Traveling Man

For a guy who doesn't like to travel, I sure have done a lot of it this year. And I have been really bad about posting anything about it in my blog, and even worse about taking any pictures.

Back in June, my wife and I went on a cruise to the Western Carribean. We took a ride on the Carnival Conquest - big mother of a ship.



There's one lowly picture. I have more, but I am kind of rushed as I am writing this, so maybe I'll post more later. And maybe not.

A couple weeks ago, we went to Grass Valley - to our favorite summer hangout at the Yuba River. While I was there, I cracked my big toe against a rock and just about took the nail clean off. The nail finally did actually come completely off just last night. But in an unrelated event, I stuck my foot down between some rocks at this place where the current was very, very strong, and I thought my leg was going to snap in half. But I was more concerned about the fins I was wearing, as the one that was on that foot was half off and it was under a rock and I didn't know if I was going to be able to pull it out along with my foot.

The short story is, I still have my foot. The fin, on the other hand, is still under the rock - and the current was SO STRONG that I could not get my foot back there, no matter how hard I tried. I don't know how I got it there in the first place, especially while wearing a fin. The fin is still there.



If you click the image above, you'll get a better idea of where my fin is. It's about four feet deep there.

On that trip, we also visited Lake Englebright. It's a pretty cool lake. It's just long and narrow, but there are quite a few coves where you can pull into. You can rent boats and even camp - and getting to the camp sites is only possible by boat (there are no roads).

We rented a little fishing boat and went tooling around the lake, stopping at a couple of cozy coves to play Scrabble. The sun kept changing position, so we never completed a game, and kept hopping to different coves. But here's the little fishing boat we rented.



Yes, that's me with the paddle. You better be careful!



Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

This weekend (starting tomorrow - yes, Thursday - after work - we're leaving early) we're going back to Grass Valley.

I want my fin!

Actually, it's just an excuse to get away again before the summer is over. Our jobs suck, but our boss is pretty cool. And we'll probably stay home for the three-day Labor Day weekend. I really detest going anywhere over Labor Day.

Last year while at the river I made a few stacks of rocks near a cabin that we rented on the river. Here's one of them.



It's smaller than it looks - I was looking for an angle to make it look huge. I want to take that picture and a picture of me into Photoshop and put myself into the picture, like I'm standing at the base pointing up at the top rock. Or maybe I'll stand on top.

My only regret for hopping off to the river again this weekend is that I won't get to work on my plane. But I think that is OK, because the longer I go without actually building anything, the more ideas I come up with for improving the design. However, the wood arrived today, and I am anxious to start building. Although, I think I need some more wood, and I don't feel like paying $8.50 for shipping (which was almost half what I paid for all the wood), so I need to find a local place to get what I need.



I know there is something I am forgetting. Oh! I know what it is, but I am out of time. Remind me to tell you the story of the haunted movie theater in Grass Valley - a very bizarre thing that happened when we were there a couple weeks ago after watching Pirates of the Carribbean. That should give you something to look forward to. I might even take some pictures this weekend.

I'll let you know if I find my fin.