Sunday, August 17, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
August 13th: Day 1 of Fishing Trip (Rogue River, Oregon)
Hello All,
Sorry I haven't been here in a while and sorry I haven't shared with you my reflections on our amazing road trip yet. I promise to do so, it has just been so busy since we have been back home, and I have so many thoughts swirling around in me about our trip, that I haven't taken the time to give it what it deserves. No excuses -- I will publish a "reflections" post before going back to work on the 25th...yes, it is true, I am going back to work on August 25th as the CIO for Equinix. I am looking forward to working for Equinix, and feel extremely rested after such a marvelous summer.
Fishing Trip to the Wild Rivers of the West Coast
I am currently on a fishing trip to Northern California and Southern Oregon, where I will fish for salmon and steelhead on the Rogue and Klamath Rivers. The first 2 days I will be fishing the mouth of the Rogue River in Gold Beach, Oregon for very large salmon (25-50 pounds), and the second 2 days I will be fishing for a bit smaller salmon and steelhead on the Klamath River. I will also be using my fly rod on the Klamath, something I am really looking forward to!
I have to run off to go fishing now, but thought I would throw a few pictures on the blog for you to check out.
Peace,
Brian
The beautiful Oregon Coast...
The historic Rogue River Bridge
Pelicans on the Rogue
Our bait
Sorry I haven't been here in a while and sorry I haven't shared with you my reflections on our amazing road trip yet. I promise to do so, it has just been so busy since we have been back home, and I have so many thoughts swirling around in me about our trip, that I haven't taken the time to give it what it deserves. No excuses -- I will publish a "reflections" post before going back to work on the 25th...yes, it is true, I am going back to work on August 25th as the CIO for Equinix. I am looking forward to working for Equinix, and feel extremely rested after such a marvelous summer.
Fishing Trip to the Wild Rivers of the West Coast
I am currently on a fishing trip to Northern California and Southern Oregon, where I will fish for salmon and steelhead on the Rogue and Klamath Rivers. The first 2 days I will be fishing the mouth of the Rogue River in Gold Beach, Oregon for very large salmon (25-50 pounds), and the second 2 days I will be fishing for a bit smaller salmon and steelhead on the Klamath River. I will also be using my fly rod on the Klamath, something I am really looking forward to!
I have to run off to go fishing now, but thought I would throw a few pictures on the blog for you to check out.
Peace,
Brian
The beautiful Oregon Coast...
The historic Rogue River Bridge
Pelicans on the Rogue
Our bait
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Day 27 (August 3rd): HOME!
Hello Everyone,
We arrived safely home tonight at 12:18 AM, Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)...the LilliepadUSA July 2008 roadtrip is officially over.
But our journey has just begun. Watch for "reflections on a roadtrip" coming soon...
Peace to you all,
Brian
We arrived safely home tonight at 12:18 AM, Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)...the LilliepadUSA July 2008 roadtrip is officially over.
But our journey has just begun. Watch for "reflections on a roadtrip" coming soon...
Peace to you all,
Brian
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Day 26 (August 2nd): The Last Leg - Medford to Vacaville to Home
Hello Everyone,
Today was the last day of the LilliepadUSA 2008 Family Roadtrip -- a little bit of a sad day for all of us. I personally will miss the daily adventures and writing about it afterward, and I think Jill and the kids will miss .
I would like to start this post with a shout out to the Marriott Corporation for their customer service approach to their Marriott Rewards members. We arrived in Medford last night very late (around midnight) and were planning to stay at the Courtyard Marriott by the airport. Well when we arrived, they only had a room with a king and a sofa bed, even though we had confirmed a room with two queens and a sofa bed. They felt horrible and tried to get us a room at a sister property in town (the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott) or their new property, the Springhill Suites. Springhill had a room for us, and on our way out the gentlemen (Cliff and Donald) at the Courtyard Marriott offered us water and apples and even stuff from the store. We took the water and the apples, declined the store, and off we went to the Springhill. When we arrived at the Springhill Suites, they told us the room would be taken care of by the Courtyard Marriott! I was surprised but also very pleased -- Marriott just reminded me why I try and stay at a Marriott wherever I go. Bill Marriott would be proud!
We had a leisurely morning at the hotel with breakfast and a swim. We left the hotel about noon and headed for Vacaville, California, where Jill's family would be waiting for us with a big family dinner. As we headed southward, we increasingly noticed the haze getting thicker and thicker. The California fires were impacting southern Oregon; in fact, when we were horseback riding in Buffalo Valley our wrangler told us that the haze around the Grand Tetons was caused by the California fires. Not sure if that was true or not, but I can tell you that they were wreaking havoc on southern Oregon! You can see the haze on the horizon behind the "Oregon Thanks You" sign in his photo we took:
As we entered California we actually missed taking the picture of the Welcome to California sign but I managed to scrape one up anyway:
We had come full circle and were now truly headed for home.
It was a fairly uneventful ride from here on out. Interstate 5 is fast but not extremely interesting, except when you hit the town of Weed, California and get your first glimpse of Mount Shasta. Mount Shasta is normally a beautiful, 14,179-foot stratovolcano that stands out in the sky above Weed, but today the haze from the fires was so thick you could barely discern it from the sky. The picture below is probably the best one out of several we tried to take while driving by it:
Check out the link provided on Mount Shasta -- it really is an interesting mountain and definitely worth a visit and even potentially a climb to the top.
After going by Mount Shasta we went through Dunsmuir and then by Shasta Lake. WOW! Shasta Lake is extremely low this year, probably 25-30 feet lower than last year according to some locals. And it is not just Shasta -- other lakes and reservoirs in Northern California have been affected. Global warming driving this climate change or just low rainfall and water exports to Southern California?
We drove through the ovens called Redding and Red Bluff (temperatures around 98 degrees Fahrenheit), where I saw a big, beautiful American flag flying in the breeze -- I had to take a picture of it for Uncle Matt:
A quick shout out to Uncle Matt, aka Matt Gallagher, Jill's brother, and Technical Sergeant, US Air Force Reserves who served in the desert recently for 10 months. Matt got deployed with a special military civil engineering team called Prime BEEF, to serve in both Iraq and Afghanistan (and several places in between). We are very happy to report that Uncle Matt is back home with his wife, Jane, and their two small children, Jared and Heidi, living in Vacaville, California. Being the patriot that he is, Matt reenlisted for two years when he got back from the desert. We love and respect you, Uncle Matt. Salute!
We continued to pound down I-5 and soon we saw the signs we had waited to see:
I-80 West to San Francisco...we were truly headed for home!
After seeing this sign we were just a short distance to Matt and Jane's house where we were going to have a family feast. Jill's mom, Lynn, is an **excellent** cook and when she told us she had prepared her famous ribs and that Jill's dad, Ken, was barbecuing them, we slightly exceeded the speed limit to get there as fast as we could!
When we arrived, it was like we had been gone for a year. Jill's parents, Matt and Jane and the kids, all came running out of the house to greet us with hugs and kisses. Let me tell you, after almost 30 days on the road where everyone you meet is a stranger, it was very nice to be greeted that way and welcomed home so warmly.
We had a great night, eating really good food with family. Jill's sister Gayle also came to the dinner with her friend Ernie and his three children. It was family reunion time!
Below are just a couple of snapshots Jill and I took of the evening:
Kids eating dinner with Big Nonno
Natalie and Ernie's kids playing a board game
Heidi presenting us with a home-made shell wind chimes from the beaches of Capitola
Jake presenting the flag we carried throughout our entire trip to Uncle Matt
Nick and Heidi just goofing around
Needless to say it was an excellent night. We ended up staying at the table outside (it was so pleasant) and talking until 10:30 pm, at which point I stood up, cried "Uncle!" and said we had to go home or we would be spending the night in Vacaville. Vacaville is about 90 miles from home, so we needed to get going in order to make it home at a semi-reasonable time. Another midnight run.
So off we drove into the night again, our bellies full, our hearts happy and with a jar of mom's home made pesto that we love so much. Into the night for the last 90 minutes of the great road trip of 2008. A trip for the ages.
Peace to you all,
Brian
Today was the last day of the LilliepadUSA 2008 Family Roadtrip -- a little bit of a sad day for all of us. I personally will miss the daily adventures and writing about it afterward, and I think Jill and the kids will miss .
I would like to start this post with a shout out to the Marriott Corporation for their customer service approach to their Marriott Rewards members. We arrived in Medford last night very late (around midnight) and were planning to stay at the Courtyard Marriott by the airport. Well when we arrived, they only had a room with a king and a sofa bed, even though we had confirmed a room with two queens and a sofa bed. They felt horrible and tried to get us a room at a sister property in town (the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott) or their new property, the Springhill Suites. Springhill had a room for us, and on our way out the gentlemen (Cliff and Donald) at the Courtyard Marriott offered us water and apples and even stuff from the store. We took the water and the apples, declined the store, and off we went to the Springhill. When we arrived at the Springhill Suites, they told us the room would be taken care of by the Courtyard Marriott! I was surprised but also very pleased -- Marriott just reminded me why I try and stay at a Marriott wherever I go. Bill Marriott would be proud!
We had a leisurely morning at the hotel with breakfast and a swim. We left the hotel about noon and headed for Vacaville, California, where Jill's family would be waiting for us with a big family dinner. As we headed southward, we increasingly noticed the haze getting thicker and thicker. The California fires were impacting southern Oregon; in fact, when we were horseback riding in Buffalo Valley our wrangler told us that the haze around the Grand Tetons was caused by the California fires. Not sure if that was true or not, but I can tell you that they were wreaking havoc on southern Oregon! You can see the haze on the horizon behind the "Oregon Thanks You" sign in his photo we took:
As we entered California we actually missed taking the picture of the Welcome to California sign but I managed to scrape one up anyway:
We had come full circle and were now truly headed for home.
It was a fairly uneventful ride from here on out. Interstate 5 is fast but not extremely interesting, except when you hit the town of Weed, California and get your first glimpse of Mount Shasta. Mount Shasta is normally a beautiful, 14,179-foot stratovolcano that stands out in the sky above Weed, but today the haze from the fires was so thick you could barely discern it from the sky. The picture below is probably the best one out of several we tried to take while driving by it:
Check out the link provided on Mount Shasta -- it really is an interesting mountain and definitely worth a visit and even potentially a climb to the top.
After going by Mount Shasta we went through Dunsmuir and then by Shasta Lake. WOW! Shasta Lake is extremely low this year, probably 25-30 feet lower than last year according to some locals. And it is not just Shasta -- other lakes and reservoirs in Northern California have been affected. Global warming driving this climate change or just low rainfall and water exports to Southern California?
We drove through the ovens called Redding and Red Bluff (temperatures around 98 degrees Fahrenheit), where I saw a big, beautiful American flag flying in the breeze -- I had to take a picture of it for Uncle Matt:
A quick shout out to Uncle Matt, aka Matt Gallagher, Jill's brother, and Technical Sergeant, US Air Force Reserves who served in the desert recently for 10 months. Matt got deployed with a special military civil engineering team called Prime BEEF, to serve in both Iraq and Afghanistan (and several places in between). We are very happy to report that Uncle Matt is back home with his wife, Jane, and their two small children, Jared and Heidi, living in Vacaville, California. Being the patriot that he is, Matt reenlisted for two years when he got back from the desert. We love and respect you, Uncle Matt. Salute!
We continued to pound down I-5 and soon we saw the signs we had waited to see:
I-80 West to San Francisco...we were truly headed for home!
After seeing this sign we were just a short distance to Matt and Jane's house where we were going to have a family feast. Jill's mom, Lynn, is an **excellent** cook and when she told us she had prepared her famous ribs and that Jill's dad, Ken, was barbecuing them, we slightly exceeded the speed limit to get there as fast as we could!
When we arrived, it was like we had been gone for a year. Jill's parents, Matt and Jane and the kids, all came running out of the house to greet us with hugs and kisses. Let me tell you, after almost 30 days on the road where everyone you meet is a stranger, it was very nice to be greeted that way and welcomed home so warmly.
We had a great night, eating really good food with family. Jill's sister Gayle also came to the dinner with her friend Ernie and his three children. It was family reunion time!
Below are just a couple of snapshots Jill and I took of the evening:
Kids eating dinner with Big Nonno
Natalie and Ernie's kids playing a board game
Heidi presenting us with a home-made shell wind chimes from the beaches of Capitola
Jake presenting the flag we carried throughout our entire trip to Uncle Matt
Nick and Heidi just goofing around
Needless to say it was an excellent night. We ended up staying at the table outside (it was so pleasant) and talking until 10:30 pm, at which point I stood up, cried "Uncle!" and said we had to go home or we would be spending the night in Vacaville. Vacaville is about 90 miles from home, so we needed to get going in order to make it home at a semi-reasonable time. Another midnight run.
So off we drove into the night again, our bellies full, our hearts happy and with a jar of mom's home made pesto that we love so much. Into the night for the last 90 minutes of the great road trip of 2008. A trip for the ages.
Peace to you all,
Brian
Day 25 (August 1st): Eugene, The Andersons, and the University of Oregon
Hello Everyone,
It was a nice day in Eugene today.
We arrived at the hotel fairly late again last night (surprise, surprise) and slept in a bit but not too late as the kids really wanted waffles for breakfast and the kitchen closed at 9:30 am! So we were up and eating waffles at 9:25, and soon were ready for the day.
The kids decided to go swimming after breakfast while we waited for Clint and the girls to come over. For those of our friends who don't know, Clint Anderson married Kathy Grasso, Jill's cousin, and they have two adorable girls, Katelin and Kasey. Below is a picture of the Anderson family:
Clint and the girls arrived and swam with the Lillie kids until about noon, and then came in the room for lunch.
We quickly ate lunch, checked out, and headed over to the University of Oregon campus. Although we are BIG Stanford fans, we are also PAC-10 fans, and we were looking forward to visiting the Duck campus. Plus, with Nick only 5 years out from college, it's fun to check out the different campuses so he can get a feel for the different schools.
We started out by visiting the football stadium...all I can say is WOW. The first thing that you see when you drive up is the massive yellow "O" on a green background. Check it out below:
The second thing you notice is how much parking there is and how there are duck footprints everywhere. I took a picture of a couple of them -- they were pretty funny:
Clint said that the town is INSANE over Duck football, and on game day in the fall you can hear the stadium from a couple of miles away. He said when the Ducks win, the people are incredibly high, happy and upbeat. But when the Ducks lose, it is like someone took their birthday away!
The football field was open and we had the good fortune of going down onto the field inside the stadium. It was beast! The seats were really close to the field and went pretty high up, creating an imposing field for their opponents. Of course the kids all started running around on the artificial turf, racing and tackling each other. It was fun and gave the kids a chance to burn off a little energy. Take a look at some of the pics I took in the stadium:
After being on the field today, I can only imagine how it feels to go into Eugene to play the Ducks in that stadium, with their fans. Good luck, Stanford and Cal!
After the visit to the football field, Clint took us to the famous Hayward Field, where track legends such as Bill Hayward, Bill Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine made history. Eugene is known as "the track capital of the world," and the 2008 Olympic trials were recently held at Hayward Field. We spent a decent amount of time there, reading the information at the field, walking the track and climbing the stadium stairs. Of course I took several pictures while walking around -- I hope you enjoy them:
At this point we decided to actually visit the academic part of the school (!), and we walked over to the center of campus. It is a lovely campus, with mostly brick buildings and lush, green trees and foliage. The grounds people have also done a very nice job planting flowers around the campus, and there was no trash or litter anywhere. I took several pictures as we walked through the campus -- below are just a few of them:
Nick and I had a nice walk alone through the campus as the others went to get the cars. We talked about college and how to choose the right one for him -- it was a wonderful talk, and one he wants to spend more time on with me. I am happy he wants to talk to me about it -- it warms my heart. All-in-all, I was pretty impressed with the Oregon campus. It is a nice place with friendly people and as Nick said, "I could go here." Well said, Nick.
After our visit to the U of O, we headed back to the hotel for a quick swim and then it was off to dinner at Kathy and Clint's house. We still had not seen Kathy (she was at work all day) and we were really looking forward to seeing her. On our way to their house we picked up fixins' for dinner at Trader Joe's and snapped a couple of shots as this is where Clint works -- take a look:
By the time we arrived at the house, Kathy was home from work (she is an occupational therapist in Springfield). It was great to see Kathy, and we all prepared dinner together while most of the kids played in the yard. I say most because Natalie was making earrings for Kathy and Katelin (Katelin was helping). It was really cute to see both families play and work together so well:
We ate our meal together in the backyard, with the 6 kids at the big table and the 4 adults at the little table, a complete table reversal! ;-) It was fun to catch up with Kathy and Clint and to watch the kids interact with one another. In fact when it was time to go Casey said, "I am going to miss you guys." Ohh, so sweet! It was a very nice family night.
After our hugs and kisses goodbye and promises to stay in closer contact, we headed off with Clint as our guide (he led the way in the Anderson van). Unfortunately, I had forgotten my Verizon wireless modem at the hotel so we needed to take a small detour before heading out of town. Clint led us back to the hotel (Eugene can be a bit tricky to navigate, especially at night) but only after a quick loop around the block...I had forgotten my wallet and Jill's laptop at the house! Man, I am losing it -- fortunately in one more day we'll be home!
We have arrived safely at the Springhill Suites by Marriott in Medford -- thanks for your prayers!!!
Peace,
Brian
It was a nice day in Eugene today.
We arrived at the hotel fairly late again last night (surprise, surprise) and slept in a bit but not too late as the kids really wanted waffles for breakfast and the kitchen closed at 9:30 am! So we were up and eating waffles at 9:25, and soon were ready for the day.
The kids decided to go swimming after breakfast while we waited for Clint and the girls to come over. For those of our friends who don't know, Clint Anderson married Kathy Grasso, Jill's cousin, and they have two adorable girls, Katelin and Kasey. Below is a picture of the Anderson family:
Clint and the girls arrived and swam with the Lillie kids until about noon, and then came in the room for lunch.
We quickly ate lunch, checked out, and headed over to the University of Oregon campus. Although we are BIG Stanford fans, we are also PAC-10 fans, and we were looking forward to visiting the Duck campus. Plus, with Nick only 5 years out from college, it's fun to check out the different campuses so he can get a feel for the different schools.
We started out by visiting the football stadium...all I can say is WOW. The first thing that you see when you drive up is the massive yellow "O" on a green background. Check it out below:
The second thing you notice is how much parking there is and how there are duck footprints everywhere. I took a picture of a couple of them -- they were pretty funny:
Clint said that the town is INSANE over Duck football, and on game day in the fall you can hear the stadium from a couple of miles away. He said when the Ducks win, the people are incredibly high, happy and upbeat. But when the Ducks lose, it is like someone took their birthday away!
The football field was open and we had the good fortune of going down onto the field inside the stadium. It was beast! The seats were really close to the field and went pretty high up, creating an imposing field for their opponents. Of course the kids all started running around on the artificial turf, racing and tackling each other. It was fun and gave the kids a chance to burn off a little energy. Take a look at some of the pics I took in the stadium:
After being on the field today, I can only imagine how it feels to go into Eugene to play the Ducks in that stadium, with their fans. Good luck, Stanford and Cal!
After the visit to the football field, Clint took us to the famous Hayward Field, where track legends such as Bill Hayward, Bill Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine made history. Eugene is known as "the track capital of the world," and the 2008 Olympic trials were recently held at Hayward Field. We spent a decent amount of time there, reading the information at the field, walking the track and climbing the stadium stairs. Of course I took several pictures while walking around -- I hope you enjoy them:
At this point we decided to actually visit the academic part of the school (!), and we walked over to the center of campus. It is a lovely campus, with mostly brick buildings and lush, green trees and foliage. The grounds people have also done a very nice job planting flowers around the campus, and there was no trash or litter anywhere. I took several pictures as we walked through the campus -- below are just a few of them:
Nick and I had a nice walk alone through the campus as the others went to get the cars. We talked about college and how to choose the right one for him -- it was a wonderful talk, and one he wants to spend more time on with me. I am happy he wants to talk to me about it -- it warms my heart. All-in-all, I was pretty impressed with the Oregon campus. It is a nice place with friendly people and as Nick said, "I could go here." Well said, Nick.
After our visit to the U of O, we headed back to the hotel for a quick swim and then it was off to dinner at Kathy and Clint's house. We still had not seen Kathy (she was at work all day) and we were really looking forward to seeing her. On our way to their house we picked up fixins' for dinner at Trader Joe's and snapped a couple of shots as this is where Clint works -- take a look:
By the time we arrived at the house, Kathy was home from work (she is an occupational therapist in Springfield). It was great to see Kathy, and we all prepared dinner together while most of the kids played in the yard. I say most because Natalie was making earrings for Kathy and Katelin (Katelin was helping). It was really cute to see both families play and work together so well:
We ate our meal together in the backyard, with the 6 kids at the big table and the 4 adults at the little table, a complete table reversal! ;-) It was fun to catch up with Kathy and Clint and to watch the kids interact with one another. In fact when it was time to go Casey said, "I am going to miss you guys." Ohh, so sweet! It was a very nice family night.
After our hugs and kisses goodbye and promises to stay in closer contact, we headed off with Clint as our guide (he led the way in the Anderson van). Unfortunately, I had forgotten my Verizon wireless modem at the hotel so we needed to take a small detour before heading out of town. Clint led us back to the hotel (Eugene can be a bit tricky to navigate, especially at night) but only after a quick loop around the block...I had forgotten my wallet and Jill's laptop at the house! Man, I am losing it -- fortunately in one more day we'll be home!
We have arrived safely at the Springhill Suites by Marriott in Medford -- thanks for your prayers!!!
Peace,
Brian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
