Getting ReOrganized…
hey…we’re back. and, like pete said, it was indeed a rather rude awakening. we experienced close to an 80 degree swing in temps…more like 90 if you figure the high there and the low here since we returned. but…it’s great to be home, and REALLY good to see the boys. sorry we missed pete and deb this weekend, but here or there, we’ll connect soon.
we had a great trip. it was our first visit to the Napa area - which is pretty enchanting - and also fun for both cheri and i to make a quick trip to the bay area the day before we headed home. a quick rundown on the attached photos: BIKES: we caught the finish of stage 2 of the “tour of california” (SF to Long Beach) in santa rosa. pretty nuts! crowd was estimated at 50,000…top cyclists in the world, and they flew by at 30mph+ for 3 laps around downtown. good fun GOLDEN GATE: we drove across and back just for fun, then stopped at the park on the north end. HOLY ALCATRAZ! shot of nuns and alcatraz…treasure island is in background where i spent december of 1966 before going to midway island. VINEYARD POND: shot looking northeast at the vineyard…that’s cheri on far shore, and house where we stayed is left center.
more soon. we should be back to “normal” by next week. we really enjoyed the org while we were away! great way to stay in touch. love, j/d/gp
February 25th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Looks like a great trip. I am glad you guys had such great weather while you were there.
February 25th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Thanks for the post, Jack. I could feel the warmth from the photos….looks like paradise! Too bad about the whirlwind tour this weekend, but the meeting went well and Debra got the bonus round with two days of the girls and then Lisa, Becca, Nathan, and Marina. I really missed out there, but did get to see them drive by yesterday as they left the subdivision. Good roads both way and Alan and I pretty much talked the whole 450 miles. Beautiful day here in Homer…the temp on the deck went from 8 above this morning to 60 now….that solar is something! I WILL be putting some panels of some kind on the house this year. Picked up a heater for the shop while in Anch (oil-fired), so will be able to spend more time out there on projects. While at that store, we got a good demo of the solar array out front and talked about the wind system. I think we may go that route if code allows as it returns more, faster, but the maintenance may be more. All for now. Have a great week. Love, Pete
February 25th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
pete…yeah, it was warm. cheri checked this month’s weather in calistoga, and it was amazing. the whole month was clouds and 50’s EXCEPT the week we were there (sun and 70’s)…this included the day before we arrived and the day we left. we’re pretty lucky that way…new york was in the 70’s the week we were there in november…but it was stormy the day we arrived and raining the day we left.
saw a lot of solar and wind generating units in Napa. most are pretty visible, but we noticed a parking lot roof at sacramento that - upon closer inspection - was comprised of solar panels. pretty amazing. remember that park headquarters in utah (near 4 corners) that we visited on the rocky trip in ‘81? the parking lot was all solar panels, and the entire facility was powered by solar energy. that was 27 years ago, eh?
glad (AND ENVIOUS) to hear you’ve got 60 there! amazing! it’s cold here…maybe 15 or so. you’re in a good spot for both solar and wind there…hope that works out. i ALMOST did a project for chugach a couple years ago regarding wind generation (one of the probable locations was fire island). interestingly, one of the big opponents were environmentalists (birders) who felt it posed a threat to birds.
looking forward to settling into some normalcy this week. the trip was fun, but lots on the work front and need to get caught up. we’ll keep you posted on a trip to homer…more soon. love, jack