"New" Life Begins Tomorrow!

Well, July certainly went quickly. I have spent the last month and change learning that there actually is such a thing as too much time off. I start a new job tomorrow and I am pretty excited for the change. So, to catch up on a few things, here's a rundown of how I spent my summer vacation.

First off, my retirement. After 29 years, I have moved on. I did not originally plan to have a ceremony, and Jeannette was OK with that. I felt guilty after talking to the kids and changed my mind. The ceremony was a tough event for me. I am not too comfortable being the center of attention, and public displays of emotion also make me awkward. Suffice to say I was pretty relieved after the ceremony was done. I am grateful for the number of friends and family that showed up to share the day with me.

My last day in uniform was pretty emotional.

Shortly after taking off my uniform, we completed the purchase of our first travel trailer. We bought a 21' Jay Feather trailer with a rear slide out after doing a lot of research on different types of trailers. I think this trailer will be large enough for us, and it wasn't so expensive that I will feel stupid three years from now if we decide we don't enjoy camping as much as I thought we would! We made our maiden voyage out to a local state park (Twanoh State Park) about 30 miles away. The idea was to keep the trip close enough to allow me to forget stuff, which I did quite well. Town, and a grocery store, were only a short 15 minute drive away from the park.

We have a couple more trips planned in the near future - pending the new job's work schedule, of course.

Our new trailer - 21' Jay Feather. The slide out at the rear of the trailer is a king sized bed!

All set up at the campground. Pretty easy setup - only took Danny and I about 45 minutes the first time.

Food is why we camp, right? My first attempt with a dutch oven produced edible apple cobbler.

Of course I did some riding! I went out on a couple of day rides to collect some rally checkpoints, did one multi-day ride down into southern Oregon for checkpoints, and completed one crazy day of riding to earn an Iron Butt Association certification as a long-distance rider. The IBA ride was called a Saddle Sore 1000 - I needed to complete 1,000 miles (or more) in less than 24 hours. I did it, and it lived up to its name! I left at around 4:00 am and headed east on I-90 into Missoula, MT. Turned around and ran it back! All-in-all, it was about 1,030 miles and took me a little under 17 hours. The worst part of the ride was the interstate riding (I usually avoid interstates) and the hot temperatures in eastern Washington.

This summarizes my IBA SS1000 ride. Pretty good effort.

One of the reasons I enjoy riding is the spectacular scenery I get to enjoy. This is a sunrise in eastern Oregon. The sky looked like it was on fire as the sun came up.

McDermitt State Airport in the official middle of nowhere. Southeast Oregon is a lot like Nevada.

Smith Dam in central Oregon. Beautiful ride in and out to get this dam. Only about 1/4 mile of gravel forrest road to get this picture.

Another Oregon state airport - that was the purpose of the 3-day ride into Oregon, after all!

The end of my time off was spent driving down to northern California to visit friends and family and to do a campus visit at Stanford University with Danny. We also drove through Crater Lake on our way home. The original plan was to do a day hike on Wizard Island but the tour boat that was going to be our transportation broke down so we spent our time driving around the lake instead. I guess that gives me another reason to visit the lake again next year.

So there is a back story about the donkeys in one of the pictures below. Our friends bought a couple of donkeys to keep the weeds down on their property. They initially thought the donkeys were the same sex but that was quickly proven incorrect! They had 9 donkeys when we visited with at least 3 of the females being pregnant. Number 10 arrived the day we left. Donkey apocalypse! We had to resort to bribery to leave their place. The donkeys had congregated near the gate to the property and we had to back down the driveway leaving a trail of crackers to get the donkeys to move away from the gate. Once they were fa enough away we quickly drove through and shut the gate. We didn't want a bunch of asses wandering around aimlessly outside of Sacramento!

Yes, they all belong together!

First time I have stopped at the Golden Gate Park for a photo op.

Danny's dream school - Stanford University. Fingers crossed and wallet open!

A better picture of the bridge. That's about as good as it was going to get this day.

Crater Lake National Park

Wizard Island in Crater Lake - we were supposed to hike to the top of the island but the tour boat broke. :(

Southern Oregon wildfires all around us but nothing really close.

Crater Lake National Park - looking east. I am not sure what the peak is. I forgot to look at the sign.

So now my vacation is over and I start a new job tomorrow. I don't mind sharing that I am pretty nervous. After spending the last 29 years in the Navy, this is new territory for me. Transferring to a new assignment while in the Navy is a little like starting a new job, but in the Navy you always arrive with some credibility by virtue of your qualifications in the last position. I am now going to be "the new guy". I am confident I will do well, but am anxious to get it going.

The next chapter starts now!