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- January, 2006
- February, 2006
- March, 2006
- April-June, 2006
- July-September, 2006
- October-December, 2006
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Meetings are underway to plan the American Cancer Society Relay for Life for Inland Mendocino County. As this year's event co-chair, I want to encourage you to support your local ACS chapter. To find out more about this year's event, visit our site page.
Come join us! This year's event is being held June 24-25, 10am-10am, at Ukiah High School.
I've completed my first offical league season racing online with NASCAR 2003 as a league member of the Western States Racing League (WSRL). Below are my stats. I was also promoted to a full-fledged member of the MountainWest Motorsports (MWM) team. Thanks guys!
I raced the Ghirardelli-sponsored Chevy Monte Carlo in the Busch series and came in 5th out of 16 in my division. I had three goals:
I'm happy to report that I succeeded in all three goals. I wish I could report that that is my body in the pic, but it's Danica Patrick's (thanks Danica and Paint Shop Pro!). Bring on the next season!
To learn more about my NASCAR racing hobby, visit the racing page.
In mid-winter, though we hardly get inclement weather, our feathered friends do enjoy a free handout. We stumbled upon nyjer seed, which the wild finches just adore. We bought the feeding sack at a local hardware store and hung it in our apricot tree. When its full, it's fun to see just how many of the little ones will latch on for a quick bite. Six is usually the limit, as more will chase off those who arrived first to get theirs.
February 11th meant a road trip down to Rohnert Park's Doubletree hotel to attend Relay University, a combination training session and rally for Relay for Life volunteers. We walked in and prominently displayed was a Wall of Hope banner being readied for COTH, or Celebration on the Hill, for its trip to Washington, D.C. It will be one of 5000 banners displayed in the National Mall September 19-20, 2006, all of which will be signed by participants of each Relay for Life event held across the nation this year. You can see a sampling of the messages written in the inset picture.
We were introduced to the newest Relay gear (Evelyn picked up a great straw hat) and the national theme, based on Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the Places We'll Go!". We each participated in three break-out sessions related to different aspects of coordinating a Relay for Life event. Jen and I did some role-playing. Not all of our committee chairs were able to attend, but Inland Mendocino County was proudly represented by Jodie (media), Judy (online), Evelyn (survivors), and Talena (mission delivery) in the top row, left to right. The bottom row consists of myself (event co-chair), Jen (event chair) and Laura (media and registration).
Bryan and his wife, Allison, my dad and I caught Healdsburg High School's final home basketball game at good ol' HHS. Bryan and I are alumni (Class of '87) and had a good time reminiscing and noticing the changes. Smith Robinson gym has been remodeled, adding an away team locker room and a snack bar. The basketball court has been renamed Darrell Barbieri court after a coach/gym teacher that taught while we were in school.
The biggest improvement in our eyes, however, was the school mascot costume. Below left, the mascot uniform (pictured with Jeri and Heather) from our days, lovingly referred to as 'the giant rat'; and at right, the newest Greyhound - a huge difference. What we missed most was the 'Dog Squad', the cheer club that would make it to each game and help bring our 'Hounds to victory.
For Christmas, Bob and I received a birdseed ring from his sister, Katy. The finches were obviously enjoying their eats, so we figured this would probably be a hit too. It was....just not with the birds. One afternoon, we noticed a squirrel taking a keen interest in it. We watched as he (she?) would take to hanging upside down to reach the ring, grab a nibble, devour it and repeat the process. By that evening, the ring was nearly unrecognizable. I'm sure though that the squirrel slept soundly that night with its full belly (once it had waddled back home)!
Ukiah generally gets snow once every 5-6 years that actually sticks. It's certainly not enough for skiing or sledding in downtown, but it is a rare treat. We'd been hearing for a few days that it would be cold enough to snow at our lower elevations, and on the evening of March 9th, it started coming down. It snowed off and on through the 10th.
Bob, the lucky dog, had the 10th off from work and went up to Low Gap park for a round of disc golf. I couldn't even to begin to describe how jealous I was! Above are some great shots that he took during his round.
During this same time, Bob's folks were in Arizona on a Spring Training baseball tour and missed out. When they are away, we babysit their dog, Hattie, who thoroughly was not enjoying the snow. Bob also got some great shots of his parents' house (they're slightly higher in the hills than we are) and some ceramic snow-backed pigs they have in their backyard.
My dad's birthday is in March and we celebrated with Mom and Dad by driving down for a trip along the Russian River through Guerneville and down the Sonoma County coastline with a few stops along the way.
The first stop was a Korbel's winery and champagne cellars for a few sips at the wine-tasting bar. I went for something different and tried their Rouge Champagne and new Shiraz. Both were excellent. And we didn't leave empty-handed, I brought home a bottle of their Extra Smooth brandy. Yum!
Our next stop was at Goat Rock, along the Pacific coastline. It was a favorite destination of my maternal grandparents and I remember many road trips from Sebastopol to spend the day at the coast. You haven't had an egg salad sandwich until you've had it with a little sand mixed in (and you thought eggshell pieces were bad)!
Goat Rock is notoriously windy, and the ocean rough, and this day was no exception. You can see how the pounding waves against the rocks had created a thick layer of seafoam that the wind picked up and blew everywhere. Kind of like snow, but bigger and saltier!
We ended our day in Bodega Bay at the Sandpiper Restaurant for dinner, watching the sunset. Happy birthday, Daddy!
On March 25th, Bob and I joined the Mendocino Mustangs club, taking Gina (our 2005 Mustang GT) out for a drive to the Pacific coast to visit the Pt. Cabrillo Lighthouse in Mendocino. The weather was hardly cooperative as we gingerly made our way north to Willits, then west to Ft. Bragg, through some pretty heavy rain. Once we arrive at the coast though, the skies were much clearer.
Our docent, Pam, was very informative and took us on a great tour down the point to the lighthouse. It and the surrounding keeper's homes were built in 1909, very soon coming up on their 100th anniversary. Each one is being or has been properly restored.
This area of the coast is about 30 miles north of where my great-great-great grandfather, A.B. Kendall, came to reside in Manchester (for more on the Kendall family history, click here). He raised cattle and I imagine the formerly-fenced area below gives a good sense of how it looked when ranchers grazed their livestock on the bluffs of the Pacific ocean.
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