Joshua Tree State Park 2022

After attending my grandsons wedding in April of 2022, we drove to Joshua Tree to spend a couple of days with family members and experience the beauty there. Click HERE for more details.

The Wedding of Kyle & Grace 2022

In April of 2022. my grandson, Kyle, married his long time friend, Grace. Click HERE for details and pictures.

Palm Springs 2020

In Feb of 2020, our son Tom, his wife Laurie & friends, Brad & Shirley, spent a few days in Palm Springs, CA.

Brad & Shirley endured a two hour aggressive time share sales pitch to get us free accommodations at the Hilton Garden Inn. They were not impressed with the hotel & less impressed with the presentation. (Not that they any intention to buy in anyway) Mostly, during our threes there, we just hung out, finding great restaurants and taking in a couple of museums.

Our highlight was to experience The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway—the world’s largest rotating tram car, which travels over two-and-one-half miles along the breathtaking cliffs of Chino Canyon, transporting us to the pristine wilderness of the Mt. San Jacinto State Park. During our approximately ten-minute journey, our tram car rotated slowly, offering picturesque and spectacular vistas of the valley floor below. Once at the Mountain Station, our elevation is 8,516 feet. Here, as well as taking in the views, we ate at their acceptable but overpriced Forest View Restaurant.

Then a trek on the trails followed by a slow tram journey back to its base.

Sequoia National Park 2019            
And Kings National Park

In May of 2019, Ramona & I, with our daughter Lisa & her husband Dan, and our son Tom & his wife Laurie, took a road trip from Tom’s California home to visit the Redwoods & Sequoia trees at Sequoia National Park.

Sequoia National Park is adjacent to Kings Canyon National Park in California's southern Sierra Nevada mountains. It's known for its huge sequoia trees, notably the General Sherman Tree dominating the Giant Forest.

I knew before our trip that the Sherman Tree was big, but, actually SEEING the Giant of all Giants that is the General Sherman tree, the world’s largest living tree, was incredible. I’m told that, within Sequoia and Kings Canyon national Park, there are other trees that are taller or wider, but none has the combined weight and width of this monster.

Considering the giant sequoia’s size, one might think it’s the world’s oldest tree, but it’s not. Admittedly, at roughly 2,200 years old (no one knows for sure), the General Sherman is no youngster, but giant sequoias are only the second oldest living trees: ancient bristlecone pines, found in the White Mountains to the east, have earned that distinction.

One of the few lodges within the park, the Montecito Sequoia Lodge, is convenient to the areas we wished to see. We stayed across from its private lake (it’s more like a large pond), in the three bedroom Dandey's Log Cabin, about one block distance to the main lodge, where we had most of our meals.

Oceanside 2011

Our hotel on the ocean front in Oceanside was incredible. A nice one bedroom suite with full kitchen and a fireplace and a terrific view of the marina outside our patio doors.

My son and grandson, who live in Oceanside, stayed with us a night just so we could spend half the night laughing about things my son did as a child that I never discovered until he was an adult.

With our friends, Harold and Mary, who were spending the winter in this area, we explored a Navy ship, ate many wonderful dinners together, weaved through the crowded flea market and just enjoyed our time together.

Valley Center 2015

A new home for our son and his family, built on the rocky top of a hill overlooking the slopes of the valley below.

As we approach the property, we depress a button that will command a gate to slowly open, allowing us to enter a land of Orange, Grapefruit, Avocado, lemon and other beautiful foliage and beckons us to walk the trails that wind through our sons multiple acres of land. A 60 foot wide deck grants us permission to sit any of four groupings positioned to gain the best views this home has to offer.

Here then did we spend a week mostly enjoying what was right in our back yard. Occasionally we ventured off to experience local restaurants, a visit to some of the more historic parts of the area, and shopping for additional sky viewing equipment that seems to absorb much of my son’s infrequent free time. But, mostly, we were content to exchange stories while sitting of the deck.

Valley Center 2016

Wishing to, again, visit our son, his wife, son and daughter, during their one year anniversary of living in their home in Valley Center, we flew to San Diego where they picked us up at the airport and drove the 40 some miles it would take to reach the “dark city” of Valley Center, so identified because no exterior lights are allowed to face upward in the area. This is especially nice for someone who wishes to take pictures of the heavens as my son is prone to do – frequently – with his powerful sky searching equipment.

Much of our time was spent just enjoying this homes property and its views but, one day we took a long trek to to visit the Presidential Libraries of Ronald Reagan (cost too much) and then Richard Nixon (under econstruction). The best part of the Reagon Library was its cafeteria and the best of the Nixon Library was the older lady who hoped we could imagine how nice the place could be when reconstruction is completed.

San Diego 2006

In 2006 we spent a week in and around San Diego with our daughter Lisa and her husband Dan, partly to enjoy the winter warmth of this area and to visit our son and his family who live in nearby Oceanside. We stayed the week in a time-share near the ocean that Lisa arranged.

During our time there we took the silver train near our lodging to the old town of San Diego, participated in a tour of a few wineries, visitd the San Diego Zoo, and, of course, enjoyed a number of the fine restaurants that this area has to offer.

San Francisco 1985

MARS (Motel Accounting and Reservation System)

MARS was a computer system that I developed in the early 1980’s for an Apple II computer (the only commercially available micro-processor at the time). Having sold some of these software systems to independent motels in California, Ramona and I were there to install and train personnel how to use it.

Thus the adventure begins. Intending that this would be all business, we were surprised to find that our customer (our host) would not only pick us up at the airport, but would insist that we be his guest at his family home in nearby Petaluma, a massive estate on a large plat of hilly land overlooking the city. Through iron gates, then a beautiful Japanese garden, to a double door, perhaps 6” thick, we were introduced to our hosts, Korean-American family. Now led to what would be our private quarters. Later our new friend apologized that dinner would have to be at a restaurant as Mother did had not been available to cook one. We were taken to a very exclusive, wonderful eatery that prepared very memorable meals for us.

During our few days there we spent more pleasurable time than work time. We ate in places in China town not available to the general public, met people with powerful stories of their migration to our country and got a great historical tour of the city of San Francisco.