Napa Winetasting wth Win 'n Mona

Last week, Mellissa and I met Winfred and Mona for a wine country get-away in the Napa valley. We booked rooms at the Silverado resort. Very nice. Four wineries, discount rooms, and a deli lunch all included in the low price. All thanks to Win's watchful eye on travelzoo.com.

So, our first step... Find the wineries!! "Let's see, if we turn left here, we can hit these five going out and another 10 on the way back!" Check out the Calif. Wineries link on the left of the blog page.

We locate the good ones and set out for some serious wine-tasting. Participating wineries included in our package are these:

We hang out, drink wine and champagne, and have fun...

..and after a glass or two....

We head out for more touring around the beautiful Napa Valley in search of other interesting wineries that offer our favorite thing: no fee for tasting!

Of course, we had to get a posed shot:

...and tell Mona a joke...

Check out the Brewer's Blackbird (those curious little birds who frequent the mall parking lots and actually prefer to walk rather than fly). Seeing another male, he decided to puff up to look larger and intimidate his rival.

We were sad to leave the Napa Valley, it's beauty and fine wines, and more importantly, our "buds" Win and Mona. But, the sun was setting and it was time to get back to reality and home.

Viva Las Vegas

I hate going to Las Vegas. During the day, there is nothing to do. I'm hot, thirsty, and have nothing to look at. I can't believe the things I have to endure just to please my family by going. If they only understood my suffering. Umm, hold on ...."Excuse me miss, can you chill the champagne just a tad longer?"

OK, it's not so bad, especially staying at the ever-beautiful Bellagio; to me, the best hotel in Vegas. Everything about it is beautiful; the outside....

Even the carport....

...and they have great bars and restaurants...

Near the Bellagio Cafe, our favorite breakfast spot, they have an ever-changing display, usually coinciding with the seasons. This time it's Spring with a butterfly house (behind the egrets in the pic) to visit. The flowers look great!

I enjoyed the butterflies and got some good shots up close. The large eyeball-looking thing on this guy is intended to look like a large eyeball. In the wild, a lizard would make a grab for (what it thinks is) the head, and only catch a wing, giving the butterfly a chance to escape. Cool, huh?

Here's something I learned about butterflies: The only look pretty from the top or side. Head on, it's a different picture.... click on this bad boy.

While still in the garden area of the hotel, Lisa gets a good shot of Mom with her sons.

...and one last pic from the garden of the giant water bucket (with shooting water) ... cool frog too.

This was a good trip and the first one where Amanda, Rebecca, and Judy all came together. Everyone had fun: Amanda got her hair done...here's the before and after shots..

And Rebecca won money playing video poker! (This shot will be used as evidence in the pending underage gambling trial.)

We never did see Rebecca again. She was so happy to win her money, that she stayed in vegas and is lost somewhere in here....hope she writes soon.

Mom was pretty happy to be in Vegas with her sons, Lisa, Judy, and the girls. Tina, William, and Maya -- we missed you!

Steve picked a real winner for dinner at the Social House. Sushi, sashimi, tempura, and more....fantastic!

Here we are looking smug..

...and I love this shot of Lisa. She is cracking up over something Dan said. It's hard to get a good shot of her laughing; not because she doesn't laugh, she always does, it's just hard to catch that "right" moment...

There are other hotels to visit, but we always like the Bellagio. We do like the Mirage to gamble and see shows....

and Caesar's is grand for it's statues and fountains.

Las Vegas at night...

..and a last shot of the rambler gamblers. A special thank you to Mom for making this trip possible and so much fun!

Triathlon Training

OK, let's get right to it: Triathlon training! Lisa has a triathlon coming up in late April and has been training (with the excellent help of her coach.) First job of the coach - get the unwilling athlete out of bed. Very difficult.

A triathlon is a 3-event race: swim/bike/run. The distances vary from short "sprint" triathlons to the "ultra" triathlons like the well-known Ironman. Lisa's race is a 1/4 mile swim, a 14 mile bike race, and a 3.1 mile run.

As her tri-coach, I decided that a helpful training aid would be to simulate the race by doing a "practice tri" at our local pool, bike trail, and running route, covering the same distances of the actual race.



For safety reasons, triathlons start with the swim race and end with the run, (although I once entered a "reverse triathlon") Better to get tired during the final event, the run, than to conk out during the swim. Here is my little fish:

Remember, clicking on each picture opens it and then click on the "back" arrow to return.

Triathlons have two transitions: the swim-to-bike, and the bike-to-run. The first one is when you come from the swim, grab your bike gear, and head out for the bike race. Placement of your equipment is critical, and making an efficient transition can shave off time of your race. Gear, like your bike, towels, water, helmet, gloves, glasses, etc., is all laid out before the race in a specified transition zone. For this practice tri, we set up the transition area in the parking lot of the gym pool. And, remember: it's a race, so every minute counts!

When the race starts, you hit the water, do the swim as fast as you can, run to your transition area, dry off, grab your helmet, and head out on the bike race. You're wet, tired, and excited. Only one thought crosses your mind: "Did I take the clothes out of the dryer?"

In case you're wondering, I waited in the parking lot during the swim, but rode with my sweetie during the 14-mile bike ride, (tougher than you think) and then waited at home while she completed the run. As coach and photographer, I had a lot on my mind. I need lots of rest.

Here is the fun transition: the bike-to-run. You're almost done, fairly dry, and ready to head out for the run. You throw off your bike helmet and gloves, and go!

And finally, the run. Just over a three mile race, but you're dead from the swim and bike race you've just completed. Your legs feel like Jello when you first leave the bike and start the run since different muscles are used. After a few minutes, you start to recover and settle into your pace.

3.1 miles later, it's over for the sprint triathlon. Hard to believe that the Ironman is a 2.1 mile swim, 112 mile bike over the hot Hawaii lava beds, followed by a marathon, a 26.2 mile run. For this practice tri, Lisa was glad to arrive safely at our house and finish. Lisa did great, but as coach, I was exhausted.
Look for the real race in late April!

Jeff in 1972

OK, now I'm pissed. This is not funny. Who posted this?!

I do NOT see any resemblance at all! We have totally different shirts and I have never worked for GEICO!

Mellissa in 1972/73 and Other Questions

OK, here are my questions: How come Mellissa looks like this in the early 70's, and I looked like the GEICO caveman?
Why does she look so cute and I am described as, well, The Missing Link?

How come she hasn't changed that much and I look like a different person and have no hair? (Uh, to use my best grammer, don't nobody need to answer that)

And, last but not least....aren't EddieHaskell, the Beave, and Wally Cleaver dead?

It Pays to Have a Camera Handy

Sometimes, it just pays off having a camera handy....and sometimes, you just get lucky. At a recent poker game, we couldn't understand why we were missing so many M&M's. By the way, if you attended the poker game and got Parrot Fever, we have NO idea how that could have occurred!

On our backyard patio table, we put a small plastic squirrel in the center. We had no idea that this would be the love interest of a real squirrel who didn't seem to mind.

Very cute stuff.

As usual, clicking a pic will open it, and then hit your "back" arrow to return.

Jeff/Lisa First Pictures August 1993

In one of my earlier blogs, I showed pics of a Point Reyes hike that re-created Lisa and my first date in August of 1993. I recently found my slides from this seminal date and took digital pics of each. I would like to dedicate this blog to Mellissa's birthday tomorrow, March 27th, 2007. OK, here goes: this is the first EVER picture I took of my sweetie...I met her at her Hayward house for breakfast on then onto our hike in Point Reyes National Seashore.

Off we go to Arch Rock, four miles one-way from the Visitor's Center. Lisa frolicked in the water looking awfully cute and giving me that "come hither" look....OK, I made that last part up...

Here are the next few pics I took of my future wife:

I thought she had the cutest face....

...and I still do.

Here is the very first picture that was taken of us together. I set up the camera on a rock and had a remote control device that triggered the shutter button. You can almost see the remote hiden in my left hand. I tried to explain how this all works to Lisa at the time -- and may I point out that the explanation takes about two hours -- but she seemed uninterested. Go figure.



Our next pic together was this one. I should point out that Lisa too, took several pics that day and we are still looking for these. I'll share them here when we find them, but for now, this is what we have.

The pics are not as clear as others, but they were taken from slides shown on the wall, and then photographed with a digital camera. They were then edited in Picasa to sharpen and crop and then posted on this blog. I love looking at these pics and hope that Lisa enjoys them for her birthday as well. We are forever grateful to Mona and Ellen for introducing us. (OK, setting up a dinner to trick Lisa was more accurate, but who's counting?)

Eleven years this June 8th.