San Diego 6 meets Paul's niece and friend

Ken, Gene, Jane, Jim
Laura, Bridann, Bernie, Maureen

This evening we had the opportunity to extend our trip to Ireland a bit by hosting the niece of our Irish tour guide. Paul had informed us that his niece, Laura, was spending the summer in San Diego working so we contacted her and had the opportunity to spend this evening with her and one of her travel mates, Bridann. What a great opportunity to hear the language again and learn more of the lives of that wonderful country.
It was also an opportunity to hear of their summer adventure on the West coast of the United States. They are living the lives we have long forgotten. Having arrived in San Diego in June with no place to stay and no jobs; they quickly set out to get settled. They soon landed a small apartment just yards from the beach and jobs at one of San Diego's tourist attractions, Sea World. They spent the evening sharing their adventures (no Paul, I will not share all the stories) of their summer and swapping tales of their homeland with those of ours who grew up in California. Regardless of the gap in age I believe we felt some connection. I know I was very impressed with their maturity, self awareness, and guts to hit the trail at a young age and enjoy life.

August 24th - Good weekend

The past few weeks have been very difficult for both Jane and I. Work is driving us crazy. At our age it becomes more and more simple to justify a 'bad attitude' by focusing on the goal at the end; retirement. Neither of us is ready to begin that last phase of our lives, but we are both becoming increasingly agitated with the idiocy of our management. I begin to wonder what ever happened to businesses that were built with solid business goals, but people with ethics, and by people who understood the value of all their resources including the people who make them successful; their employees. Each year Qualcomm pounds their chest, touting that they are a fortune 500 company that is one of the top 100 compaines in the U.S. to work. Each year I wonder how they can continue to make felonious statements.

So, this weekend has been deducated to clearing our minds. Against Jane's prompting we took our usual 7 mile bike ride along the beach Saturday morning. I still need the connection to the beach and wave action to help make me sane. Jane was looking for something more adventurous like the 25 mile bike ride we took last weekend, but acquiesced to my needs. Of course this ride would not be the same without a stop at Konos for coffee. We are always reminded of breakfasts we have had with Ryan, Kelley, Jen, Jeff, and of course Kim; but we always stick to coffee with as few of the fattening add-ons as possible. I also can't help but be reminded of Kalapawai market in Kailua (or Lanikai beach).

Today; however, Jane put the hammer down and insisted on a 3 hour hike. Please know the temperature was 80 degrees and we are suffering from some sort of tropical flow that brings the humidity that we normally don't have. In case you know our area this walk started from our home, traveled east to Navajo Road, up Navajo to Margerium Ave., then out to Mission Gorge Rd. From there we traveled West to Zion, stopping to get an iced coffee before heading up the hill home. This afternoon I intend to check the mileage so we know how far we traveled. I do know this; we are now licking our wounds and trying our best to cool our body temperatures down. Oh, but I still love her!!!

August 18th 2008

It has been 1.5 years since Jane and I started our new, more active life. While it seems like yesterday, it has already been a year since we watched Ryan and Kelley 'race to the sun' on Maui. In memory of those two events Jane and I started an easy Sunday bike ride yesterday morning and wound up 25 miles later sweaty and exhausted. For those who know San Diego you will appreciate that we started from our home in Allied Gardens with a goal of biking to Qualcomm Stadium and back. When we reached the stadium we decided to extend our ride to Fashion Valley via the San Diego River trails. Once we achieved our Fashion Valley goal, and still believing we could safely ride home without calling a cab or Kim we decided to forge west.

Jane has always wondered how the bicycle riders got to the trail that runs along the south side of the San Diego River, just on the north side of Interstate 8. We worked our way west along Cami no Del Rio North to the Little League fields, then trekked along the river while learning the true meaning of off road biking. Jane and I were truly enjoying the ride, dusty and hot as it was; rutted and muddy and just enough challenge for two old farts to enjoy. Just when we became comfortable with our 'ability', mastering the dirt trail we came to an abrupt end to the road. Ahead we faced a wall of rock, rocks the size of an ocean jetty. My first instinct was to whip a U-turn and head east to find a more comfortable trail; but Jane decided to go for the gusto and, not wanting to show her the wimp within me, we threw our bikes over our shoulders as though we were trained Navy seals and headed up the boulders. At first I thought the climb would not be too bad but soon realized the term boulders should be replaced with the description 'jagged, sharply angled, ecological instruments of death'. Between the two of us we struggled to the top of the obstacle to find a nicely graded dirt trail that soon turned to a rough concrete path, and finally became a smooth asphalt road aply named 'The Ocean Beach Bike Trail'. We rode with vigor; ocean air cooling our way, finanly ariving at Lifeguard tower 5 at Dog's Beach. We had made it!!! Standing at the west most reaches of Interstate 8 highway we enjoyed watching the dogs and their owners play across the sand and in the water. The waves looked inviting and surfers were truly enjoing one of the world's wonders.

Just then we looked at each other and realized; 'we're only half way to our destination'. I know, you thought the realization would be more romantic; but remember we had just come through dust, mud, river valley weeds, and sweat in the 90+ heat for a couple of hours. Not much romance there. Remember, at our age we are lucky we remember where our home was and how to get there.

Sooo, we turned our bikes east and began the trek home. On par we stopped at a coffee house in Mission Valley; one with a cool, shady outdoor set of tables to enjoy a blended coffee drink. Once refreshed we turned our sites toward the 6 miles left to travel, most of which were up hill.

You think you know your mate pretty well once you have been married as long as Jane and I. I must admit here that I continue to learn more about her all the time. As I said before, a year and a half ago you could not have gotten us to walk to the grocery store just 6 blocks away from our house. One year ago we watched two of our kids perform the superior feat of biking up Haleakala mountain on Maui. Both Jane and I could not believe they, or any humanbean could perform such a feat. This year I'm proud to say we CAN achieve small feats. We did complete the ride. Even more surprising to me I learned how tough my wife truly is. She pushed me all the way, then proceeded to make the climb out of Mission Valley to our home without stopping, without complaining. She acutally smiled at me during the roughest, steepest part of the climb. (Now, given the smile was a little dimented I have not slept soundly since; but I'll get over that some day).

And this is just for you Ryan and Kelley; once we got home Jane asked to go for a ride on the motorcycle. What a Sunday 8^)