2003 Notes & Updates
- Holiday Season
- Trip to Lake Tahoe
- Oakland Athletics - AL Division Championships
- Oakland Raiders v. San Diego Chargers
- Camping at Lett's Lake
- GNOMES Annual Outing at Irish Beach
- A's Photo Day and Fireworks Display
- Braden's Annual Birthday Kayak Trip
- WSRL Reunion in Vas Vegas
Holiday Season
Christmas and New Years have come and gone again. This season was nice and quiet with quality time spent with family and, even better, minimal traveling.
The pictures are from our gift-opening with my family. Trish and Mom are at right as Trish is showing her present. Dad, below, has received a book! Imagine that. And Noni and I are on the lower right as I open a professional BBQ tool set that came in it's own metal carrying case.
I had to include the third shot. It's a really good photo of Noni and it is one of the few pieces of photographic evidence that I had my head shaved. I'm growing hair now, but I look forward to shaving it again soon. I like it much better bald and smooth. It's comfortable and easy to deal with. On the other hand hair really is a bother, and I don't like it (at least, I don't like mine).
Lake Tahoe Trip
Some vacation time in mid-October was spent in South Lake Tahoe. The weather was unseasonably warm and it made for a beautiful, if short, 3-day stay.
On the right, I took a sunset picture from the restaurant at the top of one of the casinos during dinner. Emerald Bay, below, left, was as nice as I've ever seen it on Wednesday when I took the picture. They've made a lot of changes to the area, parking, vista points, etc.
I also had time to get in a round of disc golf while there, at the Bijou Park course, below, right. It's a nice 27 hole facility with multiple pin placements that also has a skate park, playground, bbq's and lots of stuff for families to enjoy. Nice park.
Oakland Athletics - AL Division Championships
After another winning season, the A's went to the Post-Season and faced the Boston Red Sox in the American League Divisional Series. It's always fun going to a post-season game because all of the excitement. Peter Gammons from ESPN was there doing his live pre-game (right) while the A's were taking batting practice.
The game itself was great. Wakefield vs Zito (warming up, below, left, with Ramon Hernandez) was an excellent match up. Submariner sidearm Chad Bradford, below, right, came in in relief. The game ended with the Athletics beating the Sox and sending the series to Boston with the A's in firm control. Unfortunately, it was the club's final victory of the season.
Oakland Raiders v. San Diego Chargers
The Oakland Raiders met the San Diego Chargers at the Coliseum on September 28th. I arranged for a group of tickets and was joined by Ted, Lee, Braden, Heather, Trish, Sean and Jen.
Tailgating is half the fun at a Raider game, and this was no exception. On the right, Braden's starting to get warmed up for the game. I think I'm just looking for a beer...
Below, right, Jen, Braden, Lee, Trish, Sean and Heather stand around the BBQ as Sean pours the brewskis.
Below, left, Rich Gannon gives the football to Charlie Garner during the game. We witnessed a rare Oakland victory as the Raiders took the win in overtime.
Camping at Lett's Lake
We made our return to Lett's Lake in early September. The weather was perfect, but forest fires started by a recent storm made the trip in a bit more exciting. None of the fires was near the lake, but smoke rolled in on the last day we were there.
When we arrived at the lake, we found that they were in the middle of draining the water! Thankfully it was only down a few feet. Once the lake is empty, volunteers will be removing plants that cause problems in the water for the fish. At the same time, all of the bass will be removed and transplanted. The plan is to restock with trout. Speaking of, on the right, Ted holds up a nice rainbow that he pulled from the water on Saturday. On the bottom, left, you can see the high-tech spillway mechanism on the dam. On the right, it's four-wheel fun in the creek as we make our way home.
GNOMES Annual Outing at Irish Beach
Early August 2003 found our band of friendly GNOMES (that's Guys Night Out Monthly Excursion Society) making their annual summer-time vacation camping migration to Irish Beach, near Manchester, for a weekend of... well... guy stuff: Beer, poker, bbq, etc. You get the picture.
The house that Jim had arranged for was very comfortable and offered an amazing and beautiful view of the ocean and the beach. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect, either. On the right, Bruce is working hard, preparing the BBQ out on the deck, overlooking the beach on Thursday evening as the sun begins to move toward the horizon.
Below, left, the guys are hanging out in the sun out on the back deck. Left to right: Tom, Rich, Mike, Bruce and Jim. In the picture on the bottom right, Mike, Tom, Rich and Bruce have made their way down to the beach for a hike along the ocean.
Check out the GNOMES page.
A's Photo Day and Fireworks Display
We had two Oakland Athletics games in August. The first was Photo Day against the New York Yankees and the second was against the Tampa Bay DevilRays, followed by fireworks. On photo day we saw many players, including Eric Chavez (above), Eric Byrnes (above, right) and Jim Mecir. Stomper came by to say hi, too (right).
It was a beautiful day for baseball (below). However, the A's fell to the Yankees, 10-7.
On the other hand, the team beat the DevilRays later in the month, 4 to 2. The game was followed by a fireworks display (Inset below). It was a great show. But there was a malfunction of one of the displays during the show (below, right). Something had failed and pyrotechnics were being launched into the crowd on the field. You can see Trish's hand pointing at the failed unit shooting horizontally atop Mount Davis.
Braden's Annual Birthday Kayak Trip
We spent some time over the Memorial Day weekend celebrating Braden's birthday out on the water at Lake Mendocino. We put in safely and made our way up the inlet for a ways until we found a good place to stop and relax. Trish and I are perched on a rock, above, as Braden brings in his kayak and attempts to disembark.
We all eventually made it in and continued the festivities. On the right, Trish and I, Jen, Heather and Shawn are having a good time. Braden made off with the camera and made several self-portraits in-the-wild (below).
WSRL Reunion in Vas Vegas
The WSRL held it's second gathering in Las Vegas in April. The weather was excellent, if just a bit windy. There was plenty to do. We spent some fun time at The Star Trek Experience and the NASCAR Cafe where Rob, Cory, Paul and Ted posed With the late Dale Earnhardt's car(above, right).
The group also let it rip at the Las Vegas Mini Grand Prix, racing on several different tracks they had available. It was a lot of fun. Pictured, left to right: Gene, Randy, Me, Dave, Ted, Paul, Cory and Rob.
We also went to the Bull Ring at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to enjoy some local short-track racing. below, Cory, Ted, me and Rob hang out in the parking lot before the gates open. After getting in and seated we saw a lot of great racing and enjoyed some yummy and inexpensive food. The beer came in buckets and the burgers were very reasonable. Ted and I enjoyed it (below, right).
