fossilfreak | Entries tagged with geocaching

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 602

93.8 miles

heating up, 90s

264 recordings of 41 types, 38% clear.

The 16th I drove over to the campsite and parked and had breakfast with them. Then off we went to the boat dock... they had said, the night before, that we'd better leave by 7:30 to get to the trailhead by 9, due to construction. As it happened, however, we were fine. I got the tickets (I was #1!!) for the 10 o'clock boat, and we started down the trail. Nice trip, too bad I was never going to make it back up. We were early, so I settled down with my book (The Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher, oh my goodness!) and the bags while the family played by the lake. Then it was time for the boat trip. A.J. and Gabe had to have life jackets, and because of the recent tragedy in Branson, I really paid attention to the safety information.

It was a bit smoky, but as we got close to the sights we could see them clearly and if you looked at the water, it was really blue. We saw the floating tree, the Old Man of the Lake, which has been floating at least since 1896. We boated around the Phantom Ship, which reminded me of a Galapagos Island.

After the 2-hour trip it was back up that trail. I walked across the Pyrenees (bitching and moaning all the way) I can do this. Yes, but it took a lot of sweat and a loooooong time.

We went to the Visitor's Center for lunch and shopping, then to an overlook for The Picture. I have a picture of Vince and me in 1992, his college trip, here. One of my friends glanced at it and asked "are they twins?" which has made my day ever since. So we had to have an updated picture. I think it turned out pretty well.

We stopped at another visitor's center on the way back to camp and saw a film and took a short trail, and Gabe got into trouble with his mom for leaving the trail. In my room, later, I realized there were virtual caches all over the park, including that visitor's center, so I made my plans for the next day. Gabe made the fire though dinner was something else... this was for marshmallows. AND I had just given them a grill set they could have used for marshmallows, but forgot until they got back from a trip to the store. Anyway, I left about then.

I had coffee in my room so didn't have to use their system. The next morning I drove down for breakfast, and watched Vince helping A.J. with his Junior Ranger stuff. I then went back to my cabin and checked out and met them at the center place, and we drove to the Pinnacles. This was a short hike and the Pinnacles are fascinating. They are fossilized fumaroles. We saw the National Park border with an old gate
.

Then we went to Plaikini Falls, which was a pleasant hike after the hard one of the day before. And then we said goodbye... they were going around the lake counter-clockwise while I planned to head that way a short distance to pick up some information for a virtual cache, then go back to the park center and get more information and maybe just walk along the rim for awhile, then out the north entrance and go to Ashland. I did this, and also stopped at a couple of viewpoints and chatted with a couple who'd been to Devil's Tower and a German couple, and then to the park center. I walked over to the Lodge and finally found the information I needed for that geocache. When I stepped out I was admiring an old car when a modern one screeched to a halt and a lady raced out saying "JAN!" It was my dental hygeinist!! So then, as I walk back to the park center, I spy some familiar looking people... Vince and family, taking A.J. to a visitor's center to get his Junior Ranger patch!! We said goodbye again, I grabbed something for lunch and passed their car on the way out of the parking lot, and drove on to the Wizard Island overlook where a nice man helped me with the picture, and so out of the park.

And so to Ashland. It was a VERY long way, over 100 miles. I swear I thought it was closer. I finally pulled into the Bard's Inn, which is no longer a Best Western but still very nice. They had repaved the parking lot, and it's beautiful. The town was smoky but I managed to see all the plays, even the outdoor ones, outside. I took the backstage tour (I think the 4th time, and this one was the best) and went to a "park talk" which was inside. Got to hear a couple of the actors, always a fun thing. My plays were Book of Will on Friday night (and I was tired, had a hard time staying awake), Henry V and Love's Labors Lost on Saturday. LLL was outdoors and late because of the smoke and the possibility they'd have to cancel it. So about 11 I was really getting tired, but it finally ended. Sunday I went to church (and since Joan knows the priest, I went back to say hi on Wednesday) and then to Sense and Sensibility and, outdoors, Romeo and Juliet. The weather was beautiful, but when Tuesday dawned, they had to move R&J to the high school.

Monday was off, so I went geoaching, then walking and shopping. The first cache was fun, since I was having no luck at this church sign, when a voice from on high (well, the porch) said "keep trying." Eventually he pulled it out of the bush for me.

The shopping I got three jigsaw puzzles, as if I needed jigsaw puzzles. I also saw a marble run and thought it might be a good present for Padreic. And I got "Runny Babbit" by Shel Silverstein, for the kids, because they obviously need more books.

Tuesday was Othello in the afternoon and then I went to dinner at the Black Sheep. I'd tried all kinds of restaurants and still have to write my TripAdvisor reviews. It was a fun but very expensive trip!!

Wednesday, after Mass (everybody wanted me to stay for coffee) was a long drive home.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 602

93.0 miles

heating up, 90s

276 recordings of 46 type, 35% clear. I am halfway through season 3 of NCIS.

On the 10th of August I was weeding the zinnia bed and semi-tripped over my little wire fence. I didn't fall, thank goodness, but had (and still have) a doozy of a bruise.

Pharaoh was giving me trouble about coming in at night and I left him out about 40 minutes.

I went to Bernadette's and played with Padreic and helped clean out Gareth's room a bit. She told me the coming operation will take out the appendix, which makes sense.

My driver's license renewal came. Too late to get an appointment, especially with the medical issues.

I went to the pizza party for Sharing God's Bounty. I really pigged out. It's amazing how many people are involved in so many jobs... besides cooks and servers there's publicity and volunteer liasons... I sat next to Peter Mithin and Boyd Keenan. I felt a little silly saying why I was there, but as a founder, and hospitality early on, and as Rich's widow, I was OK. I said I didn't do much now but bring coffee and both Ann and Jim said I was also a generous donor.

My jaw hurt on the way home. I don't need a heart attack just now, TYVM.

I finished the jigsaw puzzle in 9 days. It has 5 pieces missing, but 31 pieces that didn't belong to this puzzle. I took it up to Niki.

August 11 was second Saturday breakfast. I spent some time looking for my Social Security card so I can get a Real ID driver's license. I stopped at Lazy-Boy on the way home and got some glasses. I took them up to Vince and Niki but they didn't want them.

August 12, Father had a LONG homily. He's very excited about the Mass and eager to share it. Then I went to Communion at the nursing home. It's been a long time, since before the disastrous Pittsburgh trip.

I ordered face masks for the smoke in Oregon.

August 13. I finally got my appointment to get the results... very disappointing. Basically Svetlana, who is a very nice lady but NOT the doctor, read me a black and white copy of the color report I got from the doctor. They're going to refer me to a surgeon. I was in tears when I left and went to Bernadette's. She was too wrapped up in her World Con plans to be sympathetic. I tried calling the doctor's office to find out the name of the surgeon, but of course it didn't work. So I don't know any more than I did before.

I walked over for a geocache, which I actually found.

August 14 I drove back out to the office to get the surgeon's name and phone number so if they call while I'm gone, as they did, in fact, I could call back for an appointment. It turned out there's no phone service at Crater Lake so I couldn't check in at home until Friday, and couldn't call the surgeon's office till Monday, but I got an appointment for Friday! I had to replace the bulb in the back hall.

There was a Pilgrim's pizza party, and this time I didn't pig out quite so much. I gave a little speech about Casa Leopoldo in Palas de Rei. I bought wine for the trip to Ashland and packed my Ashland glass, but couldn't find my beaded covers for the glasses!

And, finally, Wednesday the 15th, I could start my Oregon trip. I packed two duffel bags, one for Crater Lake and the other for Ashland. My sandwich was too big for a regular sandwich bag! Finally, I left the house at 7:47. I drove and drove (past a field of melons!) till 9:48, the Corning rest area. I needed to get out and stretch even more than I needed a potty break! What a nice rest area, where I've probably never stopped before. Look at all the olive trees! Is there a geocache here? (My pocket query assumed I was taking Highway 99 instead of I-5.)

At 11:39 I was at Castella, looking (unsuccessfully) for a cache. I had waved gaily at the rest area where I saw the eclipse last year. After the fruitless search I stopped at the RRPark resort to ask how they were doing with the smoke. I'd put on my mask at Redding because it was really bad there. There were "thank you" signs to firefighters on all the overpasses. My favorite was "thank you for kickin' ash."

I ate my sandwich at the resort and decided not to stop in Dunsmuir, maybe on the way back. (no.) I went on to Weed and couldn't find the cache at the totem pole, but fortunately stopped at the gas station for a potty break. I say "fortunately" because the rest area on hwy 97 was closed.

I didn't notice there was a cache in Dorris (and in a store, I really could have found it!) till I was just past the turn to it. And no real place to turn around. Oh, well. I did stop and take a good look at the second-highest flagpole in the world, which we had watched being built, back in the days when we would drive to Spokane on 97.

I stopped for gas in Klamath Falls, next to the Super 8 where I stayed when I went up alone to get Vince (when Rich bought the van!) Actually, leave them alone for 25 years and they change everything! Then when I took the turn for Crater Lake I started looking for geocaches, but only found one of the ones I had marked. I stopped at the overlook for Annie Falls, and finally got to Crater Lake about 4:30. I registered and got cabin D1.

Then I tried to call Vince, and discovered there was no phone service. So I left a note at the camping check-in, but decided, sensibly, not to trust that and sat on a log overlooking the parking lot while I read a book. Sure enough, I saw them, about 5:30, and told Niki just to register to see if they got the message... nope. They were camped about .4 miles away, further when I walked around the long way.

I sprang for dinner and had pork chops with mustard, cornbread and butter, and green beans. Yummy. And I bought A.J. his first stretched penny. I spent the rest of the time at Crater Lake looking for an album, but they finally managed to get one (and two more pennies) on the way home.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 599

31.4 miles

cloudy, cool

308 recordings of 21 types. 66 old SVU. 31% clear.

Sunday morning (the 18th) I went to church. There was an amazing time when all these young people, at least 100, filed in. I gathered it was a Confirmation class by the flame badges they were wearing, and later, after meeting the 14(!) leaders who came from as far away as Scotland and many different states, I deduced it was a retreat, and probably most of the diocese.

Then I came home, quickly wrote a journal entry, cleaned up the kitchen and living room, grabbed a quick bite, and was out of the house by 11:15. I tried stopping near the raptor center to see if I could get the cache I missed the other day, but it was down a steep slope and I had no backup if I hurt myself, so I reluctantly let it go. There were a couple of slowdowns on the road to San Jose, including one complete stop, but I got to Monica's house about 2:20, yay me.

Mark wasn't there! He was off riding his bike. Monica helped me carry the train stuff into the house, and the grill set from Lazy Boy. Then she gave me two bags of citrus. Now I'm trying to sprout some kumquat seeds. We were on our way out the door to walk down to the MLK library when Mark arrived, so we told him he wasn't allowed to look till I got back.

It was a pleasant walk and I got to see the inside of the library (which is a joint city and university library, which is a fantastic idea!) with Charlotte. When we got back to the house, I went and got Mark, telling him I want to play with the trains.

He was delighted. The decorations are great, (he thinks he can use Windsor Castle as an amusement park) and the trains wonderful. He said one locomotive was worth over $300! I'm so glad I didn't have to try to sell them! (And I just found another box with more layout stuff, though not as full as the last one.) Two of the transformers were corroded, and he gave me back the good one that was in good shape, because the Z gauge train was in the box. So I still have the tiny tiny one.

I overheard Genevieve breaking my heart. She was making a poster or something that said "If you're pro-life you're pro-welfare..." Sigh. But no point in confronting the 17-year-old, who knows everything of course. I hope the society continues to change, because I'm sure her grandchildren will be horrified that people nowadays thought abortion was acceptable, the way we are disgusted by slavery.

Monica and Charlotte went off to see a play, and Mark had a dinner with friends, so I said goodbye to Genevieve and drove off to Helena's. Of course I once again turned at the wrong exit (the Lawrence expressway). Maybe next time I'll get it right.

Helena, on medication for her bad back, couldn't have the wine, but *I* surely enjoyed it!

She fixed a pleasant dinner and we were relaxing, both in our jammies at 9 when all of a sudden the CO monitor went off with an ear-piercing shriek! It turned off for a short time when I took it outside, but started up again in the house and there was no shutting it off... Helena went through the neighborhood till she found someone to remove the batteries. We opened windows and turned off the heater, but it was obviously a defective monitor. (It never stopped, even outside.) Nonetheless, we were jumpy.

Helena has a way of repeating herself that is easy for me to catch. When I got home I found myself talking to myself (which I do) "That was good. It was quite tasty." "I really liked that tasty meal." "It was really good."

Monday morning I went out geocaching. To my delight, I found the first three, so of course I got cocky and didn't find two, but ended up with 5 finds, including two Little Free Libraries and I did remember to bring books to leave at each. (And picked up a book for Padreic at the first one.) The second one was built from an old fence. Their hint was something about the attic so I wasted a lot of time looking there before I found the cache in a fake book. Really clever!

Helena had been intent on taking the CO monitor to Home Depot but when I got back and said "let's go" she didn't want to. We had lunch and then went off to Notre Dame High School. Monica and Mark had each given us directions, and they differed slightly, so once I had the vague idea, I was able to get to the school, and I saw the parking lot was open. Helena, trying to interpret the instructions, was telling me to turn right, but I decided to circumnavigate the school first, and sure enough, we got a parking place in the school lot!

There was a little program, and then Charlotte took us on a tour of the school. The tour finishes at a big display of place settings... each Freshman girl made a plate and display about a famous woman. Of course there were a lot of women like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, not so many of the Condaleesa Rice persuasion. They did have Katherine Johnson, (Hidden Figures), and Malala, women I really respect. They also had Bella Abzug and Margaret Sanger. I dont know why one has to be in favor of killing babies to be a feminist, and this at a Catholic school. If I lived here I would be biting my tongue so very much.

They also had some really nice food and I, like an idiot, threw out a very nice plastic cup that they had veggies and dip in (so I went back for another which I kept.)

They finished with the school song and I was reminded of the time I saw Charlotte in her 1st grade performance of "I'm going to eat some worms" when she really got into it and shuddered. I said then she'd be an excellent actress and so she has been (apart from the first time when she was just checking with everyone else about what she should do.)

Afterwards I drove us to Monica's (which Helena, for some reason, calls Mark's) where she fixed a very nice dinner. I told her I'd filled my eye-rolling quotient for the day, but I got a few more in before we were done.

Part of the eye-rolling was because I'd said "sure" I'd come to her grief support group and then she was all a-dither about dinner, we'd be late, they couldn't have it early enough, etc. etc. I finally said I wanted to go to dinner(!) and to the grief group if we managed but que sera sera. She'd managed to get Mark involved in the panic, but in the end we had a good dinner, plenty of chat time, and make it to the meeting in time. Though Helena's deafness did cause some trouble because on the way back I asked, to be sure, if the grief group was at the church, and she heard something about the Greek church and said she'd never been there and I'm thinking that can't be right. We finally got it sorted out. It's good we went because we were the only two people there apart from the group leaders. I wore my WPAC name badge and we ended up talking about that. They thought we had some good ideas. I pretty well dominated the hour, but we did give Helena some time to talk.

Tuesday early I left, and came home. It wasn't too bad once I got out of SJ.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 595

27.1 miles

rainy, windy

338 recordings of 36 types. 1 old LMS, 69 CPD, 8 LMS. 23% clear. (Friday's statistics. I start this so early and then get too busy to finish.)

Sunday February 18 was great fun. I met my geocaching friend Carol in Folsom. The restaurant I was thinking of turns out to be closed on Sunday mornings. Oops. And she got stuck in terrible traffic so was late, but we finally met up.

Her usual geocaching partner doesn't like walking, and Carol does, so this was perfect. For starters, she'd marked a cache I didn't have listed, so looked for that while I dashed back for my sunglasses. Then off we went, off to the trail. There are no new art works since I was here in December, so no new geocaches. Yet. But there were 4 I was unable to get last time. Carol had found one of those, but not the others. And it was such a pleasant day for a walk. I think she and I should go to the Lafayette reservoir one of these days!

We came back in sore need of a bathroom, and hungry, and stopped at Pizza Classico (where I had a salad. Yay me.) All in all, a very pleasant day!

I was watching a show about the Galapagos and learned that a volcano there erupted in 2015! I must not have been paying attention.

Monday's only event was that I went to the Newcomer's Dinner. I had called to remind John, so he came. He and Bill (a neighbor, on Pounds Lane) had both gone to Grant High School in the 40s, so they had a lot of reminiscences that I found fascinating.

I cleaned out the kitchen pantry (except for the pasta shelf, which I got the next day). SO much vinegar! So much alcohol! I DID have corn starch after all, so now I have far too much! And so much gelatin!!

I've been watching old movies. TMC has a pre-Oscar special, and so many are interesting to me. So I had to cancel S.W.A.T., that I never got into, and cut out a lot of the How the Universe Works segments (all about how the universe is going to kill us... maybe in 5 billion years, or maybe this afternoon.)

Tuesday, my USAA subscriber bonus came, which would cover the deposit for Oberammergau. I found out that it's not refundable, but for $200 I could transfer it to another program, which might be useful, if I do it and then go with Father Giltus.

I actually made it to the breakfast. I like the people but really am not impressed with the restaurant.

Wednesday I had another nosebleed. Sigh. This gets old.

At Wee Wednesday Miss Jill was gone so Miss Michelle was the leader. She did a "criss cross" rhyme and Padreic learned to sit cross-legged. We showed Mommy when we got home. It's a lot better when they sit that way so they dont get in everyone's way. Too bad Arthur doesn't get it, and too bad Arthur's mom and grandmom don't try to get him to behave.

The parking meter acted up, told me I was paid till 11:30, but when we came out at 11:10 it had expired. There was no ticket, but I thought it should be reported. I tried calling the number on the meter but it continually kicked me off. Later, about Monday, I reported online. And yet, the next Wednesday a woman was unable to pay at that meter. She has a smartphone so could do it, anyway.

Back at the house, I was picking up stuff (Bernadette had turfed out Gareth's room and it looked great) and found Joanna's Thanksgiving list. She's thankful for Grandma, but not for me. This little girl manages to hurt my feelings on a regular basis! She is still not doing her writing. I keep asking why and she doesn't know. I asked Joan to tell Joanna she, Grandma, would like her to do her school writing. That might work.

Thursday I was almost late to the Retreat House, swallowed up by Facebook. But I made it. Again, a huge amount to eat!

I got Pharaoh's DNA kit and swabbed his cheeks. I really am curious.

I have decided not to play the regular levels in Fishdom until they come up with a new aquarium. But I'm OK playing the additional game of Herman (the crab) even if it means (and it did) dropping another league. They add 15 new games every Thursday, and I've been buying the diamonds at a discount, so by mid-March I should have enough to play the 60 or 75 games I'll have before they go to the "chests." Those games don't let you get new decorations or fish. When they do open the Wonderland exhibit I can buy a lot of goodies right away. The fish keep nagging me to go to the store, but I have everything already and the aquaria are stuffed!

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 595

26.3 miles

COLD!

360 recordings of 36 types (so many TCM movies!) 72 CPD, 1 SVU, 11 LMS, 18% clear.

(This was Saturday!)

I know, I know. When the news of Russian meddling and the total incompetence of the FBI in the Florida shooting came down, the low-level anger I've felt ever since the sore loser Resistence movement rose up, that anger reached boiling point and I've been unable to write. I'm just furious over Russians, Resist, Cryin' Chuck, Adam the Buffoon, the "unwittting" helpers on Facebook, the FBI, knee-jerks and just plain jerks.

And last year, just before I left the house to go to Roni's, I said "Besides getting to see Africa, I also will be happy to have almost three weeks without the panic-of-the-day, the hysteria, the riots, the hyperbole, the Godwin's law violations, the BS and outright lies, the hypocrisy..."

But a lot has gone on. And at least I caught up with the pictures, so I can illustrate our adventure on Monday the 12th.

The kids were out of school, so I went down to Elk Grove and Bernadette and I took them to Calistoga to see the Old Faithful Geyser of California. Rich and I had been here long ago, as well as the Petrified Forest in the same area. Unfortunately, the big fire last summer closed the Petrified Forest. It also affected Old Faithful, but just the bathroom block (which they had just built. They put in two enormous port-a-potties to replace it until it's rebuilt.)

The geyser goes off every 5-10 minutes, so we didn't have to wait. It's fascinating. Joanna brought along her drawing tablet so she could draw it. (She and I kept knocking heads on this trip, not only about the drawing tablet but later about the playground. One of those days.) Padreic was enthralled. And he understood the chart about why the geyser happens.

Gareth mostly walked around. At the end he disappointed me by not wanting a stretched penny. They're "not interesting." (Padreic, of course, wanted one. I'll have to get him an album.)

They weren't that interested in the fainting goats. I was so tempted the last time to scare them. Then they were in a smaller pen, now they have a huge paddock and don't look like anything would make them faint. There's a cute little playground. Padreic was climbing into the plane but slipped and hit his eye on the pipe. He was crying but Bernadette put him into the plane before he'd calmed down, so he's unhappy in this picture. Later, though, he was happy to play in the plane. Joanna had some elaborate story going on when we stopped for lunch.

Then we looked at the other things (not much, actually), and got the stretched pennies, and went back to Napa to the Playground Fantastico. This is another place Rich and I had visited in 2004. We'd recommended it to Roni and Monica for their families. It's still nice enough, though not as incredibly special as I had remembered. I walked across the freeway and around under the bridge to look for a geocache, without luck.

After about 90 minutes we packed up and went home, in the Bay Area rush hour, but it wasn't too bad. (Not like the horror of getting back from Rodeo Beach.)

Tuesday the 13th I had the cleaners. I walked to Raley's to pick up my prescription and a salad. I watched the Westminster dog show, and learned that Lex, my grandparents' dog, was an ENGLISH cocker spaniel. I'd wondered why cocker spaniels were so much smaller than I remembered. I worked some more on the jigsaw puzzle. I also dashed over to the neighborhood street to take a picture of the leopard in a tree!

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 595

10.4 miles

fog, then partly cloudy

351 recordings of 32 types. 1 SVU, 72 CPD, and 42 LMS. 23% clear.

Friday I went on retreat. I went to Penney's in the morning for shoes and also got jammies and slippers.

Gerrie called to wish me luck, and Vince called because this was his first chance this week. (Since I was gone on Tuesday.) The boys are in a speech competition this coming weekend.

I started a Boxcar Children book rather than having Nero Wolfe on my mind all weekend, and left book, and iPad, here. I grabbed a meditation book. Also, at the Retreat House library, I grabbed Thomas Merton's Asian Journal. It was given to Father Tom on his birthday in 1974, when I guess he was 26.

The used books I donated are being sold.

I took Pharaoh to the vet and tried to find some geocaches on the way to the Retreat House. Without success. One was on the other side of the road so I decided to look for it when I left. (Again, no success.)

I was reluctant to go this year, and just going through the motions. This didn't last long, however. It ended sometime Saturday.

On the way in, I noted a new garden around the St. Paul of the Cross statue.

I was probably the first person there. They knew me. I went up to my room and lay down. In fact, I slept a lot this weekend.

In the devotional booklet in the room for Friday: "Today let us permit Brechero the Gaucho Priest, with his mule and all, to enter the house of our heart and invite us to prayer, to the encounter with Jesus that sets us free from attachments so that we may go out to the street and seek out brother or sister, to touch the flesh of Christ in those who suffer." Pope Francis

The reception was at 5:30. It turned out to be a very small retreat this time, only a few more than 20 attendees. My Camino t-shirt was noticed, and I met a woman, Rita, who actually was in Spain the same time as I was. She had hoped to walk the Camino but had leg trouble, so took the Marian Shrines pilgrimage and was in Burgos, at our hotel, the same day!

I couldn't resist some of the snacks, though of course I should have (trying to lose a few pounds before I see the doctor next week!) Then dinner was cod, kale, salad, and I had no bread, no rice, no chocolate cake.

Father Tom gave the keynote talk. "Do we want to do what we have the power to do?" He grew up in Pittsburgh, and talked about Kaufmann's at Christmas. Then we had the Great Silence, my favorite part of any retreat. This lasts till after the Mass on Saturday.

Saturday I was awake at 3:30 tossing and turning. I went down for coffee, took a shower, ate an apple I'd taken the night before, and my Belvita, opened the blinds, lay down, and had a 90 minute nap.

At 7 I went out and walked around the grounds. This led to wet feet and hurting shoes. (I spent most of this weekend in my slippers. Since it wasn't raining, this wasn't a problem.) This turned out to be 1.5 miles or so, to my astonishment. I figured that out in the afternoon, when I grabbed my GPS for another reason.

In the Stations of the Cross, I ran into a woman with a dog. I thought she was a neighbor taking advantage, but later it turned out she was on the retreat, and he was an emotional support dog. I try not to be judgy, but besides the dog, she had her iPad, and her Keurig(!)

We gathered in the Chapel for morning prayer, and waited, and waited. Finally a woman suggested we at least say a few prayers before breakfast. It turned out that Father Giltus overslept. He blamed Alexa. I was worried that maybe there was a medical emergency. I thought maybe I would be going home early. (Still fairly "bleh" about being there.)

Breakfast was bacon, scrambled eggs, [I avoided the potatoes, pancakes and bread], oatmeal, fruit, and yogurt. I reported the unlocked door (on the building where I was staying (it was unlocked all day, finally locked at night) and the woman with the dog.

The first session dealt with Mark, chapter 5. I didn't contribute in the chat afterwards, my problems forgotten.

This has to be my 10th retreat, but I got the 5 times pin anyway, since I'd said it was my 9th. I suddenly remembered that Rich came for the Sunday lunch in 2010, and that was probably my third retreat.

I went to the Mass (I had a short reading) and lunch and forgot to turn the heater off. My socks were definitely DRY when I got back to the room. Lunch was hamburger, salad, and chips if I'd wanted them.

The voluntary presentation was "introduction to Islam." Interesting. One of the women really cut loose on them, and Father Tom tried to stick to the religion proper, not the way the Arabs (in particular) practice it.

I skipped the Penetential service and Confessions to sleep and relax. I walked the labyrinth, and noticed where the sun was shining. I was totally confused and turned around, so I went to the car for my GPS and learned where north was. I was SO WRONG. I thought my room faced west but in actuality it faced north. So I walked a bit down the road and noticed all the turnings I hadn't really keyed in on before. Maybe now I'll finally figure it out.

There was a flock (or a "rafter"?) of turkeys which I was close to. One male was either threatening me or showing off for the ladies.

Father Jim presented a meditation about Mary, which was nice.

Dinner was deconstructed chicken cordon bleu, potatoes au gratin (I had some) rolls, no, broccoli and no carrot cake for me. Yes, I talk a lot about the food, which is always terrific. I fortunately didn't gain much weight on this weekend.

Father Giltus talked about the retreat house and about Passionists. I've never seen him so excited. Then we had the ice cream social. Of course I had a brownie and ice cream.

Sunday I was up at 2, bathroom, back to bed till 4:30, coffee, Belvita, no apple this time. Then I lay down for another hour. Father Tom at morning prayer: "If you want to know how much God loves you, I'll show you" and turns and points to the crucifix.

Then, the last talk, the final thoughts, Father Giltus gave a little talk, starting with a question he had in the seminary, part of a psychological analysis: "What would you like people to say looking at your body at your funeral?" His answer was "did I just see him move?" This is good for a laugh, but he grew it into continuing to check that he is moving. That was the message I took from the

final thoughts, AM I MOVING?

Then, because I had a performance to get to, I skipped Mass and left. We didn't have to make our beds this time. I stopped to look for another geocache, without any luck, and then picked up my Very Excited Dog.

There were a couple of calls from John, wanting to know more about Sunday Support. I called back, but didn't get him.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 585

(I started this book right after Rich died and if I'd held
to the 5 pages a dayI planned, I'd have been done in June 2012!)

4.3 miles

cool, partly cloudy

348 recordings of 48 types, 0 old SVU, 69 old CPD, 48 Last Man Standing. 24% clear.

I didn't mention on Thursday that I'd also done more on the jigsaw puzzle, day 8 so far, and I'd scratched off North America on the map Vince and Niki gave me. I slipped and got a tish of North Dakota, the upper peninsula of Michigan (I decided Detroit airport didn't count) and some of Nova Scotia, so obviously I have to go to those places to make it right.

Yesterday I had more errands. I reconfigured the car and took Joanna's car seat inside, to wait for when Padreic is big enough for it. I took stuff to St. Vincent de Paul, stopped at the church to request a Mass for Rich on February 4, and took a bag of books (mostly Nero Wolfes) to the library. I came back with an Aunt Dimity book I hadn't read. I just told Bernadette that I was sick of cosies, but hey.

I got back to work on the "books read" spreadsheet, and behold, I was two off last year, actually read 108 books!

Today I took the dog with me in the morning in the car. I was early for breakfast so walked him around the parking lot of the strip mall. He actually behaved well. Maybe I can take him for walks again, which I haven't done for over a year. Of course, I would still have to worry about other dogs, but it might work out. A pleasant breakfast, 32 people or so, and I had a steak skewer skillet. (For lunch I used my new griddle to make a proper grilled cheese sandwich. The way Rich used to make them. Yum.)

Then I went geocaching a bit: the first one I tried for the third time (2009 and 2013) and found it. I dunno how I missed it before. I also had spied a man with a Gonzaga sweatshirt so I commented... his son had gone to Jesuit and Gonzaga but quite a while after my kids. Then the second one was at a place I'd tried last year with Richard without luck, and again I had no luck today. Oh, well.

At home I started watching the current season of SVU, though I think I'm missing an episode. (Still 2 missing in season 18, too.) And I'm slowly getting through the madness of Big Cat Week and of my Christmas movie binge on TCM.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 572

226.0 miles (2017 numbers)

cloudy and cold

346 recordings of 61 types, no old SVUs (three scheduled), 51 CPD, and 52 Last Man Standing.

I went to Mass Sunday morning (still 4th Sunday of Advent).

I called my sister and had a nice long talk. Bossy! She actually wants me to FINISH the nice long letter I've started to her!

Then in the afternoon I drove over to Elk Grove for the family Mass at St. Joseph's church at 4. Padreic was having a tantrum (he has a lot... partly due to his age and I think also he got a bit spoiled, understandably, when his leg was in a splint) over goint to church. But Rob got a smile out of him when Bernadette posed them in front of the Christmas tree.

Mass itself went pretty well. There were wiggles and giggles and eventually Bernadette put Gareth on my far side, away from her and Padreic. Then we headed back to the house to admire the gingerbread houses they each made. Bernadette's is even landscaped!

Rob did a creditable job with a Polish-style Christmas Eve dinner... fish, pierogies (potato: Babcha made cheese (dry cottage cheese) and prune ones), steamed cabbage and a delicious mushroom soup. I should have gotten oplatek... next year for sure. Padreic channeled his Djadja, and had at least 7 pierogis! Djadja (Rich) would have been so proud... he so loved his food.

I forgot to mention that on Saturday, I took a slight detour on the way home and stopped by Bernadette's neighborhood "House that Threw Up Christmas." Wow. On the way home from church tonight she drove by it, too.

Christmas morning I played Fishdom, and went geocaching. I got 3 out of 8 attempts. I wasn't stupid enough to go after one, which would have involved climbing a tree. I could do that, but not by myself! (One cache I missed was archived.)

I went over to Elk Grove at 3. Joan's plane had needed de-icing, so she was hours late, but relaxing there watching the kids play with the racetrack she'd brought. I gave B&R the almonds, and Joan a pack for herself. Then I gave Gareth and Joanna the presents for their parents that they'd made. Gareth, absentmindedly, almost opened his. The parents were duly impressed.

I liked a couple of Rob's toys, a hovering ball and a funny instrument. I liked them so well I ordered them for myself.

We watched "A Christmas Story" and chatted, and Rob put together a good Danish meal. I couldn't have the mashed potatoes (I will be SO GLAD when I've had the A1C test. I know I have to be careful but I'd be really glad to be a LITTLE less careful all the time!) But there was a great salad, and meatballs, and veggies. Yum. I skipped dessert (I'd given in with a fruit tart type thing the night before.)

After the kids were in their jammies they opened their stockings. Lots of candy and nice little toys including glowing fidget spinners (which they'd played with at Monica's, too.) I'd given B. a little penguin for Gareth's and a horse for Joanna (as well as a lot of magnetic trains for Padreic) and also a notebook and "candy cane" pen for Joanna, which I gave her a couple of weeks ago.

And so home. This was the best post-Rich Christmas (it's what I thought I was getting last year, before the whole kerfuffle of them going to Oregon for Christmas.)

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 560

196.4 miles

beautiful after a rainy day and pouring night

372 recordings of 28 types, 7 old SVU but the darn DVR keeps recording episodes I tell it not to, 32 old CPD, 24% clear.

Wednesday I was puttering around looking up possible geocaches to hunt for and I suddenly remembered, OMG, it's the day I can order my Shakespeare tickets! And it's important to get in as early as possible because some shows, even in August, sell out quickly. So I got online, got checked in, and was just starting when suddenly the computer decided to go down. ACK! (It's done that a couple of times since. I guess the laptop is due to be replaced.) Fortunately, I hadn't committed to anything yet. As it ground away updating me against my will, I decided to try the phone. That worked beautifully, as I had everything I wanted circled in the pre-order magazine. I've got the backstage tour and the festival noons and the Daedalus play-reading, as well as all the plays, 6 of them, that I wanted. She was very efficient and I am getting really excited.

Then I went down to the Zoo to renew our membership. I'm afraid I lied when she asked if Bernadette was at the same address as me. Some of these memberships that's important on, but I'm not sure the zoo is one, they may just want some demographic information. Oh, well, the lie came easily and 'fessing up wouldn't have.

Then I wandered around the zoo. I haven't been there in a long time, and there have been improvements, though they took away the cement snake slide which all the kids love, even though it wasn't a good slide. I saw the aardvark! He was asleep of course, but I haven't seen him since they opened the exhibit. A lot of the animals were hiding out and I didn't see either Painted Jaguar which I was hoping to see after reading the Just-So story to the kids. The Amazon parrot kept saying "Hello!" to me. The tiger was asleep but the lions were fairly active. I caught a glimpse of the otters, but not as much as I would have liked. I had a burger at the cafe, completely forgetting about the discount I'd just renewed! Oh, well.

After about an hour I left and started to look for geocaches. The one closest to the Zoo is probably somewhere in a tree but I had absolutely no luck. Then there was a multi, and I couldn't find any indication of where the second stage would be, and finally, a puzzle letterbox which made no sense to me. Very discouraging.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 560

189.1 miles

cloudy, cool

367 recordings of 28 types. 29 old CPD, 4 old SVU. 24% clear.

Wednesday I finished Pinocchio with the kids. Not only were they reading along, which is fine, but Gareth was reading ahead of my voice which I found immensely distracting.

I ordered Doc Martin season 8! Also, my African nativity set was supposed to arrive and it wasn't until Sunday that I questioned it.

Thursday I finally heard from a gastroenterologist about making my appointment. I thought I would hear in July, and when I didn't, I tried calling the number on the card my doctor gave me, with no luck. Because my doctor had left me, I finally figured I'd get the colonoscopy next year. But now, I guess I'll just call them and make an appointment (AFTER Thanksgiving!)

I stopped at the SPCA booksale. I had a really good day there, with 2 Trollopes (Anthony, not Joanna) and 4 Cornwells (Bernard, not Patricia) that I didn't have. Yay! I also got a book of Grimm Fairy Tales. It's slanted to grownups, with commentary about the sexual fantasies, etc, but the stories themselves are good. (I was hoping for Rainbow Fairy books, no luck there.)

And I finally had the last day of the dinosaur candle and then had to carve away the rest of the wax. This should have worked better but I had to keep carving down the egg so the flame wouldn't drown. Oh, well. At the end it cracked the glaze, but the dinosaur is cute anyway.

Friday the computer was very slow and I spent a lot of time on Facebook. I finally, about 11, got out the door to go to Rancho Cordova and geocache. I had ten in mind, on a bike trail that makes a loop so I wouldn't be too far away from the car when I finished. The first two were DNFs, and I was beginning to be dubious, but then I found one. The fourth I tried was down a really steep hill, and I was a bit scared to try it by myself, but I went down and looked, but couldn't find it, and then somehow managed to get back up the hill, cussing myself out for being stupid. I also couldn't find the next one, then had to try to get to the other side of the loop. I was paralleling it for awhile, but then found access and again couldn't find one. Then I found #7, and was on my way to #8, but by that time the skies opened and I was half a mile away from the car. I had left my raincoat at Bernadette's on Wednesday and forgot I had a decent rain jacket that I had taken to Spain. Hence, I had a light jacket, which didn't protect me very much. I was soaked by the time I got back to the car. I was too wet to stop at a fast food place so came on home, arriving about 1:30.

In the evening, the Chatauqua show was "Frankenstein." I was glad to see my friend Bill, who is still looking good despite the Pancreatic cancer. His tumor hasn't shrunk but is less dense, and after Thanksgiving he starts a round of radiation. I'm impressed with his upbeat attitude. Anyway, it was great to see him (and his wife, of course.)

I had no idea how they would present "Frankenstein" but it was just terrific. It was Mary Shelley telling the story and the other characters showing her story. I was very impressed with it.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 558

178.3 miles

cool in the mornings, hot in the day. No heater, no AC, just wait it out.

359 recordings of 31 types, 23 old SVU (I went through the list and got rid of all the ones I actually had seen. I think they sneak some in, since I found a couple yesterday that I know I already said "do not record.") 23% clear.

I was really scared coming home with the "check engine" light on, so didn't go anywhere on Saturday. I got about 13 pieces into the Rosetta Stone puzzle... this is going VERRRRRY slowly. Also, because I wasn't going to record anything, I turned off the living room power so I could get the baby outlet cover off and replace the power strip with the new one with the 15' cord. Even with the power off, this took some time, but I got it done and everything is plugged into the new one. I still need to get some small speakers for the "new" television before I can move all the entertainment center to the hearth.

Sunday I did drive over to church and then stopped at Emigh Hardware to get the Key Krazy geocache, which I did finally manage. Then to La-Z Boy to pick up my free gift, another set of stemless wine glasses. Different pattern from the other ones. They have lots of pretty things, but I had already decided to order the silver color velociraptor.

Then at home I've started cleaning out the shelves in back (in order to make room for the dinosaur.) I found my old Palm IIIe and got it going... now what? My fossil fish rock is cracked (I had no idea.) There was a lot more stuff thrown on those shelves than room for it, for sure.

Monday morning early I was at the garage. David, the repair scheduler, told me if it was the same thing as in August it would be under warranty. He asked if I was going to leave it and I said no, I didn't want him to forget me this time. I was the 7th person in, even at 7:30, and it took them a couple of hours to find the problem. The problem was the filler pipe, between where you put the gas in and the tank... and it cost $517 to fix. And another three hours or so. I just about finished the book I'd brought. And, finally, they washed the car before they gave it back to me, and so home.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 558
174.1 miles

cold in the mornings, sunny and breezy

366 recordings of 28 types, 60 old SVU. 19% clear.

Saturday morning I went to breakfast with WPAC. Some other group was sitting at our tables so we went into surrounding booths to wait. I sat with a Michael, who is new. I asked how long he'd been with WPAC and he said he was starting because his Match.com lady and he had ended their relationship, so he was looking for others. Ick. I know the guys are more likely to hook up immediately, but WPAC is not a dating service. And, as it turned out, his wife only died about a year ago, so he's been on the prowl far too soon. When we got over to the table he was talking to others about Match.com and other dating services. I started conversing with a couple of ladies, one of whom, sadly, is moving to Southern California on Wednesday.

Home to veg out until I decided to go to Mass to leave me time to water properly on Sunday.

Which I did, also a totally fruitless session with the jigsaw puzzle. SO frustrating!

Monday I walked down to deposit a check and look for a geocache. The walk-up ATM was out of order. I went on a little farther to look for a geocache. It's tricky, one with lots of keys. I thought I'd figured one lock out but it only turned a quarter turn. I thought maybe the lock was broken, but now the cache owner assures me the key I chose was NOT the right one. OK then, I'll try again soon.

So the walk was fruitless except for being a walk. I drove back to the area for a WPAC Newcomers' Dinner, and deposited the check along the way. The receipt indicated I had less money in there than I'd thought. I checked today and yes indeed, I'd somehow had 6+5 = 13. Oops. At the dinner I sat with a number of new people. One lives about 3 blocks away, so I'll likely see him around the neighborhood.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 558
169.1 miles

WINDY! (Sunday) hotter but calmer yesterday.

356 recordings of 30 types, 67 old SVU. I've completed seasons 10 and 12 now. 20% clear.

I went to the first Saturday breakfast and got my birthday card from WPAC. There were 4 October birthdays there. Then on the way down to Elk Grove I actually did some geocaching, found two but for the third the only parking place I could find was next to the "No stopping any time" sign, so I thought I'd try a different approach another time.

When I got to the house, the menfolk were all asleep, with Bernadette and Joanna gone camping. It seems that Gareth got up about midnight and played on his iPad the next 6 hours. So when Bernadette got up she sent him to bed with Robert, so they were all dozing away when I arrived at 10.

Gareth packed for himself... with a bit of reminders from me and his dad. Rob made him some breakfast. (Toast and jelly.) He made eggs for Padreic who had said that was what he wanted but then, of course, wanted a banana instead.

Gareth and I went over to the Fall Festival at Green Acres nursery. They changed the date from the third Saturday to the first Saturday, which competes with the Elk Grove Harvest Pumpkin Festival. (Where they had a giant pumpkin weighing more than a ton, setting the record this year!) So it didn't seem to be as busy as usual. Gareth hurt his knee last week and was limping, so wasn't really interested in this anyway, and he never was one for the pumpkin decorating or the balloon animals so after we did the pie walk (and didn't win) we left.

I drove up Watt so I could get a car wash, and not before time. July or maybe even June was the last one, and I drove to Laramie and had a week in smoky Ashland and another couple of weeks in smoky Sacramento. First Saturday breakfast, driving into the rising sun, is always a good way to tell that the car needs washing, anyway. Then I drove thru the nearby McDonald's and got him a hamburger, and so home.

I'd taken one of the STEM kits from Grandma, as well as the da Vinci model I gave him for his birthday. Bernadette and Robert never actually get around to doing this stuff with the kids. The boy had his 30 minutes with the iPad, which is when I finally got Bernadette's message that he shouldn't take it here. Oops. So later when he said he didn't get his after breakfast time, I said "oh yes you did, all last night!" The boy is definitely addicted.

We did the bubble kit. You experiment to see what makes strong bubbles, catch them and bounce them (Gareth needed to be reminded which way to put his hand... sometimes I wonder what's going on in his head) and the best thing was making square bubbles. There was a lot of manaical laughter. I think he enjoyed it.

Later he FaceTimed Grandma, and they've made plans to do this together when she's here. I suggested she lock Joanna in a closet. Joanna is so bubble crazy that we had to hide this kit because she wouldn't be able to help herself. Also, she tends to take over and Gareth tends to let her. Grandma can also do Joanna's kits with her (without interference from Gareth.)

We had trouble with the model. It's easy enough, but we didn't have the hand strength to put some struts in.

We played Blokus. The boy for some reason dumped the thing when I went to the door at one point. I won both games, though I'm still not sure what the best approach is. However, I have to stop thinking it's like Go, because the way to win is totally different.

In between all this, he played with the giant Lego. I would think it's too babyish, but he had a good time experimenting with different building techniques and making a big tower.

At bedtime, I read him the last chapter of the Great Brain. It turned out to be 35 pages, what a surprise, and he was tired but stayed awake to the very end, laughing at the final words.

Sunday we went to Church, then I was distributing Communion at the nursing home and he was good in the corner with his iPad, and so down to Elk Grove. Daddy was interested in helping with the model, so I hope he did.

I came home and just collapsed. I completely forgot I had a ticket to Rising Stars of Opera in Davis, even though there it was in my purse calendar which I consult frequently. Oh, well, at least it was a free ticket.