Penultimate Weekend of CA2014

What a Weekend!!

Saturday was spent on the radio and Sunday was a nice visit with family. I should probably break them into two posts, but heck, y'all like reading my long posts, right!? I'm tired so I'm sure it'll be short!

Saturday was the Big Bear Grizzly Granfondo Mountain Bike event. There were 4 rides of 20, 30, 70, and 100 km, in addition to the National Ultra Endurance race of 100km. The two 100 km used the same course, but the race guys were fast and the rest were normal :) Dad and I got the INCREDIBLY cool assignment of riding SAG. I actually just googled SAG to learn that it apparently stands for "support and gear". What it IS is a vehicle that is out on the course, with a mechanic or gear, or sometimes simply the ability to transport riders who no longer want to ride. Every race does it different and a lot don't even have them. Our vehicles were scaled down versions of all that. Scaled down because they were not mechanics and really had no ability to help riders. BUT we were able to drive around and resupply the aid stations and such. Our job was to sit shotgun and communicate where we were and what our drivers were up to or needed or whathaveyou. Although this was a cool job, it had one terrifying hitch for me - I was solo radio in my vehicle! Meaning I had to know how to work the radio and make it do what I needed it to do. I asked Dad LOTS of questions before the event. Luckily, I never touched the radio except to talk and change the volume!

Dad and I were in two different vehicles, but were able to talk by radio and several times our vehicles ended up in the same place. I got to do A LOT of transmitting (talking) and I had such a great time doing it. It all came very naturally to me which makes sense because I've been listening to other people talk HAM for pretty much my entire life. Dad said he was very proud of my work. So I'm happy :)

As the race was coming to a close, it was decided that my SAG vehicle would become sweep. Sweep is someone (usually using the same format as the race - i.e. on bike if it's a bike race) who rides the course after the final rider has gone through. So, two people on bikes rode most of the course after everyone else did, to make sure that everyone really had finished. Or in yesterday's case, got to the the bottom aid station. Then my vehicle took over. We DROVE up the very steep, very rocky dirt road that the riders had ridden. We actually caught two of them but hung back to let them do their bike thing. Once we got to the downhill, they smoked us! It was a really cool experience and I feel special that I got to do it. Though really, I just picked the right car when we started at 7am :)

Dad and I in uniform

THEN TODAY Dad and I drove down the hill to my aunt's house (Mary, his sister) where we met up with my uncle Charlie (Dad's brother), aunt Patty and 3 cousins who are now all teenagers, plus a girlfriend. I have no idea how long ago I'd seen them but they are much bigger now! One of my other cousins, Aunt Mary's daughter, who lives in the Phoenix area also happened to be in town, so she and her two kids (5 and 1.5) also came over. We all ventured out to lunch, skipping the planned Souplantation (soup can't be grown) for BJs which was a little less busy, and a favorite for several of us. After lunch, we all went back to Aunt Mary's to hang out and catch up. The cousins are awesome teenagers who I'd love to have in my classes!! They got me set up on Instagram (@msemigahs) so we could stay in touch in the new hip way :) (I'd been considering it for school use anyway!) Perhaps we can make it an annual visit. Seriously, they'd all grown 3 feet at least!!

My gorgeous youngest Cuz'n (also my first Instagram post!)

Dad and I are really looking forward to tomorrow - nothing is on the agenda!! It's been quite a busy week for us!!

40 4 40 #3 Fence

To celebrate turning 40, I've decided to do 40 new things before I get there. My birthday is in March which means I need to do about 5 things per month... good thing I've already started! You can check out all of the posts related to this endeavor through the label 40 4 40.

Number 3 was started before I did #2 but I decided that in order to blog about it, and call it done, it actually needed to be finished! A couple weeks ago, as Dad and I watched his dog Tuck going crazy and eating the chain link fence, we discussed the idea that perhaps Tuck wouldn't eat a fence made of wood. Dad has a great wood fence along the side of his house that he put up several years ago. I told him that I really wanted to help him make a new fence, since he's always doing projects when he comes to my house! And so the idea became a reality :)

A short-ish version of our week...

Monday, Dad drove down the hill to get the lumber while I dog sat.
Tuesday, we tore out the old chain link fence. We had decided to use the posts that were there. We determined that we needed a wedge to make our bracket fit tightly over those posts. Trip to hardware store. There was a second trip in there but I don't remember why!
Wednesday, we prepped for cross bars. Dad went to get stain while I went paddle boarding. Then we put up most of the cross bars.
Thursday, Dad went to get another joint piece cuz we can't count. We finished the last little piece of cross bar. Dad sawed all the fence boards while I stained the cross bars. Dad started putting up fence while I stained one side of the fence boards. (this was to ensure the side against the cross bar was fully stained) We were attempting to position the bottom of each board down in a little trench, so that they'd be covered by dirt, in an attempt to prevent digging out by the pooches. This required a LOT of digging by us. Some bright person years ago put down a bunch of lava rock. Yeah, I don't want to see any more lava rock ever. So, instead, we started cutting boards a little shorter. Well, I did! Yup, I used the Skilsaw like an expert :) At one point we had boards that were the original length Dad cut, 1", 2" and 3" shorter. Then a couple I cut even more because of the gas meter box thing. I have learned that the saw is not scary, and even fun!! We quit just before dark last night with about 10 boards to go.
Friday, we finished up this morning and cleaned up, all before 1pm!! The fence looks GREAT!! It really needs to be stained on the front side, but sitting on the porch we can't see that part :) The dogs are quite happy to have their yard back. And so far, Tuck has not attempted to eat the fence. Mission accomplished!!

Five days. Five trips to hardware stores. By golly we have a fence!! I had never built a fence before... so, #2!! We made sure I took part in all aspects, from cutting to digging to staining (myself and the wood!) to screwing on fence boards. And took pics, of course!!

The old view (with dogs)

Digging out rocks

Building a fence is exhausting work

Master Sawyer

Screwing in the last plank

Close up :)

The new view!! Isn't it pretty?!?!

All cleaned up and proud of our accomplishment :)

I have no idea what #4 will be!!

40 4 40 #2 Paddle Boarding

To celebrate turning 40 in March, I've decided to do 40 new things between now and then. Why 8 months before? Well, I'll get busy once school starts, and because of #1 & 2...

One of the popular summer activities here in Big Bear is paddle boarding. I've watched from afar. Looked interesting. But I don't like water. Then a cousin said it was her new favorite thing. Then I got into the figuring out 40 new things thing. And well then I was reminded that my sister-in-law was a regular on the board. And so, today, I paddle boarded!

Monday evening, Dad and I had dinner with Dave and Loni (big bro and s-i-l) so I chatted with Loni about it. She had plans to go today with her good friend Priscilla, and said I should totally join them!! I asked her all my questions... Do I have to be able to kneel (not something I've done since pre-surgery)? What do I wear? How much time do I spend in the water? Is it hard?!

Okay, yes, you do have to kneel. But I did it!! I'm almost as excited about that as I am about the actual paddle boarding. I wore shorts and a sports tank. I did not go in the water at all!!! It was not hard. Challenging, yes. A workout, yes. But not really hard.

And SO MUCH FUN!!!!! I was offered a demo by the guy in charge but I just watched Loni and Priscilla do it first and I was fine. Basically you get on it while you're standing at the edge of the water, maybe calf deep. This was the hardest part for me because I was so unsure of my kneeling ability. Especially on the fairly hard board. But I did it and it didn't even hurt!! Just felt weird cuz it'd been so long. So we paddled out a little ways while on our knees. Then they started standing up, so I did too :) It took me two tries cuz the board was drifting too far away from where I wanted to be. The hardest part is that last part getting upright, with the paddle in your hands. Once up though, it's actually a little easier, I thought. It is definitely a full body workout. Balancing with legs and core and paddling with arms.

We got out of the bay/inlet into the actual lake, where the wind picked up. We all sat down :) We paddled around while sitting for a good while. We raced to a buoy. I came in a close second behind Priscilla. The wind tried really hard to take us where we didn't want to go. Priscilla stood up again. And fell in. Loni tried too and fell backward on to the board. I didn't try :) Oh, and there were ducks that watched and swam with us. So cute! So fun!!!

After 45 minutes or so, we paddled back into the inlet where we all stood back up. It's called stand up paddle boarding, so it seemed right to stand up to get back in to the beach! We all stood up paddling right to the beach.

It was an amazing fun time while getting exercise. I will definitely do it again!! I didn't get any pics of me on the board cuz well, water.

the beach where we went in and out

the three of us. Priscilla's in front.

Tomorrow Dad and I will finish the fence, which will be #3 :)

My First Radio Event!

Before I left to see Port, there was a major life event! Okay, in my life, it was major :) To others, it probably seems trivial. But this is MY life I'm writing about!!

Bright and early, Dad and I set off, a few minutes apart, to the Inaugural Fawnskin Ride n Tie event. Making this event even more extra special is that my big brother was the race director! It was a very small race which was perfect for my first time :) I suppose I should explain the ride... A ride and tie is historically a horse riding event, involving a team of two people and a horse. One person starts on the horse, the other starts on foot. At some point, the horse rider hops off, ties up the horse, and continues on foot. The runner gets to the horse, hops on and continues riding. The team leap frogs this way throughout the course. Our event was the same concept but with a mountain bike instead of a horse. We had four teams. Small but intimate. And they all had a great time so I'm sure the event will grow exponentially for next year.

Dad and I were working radio. After a week of planning who'd work where, my suggestion that I do the checkpoint that was only reachable by foot (or bike I suppose) and lots of changes, we all set out to our assignments. I indeed got to work Checkpoint 2. My partner had access to the fire road though so we drove instead of walking. Which was good because we sat in the jeep while it rained :) We got out when the first rider went through the checkpoint before ours. Although our name was CP2, we were really the 3rd of 4 checkpoints. The one before us had a name, Hanna. It happened to be manned by Dad!

I got to call in our first rider. And the information that he provided about his teammate that should've been to us first. Turns out the rider passed him without realizing it! But it made for a little excitement for about 5 minutes. It was also good practice for all the radio folks on what to do with this sort of situation.

All 8 rider/runners came through CP2 and we left. We made it back to the finish line (Race Command) before the teams finished so I got to do my other favorite race thing - cheer them on!

This coming weekend is another event up here in Big Bear. A mountain bike GranFondo. It looks like dad and I get to ride SAG. Meaning we'll be in two different vehicles that roam the course helping riders with bike and medical issues and such. Should be lots of good radio fun!!

Friendship

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I want to take a moment and herald the wonders of good friendship!

How does one know that another person is a good friend? One shows up after a year and it seems that no time has passed at all. Saturday, I drove down to Fontana CA to spend some time with my very good friend Port (I'm the only one who calls her that I think). No fancy plans, but yet a good time was had!

What did we do? We went out to dinner. We watched some TV and chatted. And chatted. Until we were both falling asleep :) Then on Sunday, we had breakfast (geeky husband included) and went shopping. Seems normal? Yeah, neither of us is really a shopper. But yet, somehow yesterday, that's what we did. Marveling the whole way on the fact that we were shopping, successfully, and having fun doing it! After we were shopped out and had each found what we were looking for, without too much extra purchased, we went back to the house to work on a puzzle and watch a movie. I finally left about dinnertime because I just missed my pooch too much and if I stayed any longer, I'd stay until the puzzle was done, and I didn't have that in me!

Such a "simple" weekend, but oh what fun!! Sorry no pics. (update: stole one of the finished puzzle from Port's FB) We were having too much fun catching up :) Oh. And we have plans for me to go back again before I leave CA. So I can help her with the 2000 piece puzzle she purchased on our shopping spree!

This is summer...

Not sure it got to 80* here in Big Bear today. After a very leisurely morning, dad and I hopped on the bikes and rode into town. Well, not into "downtown" but to where the stores are. Dad needed a watch battery. I needed to test my body on the bike. Body did well!

Now we are sitting on the front porch watching the world go by. The dogs occasionally bark but mostly just sit and watch. Beautiful blue sky, not hot, two wonderfully crazy dogs, my favorite human... Yup, THIS is summer vacation at its finest :)

My view:

And one of the pooches from this morning...

Ah, Heaven!

Dad and Slugger and I did some hiking today. First, we drove (I drove "off-road"!) up into the hills, then got out and hiked further into the hills. We were looking for a place to put a digi-peater (a radio relay machine, sort of - totally oversimplified explanation) for this weekend's bike race. Found a good spot so we'll go back to actually place it on Friday and then Dad will go pick it up on Saturday (I'll be getting ready to go see some friends off the mountain). We still had some hike left in us so we drove over to the Gray's Peak Trailhead. We went about 1/2 of a mile up the hill, and then came back down. It was a good workout and gave us some splendid views.

Video Experiment

I took this video of Slugger playing with Cuz'n Tuck in Dad's front yard. Thought I'd see if I could figure out how to share, while also using the iPad app for the first time!

Couldn't do it from the iPad. Have attempted from the computer. Please let me know if you can view it! When I look at it, it seems the picture is bigger than the space in the blog. Hmmm.... And it cuts out the middle when they're at their cutest... ARGH!

Okay, I made it smaller but it's still not very good quality :(

The mini-road trip within the mega-road trip...

Since I had so much time planned in the Golden State, I thought I should take some of that time and drive up to Northern California, where I went to college, and see some buds. Some of whom I hadn't seen in eons. Okay, at least a decade. It also worked out to see my SoCal friend Karie on the way.

Here's the rundown...

Sunday morning I left dad's and drove a couple hours to Temecula to visit Karie and her family. Karie is the very special friend who helped me move from CA to DE way back in the day. We both have very fond memories of that trip and always rehash one or two (we seriously ate Subway the entire way) every time we get together. Five years ago Karie married Ben and I love him almost as much as I love Karie! Such a great match!! They now have 3 year old Thomas to round out their family. We spent Sunday basically sitting around and talking. Catching up. The day FLEW by!! Considering I only see them once a year, I'm pretty sure a stranger would never know it if they were to enter our conversations! Love that!! We had a GREAT dinner at SoupPlantation. I'd actually never been to one but know it's on the vegan's easy places to eat list. Need to find where there's one in TX!! Unfortunately, Karie and Ben had to go to work on Monday (way early) so we sad groggy goodbyes and they were off. It did mean that I got to spend a couple minutes with Karie's mom though so that was nice. She comes to get Thomas to go to the preschool where she works. After they left, I leisurely got ready to go, since I needed to leave later to avoid traffic. Mission accomplished! It is NEVER a long enough visit with the Lords!!

From Temecula I drove to Stockton, CA, home of my alma mater, University of the Pacific. Oddly enough, my good friend from Delaware is now a professor there. Jeff's house was my first stop. But first, I had to get there. I chose to go all the way up I5 because it'd be a little closer and faster. It was SOOOO boring!!! I did talk to dad on the radio though so that was fun. That was before the road got boring though. Seriously, we're talking an off ramp every 30-40 miles. And nothing but crops and cattle between, if you're lucky. Oh, and signs blaming congress for, and asking for my help with the water crisis. They're in a drought too. Also, on the drive, I ended up waiting too long and paid $4.32 per gallon for gas!! Yup, this is California!! Anyway, I finally got to Stockton. It was hot. Jeff and I had a nice dinner after I gave him a hard time about his very bachelor pad-y house. After dinner, we drop around UOP a little. It's really a walking campus now. And it has many more buildings than when I was there 20 years ago!! But some of it was just the same. Brought back some very good memories.

Tuesday afternoon I got to have lunch with one of my college roommates, Ponnie. I am pretty sure I haven't seen her since 1997. So sad!! We mostly picked right back up though our lives have definitely changed! She ended up marrying the guy she started dating when we were roommates. They have 3 beautiful children but sadly, Rob was killed in a car accident 3 years ago. Ponnie seems to be doing well and I am so glad I was able to spend a little time with her. It wasn't much because she was called away with a work emergency. We promised more than an hour in the next 20 years!!

I killed a little time in Stockton by going to Target. I needed to get my monthly prescriptions. They weren't able to give me more than one month in TX but it's very easy to "transfer" them to any Target and the folks were very helpful. This whole being gone for 6 weeks thing is fun but really takes some logistical planning (since BB doesn't have a Target especially!).

I left Stockton and headed south about 30 minutes to Modesto. My freshman roommate Christy grew up there and still lives there with her two kids. Just like with Karie, it was like we just saw each last week! Of course, it'd been about a decade. Neither of us could remember when it was but quite possibly before her now 8 year old was born. SAD!! Through Facebook, I felt like I knew the kids though! Christy and I saw a movie and had dinner with lots of chatting and catching up thrown in (not during the movie of course).

I was supposed to have seen my friend Jenny when I was at Karie's. Jenny and I were in accounting classes together and hit it off incredibly. She's how I met Karie actually! Jenny didn't end up making the drive down though because they abruptly sold their house (5 days from market to escrow!!) and are now in the midst of packing and putting most of it in storage until the new house is ready. So I left Christy and went a little further south for a quick coffee with Jenny and her 8 year old daughter Carly. I had seen Jenny at Karie's wedding so only 5 years ago! Seems like nothing!! It was great to catch up in person and see Carly's beauty in person. I was anxious to start the long drive, and she had a house to pack, so we didn't spend long, but it was quality time :)

I drove home on Hwy 99. It basically parallels I5 but has a whole lot more going on!! I think the longest stretch was about 10 miles between off ramps. It is the route I drove home through college so it was very familiar. It went by much faster!! I tried to pick up folks on the radio using simplex but no one ever answered me. Oh well!!

The route(s). Big Bear is under the Temecula arrow more or less.

It was a whirlwind trip with a lot of driving but I am SO glad I went!! I have some of the most amazing friends and seeing them in person just warms a girl's heart, you know?!

Now I get some downtime in Big Bear before getting to work radio at my first race!! Luckily it's a small race so it'll be a good place to learn lots!!

A little over a week into my trip and so far, having fun, totally relaxed, and looking forward to the rest!!

40 4 40 #1 Talk as a Ham

To celebrate turning 40 in March, I've decided to do 40 new things between now and then. Why 8 months before? Well, because of #1... (if you've been following along, I actually went back and changed 1 and 2 to 2 and 3 because I decided I wanted this to be #1)

New thing #1 has a fairly long back story for a relatively short thing I did for the first time. So, here's the story :)

When I was a kid, every time I went to visit my Grandpa (Dad's dad) in his home in Manhattan Beach, CA, my memory is surrounded by radio. Ham Radio. This is a form of communication that requires a license from the FCC to operate, due to the frequencies used and such. It's all regulated by the FCC. If you'd like to know more, here's the official page from the national association of operators.

Grandpa had a bunch of radio stuff set up in his basement. He would sit and do his radio thing, which at the time I did not one bit understand, and I would play restaurant and "serve" him. For hours. Sometimes, I would go to breakfast with him and his friends. I now understand that these were all radio buddies and probably meetings of his radio clubs. I even have a faint memory of going to something that was either a swap meet or a field day (where they all get together to make a bunch of communications all around the world all in one day, basically).

When I was in high school or thereabouts, Dad got his license. I don't really remember him ever talking on it at home though I know some of the things he did, like search and rescue, involved the radio. Dad does all sorts of fun things with it now. If you've read the rest of my blogs, you know he (and I!) also use it to communicate at foot and bike races.

It was for this last reason that I finally got excited about getting my own license. I was licensed last October but never talked on the radio. It just didn't seem right to talk to anyone but Dad when it was my first time. You know!?! Also, I changed my call sign (what signifies that I have a license) sometime in the Spring. I think I already wrote about that but I'm going to add that story here too :)

I was originally licensed as KF5YNW. That's no fun. Dad suggested my initials. I do still have a little hope that my initials will change someday. BSBLGRL doesn't fit into the rules of call signs :( Dad's call sign is Grandpa's original, W6CYS. Dad figured out that I could be W5CYS (I have to have the 5 cuz I'm licensed out of the midwest). I thought that would be WAY cool to honor both Grandpa AND Dad!! And so that's me :)

I finally got to CA and I think it was on day 2 of my visit there, I finally said okay, let's do this. Now, I used the excuse of wanting to talk to Dad for the first time, but really, I was just super nervous. I'd been listening to radio talk my entire life, but somehow actually talking was scary. It's all legal, you know?!?! So, in a fit of giggles and tears, I called Dad on the radio. "W6CYS, this is W5CYS." Why'd I cry? It was kinda monumental to me - following in their footsteps, etc. and I'd been waiting for months. Why'd I giggle? Cuz I was crying and it was a very silly thing to cry about, and I giggle when I'm nervous!! Dad answered and then it became natural. More or less. The entire time I was there and talking to him, I don't think I went a single conversation without trying to ID with his call, or vice versa.

And so, what seems like I'd waited a lifetime to actually do, I did. And will do a lot for the next 40 years, I hope :)

You can check out all of the posts related to this endeavor through the label 40 4 40.

Road Trip West 2014

It took 28.5 hours. We drove almost 1400 miles. I can't tell you exactly because I forgot to reset the odometer until sometime past Weatherford. It wasn't eventful but yet here are some highlights.

- It took almost to Abilene it seemed for Slugs to "get" that we were going to be driving for a while. It took most of Texas for him to remember how to comfortably lay on the front seat so he could sleep but also be within arms reach :) He then slept pretty much the rest of the way!

- Pecos TX was about the most exciting venue, I think.
First, we got gas with a bunch of oil rig workers. Or something like that. There were lots of trucks - work trucks with stuff in the back - and lots of men wearing the same khaki shirt. There was an emblem but I didn't want to stare...
Then, we went for a short walk in the "grass" (actual green grass is hard to find). I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to Slugs cuz it's not like there was much of anything to attract him. But he started barking and pulling on the leash. I turned my head to see a rooster. A ROOSTER!! trotting along like he belonged in the truck stop parking lot! I remarked aloud that this was something you don't usually see. The man walking by looked at me like I was the crazy one for talking to myself. Whatever. Sorry I didn't get a picture. The phone/camera was in the car.
Because that wasn't enough, we got back in the car and headed off. I don't remember why I stopped before getting back on the freeway. I kinda just pulled over in the parking lot of a different truck stop. While we were there, it rained. No, it poured. No... it was a deluge. No... I don't know the word. But for about 3 minutes, it was raining so hard, I couldn't see anything but water on the windshield (with the wipers going!) and the car shook!! I checked the weather. Luckily it was headed northeast and I was headed southwest :) It lightened up enough I felt I could drive and we drove right out of it in about 2 minutes. It was very strange to see sunny blue skies ahead and look in the rear view and see a wall of black. We were definitely going the right direction!!

- El Paso TX is doing construction on I10. The entire freeway was shut down in two separate places. Luckily, still being in TX there were frontage roads, and decent signage so it wasn't too much of a detour. Just annoying. And reminded me how badly I see with my contacts in. They came out shortly after I got into NM.

- Hwy 38 CA is the mountain road that goes to Big Bear. Well, one of three really, but the one that is closest to dad's house! Once you get actually onto 38, it's about 35 miles to dad's house. Right at the bottom (it goes up the mountain so it starts at the bottom) there was a sign that said "road construction next 34 miles". Uh, that's the whole way people!! I realized that I was driving on very nice new road, while the other side, going down, was old road. I figured they were repaving. Yup. And of course, to do this on a mountain road where there is no shoulder or multiple lanes, one lane must be closed... I was SO tired and ready to stop driving (not to mention really needing a restroom) that I thought I was going to cry when I saw the flagger man and his stop sign. Especially since I was the first one there, meaning I would have to wait even longer probably. Sure enough. I think I was there about 10 minutes. But I talked to dad and he told me where to find a restroom :) And we FINALLY got to dad's house, almost exactly 28.5 hours after leaving our garage. And Slugger was SOOOO excited to see dad!! It had been a year, but he obviously remembered!! It made my heart happy :)

More excitement to come, I am sure!! Stay tuned :)