Club 21 Walkathon, Pasadena, California

On Tuesday, October 21st, Georgia and I drove to Southern California to visit Melissa, Keith, and our grandsons. While there we walked in a Walkathon for Club 21. Club 21 is an organization that supports and helps families, who have children with Down Syndrome. The walk and a festival were in Pasadena and was well attended. Below are some pictures from the event. The first one is of the initial gathering, followed by two pictures of the "Lain Train", named for our grandson Lain Church.

Beach Week in Coronado, California

On July 25th we drove Cairn home to Alta Loma. After two days in Rancho Cucamonga, on the 27th we took the whole family to Coronado for our annual week on the beach. While in Coronado, we took grandson Lain to the San Diego zoo, saw grandson Cairn get his first surfing experience, saw grandson Kellen advance his surfing skills, and on July 29th celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary at Oceans 1500 at the Del Coronado Hotel. The surprise of the trip was that our niece, Nicole Martinez, decided to get married in Las Vegas the day we left the beach, so we drove to Las Vegas for the 7:00 PM wedding and celebrations. Below are pictures of Lain at the zoo, Georgia & I at our anniversary dinner, Georgia and Lain on the Beach, Cairn and Kellen surfing, and our newly wed niece, Nicole and her husband, Juan.

Cairn at Camp GG & Papa Hugh

On July 19th, Keith, our son-in-law, flew up to Oakland with Grandson, Cairn, so he could have a week with us. The weather was beautiful and that afternoon we went to the club for some swim time before having an early birthday celebration for Yvonne's, Georgia's sister, birthday. The next day was filled with a trip to to Safari West in Santa Rosa to jeep through the wild life there. The rest of the week was spent with "Sport & Splash" camp, tennis clinics, a trip to Train Town, in Sonoma, and having "smores" Below are pictures of the birthday celebration, Safari West, swimming, tennis clinics, and "smores".

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Kellen at Camp "GG & Papa Hugh"

On the weekend of June 28th, we drove to Rancho Cucamonga to pick up grandson Kellen for our annual camp. On Sunday the 29th, we left for Santa Barbara so he could see the UCSB campus, where Georgia graduated from college. The next day we had lunch with one of Georgia's sorority sisters and her husband and then headed to Novato. During the week Kellen was in Novato, Kellen attended tennis camp for three days, went to the Marin County fair, saw the 4th of July fireworks from the Depot Hotel after a wonderful dinner, attended a "San Rafael Pacifics" baseball game, and had a picnic on Angel Island, where he learned about the "Ellis Island" of the west. After a wonderful eight days, he flew home to Rancho Cucamonga on July 7th, so everyone could rest. Below are pictures of Kellen at UCSB, Kellen at tennis camp, Kellen at the Marin County Fair pig races, Kellen sewing a bag at the fair's craft pavilion (The bag sewing was sponsored by Georgia's quilt guild), Georgia and Kellen on the ferry to Angel Island, and Georgia and Kellen having a drink on the deck of the San Francisco Yacht Club.

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Dorset, England

We drove to Dorset on the 15th. Enroute we stopped at the Tintinhull gardens, which are a beautiful two acre garden that is in the National Trust. After spending about an hour at the gardens, we drove to our hotel, "The Summer Lodge" in the villege of Evershot, again beautiful gardens, indoor pool, and wonderful food. After relaxing for the day, on the 17th we went into Sherborne to see the Abby, tour the Sherborne Castle of Sir Walter Raleigh fame, and explore the town. The pictures below are of the gardens at Tintinhull, Villege of Evershot, the Summer Lodge and its grounds, and the Sherborne Abby, Sherborne Castle and the castle grounds. Today we go to Heathrow to overnight and tomorrow fly home.

Devon, England

We left Bath and traveled to Devon and stayed at a lovely hotel called Gidleigh Park. In route we stopped in and visited Exeter and saw the old city walls and the beautiful cathedral. Gidleigh Park is located in a wooded area with lovely gardens. Getting there is a bit of an adventure, in that the roads are only one lane and you get to know "reverse" quite well. On the 13th we drove to the town of Padstow, located on the Atlantic coast in Cornwall. We then went to the see the gardens at Lanhydrock, a stately mansion a bit inland. I hope the photos below of Exeter, Gidleigh Park hotel and gardens, Padstow waterfront, and Lanhydrock Manor gardens due justice to all.

Bath, England

We arrived in Bath after flying to the UK from Istambul. Bath is a lovely town of about 80,000 people known for the old Roman baths that were in the town. The baths are fed by a hot spring that is still working today. Besides seeing the baths, we went to the Jane Austin center, and saw a art exhibit of Kaffe Fassett in the American museum of England at the University of Bath. On our second day in Bath, we hired a car and went to the fameous "Stonehenge". Our hotel was the Bath Priory and had lovely gardens as you will see in the pictures below. In addition there are pictures of the River Avon flowing through Bath where the water from the Roman baths flows, and pictures of Stonehenge, a prehistoric druid site. One of the pictures of Stonehenge shows the alignment of the stones to concur with the summer and winter solstices.