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On July 16th, Jen and I hosted a 'Thank You' dinner for our Relay for Life committee chairs and their guests. These folks helped us plan the event for over 9 months, and it was stunning success. We raised over $125,000 for the American Cancer Society!
Though not all were able to attend, we had a good time sharing our memories of Relay. It's enlightening to hear in what ways Relay impacts people...and it's usually different for each person. It truly can be a life-altering event.
Pictured at left are (top row, l-r): Matt (3-on-3 Basketball chair, Team Recruitment committee, Corp. Sponsorship committee), Judy (Online and Lap Counting chair), Tom (Security chair), myself (Event co-chair) and Evelyn (Survivors chair). In the bottom row (l-r) are: Jen (Event chair), Laura (Registration and (Media chair) and Jennifer (Accounting chair).
Those unable to attend, but who still most deservedly are due accolades: Kim (ACS Relay staff), Susan (ACS staff), Bonnie (ACS staff), Jennifer (ACS staff), Talena (Mission Delivery chair), Stephanie (Food chair), Jodie (Relay Gear store chair, Media co-chair), Jim (Logistics chair), Charley (Clean-up chair), Jason (Logistics committee), Tami (Team Recruitment chair), Marty (Corporate Sponsorship chair), Chad (Logistics committee), Bo (Clean-up committee) and Brady (T-Shirts chair).
I've completed my second league season racing online with NASCAR 2003 as a league member of the Western States Racing League (WSRL). Below are my stats.
I changed sponsors and went with the Olhausen-McDermott (billiards) sponsored Chevy Monte Carlo in the Busch series and came in 4th out of 10 in my division - just one place away from a podium finish! Now that I have more experience at some of the tracks (meaning that I've actually raced the track before, instead of it being my first time on it), I'm finding that I am improving.
I kept my three goals the same:
I managed to finish all but one race due to a wreck I was involved in during the race at Richmond (I hate short tracks!) that blew my motor. I'm adding one more goal to the list for next season...finish on the lead lap!
We try to make an annual trip to Letts Lake, in the Mendocino National Forest, usually in October. This year, we decided to brave the crowds and go in July (we usually have the entire campground to ourselves in October with it being the off-season). Coincidentally, we had been enduring temperatures between 100-112* the week before leaving, so the idea of relaxing by, on and in the lake became more and more appealing. Visit the Letts Lake photo album for more on our vacation.
In early August, Bob and I visited Mendocino and the Pacific coast for the weekend. We stayed at the Little River Inn, visited the town of Mendocino and explored MacKerricher State Park. The weather was spectacular and we were able to get some great photos. Visit the Mendocino photo album for more on our weekend getaway.
On August 10th, Mom and I made a trip to the 'city' (how we locals refer to San Francisco) for her semi-annual transplant checkup at UCSF and a girls' day out. On the way back north after her appointment (we 'country' girls can't get out of the 'city' quick enough), we stopped at Vista Point on the north end of the Golden Gate bridge to take some photos. It was a typically foggy day, so not many vista-like shots were available.
We had been discussing my 'no regrets' policy (doing things you want to do when the opportunity presents itself instead of procrastinating and possibly losing the chance), when Mom mentioned that she and her father had always talked about walking the Golden Gate Bridge, but had never done so. You know how it is, when it's something that people from all over the world travel to do, you typically don't do it because it's in your own 'backyard' and it's something only tourists do. Well, opportunity was knocking so we headed towards the bridge on foot.
Now keep in mind, I am usually terrified of heights, so this was a special challenge for me...but, I've caught the photography bug and I was so enthralled with the possible photo opportunities that I forgot to concentrate on being scared and leaned right against the railing to get some shots. Above is the view from the north end of the Golden Gate looking back towards Horseshoe Bay. Next, the view of the bridge as you first step onto the pederstrian walkway from the Marin side. I got a great shot of Mom standing below the north tower (though she protested because of the extra fanny pack bulge under her sweatshirt) and finally, looking south down the bay side of the bridge towards Fort Point.
We only made it as far as the north tower and turned back, having satisfied our bridge-walking desire for the day. We fortified ourselves later in Corte Madera with some shopping at Nordstrom's and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory before calling it a day and heading home.
The Ukiah Skate Park committee hosted the 1st Annual Ukiah Skate Park Picnic and Skate Jam to raise much-needed funds for the building of a local skate park. The community came out to enjoy the treats offered by our vendors, join in the raffles and Golf Ball Drop and, of course, participate in the Skate Jam. It was a great day and raised quite a bit of money. More photos of the day can be found here.
Bob and I lucked into a pair of all-access passes for the IRL's (IndyCar Racing League) Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway, held on August 27th. We got some great shots (and lots of them!) and for those who celebrity watch, there are photos of Gene Simmons from KISS, and such racing greats as Roger Penske, the Andretti's, A.J. Foyt and many of the currect IRL drivers. Join us in the suite, the garage, in the pits and on the starting grid for the race, and on the day, that gave Marco Andretti his first win, by visiting the IRL Grand Prix of Sonoma photo album.
My hubby and I generally play disc golf purely for recreation. But since the PDGA's (Professional Disc Golf Association) NorCal Series Championships were being held in our community, we decided to sign up in the amateur divisions and give it a try.
The tournament was played over the Low Gap, Mendocino College and Lake Mendocino courses. Over 150 disc golf players from Northern California participated. Though it was fun, I think I'll stick to recreational play vs. tournament play.
To learn more about my disc golf hobby, visit the disc golf page.
The weekend of September 15th through 17th held the annual Fabulous Flashback Car Show in downtown Ukiah. As always, the Ukiah Host Lions club served a wonderful pancake breakfast to the participants and car show admirers. There were over three hundred cars on display, all pre-1973 models.
I'm always partial to the muscle cars and the early Corvettes as seen by the Dodge Charger Daytona (lower left) and a mid-1950's model Vette (lower right).
On the afternoon of September 16th, Pat (my mother-in-law) and I traveled down to Hopland to attend a wine and cheese tasting event being held at the Brutocao Cellars wine-tasting room. From the event description, we expected a class atmosphere, where we would be taught which wines would be best served with select cheeses. Boy, were we off the mark!
Instead, there was a rollaway kitchen cart with cheese crumbles and wine for tasting. The cheeses were all ones that I had never heard of, manufactured from around the globe; none of which you'd be likely to find in your grocer's refrigerator section. We made the best of it, but at the end of our outing, we both agreed that we weren't likely to seek out the cheeses, particularly the one that was akin to sliding your tongue across a livestock salt lick. Most of the wines were good (I even bought a bottle), but I did discover that I'm not a port lover!
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