2021 Holiday Letter

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hi All!

Travel Highlights this year

WoW! What a year for travel! Oppps, there was limited travel this year due to Corona Virus :-( Helen and I mostly stayed home and only went out once a week for grocery shopping. However, we did go to Helena's (Helen's granddaughter) 5th birthday party in Charlotte, NC. During the same trip we visited my brother in Georgia.

Wayne and Rosie

Great Wolf Lodge Helena turns 5 years old

Helena's ice cream birthday party

Helena showing Daddy her second gap

Helena messing with Charles

Charles, cousins John and Ginger, Mom Karen, Helena

Helen took a solo trip to care for Helena in July when Karen (daughter-in-law) was on a week-long business trip to Texas. Helen, Helena and David (Helen's son) camped out in a semi-truck for a week as they were taking one truckload (Dave's a semi-truck driver) after another from distribution centers to Walmart stores.

"Katie", Dave's 2002 Kenworth W900

Helena and Grandma Helen sharing a shake at a truck stop

Meeting up with Helen's brothers, Harold (left) and Robert (right), (Dave is in the center) at a truck stop near Ocala FL

Snuggle time FOR Daddy and Helena in Katie

Daddy training Helena on how to lock a trailer

Helena inside Katie's cab

Playing hide and seek. Fun times in Katie

Travel Trailer

We had two fantastic trips in the trailer. Since it had been a year since we had used the trailer, we thought it would be good to get back into it slowly. Our first trip, in March, was an hour from home to Lake Chabot near Oakland. We reserved a campsite and felt like we had the place to ourselves. We had a great time hiking the many trails and even went to the lake and hiked part way around it.

Preparing Big Blue (our Ford Expedition) and Jayco (travel trailer) for the trip

Lake Chabot campsite

Helen admiring the view of Lake Chabot

On a trail overlooking Lake Chabot

Charles on a trail overlooking Del Valle Reservoir

Turkeys at Lake Chabot campgrounds

The second trip was in April to the mountains just East of King City, California. This trip was a test of our ability to camp at a location that did NOT have electricity, water or sewer service. Charles figured we would last 3-days. To his surprise, we were there for 8 nights! We left when we ran out of water.

Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Sweetwater Campsite

BLM Sweetwater Campsite

Over-looking the BLM Sweetwater Campsite

View from a hilltop near the Sweetwater Campsite

While at the Forest Service's campground, we took a day trip to Pinnacles National Park. We had a great time hiking and sightseeing in the park.

Charles taking a hike at Pinnacles National Park.

East side of Pinnacles NP

Three faults barely visible on the west side of Pinnacles National Park

East side of Pinnacles NP

Sites on the west side of Pinnacles National Park

Charles' favorite flower is the California state flower, the California Poppy

The weak point in our ability to enjoy the trip was the amount of time Charles had to run the generator to keep the batteries charged. As a result, he has designed and will be installing a solar system to keep the batteries charged.

Charles testing out a couple of 100 watt solar panels

California Boater's Card

Last August I was surfing the web and discovered, to my surprise, that in order to operate a boat or personal watercraft in the State, you needed to have a California Boater's card. This law came into effect in 2018 for anyone 20 years old and younger. It is amazing that this is the first I have heard of it. Fortunately, since I am old, it doesn't apply to me until 2025 as the age increases 5 years every year and becomes effective for everyone in 2025. I thought it might be a good idea to get the card. It requires a safety course be taken, of which I have had many. Unfortunately it has to be a State approved course. I opted for the self-study course from the State. After reading the material, I requested the test, which they mailed to me. A couple of weeks after I sent the test answers back, I received my lifetime boater's card. I can now go sailing as a skipper without getting into trouble ;-) It turns out that most other states recently began requiring a boating safety card.

Hummingbirds

Our newest hobby is feeding hummingbirds! In this area we have flowers, fruits and vegetables blooming year round. Several hummer species don't migrate and naturally stay here year round. We have enjoyed our neighbors' hummers. They can get 20 to 30 trying to feed at the same time during the Summer months, so we decided to install our own feeder! These hummers are so entertaining and love the freshly made sugar water that Charles makes.

Charles with hummingbird feeder and Bougainvillea plant

Selling the Cozy Mazda Rotary Engine

Last year we sold the Cozy airframe. This year, in January, we sold the engine. I now have much more room in the garage than I have had for years ;-)

The engine is ready to go!

Miscellaneous parts associated with the engine

The Cozy Girrrl engine mount and additional parts

The custom made, by Jeff, engine stand

The couple that purchased the engine live in Montana. They drove all night on a Friday night, arriving in Fremont on Saturday around noon. We packed their SUV with the engine and they headed back to Montana, arriving late on Sunday. That was quite a round trip!

Everything fit in their SUV

The new owners of the Mazda rotary engine after a long 14 hour drive from Montana

Yea! A garage with more room in it!!

San Francisco Fleet Week

During WWII, San Francisco was a hub of activity supporting the war. There were several major ship building companies, including Kaiser, which built many of the infamous Liberty Ships. The close partnership of the Bay Area with the Navy has continued to this day, though, today, the number of naval facilities is a mere fraction of what they were when I arrived in 1983. However, San Francisco still celebrates naval ships during it's annual Fleet Week festivities.

This year, we went to see the airshow over San Francisco Bay. We watch from the Marina Green, where most of festivities and street fair took place. It was a very fun day!

A biwing plane making corkscrews in the sky

A United Airlines 737 making a low flyover

Another shot of the passenger plane participating in the airshow

A flyby of "Fat Albert" the Blue Angel's support plane

Blue Angels

Helen's Garden

Helen has quite a green thumb and it showed itself again in this years harvest of crops. Many of her plants are grown from other plants or from volunteer plants that sprout in the compost bucket!