road trip!

pete and i tend to spend anywhere from about four to six months away from each other during the year. so when opportunities present themselves, we try to take advantage of any quality time together we can get! quality time for the month of april looked like this... 18 hours in a ford F-750 and miles of interstate between seattle and santa cruz.

 the giant truck! note that it requires TWO stairs to get into this thing.

i think my carbon footprint for the year is ruined!

i flew up to seattle on friday and we spent the night with our dear friends tish and morgan. this was the first time that the four of us have been together since tish's defense a year and a half ago. we went for a lovely hike, had dinner at one of their favorite neighborhood restaurants, and enjoyed each others' company. saturday morning, pete and i loaded up in the ginormous truck and started our journey south. it was fun for me to drive that stretch of highway again...it has been a few years. there are many sites along the journey that are tied to memories from my years in the pacific northwest. 

lighthouse on puget sound

we drove as far as ashland, oregon, the first day and made it there with enough daylight to go into downtown and walk through the park. it was a beautiful, warm evening and the walk was much needed after 10 hours in the truck. despite it's truckiness, it was actually quite comfortable. 

ashland, oregon

we made it back to santa cruz by late afternoon on sunday after 18 hours of driving (and a stop at the olive pit in corning). the journey was well worth it for the quality time with pete...however strange that may sound. 

(cassie got a weekend away with my friends erin and nick who took her to the beach, topped her food with pork gravy, and paid endless attention to her...so i don't think she felt left out at all!)

pennies for patients - a success!

thank you to all the schools across the country who participated in the pennies for patients fundraising campaign again this year! you are saving lives, and i hope you realize how much it means to those of us who have been forever changed by leukemia or lymphoma. 


this is the year-end video from the minnesota, north dakota, and south dakota regional program. my niece madeline (finished her treatment in december 2010) is prominently featured in many of the shots from the minnesota schools. the video makes me smile and cry all at the same time...


http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=584680274102

p.s. you don't need a facebook account to watch the video

wildflowers!

a few photos from the last couple of outings in central california. the wildflowers have been amazing!


first up, pinnacles national monument. i go here every spring to see the wildflower bloom and condors, and to enjoy the other worldly landscape that gave the park its name.

                    pinnacles high country                       blue dicks

indian paintbrush 

                           fremont star lily                         pinnacles!

hungry caterpillar

 dudlea and lichens

shooting stars 

fiddleneck 

cream cup

last weekend, pete and i went to point reyes. pete spent a significant part of his youth at the national seashore, but it was my first time. i've been meaning to go for years but finally put it on the calendar this year. the wildflowers were great here too!

one of my favorites...the california poppy

                  lighthouse stairs (308 total)   blue-eyed grass & checkerblooms

buttercup

                  blue-eyed grass                        chimney rock

pussy ears 

pete's latest handiwork...

check out the amazing planter boxes Pete built for the deck! five little beauties in all. we'd been searching for a pattern for quite a while when pete came across this one from the new yankee woodshop. thanks norm! these will soon be filled with tomatoes, basil, eggplant, peppers, and beans...i can hardly wait! i hope the veggies enjoy their new home as much as i do.

doggie drama

another day in cassie drama land...


cassie got attacked by two neighborhood hound dogs about 10 days ago. she's on the mend and is in good spirits, but she has many stitches still in place.


we had just left the house on the fateful day when two large-ish hound dogs, being walked by two young kids, pulled their leashes free and charged cassie in a matter of seconds. after some frantic pulling, kicking, and who knows what else, the attacking dogs were pulled off, the kids were horrified and completely traumatized, and cassie was laying still on the street. she managed to get to her feet, but was shaking so badly that i carried her back to the house where she collapsed on the grass. 


she had a puncture wound in her back and wouldn't put any weight on her right front leg. after a bit of searching, i found the source of trouble for her right leg....several gashes that nearly encircled her entire leg. while i figured the puncture wound in her back would heal, these were not quite so pretty. so off we went for another traumatizing visit to the vet. 20-some stitches later, we were sent home with antibiotics, pain medication, elizabethan collar, and a sore dog with another funny shave-job. 

 back of her front leg

 front of her front leg

  puncture wound in her back

now that the trauma and trickery of having pills shoved down her throat or badly hidden in her food, she is returning to her old self. she still favors her right leg, but has been going up and down the stairs mostly on her own in the last couple of days, which is a good sign. i'll miss the bicep and quad workout...

after getting cass settled, it was my turn. two days after she was attacked, another neighborhood dog decided to take a bite of MY leg! i couldn't make this stuff up if i tried. i have five small teeth punctures in my thigh, but fortunately i didn't have to take myself to the vet. what a week!

rain, rain, go away!

while we generally beg for more water in california, we have surpassed our average for the year and it is time to send the rain packing for a few months. it has been a wet week in the santa cruz mountains. today is the first day without rain in over a week. not just rain, torrential rain! since march 18th, we have had THIRTEEN inches of rain...5.5 inches in the last three days. the river gage, which we keep a very close eye on during heavy rains, looks like a see-saw these days. That red line on the graph indicates official flood stage for the san lorenzo river in our neighborhood and is also the river height when the fire department orders mandatory evacuations for us and our neighbors. we crossed that line on thursday afternoon (while i was flying home from south carolina) but the river level dropped before we got any water in our garage. a few neighbors had water in their yards, but nothing more than a nuisance. pete and cassie stayed put and evaluated the situation with the neighbors rather than leaving. living in a flood prone neighborhood definitely keeps you on your toes!



the roads around santa cruz did not fare so well in all these storms. we were nearly trapped in felton yesterday...three of our four routes to santa cruz were closed due to landslides and tree falls and the fourth was down to one lane. it took us an hour to drive five miles. had we known, grocery shopping could definitely have waited!


the forecast for the week is calling for dry, warm weather. welcome spring!

california may have ruined me...

i was in myrtle beach, south carolina, last week for a conference. based on the photographic evidence below, i think that that city (and maybe the whole state) has been crossed off the list of viable places to live. it may be less expensive than california, but i don't think it is worth it. and, oh the styrofoam and plastic bags... sigh.

 while you are grabbing the chips and salsa, don't 

forget your PESTICIDES in aisle 15...

 thanks, good to know these are authentic
(and a bargain at only $9.99!).

 and these too. thanks for giving top predators a chance.
can i have some shark fin soup while you are at it?

while the volume of dried sea creatures here is staggering,
consider that there was one of these stores every quarter
mile for a ten mile stretch...at least. heavy sigh...

not impressed, myrtle beach, not impressed. at least the trees were cheery...