The Ride-Day One-Edie has an encounter with a bar

No, that's WITH a bar and not IN a bar...



We headed out early this am from Starbucks (the unofficial sponsor of many of our rides) with a send off from Jessica and Wills. While crossing the Richmond San Rafael bridge a metal bar fell off of a pickup truck bouncing across the lane and attacked Edie on her right foot. We did slow down a little bit but as a true rider Edie kept on riding.



Our first stop, in Healdsburg, we conferred with our on call medical staff (aka Teresa) and confirmed availability of rescue staff (aka Officer Green of the HPD) we then had a lovely breakfast at the Center Street Cafe on the Healdsburg Square and waited to see if there was swelling to go with the wiggly toes. Let it be known the medical staff mentioned x-rays, but being true riders (or just plain foolish) we continued our journey.



We continued our journey north bound on 101. We started our ride in the fog, found sun around noon, and ended up in fog. We made a fuel stop in Laytonville, which is a very happening place. We stripped layers there....the liners came out and the skinny tee was packed away.

We exited 101 at the Avenue of the Giants where we did find a tree for Edie to ride through. But not without a minor incident which we will not mention now. We left the Avenue of the Giants back on to 101 where we ended up in the fog at Eureka.





We are dismayed that the visual impact of the owie did not match expectations. We all believe that Edie is in pain, and it could be the ice pack is working along with the elevating of the foot, but the swelling and color is not photo worthy. Current plans for continuing the ride are under discussion.

Ready to Go

Dave was all packed up and ready to go by 2 in the afternoon.  Bret has sent at least 4 emails.  I think the guys are ready to ride!  Edie was packed by 9.  Donna?  See ya at 8, don't be late.

Memorial Day

Dave took his annual ride to the National Cemetery in Santa Nella where is dad is buried.






Dave had a little trouble finding his Dad's headstone this time....the place is full and they're opening new areas for all the WWII veterans that are passing away.



Each year Dave cleans off the place marker and adds a flag. This is the only time that flags are placed on the grave sites. When you see the photo of Arlington with all the flags, that happens on Memorial Day weekend. We were there one year and watched as they place a flag and salute each and every place marker. Locally, the Boy Scouts or some other group will place flags. But this one is way out there and very large, so it must be done individually.

Dinner Delight

This is what dinner at the Arterburn Resort looks like. We love our new outdoor furniture.



Dave fixed up a delicious dinner...again. I'm sure I was still at my desk...



Dave is a bit miffed we are out of black olives...oh well, next time

Grand Dog Visit

Wills came up and brought the grand dogs for a walk in Castlewood.  They are so well behaved....not one bark even when the other dogs started barking.  Those are some well behaved grand dogs!  And Wills found plenty of golf balls along the way.  Our basket of balls is now overflowing.  We can't seem to give them away to anyone, no one wants them.

Got your Betties On?

Sarah had a shoe and bag party at our home.  Dave sat out on the patio drinking wine and smoking a cigar while his house was over taken by my friends and Jessica's friends.  Plus our very sweet niece, Michelle, showed up with her roommate, Rochelle.  It is always a treat to visit with Michelle and Rochelle is just as sweet.  Plus my new best friend Lindsay showed up too.  Plenty of new shoes flew out the door and everyone had a good time.

Our Neu Toy

Now that we have a garage for the second car, we decided it was time to replace the trusty Suburban.  We found a new home for the Suburban, thank you Frank & Kaycie.  We started to look at the BMW X5, and then thought we'd check out the Mercedes deals just in case Michael really didn't keep his.  We found out that MBZ has a great program for turning in leased cars early for a new model.  So Michael ended up with a brand new SL 550 for less than the 2007 was costing him, and we ended up with a 2007 with 11,600 miles at half the price of a new one.  This is the upside to the down economy.  And we love this car.  It handles like a dream.

Spring Time!

Yippee! We got through the winter with about 50% of our plants that were planted last fall. It seems that the native plants were planted too deep and they didn't survive or the deer ate them. We have replanted and whatever makes it, makes it. If this doesn't work, we'll go straight ivy.

But we did finally get something in the front planter box, the geraniums are looking pretty and so far the deer haven't noticed them. Unlike the manzanita which were nibbled to near death by the deer.

And we finally have something in our large pots.  The plants/flowers that I had originally selected wouldn't work because they didn't have the right exposure or the deer love them.  We're trying these and hoping for the best.