A Mad Dash, and Home Again Quickly

We had planned on leaving for Utah Tuesday to be with nearly the whole family for Thanksgiving, but the weather was quickly turning bad, so we packed up fast and got out of town Monday just after noon. We expected I-80 over Donner Summit to have chain at least part of the way, but we lucked out and never had to put them on at all. There were some pretty snow scenes along the way, but traffic VERY slow due to the prior chain control.

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We made a planned overnight stop in Winnemucca, hoping to get on the road again before the approaching storms from the West. No such luck. Just after we got up the next morning it started snowing heavily. But by the time we were ready to go it had let up and we decided to take our chances on the road. It wasn't too bad really - even in Mom's little KIA (the Jeep was in the shop getting a fuel line leak taken care of) and we only put chains on once, but otherwise did well. The video below pretty much describes the trip.

Chris and Lorna opened up their house to everyone and we eventually had 8 adults (yes, counting me) and 6 children, ages 6 and under (4 of them under 2). The food was great, the atmosphere lively, and the company entertaining. Below are some of the scenes we enjoyed:

The Master Chefs at Work...........................................with a little help from their friends
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Family gathered around the table doing what else?;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;Lorna was fabulous at providing the food
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Some beautiful (VERY cold) scenes from a late afternoon trip to the park - preserving sanity for both young and old

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More beautiful scenes...;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;of more beautiful people
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And finally, 2 short videos of Trevor & Michelle's kids. It's not like they're not cute or anything. . . Lizzie and Jane

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It was a good trip, but cut a bit short when we saw that snow was predicted all across Nevada for our planned trip home on Saturday. So we once again packed up quickly and dashed off home Friday about noon. It was good to have Saturday to recuperate, even though the weather was miserable here in YC too.

This may be the last post you see from me for a couple weeks. I have tons of work to catch up on (from being away all last week), the house Christmas lights to get up, my band's Christmas Concert Thursday night, and a whole weeks worth of meetings and interviews the week after that. Then I can get serious about preparing for and enjoying the Christmas holiday. Until then, Christmas tunes on the radio and iPod will be my only respite.

Miserable Day for a Run

Today was the 3rd annual Turkey Trot for Hands of Hope. This is an organization that assists homeless children who are enrolled in local schools districts. I know most of the people who started it and they're all good people. I like to support their efforts.

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At the same time, I don't particularly like running, and I hate rain and cold. Today was miserable with all three. So why did I do it? In part to support a worthy cause, and in part just because it presented something hard to do - and I think it's important to do hard things. Well, okay, there's the free pancakes and sausage afterward too. (hey, food is important)

This video clip is of runners at the starting line trying to keep warm. If things had started on time we would have missed nearly all the hard rain. As it was, it started to really come down just as we got ready for the starting gun. I thought things were going pretty well - until I turned into the driving rain near the half-way point. This was one of the few times I never got warm while running. Kept my hat, ear socks, and gloves on, and my jacket zipped all the way up for the whole race. Brrrr!

That's a Crock (-er Art Museum)

So Mom and I spent some of our off day throwing money at the beneficiaries of one of the Big Four (railroad barons Stanford, Huntington. Hopkins, and Crocker). I've always loved going to this pace - mostly beacuse of the beautiful wood throughout the grand old home that housed the gallery. It's interesting parket floor, huge mirrors, and marvelous ballroom (with a balcony) are just fun to be it. Nowadays the art museum is vastly expanded and most of the art is not displayed in the house. (Too bad)

Below are a couple of examples of contemporary exhibits that caught my eye. The first is "Moon Pie." The lower one is a genre I always gravitate to. Huge heads carved out of stone - looking at you. There's just something appealing about that to me.

Get it?

Afterward we walked over to Old Sac and shared a Capital City waffle cone with hot fudge, whipped cream an a cherry on top. Don't worry, it didn't spoil our appetites as we went from there to IKEA and ate an äkte (real) Swedish meal of meatballs, mash potatoes and lingon berry jam. Then we waddled around the store looking and buying, buying and looking.

I bought some odds and ends of Swedish food to share with Elder Per Malm (newly sustained to the 1st Quorum of Seventy, and someone I knew well when I served in Sweden). He will be here Monday on a mission tour and I'll have the chance to eat lunch with him.

Highdee-Ho neigbors

Glinda, Elphie and the Crew

I hate to post photos that others have or might post on their own blogs, but these were just too good not to share. For Halloween Pam is the good witch and Kim the bad.

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From right to left, Lucy (as Dorothy), Grant (as the dark Spiderman), and Molly (as the hammered little furry animal). What a group.

THE GIANTS WIN THE SERIES!

Mom and I watched game 5 of the World Series last night for FHE. It's been an unexpected pleasure for me to see the Giants do so well this year. I remember following the A's as a youth and watching their great teams of the mid-70's. But ever since I moved back here in 1981, I've been a die-hard Giants fan - most years with little so show for it.

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My good friend Stan Richins was at last Thursday's Game 2 at Pac-Bell Park and picked up these souvenirs for me. The orange rally towel and the placard that became the rallying cry for all Giants fans this year, as the bull pen grew beards in support of one another.

From 4th place, 6.5 games out half way through August, to world champions. First time in 56 years - and first time ever since moving to Sn Francisco. What a ride.

This would be a fun (but expensive) Christmas present.