Good Days, Bad Days....But by Who's Definition

Munchkin is turning out to be some cat. She has good days walking and bad days walking. But if you are Munchkin, you always think it is a good day to walk.

At times I look at her and wonder why. Why does she keep trying so hard. She bumps, she falls ..she has taken more blows to the head than Muhammad Ali, yet everyday she keeps plugging along. Her will is so strong. She gives me inspiration ...everyday.

Every night we go to bed and she and her sister are playing in the bedroom. Every morning when I wake up, she is tucked in between Peggy and I. When I rise, she follows me, begging to be fed. I carry her downstairs and she cannot wait to eat. And yet everyday, when I come home, she runs away.....unless it is dinner time, and then I get the hero treatment once again.

Completing the Trip

Well, it is no longer timely, but I am going to finish the story of our trip, damnit! On Thanksgiving day we left San Fransisco and headed north to the lost coast, the home of our friends Joe and Karen. They live waaaaay out off the beaten path, off the map in Petrolia. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and were on our way.

We again stayed in Karen and Joe's lovely one room cabin. This is the original homestead they built and lived here while they built their main home. One room, shower and loft for sleeping. Heated by a wood stove. We love staying here.

Here is the view from the main house. Is this a peaceful place or what?

We had a fine Thanksgiving dinner on duck with Joe and Karen. Here we are pictured on Saturday (our last day) just about to eat some duck gizzards. Three geezers eating gizzards (if only it were goose gizzards I could have stretched the g's out even further!)

We spent some time on the beach. As usual it was beautiful, as were my two companions. Neko loves the beach, and just loved being out in the wild all weekend.

On Saturday afternoon we went into town to see a friend and I met Shorty, who was aptly named.

You just never know who you will run into in downtown Petrolia, so it is best to always primp before you run out the door.

On our way out of Petrolia on Saturday night, just at sunset, by chance I took this great picture of my favorite photo journalist, the wonderful woman who makes me stop every 1/4 mile to 'capture the light'.

Thanksgiving Road Trip, Revisited

This Thanksgiving we mirrored our trip of two Thanksgivings ago and headed south. This time we took the entire week, and we added San Fransisco to the mix. It was a fun trip.

On Sunday, before, we had a giant Thanksgiving feast for Peggy's family. It was a lot of fun, a lot of work and it delayed our departure. Instead of leaving for the southland "at the crack of dawn" we finally left Seattle at 2:30.

"Crack of Dawn" and "First thing in the Morning" are terms Peggy uses to appease me the day before we leave for anywhere. The phrases mean nothing in terms of what most humans think of when they think of time.

We travelled south with ease in our little mini Cooper that was packed to the gills. Neko alternated from lap to quiet area in the back. We stopped often for piddle breaks, gas and meals. We made a significant error in Kelso and found ourselves in a land of no restaurants and had to settle for our first of too many meals from the dreaded corporate world of AppleBees.

Our "revised" goal for the day was pushed back to Grant's Pass, but shortly out of Salem we ran into computerized car problems. Out PSI light came on indicating a flat tire, or tires with wrong tire pressure. Our mini has run-flat tires and this light means no speed over 50. With our decreased speed and lack of open maintenance depots, we cruised into Eugene and ala a drunken John Wayne in True Grit we said; "we'll camp here".

Peggy's nephew Tommy attends the U of O and we sought him out and had a wonderful pizza dinner with Tommy and his California roommate, Nick.

"First thing" the next morning the wonderful folks at Les Schwab tires inspected our tires, gave us their blessings and we were off at full speed to visit San Francisco. Departure time 11:30. First thing my ass.

We spent a pleasant two days at our friends Lori and Eric house in the bay area.