Harley Riding Dad

2007-05-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

PLANS FOR JULY 2008

Right now, I am in the process of seeing about trading our Grand Timber Lodge time for a week in July of 2008 on the Big Island of Hawaii. With this much advanced notice everyone should be able to see about coming to Hawaii then. I believe the resort would be on what is known as the Kona Coast. The Big Island is where all the volcanos are. Make sure you keep this in mind as you plan for leave time next year. It would be great if we could get the whole family there.

2007-05-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

BIG CHANGES

I have now officially resigned as the baseball coach at RCHS and I am very relieved. The time requirements, constant attention that it required, and the fact that the job went from December to August was just getting too much. I feel like a weight has been lifted from me. I will continue to do football - it doesn't require anywhere near the time or commitment.

Exams start next week, so for the most part the year is over. I am really looking forward to this summer and hope we get lots of visitors (hint, hint, hint). Jennifer needs to make the pilgrimage with her significant other so he can pass inspection.

Joanna spoke to about 350 students on Monday and she did a fantastic job. The students were really impressed. I have 2 thank you notes from a couple of the classes that attended and I will forward them to Jo.

I am now into Harley mode as the weather has finally warmed and riding the bike to school. It is supposed to be in the 80s this weekend.

2007-04-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

Almost Done with School

School is winding down, exams in 3 weeks, baseball over in 1 week, Harley Riding Season is here, and I am about to enter the best part about teaching....... June and July!

I am really looking forward to our summer activities. We have a 2 bedroom condo in Vail for a week at the beginning of summer, a 2 bedroom condo for a week in Breckenridge at the end of June, 10 days in Hawaii in July, and lots of motorcycle riding!

Visitors are welcome to any of these facilities and activities!

2007-04-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

Correction

I meant to say Hawaii Trip below - not Florida for Mar and me.....

2007-04-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Back From Florida

We are back from the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Baseball Trip and things went pretty well. We won 2 games and lost 2 but the important thing is the kids were very well behaved and did a good job. I got to spend time with Val and his wife, Linda. We also went to the Everglades and road a fan boat. We even got to spend an afternoon at the beach. It was the first time I have been in the water at a beach in 20 years.

Mom and I have finalized our Florida trip and got our Airline tickets. We are also setting up our stays in the mountains in Colorado for the summer. It looks like we will have two free weeks and I will post the dates so family can come stay with us.

2007-02-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

BASEBALL HAS STARTED

Baseball is in full swing now so I am extremely busy again. A typical day starts with me up at 5:30 and in school by 6:45. After a day of teaching, practice goes from 3:00 to 5:30. I usually don't leave the locker room until close to 7:00. The good thing this year is I have an excellent staff and I know they get things done.

I will be taking the team to Florida for a tournament over our spring break. We will be in Ft. Lauderdale from Marh 26-31. I think Val is going to try and get down there.

Baseball makes the rest of the year go fast.

2007-02-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

The Hawaii Trip Is Set!

Everything is now set for our trip to Hawaii and plans can be made. We will fly to Lihue, Hawaii on Monday, July 9 and check in to the Banyan Harbor Resort at 4:00 PM. Lihue (pronounced Li-hoo-ey) is on the garden island of Kauai. We will stay there until Monday, July 16, when we check out and fly to Honolulu, Oahu. We will stay on Oahu for 3 nights and leave on Thursday, July 19.

At the Banyan Harbor Resort we will be staying in a 2 Bedroom suite that sleeps 6. J, J, J, and J are welcome to stay with us as long as you want.

This is Kalapaki Beach and it is right across the street from the Banyan Harbor Resort where we will be staying. There are tons of things to do on Kauai including helicopter rides, beaches, golf, Harley Rentals and just vegging out.

This is a Living room of one of the suites where we will stay. Check out the website at:

http://www.vacation-kauai.com/beach.html

I think we will be comfortable here.

We will be staying in an efficiency apartment in Honolulu. That means that the kitchen and bedroom is all in one big room. That is the kind of apartment Mom had before we got marrried. We want to visit the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial while we are there.

Thats the plans. It sure would be neat for you guys to join us there.

2007-01-30T20:14:00.000-08:00

OK - You asked for it!

The picture show my surgery. The top 3 holes are where they pumped in Carbon Dioxide to inflate my stomach. That makes it easier to work.

The big hole at the bottom is where they took out the gall bladder.

The hole on the left is where they left the drainage tubes for several days.

You can see my hair is starting to grow back.

Yuck - Even I am grossed out.

2007-01-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

WHAT A MONTH

This has not been a great month so far. Gall Bladder surgery is a royal pain in the *&$#. It was definitely the worst week of my life. The good thing is that you recover fairly quickly from laparoscopic surgery after a week of misery. I now have 5 new holes in my body, although I don't know what good they are now. Any suggestions? Maybe I could get some good designs by connecting the dots. Although I don't recommend it, I ended up losing about 10 pounds during the process.

Mom and I are finally planning a trip to Hawaii this summer for 10 days. We will spend a week on Kauai and 3 days on Oahu. It should be sometime during the first couple of weeks in July. J, J, J, and J are welcome to join us if you can get there!

Mom and I still have a week to trade this summer at a resort. Any suggestions?

2007-01-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS IS OVER

Christmas is over, the house is back to normal, things are put away, and I miss all the girls already. We just had our third major snow storm and we are still buried in snow. The East may be in a warm spell, but we are having the coldest and snowiest season ever. There was just a major avalanche on Berthoud Pass that buried 2 cars. Luckily they were able to rescue everyone. We also had our first snow day school cancellation in years and years.

Christmas fun pictures!

2006-12-23T23:51:00.000-08:00

SNOWDOG!

Here is Winston in the snow.

2006-12-21T12:43:00.000-08:00

WHITE CHRISTMAS?

Jennifer was supposed to arrive today for Christmas Vacation. Jill was supposed to drive home today from Utah. Want to know why they will be 3 days late? These pictures show what over 2 feet of snow is like. Everything in Denver has ground to a halt and the airport won't be open for another day. I did find out that Winston loves to play in the snow. He completely buries himself and has a blast.

My car is totally covered and the snow has drifted to over 4 feet in places. This will definitely be a White Christmas, but this is a little too much. The plows probably won't make it to our road for a couple of days. At least the wind has finally let up.

2006-11-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving was good this year. We really didn't do anything special but it was great having Jill, Jean and our nieces Angela and Courtney at our house. I took Angela and Courtney to see "Happy Feet." It was funny but I am really getting tired of the movies that try to embed a political message in the movie. The environmentalists must be happy with this movie. Anyway, it was fun having all the girls in the house. They also went to the IMAX and road the new light rail to the 16th Street Mall.

I took Angela and Courtney for short rides. At first Angela was scared, but when we got back she was comfortable. Courtney was a trooper.

2006-11-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

Doggy Progress and Other Things

So far, the dogs are doing incredibly well. There have been very few "accidents" and they have totally mastered the use of the doggy door. They have very distinctive personalities and seem to be learning their names. Winston is the "live wire" of the two and his motor never stops. Kramer is very laid back and is much more attached to people than Winston. They are both very affectionate.

The football season is over now and our record was 7-3. It was a very successful season for our first varsity campaign. I am already getting ready for baseball. We will be taking the baseball team to Florida for a 4 game spring trip in March. My staff and I will be attending a national clinic in Las Vegas from Feb. 14-17.

Mom and I are probably going to plan a trip to Hawaii this summer. It looks like we will be going alone as no one else can seem to get the time off necessary for the trip. We will be thinking of you as we bask in Paradise!

2006-11-01T06:17:00.000-08:00

And Now By Popular Demand..........

We are calling him "Kramer" more than "Kosmo":

And this is "Winston."

So now you have pictures and Kramer is definitely a Boston.

2006-10-31T08:56:00.000-08:00

The Real Scoop on Dog Names

To clear up the confusion it is necessary for me to post this blog and set the record straight. The PUG's name is "Winston Churchill" and he will commonly be called "Winston" or maybe "Winny."

The BOSTON's name is "Kosmo Kramer" and he will commonly be calle "Kosmo."

I hope this clears up any misconceptions.

The Management

P.S. Pictures to follow soon.......

2006-09-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Jill

We celebrated Jill's Birthday last night. I took Jill, Mom, Jean and Paul to Maggianos for dinner. It was fun and they certainly give you plenty to eat. No one finished what they got. Lots of Doggy Bags went home.

2006-09-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

Jill's Birthday

Jill is coming home tonight and we are going to celebrate her birthday this weekend. I am going to take her to Maggianos for dinner tomorrow. Marilyn got a neat gift for her also. It will be good having her here again.

The girls are spread out around the world. I sure wish they were all in the Denver area. I miss having them around. Jennifer is in Washington DC, Jill is in Salt Lake City, Joanna is in Afghanistan, and Jean is the only one here in Denver. I miss having them around and miss the times when we were all together. They seem to have grown up so fast and I wonder what happened to that time.

2006-09-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

SNOW IS COMING

I am supposed to scout a football game this Friday up in Frisco, Colorado (next to Breckenridge) but it is supposed to start snowing tomorrow night. The snow is supposed to come all the way down to the western Denver metro area. This doesn't make me a happy camper.

I was looking at a school website where I once taught and saw a picture of me coaching back in 1977. I am amazed that I had long and dark hair! I am the one on the left with the mustache.

2006-09-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

BACK IN THE SWING OF THINGS

We have been back almost 6 weeks now and I am definitely back in the routine. Midterm grades go on this week. The football season is going well (our record is 2-1) and time seems to be flying.

I am looking forward to the holidays and seeing some family that I haven't seen in a while. My sister Annette and her family is in S.L.C. now and we may get together. Jennifer is planning on coming home for Christmas (with the dogs of course). My cousin Genie, in Albuquerque, is looking at moving to Castle Rock so we may have more family here in the area. It will be fun to have everyone here.

I am not riding my Harley enough. It has gotten rather cool here early and we have already had snow in the mountains. We had our first frost yeaterday. I find that I dislike the winters more and more the older I get.

2006-08-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

Back in the Swing

We are in the 2nd week of school and it already feels like we never left. The students seem a little more mature than last years group. I have 7 more years of teaching after this year and then can think about retirement. At least I am in single digits now.

Football is going well. This is the first year we have seniors in our program and I think we will have a successful season. Our problem is a real lack of depth. Our front line players will be very representative, but as soon as we play the second level players we take a real drop off. We shall see. We are playing in the appropriate conference and level (3A) for our players.

I am already thinking about what to do next summer. Is that a good sign or a bad sign?

We need to do something special when Joanna gets back from deployment.

2006-08-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

Back at Work

It had to happen! We are back at work and the summer break is over. Ugh!

2006-07-28T02:50:00.000-07:00

RIDE COMPLETE

And is my butt sore (mot from sitting on the bike for so long, but severe snappage). It was a great time to get away with Da Bomb.

We started with a trip up Mt Evans - the highest paved road in North America. It was a scary drive with some severe switchbacks and long dropoffs. There were Mt Sheep at the top and the threat of rain the whole time.

We then went to Granby Lake and Grand Lake on our way to Steamboat Springs. We spent 2 days in Steamboat exploring the town and the area visiting Steamboat Lake. We stayed right at the bottom of the ski slopes.

We then went to Leadville where we went over Independence Pass during a hail and lightning storm. We rode the train in Leadville, spent the night in a great Bed and Breakfast and then headed home. We put a total of about 800 miles on my bike.

This was the scene of much snappage.

2006-07-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Harley Ride

Mom and I leave Monday morning for our 4 day ride in the mountains. This is one of the places we are going to stay in Leadville. Leadville is the highest incorporated town in America at over 10,000 feet. The Bed and Breakfast is called the Ice Palace Inn and we are staying in a two room suite called the Grand Ballroom. It has a queen sized canopy bed, a sitting room, a fire place, and a two person jetted tub.

We will probably run around the suite naked snapping towels at each other. What wlse is there to do?

When we get back I will finish up the little bit of summer house work that is left and get ready for another school year.

2006-07-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

Ride Decided

In about a week, Mom and I are heading out on the Harley and spending a few days in the mountains. I think we will head up toward Steamboat Springs and then south to the 70 corridor and maybe head over to Leadville and Summit County. Maybe we can find a cool train ride somewhere. This picture is at Rocky Mountain National Park. We will probably swing by there too. Since we didn't really go anywhere for our anniversary last month (just Washington DC), this will kind of be our getaway.

This was our 31st wedding anniversary. Where have the years gone and who are these strange looking people? This was 1975. Mentally I still feel the same, but my body sure feels (and looks) different.

We are down to about a month now before school starts again. I am looking forward to relaxing now that baseball is over.