What an adventure we had today. First off, we were just driving from Cedar City to Salina Utah and found more very impressive geological formations just by the side of an ordinary highway - not even in a National Park or State Park. Next we went to see the Art Robinson's personal collection of 65 restored old trucks. He started a trucking company in 1946 that pretty much focused on hauling coal and other heavy materials. He went blind a few years ago and died about 7 years ago; but he had a love for some of the old trucks and had one after another restored. We got a two and a half hour personal tour - unbelievable! Being nice really pays off.
And the photo above of Mom's Cafe duplicates a photo that appeared in the January 1996 National Geographic. The building was completed in 1878 and served as a mercantile for many years. For a very long time it has been recognized as one of those very special places to eat in America. It was so good that we ate there twice.

We are in Cedar City tonight.  Today we wanted to go to Cedar Breaks but it was closed due to snow.  So we drove up toward Cedar Breaks and enjoyed incredible landscapes of rock formations, beautiful vistas, lots of snow on the sides of the road and ground and pretty trees.  We saw icicles hanging that were about 15 feet long, very amazing.  The picture above is an interesting rock formation, a close up of something that is in the middle picture (toward the left).  Then we came down the mountain, another beautiful drive, and ended up in Cedar City.  We visited the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, which was very interesting.  The picture of Ann is by a pioneer wagon. We have seen several of those in the past few days in Hurricane, Cedar City and some of the other small towns nearby.

We spent today in Zion National Park.  What an amazing place!  It was so beautiful--so many interesting formations of beautiful red and white rock.  The first picture is of Ann under the waterfall at Emerald Pools.  It was a wonderful hike up to see it.  In the next picture we are by the Virgin River at the point where it is flowing through the canyon, a good hike too.  The last picture is Lookout Point where we are overlooking the valley and some beautiful rock formations.  We first drove through a tunnel that was carved through the mountain, completed in 1930 and then we hiked up to see this wonderful view.  What a day!

Monday we drove from Las Vegas to St. George and visited the Valley of Fire State Park. Oh my goodness what an awesome place that is to experience. Here we are in front of one of the beehive formations. Pretty cool huh? The next one is called Seven Sisters and everywhere you looked in the park it went on and on with breathtaking vistas. We ended the day and had a wonderful stay with Bob and LueAnn Barnard in St. George. They have been great friends for a very long time and it was great to see them again and have time to visit.

Here we are in Las Vegas at Ann's nephew's home, Peter Thunell and his family--Jackson on his shoulders, his wife Tammy, holding Hunter and Tanner on the bike.  They fed us a wonderful dinner and we had a great visit with them.  The weather is quite warm and nice.  Everyone has told us we chose a good time to come since it gets up to 120 degrees in the summer.  We enjoyed going to church in the Chapel Heights Ward, a very friendly, welcoming ward.

Here I am with a new friend, Don Beatty, who is one of only about 88 survivors left of the sinking of the Navy ship USS Indianapolis. He and the others were rescued after five days in the water and shark attacks that took many shipmates. What is so cool to me is that I was born on the exact same day the ship was sunk and I have remarked many times how they were in the water for the first five days of my life. We owe a lot to them. They were crewmembers of the ship that delivered the components for the two bombs that hastened the end of WWII in the Pacific and saved the potential 1 million US deaths that were anticipated had we been required to invade the Japanese homeland to end the war.
We had a delightful day in Las Vegas - went to a swap meet and had some great food.

Yesterday we drove from Coronado to the Navy Air Weapons Station at China Lake. On the way we visited Ann's parents graves in Ontario. Today we drove through Death Valley and ended up in Las Vegas. It was extremely stormy last night and we gave up on the idea of staying in our tent at Furnace Creek in Death Valley. The gusts were in the 40MPH range and sustained winds in the mid 20MPH range. The other part that made it not a good idea was the very heavy rain - gully washer rain.
Anyway, it was so cool to come across the old Harmony Borax Works near Furnace Creek. Here we are standing in front of an original three wagon set that was pulled by 20 mules - it took them 30 days to make a round trip. When I was a kid, I got a plastic model set of the 20 mule team and it was just like the one pictured here. I was totally stoked to see the real deal and to stand on the original site just blew me away.

Here we are having lunch at the Hotel Del Coronado which was built in 1888 - before Washington was a State. This reprises a lunch we had quite a few years ago when I was on Active Duty with the US Third Fleet.
In the morning we visited the pier where my ship returned from Vietnam to a non-welcome.
And after that, we visited the graves of my mother, Irene Marin, and my Icelandic grandparents I.M. Johnson and Rannveig Johnson.

Yesterday, March 23, was too cool. We drove from Pomona to my home town, San Diego. On the way, we stopped at two old Spanish missions. Pictured here you see me standing in the doorway of the very first home I ever lived in. It was built as a garage by my father. His intention was for us to live in for a few years and then he would build the house on the front of the property. Unfortunately, he first caught Polio and then, if that wasn't bad enough, my mother, Irene, died. So I only lived here for two years and my brother, John, only one. It was too cool to go back to where I had my first haircut, learned to crawl, walk and talk.
The next photo is of the school where I went to the first grade and the other is of the LDS church across the street where I did my first service project as a six year-old. I used a putty knife to remove old putty from some broken windows on that side of the building. Too cool huh?

We've been staying with Richard's brother John for a few days in Pomona.  Here we are with John (top right) and 2 of his daughters, Stephanie (left) and Michelle (right).  We've had a lot of fun with them.

And the photo in the middle is of my (Richards) very first office after graduation from college. It is on the 19th floor of what was the California Federal building on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. I was an Assistant Account Executive at Batton, Barton, Durstine and Osborn - one of the largest Advertising Agencies at that time. My office was one of two on the floor that had a window that could be opened. Some would be shocked to know that twice I crawled through the window onto the two foot ledge that ran completely around the building and posted three signs on the outside of some of my co-worker's windows. And then again, some would not be surprised to learn about this shocking enterprise. Others would make the connection to Rex's pranks and believe that they have, at last, found the the source. Anyway it was pretty cool to go back there and have the person who currently occupies the office be so gracious to allow me to photograph it once again.
 
The bottom picture is our first apartment in California.  It's upstairs and in the city of Westchester which is very close to the airport (LAX).

 

Saturday we were able to get together with some friends and family.  In Simi Valley we had lunch with Linda Hale and then she took us to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  This photo of Ann and Linda is in front of a section of the Berlin Wall which came down while Reagan was president.  In the second photo we are in front of our nephew Adam Thunell's home in Somas, CA.  We had a great visit with Adam, his wife Alexis and their children, Austin, Annie, Kate, Savannah, Joseph and Erika.
Sunday, we were staying at Richard's brother, John's, place in Pomona. We got to attend church in the building where Richard served as a Building Missionary in 1964-65. This photo is of us and Deon Roberts. Richard lived with several different families while on his mission. The Roberts family was his very favorite! After church, we got to tour around Ontario where Ann grew up. It was pretty cool.

We started our day on Friday in  San Luis Obisbo.  In Santa Barbara we walked out on the pier and it was amazing to see the ocean and then looking toward Santa Barbara, seeing the mountains not far away.  We headed south and came to Buellton, home of Split Pea Anderson's Restaurant, famous for their split pea soup, which we had for lunch.  It was delicious!  Next was Solvang, a charming Danish town where we went to the Solvang Bakery and found a couple of delicious treats.  We ended our day in Carpenteria, a beautiful beach town and stayed with our friends Larry and Sharon Ready. Here is a view of Larry's 1932 Ford "high boy" show car that is painted Candy Apple Red. It is totally stunning. In the background is a 1940 Ford sedan, 230 Mercedes roadster, 1940 coupe and 1956 Ford pickup - all in the same garage. What fun!

Today we drove the "17 Mile Drive." It was too cool. And it was most interesting to learn that both the 17 mile drive and the Pebble Beach golf complex were conceived and built to support the Hotel Del Monte where we stayed. All part of an elegant past.
The drive included lots of very picturesque vistas and we stopped quite a few times.
Then we went to Point Lobos State Reserve and that was way cool too.
Tonight we are in San Luis Obispo and what a lively and vibrant city it is. This would be a place to visit again.

It was pretty overcast today so the photo opportunities were limited. We spent the day in Carmel CA - a very lovely place. Here was a pretty cool bench along the shoreline. Carmel prides itself on its Bohemian character. The streets are laid out as a town whereas nearby Monterey is laid out like a city. Also, the architecture in Carmel is a total potpourri - very cool - from stunning Mediterranean styles to log cabins. Anyway it was pretty cool.

Here is a view of one of dozens of tanks at the Monterey Aquarium. That is Leopard Shark. The aquarium was way cool!

Here is the exterior of Colton Hall where the California Constitution was drafted. The building was partially constructed by inmates in the adjoining jail to work off their sentences.

Let me begin today by saying that before we arrived at Monterey, we stayed one night in Santa Cruz. It was a very charming place with lot so Victorian homes that were soooo cool. Loved the place. Another place that we loved was Eureka that had an incredible old downtown and lots of Victorian homes too.

Also, the Hotel Del Monte that a portion of still exists and we are staying in was originally built in 1880. The room we are in was rebuilt in 1887. It has ceilings that are nearly 10 feet, and a genuine mahogany door that would cost over $1,000 today.

On our second day in Monterey, we visited Colton Hall. In this very room, delegates framed the California Constitution in 1849. It took them six weeks. When they were finished and the constitution was ratified and California was admitted into the United States, Manifest Destiny was realized. The Oregon Territory was already in place; but this was the admission of the first state on the west coast. This was huge. And I was thrilled to stand in this room. I thought about where I would have wanted to be seated and I took my place in the chair. I was able to take a photo of the actual practice sheet they used to position each of the signatures on the document. This was especially cool to me since I have a large flourishing signature and have had the privilege of signing some important government documents in the past too.

That is Ann waving from the full length window on the third floor on the right. This is the old west wing of the Del Monte Hotel. It is now part of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey CA.

Here is a photo of the room we are staying in at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey CA. It is in the old west wing of the stately Del Monte Hotel.

This was a sandwich board on the San Francisco pier where you can step in and be "Rosie The Riveter" from the World War II era.  Right next to it was a World War II submarine and a WW II liberty ship.

Here is our trolley ride.  It's pretty bumpy and lots of jerking.  Hold on!

This is a San Francisco PCC Trolley that we rode on.  They can get really packed-we had to stand up on our ride yesterday.  You have to hold on tight.

We spent another great day in San Francisco. This time we explored Little Italy and had lunch in two places. Then we headed back to Fisherman's Wharf for crab and sourdough bread. This photo is looking in the sourdough bakery.

San Francisco

We had a fun day exploring and shopping in San Francisco.  We had fresh crab at Fisherman's Wharf and went to Chinatown.  Here I am in front of a Cable Car.  We rode in one of the vintage trolleys that has been restored.

These are "the ways" where my second ship, USS Nereus AS-17 was built in 1945 - the year I was born. In 1967, when I was aboard, she had an "availability" in dry dock #2 several hundred yards south of this location. We were in the dry dock for about five months and I continued to live aboard the ship.

Richard wanted to visit the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo where he spent some time when his ship was in the drydock being repaired.  The Navy shipyard dates from 1854-1999.  We toured the museum and then the St. Peter's chapel which was one of the first Navy chapels.  The chapel has the largest collection of Tiffany Glass (under one roof) west of Mississippi.  The stained glass was beautiful.

On Monday, we drove from Ukiah CA over to the coast and back on a seriously scarry road. It wove in and around the mountains constantly and climbed and descended at a 16 percent grade. Normally, on the highway a 6% grade is posted so that truckers can prepare themselves for the steep downhill strain on their brakes - brakes that can fail from the heat. Much of the road had no line down the middle. Ann said that it was like a slow rollercoaster ride. Here is a bridge that was first erected in 1909. That means that the bridge started its life carrying horse drawn wagons, model Ts and model A Fords.

This is pretty cool and needed to be documented with a photograph that has not been altered with PhotoShop. Here we are seated in Marin County, California with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. We are both protected with SPF 50 on the exposed skin and I have my SPF 5,000 cowboy hat and sweatshirt. (Ann took her floppy black hat off for the photo - you can see it on the bench and she put it back on right after the photo was taken.) But, the real story here is the salad that we are having for lunch. We put it together in the car with: romaine lettuce, avacado, diced apple, ham, olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing and a few rice flour crackers on the side for some crunch. This is a salad that I used to make fun of. But now I love it and look forward to having it.

I am so sorry for the frown. I didn't know what it would feel like to have a wild bird sitting on my hand and was pretty focused. It was a Steller's Jay with a malformed left claw. It was so cool. The bird just sat there and ate all four of the nuts I held in my hand.

Not the best photo; but pretty cool huh?

This is a view of the roadway in the Avenue of the Giants. It is a road that dates from a stage coach route through the Redwood forest. As you can see, the trees are right up against the road. The more dramatic spot was in the Jedediah Smith State Park farther north. There, the road was much narrower and weaved in and around the trees big time. Switchbacks everywhere. I would have taken photos; but I had cars breathing down my back the whole way.

On Saturday, we spent the day visiting the Redwood National Park. Here we are standing in front of the "Big Tree." Actually it is not the largest; but, at a 21.6 foot circumference it is pretty fat at the base. It was raining all day and quite dramatic.

This is the lens of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It is the coolest and we got to go up into this amazing lighthouse on Thursday. On Friday we drove to Crescent City and saw more of the dramatic Oregon coastline.