down Monument Avenue and ate for the first time in both of our lives, at a Waffle House. We both liked this place -- what's not to love about waffles and Virginia Ham anytime of the day or night?

From there, it was time to head back up to Dulles for our flight back home. Another great vacation for us. Now, I’ve got to renew my passport, I keep seeing these great ads for tours to the Holy Land and think I want to be on one of them in the next year or two…oh, yeah, there’s also the temple dedication in Rome – sometime in 2013. With that, I need to get back to earning money to support this habit.