Sunday, October 1 through Sunday, October 22, 2023: Lily, SMHS Reunion, Newport Beach, Family and Friends Visiting

 My sister Wendy sent me some photos of my grand-niece, Lily Wallace, and her parents.

That evening, there was a beautiful sunset.

I decided that the dogs needed new blankets for their dog beds. I went to Goodwill and found a soft dark brown blanket, I cut the blanket down and stitched the corners. I want to make the blankets thicker, but my Elna sewing machine was not up to the task. My neighbor Linda has an industrial sewing machine. For $12.00, Kelsey and Jamie had beautiful new blankets.

The mornings are getting a little chilly. So, the living room furnace and the fireplace are now cranked up for the first two hours of the day.

On Tuesday, October 3, I turned off the water feature. The big winds have blown down so many pine needles. Fall is definitely here.

I used a rake to groom some of the backyard pine needles. It is this time of year that the gardeners earn their keep! While raking, Kelsey got behind me and I fell over her. My WHBM jeans that were very worn, split. It was time to toss them in the trash. Fortunately, I already bought a replacement pair when we were in Casa Grande.

Mt. Humphreys got its first dusting of snow.

Thursday morning, Tom and I headed to Southern California. I had a multi-class reunion in Newport Beach for San Marino High School. It was the first annual SMHS reunion for Class of '69, '70, '71, and '72. These reunions will always be the first weekend in October. I invited Tom to come with me --- not to attend the reunion activities --- but to enjoy the Newport Beach location. We had a bathroom stop in Ludlow, California. Hello, California gas prices!

Tom and I broke up the trip by staying the first night in Rancho Cucamonga at a Best Western Plus. We had 6:15 p.m. dinner reservations at King's Fish House.

This restaurant is a chain, but they boast about their fresh seafood. Of course, we had to order an Oyster Platter.

We had a very nice table on their patio.

Rancho Cucamonga is nestled near the base of the San Gabriel mountains. Our room had a nice view!

We only had a little over an hour to Balboa Peninsula where our hotel was located. Tom and I got to Newport Beach, payed to park our truck for four hours, and explored the hotel and the environs. The hotel was very receptive to our hanging out in their lobby until our room was ready. We nestled in an alcove with a nice window.

Our hotel was the Newport Beach Hotel, a Four Sisters property. It was right on Oceanfront Boulevard across from the ocean.

Tom and I walked a few blocks to the Newport Pier.

I brought my geocaching gear. There were several caches in the area. One was right at the entrance of the pier. It was called "No Sea Shells in Newport Beach."

The other cache I found was "GPS Parking only?." It was a tiny micro cache with a completely full log. I was just able to write ExplorerGal 10/6/23.

Our room was ready around 3:30 p.m. I paid extra to have a parking space near the hotel. Our room was upstairs, so we dropped off the luggage in a 3 minute loading zone.

The first evening of my reunion was dinner and drinks at Rob Ukropina's home on Bayside Drive. His home is right on the waterway --- facing Balboa Island.

The entrance to his upstairs condominium was adorned with blue and white balloons.

There was a nice group of SMHS alumni in attendance. My brother Peter was there. I am Class of '70 and he was Class of '71.

During the evening, there was a beautiful sunset.

I arrived back at the hotel before 9:00 p.m. It was a nice evening, but I was ready to relax.

The next morning, Tom and I had breakfast at the hotel. We then went for a drive. I wanted to see where the Balboa Yacht Club was located for the afternoon harbor cruise. I also wanted to see where Mitch Morrison lived for the dinner that night. Tom and I then drove to Balboa Island. My big truck is not well suited for the narrow streets. But, it was a nice drive.

We then drove further south on Pacific Coast Highway to Laguna Beach.

It was a beautiful fall day. We turned around in Laguna Beach and stopped at the Pavilions Market for a bathroom stop and to pick up a sandwich.

 

My Italian son, Francesco, posted a collage of photos on Instagram. He is in Hong Kong for a radiology conference. 

We go back to our hotel around noon. I had enough time to change my outfit and drive to the yacht club. The convenience of our hotel was that it was only ten minutes away from each reunion venue.

I parked my truck a few minutes away from the Balboa Yacht Club entrance. A Yacht Club employee showed me where Rob's yacht "Liberte" was moored.

There were probably 25 of the SMHS reunion folks on the harbor cruise. 

We started at the Balboa Yacht Club.

The yacht had three levels. I started on the top deck.

 

I eventually moved to the middle deck. It was there that our captain steered the yacht. His name was Rob. Rob had a lot of knowledge of the history of the islands, the homes, and the bays. Class of '71 Tom Flynn and I stood near Rob has he provided a private narration.

Our host, Rob Ukropina, provided levity and drinks.

At one point, we actually cruised by Rob's home.

The cruise lasted several hours. I arrived back at the hotel around 4:00 p.m. I quickly changed my outfit and drove to Mitch's home. We enjoyed snacks and drinks before dinner was served.

Some additional SMHS alumni showed up for Saturday night.

It had been a long day. I decided to leave around 8:00 p.m.. After I left, four photos were taken of each represented class. 

 

The Class of 1969:

The Class of 1970:

The Class of 1971:

The Class of 1972:

I arrived back at the hotel around 8:15 p.m.. The Newport Beach pier is so beautiful.

Sunday morning, Tom and I left Newport Beach at about 9:00 a.m. We arrived in Williams around 3:30 p.m. We quickly unpacked the truck and went to pick-up Kelsey and Jamie at the Grand Canyon Railway Kennel.

The last time that the Grand Canyon Railway runs the steam engine for any year is the first Saturday in October. There she goes!

Monday was Columbus Day. Jordan, of Sutton Plumbing, called in the morning to say that our new toilet was ready to be installed. Jordan came over to take out the old toilet and install the new toilet.

That Monday night, my brother Peter and his family went to the Los Angeles Dodger game. The Arizona Diamondbacks were playing the Dodgers in the National League Division Series. The Diamondbacks sweep the series --- they won all three games.

Tuesday, my brother Peter and his wife Terry drove from their home in San Gabriel to Williams. They arrived at our home around 5:30 p.m. They are on their way to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Terry has a college reunion with some of her University of Colorado freshman dormitory friends. Jon came over for dinner. He is heading down to Casa Grande the next day. For Peter and Terry, it was a quick visit. They left Williams around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

On Peter and Terry's drive to Colorado, they stopped at Monument Valley and they were spending a night in Monticello, Utah.

One of Terry's brothers has a second home in Pagosa Springs. Thursday evening, Peter and Terry spent the night with Howdy and Colleen.

Friday afternoon, I walked over to Cataract Lake. There were no clouds in the sky, but the view looking toward Bill Williams mountain was very nice.

Saturday morning, there was an annular solar eclipse. I went to Love's Truck Stop to buy two eclipse glasses. The eclipse started around 8:00 a.m. It culminated at 9:30 a.m.

Sunday, I tackled cleaning the gutters. I filled four black lawn and leaf bags full of pine needles and male pine cones.

Our friends, Joyce and Don Wells, arrived at 2:00 p.m. on Monday. They live in Paso Robles, California and have a Rockwood travel trailer. Five years ago, they stayed at the Ebbert RV Resort for three nights. This time, they are visiting for four nights. Don backed the trailer into our side yard.

After setting up, we took a walk around the block with their golden retrievers, Bella and Jeff, and my two Dalmatians.

At 5:00 p.m., we met for adult beverages. Joyce and Don are very fine red wine drinkers. Paso Robles is a huge central California winery center. Richard and I used to be Wine Club members at Justin Vineyard and Winery in Paso Robles.

It is fun having RV visitors. It has been since 2020 that we had visitors like this --- Connie and Ray Young.

Tuesday morning, I was on Facebook. As incredible as it sounds, I realized that two of my high school friends were in the same city in Spain, Santiago de Compostela. It is a city known for the people who walk the pilgrimage route called the Way of St. James. It is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Lucy Daggett and her significant other, Joe Friedman, hiked the whole 156 miles. It took them 13-14 days.

Cecily Wimpress and her husband, Gordon Kipe, just hiked for two days.

I sent messages to both couples --- hoping that maybe they could see one another --- but it did not happen.

 

Joyce and Don have recently become avid geocachers. So, we went geocaching on Tuesday --- in and around Williams. Of course, I took them to my four hidden caches.

That evening, I made chicken pesto for dinner.

Wednesday, Joyce and Don went up to the Grand Canyon. I had a hair appointment in Flagstaff. I decided to find several caches on the way there and on the way back. Two caches I found were in Bellemont --- off the old Route 66.

When I came home, I noticed that a group of deer were entertaining Joyce and Don.

 

I thought it would be fun to introduce all four dogs in the backyard. Jamie and Kelsey met Bella and Jeff on evening walks around the block.

 

Later that evening, the four of us had dinner at the Grand Canyon Brewing Company in town.

On Thursday, Joyce, Don, and I did some more geocaching. Joyce and Don wanted to find cache #100. And they did! I made a sign.

After finding their #100 cache, we went to Bearizona. They were last at Bearizona five years ago.

That evening, Don barbecued prime tri-tip steak. Of course, we enjoyed adult beverages and catching up on the day's activities.

 

 

Joyce and Don left Friday morning for Cottonwood. They had a five night reservation at Dead Horse State Park. What a great visit we had!

Tom and I had an appointment with Dr. Figueroa Friday afternoon. After the appointment, we drove to the Snow Bowl ski area to see some of the aspens turning color.

We enjoyed Bloody Mary cocktails and watched the tourists. The Arizona Gondola was new to me --- added in 2020.

Donna and David are now on the east coast. They met up with friends Debbie and Ben Teicher. Debbie and Ben live in the Washington, D.C. area. The rendezvous spot was Shenandoah National Park.

 

Sunday, I went geocaching up Perkinsville Road. It was a beautiful fall afternoon.

One cache I found was "Up Thar?!"

Another cache I found was "Dogtown Treasure."