Yet even more time has gone by and now an update is needed. On last wed. I got tickets to the raiders game for Friday vs. the rams. Brenda and I were toying with taking BART up there but we have to drive 25 min to get to the terminal and only about 20 more to continue on driving so we took the motorcycle up there. It took about a hour with all of the traffic and splitting lanes. In California it is legal for a motorcycle to “share” a lane with a car and ride the centerline between cars when they are slower.
It is much faster, but a little more dangerous.


Raiders Game on the 50yd line. Free tickets are always good.

The game was great and the fans were not as bad as what we thought they would be. There were a few people being crazy, but it was nice. Of course Oakland is not a very nice town and there is a lot of crap all over the place. Smells of beer and garlic fries, players cashing into each other, and trash floating in the stadium like the feather out of the beginning of the Forest Gump movie...picturesque to say the least.

Sunday we had our new pastor and his wife (Brad and Karen) over for dinner and games. We had a great time and it is so nice to have a young pastor that we can talk to more on a peer level and he is also a great preacher to cap it all off.

It is very different out here not being in an area where most of the people I know are Christians. Growing up with Christian friends and family is very different from the friends I have now. It is hard to create a desire in someone to accept Jesus when they do not even believe that there is a heaven or a life after death. Well I guess this is a bit more “deep” and “touchy feelly” than I am normally and am losing a lot of my dedicated readers by now so I should mix it up a bit.

I have been advised that I should not post as many details about where I live because I might become a target for burglars or other junk. I say bring it on. I have a 12 gauge that is always loaded and never far from me, but hidden at the same time. I if anyone were to come into my house they should be ready for a little “western hospitality” of the scatter gun kind.


Brenda and I having a good time as always

I got a flat tire on my motorcycle this wed right after I had left for sailing. Well this meant that I was not going sailing, but had to bring my tire into the tire shop. As of now the shop has still not got the tire in stock so I am driving my work truck. I guess that my stock V-star is not that popular around here.

We went to music in the park this thurs. night and had a great time. There were two really weird couples there. One guy had a cowboy hat on (wrinkled into a square), a blue skin tight tank top(with a farmers tan), pure white tenny runners, and a sweet pair of bright blue athletic shorts. Around these shorts he was wearing a leather belt...no belt loops...no need to help the athletic shorts... but a belt none the less. I guess that the belt was to keep the white sweat rag close at hand while he was cutting a run with his weird lady. In the other corner of this battle of the crazies there was a very tall (~6'7") man in jeans and a black tank top(also with a farmers tan), but his woman had a see through black shirt and pants that laced up the legs. He decided that he could dance a lot better with her on his shoulders and it was very entertaining for everyone in the area around us.


Crazy lady on wierdos shoulders. Life is good.

Sat. was my birthday and after a day of sailing, Brenda and I went out to Todai (an all you can eat Sushi place). All you can eat sushi sound like a bad idea, but there were about 100 Asians in there and only about 5 whities so it must have been good(and it was). On your birthday you get tot eat for free. It is $27 a person so it was a great deal for me and it was very good food (we love Sushi).

Yesterday after Church we went up to the City (SF) and met up with Glenn Mesman who was there for a Psycho(Psychology) convention. We went to the wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard street, and all of the usual tourist stuff. It was very busy there, but it is nice we have been there enough that we can get around better than the normal tourist.



Glenn and I having a good time in the city of brotherly love. No, not Philadelphia, San Francisco.




Me with a big frog I caught while I was at work.

I have one more thing that is bugging me and makes me very mad. Those idiots that got wild and ludicrous mortgages and now are screwing the rest of us out of investments and making inflation going through the roof. The other night the news was trying to make us feel bad for a woman who was trying to "get ahead" and got a condo that she couldn't afford. But it apparently was not her fault that she signed papers or moved into the house, because the mortgage company told her she could afford it. She took the loan and now can't make the rising interest payments but it isn't her fault. Bull Crap. She was watching the housing prices rise and thought that she could gamble and make out like a bandit like others have. Her greed is what got her into that situation. When you are going to take money advise from a company that is trying to make money by getting you to spend it, you should be given a handicapped sign for your car and be required to wear a helmet because you are obviously retarded. Rent like the rest of us. If you can't figure out your budget for yourself give me $200 and I will let you know your an idiot and tell you.

It is another normal day at work today, but this weekend was anything but normal. We left SJ (San Jose for you who are not down with the nor cal lingo). And headed for Yosemite at around 1:30 on Friday. We got there with normal traffic and drove over Tioga Pass to the eastern side of the Sierras. The eastern side is the mos beautiful side because there are relatively no foothills. The mountains go from 3-4 thousand feet straight up to 13000 ft in only a few miles. This makes for a dramatic scene that cannot be captured in pictures, but we tried all the same.

The view from Tioga pass.

Backside of halfdome. Very cool.
Friday night was spent dispersed camping on an old forest service road in the Inyo National Forest. We found this great spot in the middle of nowhere. The next day we went over to Mono Lake and saw the Tufa’s. These weird looking things are calcium carbonate tubes from underwater springs that form these weird looking structures. The lake used to be much higher, but the inlets were diverted (by the most evil empire that is Los Angeles) and the lake level has dropped ever since. The lake is 2.5 times saltier than the ocean and seemingly only good for looking at(it is vital for birds on their migration route).

If you look closely you can see the millions of flies at the waters edge. Very disgusting in a kind of cool but not so cool way.

One of the many Tufa's.

The view near our first "illegal" dispersed camping site.

Brenda and I overlooking the last part of Tioga Pass.

From there we drove the June lake loop and got a great view of more mountains. Our destination that day was the Rock Creek lake road and the Mosquito trailhead. Brenda was a bit skeptical when I told her the name of the trailhead, but the hike was more than I could of imagined. There was little/ gradual elevation gain and four lakes all along the way with the final one we stopped at being Long Lake. There were a lot of people on the trail later in the day, but enough could not be said about this beautiful place. It is amazing the wonderful creation that we have been entrusted with by God to take care of. The views of granite rock faces make me think of the verse that says if we do not praise God the rocks will. It only makes me want to praise God all the more because of the gift he has given us(and the thought of those mountains talking makes me freaked out).

After our hike we ran into a Ranger and talked to him a while. We told him where we camped the previous night and he informed us that there is no dispersed camping in the Inyo NF. What a crock of crap. I love the area in the Inyo NF, but if they don’t let people use the land for recreation it might as well be called a national park. National forests should have less restrictions(I mean they allow logging so why not camping which is much less invasive...once again I must say...idiots).

Brenda and I on Tioga again...nothing new.

Me reading my Lattitude 38 magazine. It is the greatest sailing magazine out there.

Brenda eating a yogurt in the backcountry thinking that it can't get better than this.

It did

One of the most pristine areas on the hike.

A great area where we had a bite to eat and a well deserved rest.

The ranger did tell us about this other hike so we went off to try that one (about a hour south). We got there, got a campsite (at a campground...one of very few times we have paid for one) and then set off on the hike. The directions we had said that it was very easy, but we did not have a map and did not look closely so we went the wrong way we thought we were going and headed straight up a mountain. It was hot and sweltering with no shade, and after we talked to other hikers coming down, we decided to call it a day.
The next morning we headed out and stopped at various locations on our way home. First was the Kenough Hot springs. They were about 90 and very nice. We then went to Mammoth ski resort to check it out and wow is it nice. I guess they are open in the summer and they have a lot of mountain bikers that go up the lifts and then down. Finally we headed north and stopped at the Travertine Hot Springs. These were much hotter around 110 but not as private and...how should I say...clothing optional. The term "clothing optional" for some unknown reason this seems to be an encouragement for 50+ year old men to strip down and show the world what...they have to offer. Well enough about that. We then went over Sonora Pass and back home. I was very beautiful and we had a great time.

Tonight we had a soccer game and lost. There is something else I would like to get off of my chest. During the game a girl asked me how tall I am, and then again after the game another guy asked me again. The next midget that asked me how tall I am I am going to ask them How short they are and how much they weigh. I know that it is not socially acceptable to ask shortness, but it is somehow acceptable to how tall people are.

Enjoy the pictures and don't just look at them. Get out there and do something about that and see the wonderful Creation God has given us to use and protect.

Me enjoying the water (clothes on of course)
Brenda with the same.
What a great backdrop.

Entering the wilderness.

Great valley to hike up but very hot.

Travertine Hot springs. The water flows down the ridge in a small channel and then into the pool.
The channel on the ridge.
A huge crevice that happend due to an earthquake. it is about 20 ft. deep.
Mammoth mountain.

Weekend warriors

This weekend was a lot of fun with the new Kamper family (Myron and Andrea). They came down here on Friday and we got to have a good dinner of kabobs on the grill and various other things that you probably don’t give a crap about. Saturday we headed out to the beach and had a great time in the frigid water (~52F) and got to relax on the beach (something we try to find time to do as often a possible). That night we went to Acapulco’s Restaurant and had a great dinner with Karaoke. The waitress sucked and brought us flat beer, a glass instead of a pitcher of margaritas (for the girls), forgot to order Andrea’s dinner, and then charged two different prices for two pitchers of the same beer (idiot). Andrea and Myron were going to leave Sun., but were convinced to stay till Mon. and had a great time here (I am assuming).

Last night I had an indoor soccer game and it was so much fun. Last week we lost to the same team by on own goal with 1:30 left in the game. This time we tied and since it was single elimination playoffs we went to overtime and then to a shootout. We won 1 to nil and I was the goalie so it turned out to make me look pretty good (even though not one of their shootout shots were on goal). In the shootout there is five seconds from when the whistle blows to when the ball must be shot and the shooter starts out dribbling into the goal area and the goalie can start charging whenever (after the whistle). So I must have intimidated them, or was just darn lucky (more likely the case).
This weekend we are going to the mountains and are expecting a great time exploring the eastern side of the sierras. Picture will be posted by mon. if possible

Brenda and Andrea dancing on the coffee table for me and Myron while Def Leppard is playing.
Some of the people on the soccer team
Music in the park on thursdays in downtown Campbell.