Rain?

John Daley stands in the rain during our brief storm. It took me a while to remember the word for it.

It's less of a gate than you'd think

Since thing have gone so well we were able to take the morning and see a few things around Berlin.

When I think of gates, I think of barriers and such, this is more of a triumphal arch. It was still amazing to see. We also walked through Check Point Charlie, some wonderful neighborhoods, and visited the German memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe.

After our morning tour, we met back at the church to finalize everything for Sunday.

Now we pray that a room full of people with GSM phones doesn't through everything wacky.

Jay puts it together

After a trip to a few stores we had what was needed to put together the system to record the sermons adapted from John MacArthur's material and preached in German. Unlike many projects this one has gone smoothly. Sunday will be the live test of the system.

German Efficiency - East Berlin Style

The hotel I'm staying used to be on Lenin Street. After The Wall came down, they renamed the street, but some of the habits take longer to change.

Earliest Yet

Labor Day we found these at the Valencia K-Mart. It's nice to know that the Christmas season now begins in September. I'm sure that one day soon, the decorations will come out Memorial Day.

Meet Andy

Well after much waiting and waiting and waiting, we finally have a dog. This is Saint Andrew Clonrichert of Waterford a Kerry Blue Terrier -- we call him Andy.

He is cute, soft, and bouncy. Now for the fun part: house training.

Fish!

Shortly after Cooper caught a fake-fish lure, he caught this genuine rainbow trout. Campbell had a few good bites, including one that got reeled close to shore before escaping.

After we got back to the condo, Ben fried the fish and we all got a small fish snack. Cooper did not like it, Campbell could have eaten several.

Sunset

We enjoyed the sunset. It was a beautiful place to enjoy the end of the day.

Gone Fishin'

After dinner we took C1 and C2 out to learn to fish. Former Ranger (Ben) gave the boys a quick primer and let them loose. The boys did not realize that fishing is all about peaceful waiting, not instant results. A good lesson to learn.

Mono Lake

After Bodie, we went for a short visit to Mono Lake. Amazing Sky.

Bodie

We took a drive off the mountain today to go and visit Bodie. The last 3 miles of road unpaved. We spent the day hiking among the ruins. Later we'll see Mono Lake.

Burned Forest

Thursday we went on a 7.5 mile hike from Horseshoe Lake to Devils Postpile. Along the way we passed through a part of the forest that burned in 1992. A benefit of the fire is that it makes for a panoramic view of the San Joaquin Valley.

Ben was a pack-man most of the hike. The rest of the children all did fine.

Friday: Yosemite.

A lake to ourselves

We hiked pased the kill zone (an area where CO2 has killed 100s of trees) McLeod lake. When we first arrived there were two others at the lake. By the time we left we were all alone. Cool to be in middle of no where.

Nice hike

Resting in front of the Postpile.

What started as a normal hike

We started our Tuesday with a hike to the Devil's Postpile. From there we took a less used trail over to Red's Meadow. I was taking some pictures of the basalt formations, when we heard a noise off in the distance, then we were hit with an awful smell. We had just been talking about what to do if we should encounter a bear. Off in the distance running and at quick pace we saw something huge and hairy. I quickly raised my camera and was able to get just one blurry picture -- I had been taking pictures of rocks, so I was not ready for a moving object.

John Daley would know better than I, but we may have had an encounter with Bigfoot.

Quality is forever

Apple Pan - quaility is forever. A great motto. After picking Ben up from LAX I took him for one of the best burgers in LA. Parking is usually an issue - but clean living got me the one space in front. Great food and great parking. Good thing it's not too close - eating here too often and forever might come sooner than you'd think.

Who is that kid?

This picture was taken 29 years ago this month. A few things to note:

• that hair style was in at the time (and it's back again)
• my hair was red
• my eyes were green

I was an invited guest

I was invited by the Postal Service to the release of their new Disney themed postage stamps. The invitation allowed me to take a guest, so Jay Flowers joined me and about 300 others for the special event.

The swag was light: water and some first day of issue stamps canceled on collector covers -- cool. They also provided one day park hopper passes and free parking.

We are having a great day at Disneyland.

It must not mean what I think it means

Saw this sign today in China Town. I wonder what they sell.

Chick-fil-a again

Yum. This time it was all the Myers and the Ficketts. Even Jennifer decided to get a regular - she usually gets grilled. Why bother?

They even serve Southern-style sweet tea.

After lunch we spent the afternoon at the sea, enjoying the sun and sand.