Sometimes
you get what you asked for. It's been snowing so hard we have been pretty
much stuck in the house. We took advantage of a large, sloping hill in
back of the condo for some tubing. The temperature is below freezing and
more snow is in the forecast.
It's
time for the annual winter getaway at Lake Tahoe. This year we decided to
upgrade and rented a four-bedroom condo on the lakeshore. Driving down
from Reno, we saw almost no snow, so we all wished hard for some white
stuff. The skies were clear making for a beautiful sunset from the back
porch.
The
HBS Club arranged an outing for members and guests at Reliant Stadium. It
was brunch at the Lone Star Club (with the cheerleaders) followed by a game between the Houston Texans
and the Tennessee (formerly Houston Oilers) Titans. Very good brunch and
most exciting game of the year.
We
hosted a holiday reception for all the residents of the tenth floor of our
condominium. The free flow of wine catalyzed the conversation for people
who normally only meet at the trash chute. The party was scheduled for
6:00 to 8:00, but almost everyone stayed until 9:30.
The
HBS Club had beer tasting at the St. Arnolds Brewery. This
microbrewery was started by one of the club members. Our favorite brew
turned out to be Lawnmower which, despite the name, does not use lawn clippings
in the mix.
Pat
had her second annual bridge luncheon in the St. James party room. Sixteen
ladies competed for prizes. Lunch was served at the half-time break.
General consensus was that Pat had topped last year's event.
With
the football season winding down, it appears that the hometown Houston Texans
will be watching the playoffs from their living rooms. Even so, its fun to
see them play in beautiful Reliant Stadium especially against a team they can
beat like the Atlanta Falcons. Lew got to see this one as a guest of Shell
Oil in their suite. Not too shabby.
Thanksgiving
dinner at Dick and Jann's gets more complicated each year as the extended family
expands. Someone suggested a family org chart for next year. This
year there were 20 adults and 8 kids attacking the turkey, crown roast, ham, and
much, much more. Nobody went home hungry.
It's
good to know that some members of the family get up early. Ross and Kelly
saw this spectacular sunrise over their backyard and snapped this
photo.
Captain Herb Bode of South Padre Island sent along this
picture of Lew with his prize 31 inch redfish. The largest legal size is
28 inches, so this beauty was thrown back to perpetuate the breed.
Mark,
Margaret and the kids were here for a few days. We had dinner in one of
Houston's premier fine dining restaurants - Chuck E. Cheese - where, in addition
to enjoying excellent Italian cuisine, one can play games between
courses. Mark is recovering well, but not enough to mount a serious
challenge to Margaret in video snow-mobile racing.
Mike
and Monica had a well-earned vacation in Barcelona and sent along a nice set of
pictures (click here). They also had a bonus
tour of German airports, but no pictures are forthcoming. Willie was happy
to see them.
Kelly
and Ross drove to Carmel and sent along some pictures. The whole family is
there - Kelly, Ross, Mo, Buddy, and Sarah. Click
here to see more pictures.
It was time for a new car so
we said goodbye to our '99 Lexus ES300
and welcomed a 2004 ES330 to the family.
Doris
Duke built a house near Diamond Head in 1935 and spent the rest of her life
filling it with Islamic art. Following her death, the house, called
Shang-ri La, was opened to the public. We took one of the tours conducted
by the Honolulu Academy of Arts and found it well worth the effort. The
views of Diamond Head and the ocean are spectacular.
It
has been more than ten years since we last visited the island of Lanai.
The pineapples are all gone, replaced by beef cattle and two world class
resorts. We chose to stay at Manele Bay, but spent a lot of time at Koele
Lodge where it was much cooler. The ocean was too rough for snorkeling,
but we did manage to get in two rounds of golf. The Manele Bay course
features wide ravines crossing almost every fairway, resulting in a lot of lost
balls. The Koele course (pictured here) was much more user-friendly.
For more pictures from Lanai press here. |
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Kelly's
Pet Care continues to expand. Here is a picture of Kelly and Ross with a
typical day's complement of dogs in the park. They are averaging between
20 and 30 dogs per day. The picture on the right was taken with their new
high-powered digital camera. Look closely at the face of this spider
and you will be in for a surprise.August 31, Killeen
Johnny's
fourth birthday along with Mark's release from the hospital were good reasons to
celebrate. Andy and Deanna, Mike and Monica, Margaret's mom Valerie, and grandmother
Maggie joined with some neighborhood friends for a big party. Johnny's
favorite present was a battery-powered John Deere tractor just like the one he
rode on in Arkansas two months ago.
Taking
partial leave of our senses, we sign up for an ocean kayaking adventure.
With both air and water temperature in the 40’s, we made sure not to
rock the boat. It was a lot of fun,
and we can now cross kayaking off our lifetime
to do list. Afterwards we spent a pleasant day in Halifax, a very
nice city.
We
hired a driver who was supposed to take us on the Marconi tour.
It turned out that he didn’t know where Marconi actually made his
transmission, so instead he took us on an economic depression tour.
We saw closed down steel mills, coal mines and canning plants.
Cape Breton Island is beautiful, but I don’t think we are coming back
any time soon.
Corner
Brook, Newfoundland may not be big by most standards, but compared to L’anse
Aux Meadows it is huge. Our
scheduled organized walking tour was canceled, so we found out where the trail
was and went there ourselves. With
the temperature in the mid 70’s, this was the first warm day since the cruise
began.
We
end our Viking trail with a stop at L’anse Aux Meadows, population 32.
This is where the Vikings settled in North America 1000 years ago. The site of the former village is impressive, as is a
reconstruction of the village near the original.
The
bad weather followed us to Greenland. We
take a boat trip to see the ruins of a 600 year old Viking church.
The temperature is in the forties, the wind is in the fifties, and it is
raining. The boat takes us back to
town (Qaqartoq), where the weather isn't any better so we quickly return to the
ship to warm up.
Reykjavik
is our only two day stop. We take
advantage of this by going to the Blue Lagoon at 7:00 PM for a swim in the
outdoor geothermal pool. Reykjavik
is very expensive. For example, a
glass of beer cost $8.00. The
second day in port was cold and windy, so after a walk through the local
botanical gardens and zoo, we returned to the ship early.
Our
first port of call in Iceland is Seydisfjorur, a small fishing village on the
east coast. It’s a fairy-tale
setting at the end of a long fjord, surrounded by mountains with cascading
waterfalls. A hike up a path
alongside one of the waterfalls yields a spectacular view of the Navigator and
the village.
Part
of Denmark, the Faroe Islands have 40,000 inhabitants and 25,000 cars.
The weather turned bad so after spending some time walking around
Thorshavn, the major city, we decide to hire a taxi and see some of the
countryside. We visit a church that
was built in the 7th century.
The
first port of call on the cruise is Lerwick.
The town is quite pretty and the people are very nice.
We visit an old fort and discover a free, high-speed internet service at the local library.
We
leave Edinburgh by bus to Dundee to catch our ship, the Radisson Seven Seas
Navigator, in Dundee. On the way we
pass through St. Andrews and stop at the Royal & Ancient to have a look at
the golf course. It’s hard to
believe that such a picturesque place could be the birthplace of something which
has tortured so many over the years – golf.
Our
last full day in Edinburgh. We purchase an all-day bus pass, and armed with a confusing
route map, head for the Royal Botanical Gardens.
It is one of the finest we have ever seen. After lunch we get back on a bus and roam around the
outskirts of town and see some non-tourist areas.
Our final event of the week is a performance of Chekhov’s The Seagull
by an outstanding cast of British actors.
We
head over to the Edinburgh Book Festival in hopes of seeing a lecture by
playwright Alan Ayckbourn. The
event is sold out but we queue up for returns and are rewarded when two tickets
are returned. It was worth the
wait. After Shakespeare,
Ayckbourne’s 64 plays are the most frequently produced in the English
language. But the highlight of the week was the Edinburgh Military
Tattoo. It is a spectacle like no
other. No wonder its twenty plus
annual performances have been sold out for as long as anyone can remember.
A
walk up Calton Hill gave us a look at the Nelson Memorial and some excellent
views of the Old City. In the
afternoon we walked to The Meadows to be part of Sunday at the Fringe.
The spirit of Woodstock lives on. In
the evening we had dinner at Edinburgh’s most well known restaurant, The
Witchery. Its reputation is well-deserved as the food, service, and
atmosphere are outstanding.
The
Edinburgh castle is Scotland’s top tourist attraction for good reason.
This was the home of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the birthplace of her son
James who united the thrones of England and Scotland.
The facility is still in use for occasions and we were lucky enough to be
at the castle’s chapel when a wedding was in progress. 
A
ride around town on an open top tour bus gave us a good overview of Old Town and
New Town. We went through the
Whiskey Museum and sampled the output. Later
we sampled some single malts, washed down with local brew at a place called
Clever Dick’s.
Despite
getting lost in CDG airport in Paris, we managed to switch terminals and catch a
flight to Edinburgh. Our hotel is one block off the Royal Mile which is
teeming with activity. We went to
Deacon Brodie’s pub for lunch, where we met two English tourists who
introduced us to haggis with tatties and neeps.
Delicious.
We
just concluded a weekend visit from Margaret and the grandchildren. We
took Johnny to his first movie, Finding Nemo, and introduced him and Katie to
Chuck E. Cheese, now their favorite restaurant. Margaret was impressive on
the snowmobile. In between there was a swimming party at a friend's house
and a trip to the old fishin' hole at Hermann Park
Did
you know that Maj. Mark Solomons was the operations officer for Operation Ivy
Serpent? Here he is on the 10 o'clock news explaining the mission to the
press. Although we wish that he were somewhere else, it was quite a thrill
to see him on TV.
Exactly
one month late, we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary with a romantic
dinner at The Capital Grille. It would have been hard to imagine on June
11, 1983 all the adventures that lay ahead. Amazingly, neither one of us
look a day older.
The
weather is good and the lake is calm, so it is decided to rent a "party
barge" and explore. After a short lesson, Captain Lew is ready to
leave the marina. Once safely arrived in the middle of the lake, with very
little traffic, the boat is turned over to Assistant Captain John who did well
until a spider lodged itself on the wheel. At that point Captain John
decided that his watch was over. Katie decided that despite regulations
that require her to wear a life jacket, she was going to sail unencumbered.
We
took a short drive to visit Burt and Leonora Barr. Burt is a college
fraternity brother of Lew's who has retired from the aluminum industry to farm
here. Johnny got a chance to steer a tractor around the farm while herding
some cattle. After a feast of Arkansas ribs, Burt took the visitors to see
the herd. When he said he was going to get a 2x4 in case the bull charged,
Pat and the others decided to head back to the house.
Johnny
has been practicing his casting and is anxious to try his luck. We got a
box of worms at the marina and found a promising spot near the lodge.
After a slow start Johnny managed to land a couple of crappies and a
sunfish. In the spirit of conservation a catch and release program was
followed. Ever the free spirit, Katie thought was a great opportunity to
get an all-over tan. In the interest of preserving the sanity of local
diners, we went to Hot Springs and got food for a cook-out at the lake.
Everything worked out well except a couple of marauding birds made off
with some of our hot dogs. 
The
annual summer reunion has turned into a mini-reunion as we are joined by Andy,
Margaret, Johnny and Katie. The lake is beautiful and the accommodations
at the Lodge are quite nice. The Lake was created by the Corps of
Engineers in 1973 and is now run by the state of Arkansas. Development at
the lake is not allowed so it has remained pristine.
A
family sub-set will be gathering at DeGray Lake in Arkansas next week for a
summer reunion. Meanwhile, while rummaging around in some old shoeboxes we
uncovered a few photos for the family archive. At left you see Pat as a young
bathing beauty in Baton Rouge. For the others see The Family Archive.
Mark,
Margaret and family have moved into their new house about 200 miles northwest of
Houston. We drove up and stayed for a couple of days to divert Johnny and
Katie so Mark and Margaret could accelerate the unpacking process. Mark
leaves Friday for a nine-month deployment in Iraq.
We've
been in Augusta for a week and really find it to be a very nice place. The
National golf course is locked up tighter than Fort Knox, so we could only peer
through the fence at the home of the Masters. There is a lot of history
here, some great museums, and a nicely redeveloped riverfront. There is
even a park with a real soapbox for making speeches.
Pat
is in Palm Desert with friends from Hawaii. This offers Lew the
opportunity to watch a lot of sports on TV and take in an Astros game at Minute
Maid Park. Even better is that all the toilet seats in the apartment are
in their locked and upright position.
The
residents on Mark and Margaret's cul-de-sac decided to have an all day block
party. Although there are only 32 children living on the street, it seemed
at times as if there were many more. After a bicycle parade, there were
games for the kids and refreshments for the adults. The party was the
farewell bash for the CGSC participants and their families who are heading off
to join their units.
We
are on the campus of Kansas State University to see Mark receive his masters
degree. Congratulations are in order as he completed his course
requirements in less than a year while working full time on the Army's CGSC
program. It was windy and rainy, but fortunately, the ceremony was held
indoors.
While
the girls are all in Omaha to attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Mike
is in town to take in a couple of Astros games. This morning we visited
the newest member of the family, Robert Russell Postell (niece Robyn's son).
Robert is 2 days old. Here he is with his mom and Uncle Mike.
We
finally got off the ship around 10:30, leaving us with 3 hours to explore Key
West. We rented bikes and rode
around to the southernmost point in the continental US.
The qualifier continental is needed because the real southernmost point
in the U.S. is on the island of Hawaii. A
map-reading error led to seeing more of the island that we originally planned.
Not
sure why Royal Caribbean stops here. Other
than a few makeshift souvenir stands, there is nothing to see or do.
There is one street and it is dusty and garbage-strewn.
Interestingly enough there is an internet café in Roatan.
After making our getaway, Pat entered the slot machine tournament, and
had the second highest total in the qualifying round (out of 56 entrants), but
lost to three less skilled but luckier opponents in the championship round.
We
rented a Volkswagen Pointer and drove around the island.
Old Volkswagens never die, they just go to Mexico.
This one had a five-gear manual transmission, which is excellent for
climbing hills or driving in snow, neither of which we encountered.
The island is famous for snorkeling, so we went to a beach with a reef
and gave it a go. Well worth the
effort.
This
is nothing like Jamaica. The roads are good and everything looks new.
Even the local brew, Stingray, is better than Red Stripe.
We went snorkeling on Seven Mile Beach and went on a glass-bottomed boat. 
This
is our second trip to Jamaica, but first to MoBay.
Outside of a few oases of opulence, the place is falling apart.
The roads are in particularly bad shape.
We hired a driver and went into the mountains behind Falmouth and went
for a very nice river raft ride. We
were going to go to Negril to check out Hedonism II, but the prospect of another
200km on Jamaica’s roads finished us off. 
There
may be a less attractive embarkation terminal in the cruise world, but I
haven’t seen anything close. This is the view from our balcony. It is a concrete wall that is part of a grain elevator.
This is not for the claustrophobic.
On the plus side it is very convenient.
We
are getting ready to leave for Galveston to board the Splendor of the Seas for a
cruise to the Caribbean with the Maxwell's. Should be fun.
Meanwhile, Lew attended the Houston Rockets final game ever in the Compaq
Center. They had played in the building, formerly known as The Summit, for
almost 30 years. Pretty good effort by the home team despite having been
eliminated from the playoffs the previous evening.
Remember
Ibrahim Ferrer, the singer from the Buena Vista Social Club? He's formed a
big band of Cuban musicians called the Buenos Hermanos and is touring the
US. We saw them last night in concert. The old guy has a lot left in
the tank. Great show.
The
ACBL has sent Pat her Diamond Life Master certificate. Check this spot for
Lew's certificate in 2023 (assuming no drop-off in present rate of master point
accumulation).
Home
at last after a 620-mile drive by way of Dallas. Andy was under the
weather so we only stayed long enough to say hello and get a look at Andy and
Deanna's new house. All told we covered 4,000 miles on this trip.
Judging by the front bumper, we killed about two bugs per mile.
Get
me out of here. We've stayed at a lot of motels and hotels on this trip,
but the Quality (ha!) Inn on I-40 is without question the worst. The constant
roar of trucks zooming by on the highway was punctuated by take-offs and
landings at the nearby airport. Fortunately we stopped at the Petrified
Forest on the way. Not only was it fascinating in its own right, but it
also reduced the time we had to spend in Amarillo.
Truly
spectacular scenery. It's a long way down to the floor and surprisingly
there are very few guard rails. We went to about a dozen view sites, but
after a while the canyon scenes all start to look alike.
We
spent the morning in the park and then drove to Arizona and the Grand Canyon.
The scenery is spectacular in this part of the country, but the food is
at the other end of the spectrum. Dinner
in Tuyasan was a toss-up between Wendy’s and McDonald’s.
We opted for the latter.
After
a less-than inspiring session at the tables in Las Vegas, we headed north to
Utah. We stopped for lunch in St.
George, a very pretty town in the southwest corner of the state.
We then drove through Zion National Park (great scenery) and on to a town
called Ruby’s Inn, Utah, near the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park.
We stayed at the Best Western Ruby’s Inn (where else?).
We
spent the day with Ross, Kelly, and Maureen.
We celebrated Ross’ birthday at the house.
Ross prepared his famous beer can chicken.
Buddy, Ross and Kelly’s Alaskan Malamute, has fallen in love with Pat
and will not leave her side.
Pat's
friends at the Bridge Studio threw a party in honor of her achieving Diamond
Life Master status. Everyone brought food and the club owner supplied wine
and champagne. Twenty three tables of bridge were in play.
Feb 19, 2003 (Houston)
Lew's
birthday always seems to roll around this time of year. We invited some
friends to party with us at Crapitto's Restaurant. With a name that bad
the food had to be good. It was.
Pat
thought we were going out to dinner with another couple and was stunned when she
walked into a room with more than a dozen friends who wanted to celebrate with
her for achieving Diamond Life Master status. The ruse was perfect as two
of her friends called earlier in the day inviting her to play bridge that
night. Here she is with two of her partners.We completed our Regional bridge tournament last week, and on the final day Pat won enough points to become a Diamond Life Master. This designation is reserved for those players who have accumulated 5,000 master points in their bridge career. She is only the eighth woman in our unit to reach this level.
While
the rest of us shivered, Kelly and Ross were soaking up the southern California
sun. Here is Kelly with Sara, the newest member of their family, and Ross
harvesting fruit from a tree. It isn't clear whether the tree is on Ross
and Kelly's side of the fence or the neighbor's side. In either case the
fruit is clearly on their side.
We
went to Florida to visit Kay. During the visit we found a treasure trove
of old photos, including this picture of Lew in his eighth grade band
uniform.