Super Bloom at Anza-Borrego State Park

Since the rain season of 2018-2019 provided California's deserts with much needed water, we decided to go to the desert on March 22nd and visit Anza-Borrego State Park to see the wild flowers in bloom.  Due to our schedule, we were about a week and a half late from the peak bloom.  However, as the attached pictures show, we had some wonderful displays.

 Anza-Borrego State Park Wild Flowers

 Hugh at the Park

Enjoying the Snow in Park City, Utah

On Sunday, February 24th, we joined Hugh's brother David and his wife, Debbie, in Park City for a week.  The ladies found many interesting to do in town, and Hugh spent three days skiing and one day snowmobiling. 
 On Monday., the 25th, we visited the "Ice Castles",  which is an attraction in Midway, Utah.  These are ice formations, that are made with tunnels and caves for the visitors to explore.   We had snow, a great week of winter activities, and wonderful dinners.  On Thursday, we went to the St. Regis Hotel, where they have a Champaign ceremony where they open up a bottle of Champaign with a sword at sunset.  Here are some pictures of our week in the snow:

 Georgia at the "Ice Castles"

 Hugh Going Down a Slide in the Ice Castles

 Hugh and his brother, Dave at the Ice Castles

 Hugh, Georgia, Dave, Debbie, and their son, David, at the Ice Castles.

 Hugh, his brother, David, and David's son David, Snowmobiling

Champaign Bottle Ceremony at the St Regis, Park City

Holidays in Southern California

Just before Christmas, we traveled to Southern California to spend Christmas with Melissa, Keith, and their family and then took Lain, our youngest grandson, to Palm Desert.  Melissa and our other grandsons then joined us for New Years.  We returned home on January 4th, only to go back to Southern California over Martin Luther King holiday to babysit Lain, again in the desert and go to the "Road to California" quilt show.

Here are some pictures of our visits:

 The Grandsons with their New PJs on Christmas Day

 Lain at The Desert Willows

 Georgia, Hugh, & Cairn on New Year's Eve

 Melissa on New Year's Eve

 Melissa at the Lorikeet Exhibit at the Living Desert

 Kellen and Cairn at the Lorikeet Exhibit

 Quilt at the "Road to California" Quilt Show

 Quilt at the "Road to California" Quilt Show

Quilt at the "Road to California" Quilt Show

USNA, Class of 1963, 55th Reunion, San Diego

On October 22nd, we headed to San Diego for my 55th USNA class reunion.  The reunion was a great get-together.  Events included a class dinner on the USS Midway, a memorial service at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, the Navy-Notre Dame football game, and a company dinner at the North Island NAS Officer's club.  The last picture is of four of the nine of us, who as "plebes" were an undefeated freshman crew and were the only freshman crew to ever make it to the finals of the US Olympic rowing finals.  That was in 1960.

While in San Diego, I spent some time the first day in San Diego finding my grandmother's grave, which I had not ever visited.  Grandmother Elwood died in 1945 right after the end of the Second World War and was buried in San Diego.  Here are some pictures of the reunion:

1.  Grandmother Elwood's Grave

 At Grandmother's Grave Site

 Drinks on the Flight Deck of the USS Midway Museum

 Drinks on the Flight Deck of the USS Midway Museum

 Memorial Service at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery

(R to L) Dave "Woofie" Konold, Ted Krone, Jim Fontana and me "Duck" members of the 1960 undefeated freshman crew.

Fall at Lake Tahoe

On Tuesday October 16th, we drove to Lake Tahoe to meet with some friends for several days to enjoy the fall colors at the Lake.  We enjoyed wonderful dinners, and boat trip across the lake to Emerald Bay, and wonderful company.  Here are some pictures of the fall on the Lake:

 Georgia & Hugh at Eagle Rock

 View from Eagle Rock

 Fall Color from Eagle Rock

 Fall Color from Emerald Bay

 Island in Emerald Bay

Breakfast at with Our Friends

Georgia's Birthday Celebration in NYC

On August 21st, we traveled to New York City to celebrate Georgia's 75th birthday.  She has always wanted to spend a week in NYC doing museums, plays, and nice meals.  So off we went.

As a bonus the US Open Tennis tournament started on August 27th, and we were able to take in two days of the tournament.  Going to the US  Open tennis tournament was on our bucket list, as it was the only Tennis Grand Slam tournament that we had not attended.

We were able to get play tickets to "Hamilton", "Hello Dolly" with Beth Midler in the leading role, and "The Band's Visit", winner of ten 2018 "Tony" awards.   The US Open was special, but NYC was under a heat warning so we came back to our hotel both Monday and Tuesday needing a shower.

Here are some pictures of our week in NYC:

 Georgia on the Roof Top Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

 Georgia in the Garden at New York MOMA

 Georgia on her Birthday on the Roof Top Pressroom Lounge 

 This is What a 75th Birthday Desert Looks Like

Opening Day Picture at the US Tennis Open

Halifax, NS and St. John, NB

After visiting the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, we ventured to Halifax to see the city and its waterfront boardwalk and weekend farmer's market.  We enjoyed several great meals there including one at the "Bicycle Thief" restaurant.  The restaurant is named after the 1949 foreign film of the same name.  The owners of the restaurant loved the movie.

After leaving Halifax, we drove to St. John to see the Bay of Fundy and the reversible falls on the St. John river.  The tides are so high at St John, that the river actually reverses flow as the tidal surge overcomes the river's current.  Then at low tide, all of the water that has damned up in the river due to the high tide comes roaring back into the bay.

Here are some of our pictures:

 Halifax Saturday Farmers Market

 Bicycle Thief Restaurant Sculpture

St. John's River Flow into the Bay of Fund at Low Tide

Flow from the Bay of Fundy into the St. John's River at High Tide

Flow from the Bay of Fundy into the St. John's River at High Tide