Hopland Passport - 2011

I finally got our pictures from Hopland Passport on the computer. We got a million shots, a few came out nicely.

It was a lot of fun and the weather was perfect. A group of 9 of us attended the event. The tasting went from 11 - 5... We were very thankful to have shuttles driving us around!!

We took a walk along an organic garden at one of the vineyards.

The girls - Kim, Crystal and Becca

Us.

The vineyards put out food pairings for the wine. Some places had grilled foods, pastas, you name it...

C and Kim

Me, double fisting...

Us on Sunday (yes, the event was two days).

Crystal got a feather wrapped into her hair.  Hippie...

Brandon and me.

The group sitting around on Sunday.

Easter Weekend Camping Trip

Crystal and I spent the weekend camping at Uvas Canyon Park in Morgan Hill with the dogs. We re-discovered this beautiful park last weekend while hiking with Tim and Becca. C and I took Sonoma there years ago when she was a puppy, and forgot about it ever since. Our hike last weekend was amazing - waterfalls, dense moss covered trees, redwoods, creeks and brooks - just great. So this weekend when we arrived for camping, we knew what to expect. And Uvas did not disappoint. It's only a 45 minute drive from our house, most of the time spent winding your way away from Hwy 101 into the deep woods just south of San Jose.

We arrive around 5:00 on Friday night, and spent that night drinking wine and eating dinner. Dinner was balsamic marinaded skirt steak and baked potatoes, both cooked over the campfire. The next day we played around the campsite and found a deserted path along Uvas Creek for the dogs to run around a bit. Tim and Becca arrived at the site Saturday night. We woke up on Easter morning and went for another walk along the creek and took a lot of photos. It seems like every single photo the dogs were in came out blurry - go figure. In the afternoon another couple (Kim and Jake) arrived at the site and we enjoyed an Easter feast. Each couple brought a portion of the dinner, and together had ham, BBQ chicken, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, cous cous, and rolls. Everything came out really delicious!

After dinner, we took down the tent and packed up the campsite and were home and unpacked by 5:30. All in all, it was a great weekend, extremely relaxing, and it's always refreshing to spend extended time outside. Enjoy the photos!

The four of us at the campsite.

This was right down the hill along side our campsite.  The walk down here was gorgeous.

Uvas Canyon Creek

Crystal, Tim, and Becca strollin' along.

How Easter-esque (minus the beer).

Documented evidence that Tim does, at infrequent times, act like a gentleman.

River monster.

C

More green lushy-ness.

Cool tree roots.  This is the background on my work computer for now.

C again.

I thought the water looked cool in this picture.  Taken with a slower shutter speed.

Our Easter egg coloring setup.  Well done, ladies.

Artistic genus at work.

Becca's first time coloring eggs.  Glad we were all there to watch the 'magic'.

The colorful outcome.  Even the puke colored ones look cool.

Our camping Easter feast!

Hopland Passport - Part 2

It's that time of the year again. Crystal and I are going with a group of friends to the Hopland Passport up in (where else?) Hopland, CA. It's full blown wine country and a wonderful day in the sun of tasting wines at different vineyards, eating food pairings, live music, and driven around by shuttles, for only $50. I blogged about it last year in this old post. I'll put pictures up ASAP after the weekend.

Vacation to Cayman Brac

Crystal and I just got back on Saturday from Cayman Brac, one of the three Cayman Islands in the Caribbean.  We spent 9 nights on the island at a rental house with her parents from Ware, MA.

The red locator above shows the location of the island.

The four of us... Or five of us...

The island is a result of plate tectonics and volcanic activity under the ocean water (aren't they all??) and have slowly risen from the sea floor.  The island is one mile across and about 12 miles long and the land is covered in jagged volcanic rock and coral remnants.

We were lucky that the house we stayed in brought in white sand to cover our area of the beach.

Front of the house from the street

View from the back porch

The seafloor drops off to between 1 - 5 miles only a few hundred feet from shore, which is AMAZING to think about, but really makes the island an "oasis" in the water for coral, fish, and other marine life.  We went on 8 dives while we were there through the sole dive operation on the island.

I have a fun dive story to tell, but a little background first...  When scuba diving, the safe practice is to team up with a buddy.  This way, if one person's equipment malfunctions, or gets into a dangerous situation, the buddy is there to assist, provide air, or fix the gear as necessary.  So when we dive together, Crystal and I are always buddies.  We are starting to develop our "underwater language" to show each other interesting stuff we find while on the dive.  So anyway, a few minutes in to the first dive, Crystal and I had finished our descent into the water and found our comfortable buoyant point by adjusting the volume of air in the BCD's (Buoyancy Control Devices, naturally).  Finally time to start swimming around and exploring the dive area.  As Crystal and I are moving along, I looked up to see where she was, if she had anything neat to show, and found her meandering along about 5 feet away.  It was at this point that I saw a large form slowly swimming in our general direction, moving in from the haze of the ocean water.  As it approached us, I saw a pointy nose area and a rather large body... I was excited to be seeing the largest fish (probably a swordfish or something because of the pointy nose) that I've ever seen underwater!  I looked at Crystal, she looked back at me (mind you she's got her back turned to the on-coming submarine looking thing) and I calmly pointed out into the haze...  Crystal maneuvered herself around and did a 180 to see what I was so nonchalantly pointing towards.  At this time, the large "fish" had realigned itself to us and was heading straight for us.  It was also at this time that we were able to see eyes way out on either side of its head.  Its hammer looking head.  There was a 10 foot hammerhead shark heading right at us, complete with a dozen or so feeder fish alongside it!!  We calmly, slowly swam backwards and the thing came within about 5 feet!  Then just as peacefully as it came in, it turned and swam away, completing a "U" formation, and disappeared back into the haze.

I sucked through a lot of my air in the first 10 minutes of that dive!!!

When we climbed back on to the boat at the end of the dive, the dive masters said it will most likely be another three years before they see another hammerhead in the water.  We were so lucky to see it, and it set the bar high for the rest of the wonderful diving we did.  It was all beautiful, but that was definitely the most intimidating part of any dive we did.

C and me

Crystal makes fun of me because I've got bubbles pouring out of my regulator in every photo.  She says I'm "always breathing".  Ha!  Damn right!  I'm 100 ft under water!

C - actually smiling with the regulator in her mouth...

The four of us - Crystal's dad, step-mom Diane, C, and myself

While on the island, the four of us made friends with a local dog.  A lot of the tropical locations have feral dogs, or mangey looking things that aren't well cared for, but this dog was healthy looking - except for her ear infections.  Her ears were so itchy that she would scratch them and howl in pain.  It's actually how she got her name for the week: Scratchy.  After a few days of warming up to Scratchy, Crystal bought and used some ear cleaning solution on her to help.  Her kindness towards animals and others is one of the (many) things I love about her.  Sure enough, Scratchy bonded with us on the trip, would chase after us as we climbed dangerous rocks around the island, and wouldn't let us go snorkeling without swimming in the water after us.  She literally swam circles around all four of us as we snorkled, until her back end started sagging deeper into the water.  Not wanting to ruin our vacation with the guilt of a dead dog on our hands, Crystal and I swam back to shore, calling the dog back with us.  We were unable to go back into the water without the dog following us in.  We even tried tying her to a log with twine, but she chewed through it and swam back in the water towards us.  Her social pack desire was stronger than her single will to survive, I guess....

Snorklin' Scratchy

And there she goes!

Another exciting piece of news would be our engagement!  Crystal and I went for a sunset walk on the beach, and I took the camera to document it.  As we slowly walked down the beach towards the sun, we stopped to take pictures with the beautiful back drop.

Then we sat down on a large piece of driftwood along the beach, with the water gently at our feet as the waves gently came in and out.  I decided the time was right, and went for it.  I took a deep breath and recited a poem to Crystal.  She probably doesn't remember one word of it, but that's okay.  Just enough "cheese" to set the stage.  I'm surprised I pulled it off without error... up to this point...  So I finished reciting the poem and reached into my cargo pocket to get the jewelry box out.  And as I pull it from my pocket, I accidently let go and fling the damn box off into the water!!  I looked up at Crystal, embarrassed, and quickly grabbed the box back before it had a chance to take on water.  I opened it and got on one knee and asked her to marry me.  She said yes and I guess the rest is history.  We're now fiances!

Right after the proposal...

The ring

The last night on the island we had a bonfire on the beach and set off some fireworks.  A nice way to celebrate the end of a beautiful vacation.

Here are some other fun photos from our vacation...

Mr. Martowski and I built a robust set of Donkey Balls (or "Ladder Ball")

Scratchy

On the dive boat before our first dive of the day

The beach... see, no sand, just coral.

Sunset

In a cave along our hike to the top of the bluff

Pair of Boobies... yeah, the boring type.

Obviously we had to take this picture.

Playing Donkey Balls as dark rolls in

On a hike.

Our older cat, Calhoun, is almost 8 years old, but has aged quickly in those years.  It's funny to think about cats having nine lives because if there was ever a cat who fit the bill, Calhoun's the one.  As many who are reading this blog know, he suffered a traumatic event as a little kitten.  Let's jump in the "way back machine" and understand what has been Cal's past....

We suspect - from the type and extent of injury - Cal fell from the second story balcony in Crystal's old house, to the hardwood floor below and shattered his right front arm and his rear hips.  Not a common mistake for cats, but a possibility if he had tried to jump up on to the railing When Crystal's mom arrived back home after the accident, Cal was (understandably) a mess.  She rushed him to the vet and at the time, the vet was so focused on his front arm, that the broken hips in back went unnoticed.  They doctored his arm, but the rear end was left alone.  Unfortunately, his arm never fully recovered or mended properly, and ultimately he had it amputated to save his life (infection was looming).  Also, some cats can have crazy reactions to certain medications, and Cal is one.  Ever since this original accident, he's been unable to be sane in the vets office for health checks due to the pain and trauma he experienced.

As Cal grew up, he managed on three legs (and a broken, improperly fused back hip) like a champion.  Like it was natural; as if all cats eventually lose a leg.  Even with the three legs, he's been able to jump around and run through the house.  One of his favorite things to do is jump up on the bathroom counter and drink water straight from the spout.  Actually, one of his favorite things to do in the world is to simply drink water.  Strange, I know.  As Crystal and I got a better understanding of our pets and animals in general, we noticed his constant affection with water (and subsequent large volume of urine when using the litterbox) could be an indication of Chronic Renal Failure (CRF).  This is a condition a cat can live with for a LONG time, and if progression is slow enough, it's not TOO much of an issue.

Fast forward to last month.  Crystal and I started to notice fur loss on Cal's back end - the back of the legs, under his belly, and base of his tail.  It really started to worry us just recently because it wasn't getting better (but slowly worse) so Crystal made an appointment for him at the vet - the first in a while due to his "love" for vets.  But because he needs to be anesthetized (for the vet's and his own safety) they couldn't take him for a few weeks.  We decided that was fine, because he'd get a proper check up, and Crystal made a list of things the doctor needed to look at.

Now, fast forward to two weeks ago.  Crystal and I woke up and found a partially chewed up bag containing aspirin on the floor of the cat room (yes, they have their own room!).  It was removed by one of the cats overnight from Crystal's purse (don't worry too much, all the money was still there).  This is bad because aspirin is poisonous to animals, especially cats.  We kept our cool and monitored the cats for any changes to their behavior.  We eventually noticed that Cal couldn't eat without vomiting a dark, gooey vomit.  Since we had already scheduled an appointment for the following week, we decided to see if the situation would improve at all - his spirits were still high and he was eating (even though it wasn't all staying down) so we figured we could wait.  But over the weekend he started to become less social, stopped eating, and hid in closets and other dark, lonely places.  We decided that the Wednesday appointment was too far away, so we scheduled an emergency appointment on Monday morning (of last week).  After all the blood and urine tests, we found that, indeed, his kidneys were experiencing acute renal failure.  It's a scary situation, and the vet used the term "50/50" when discussing his outlook.

Have you ever had a pet (or loved one) given a 50/50 chance of survival?  They may as well say a 99/1 chance at survival, because the alternative option can't exist.  At 50/50 chance of survival, we're going to survive.

Since last week, Calhoun has been doing much better.  We are giving him 200 mL of subcutaneous fluids each night and an oral medication to fight potential ulcers from vomiting.  His energy level is high, and he's purring and chirping as we walk by or stop to pet him.  He's not hiding in the dark, lonely places around the house anymore, but actually being very social with us and the dogs.  We even think he's starting to grow back fur on his backside (still not sure what the cause is)!  We still find an occasional vomit around the house, one a day max, but he's capable of holding most of the food down at this point.

We are nervous about our upcoming vacation to Cayman Brac (March 16 - 26) because he'll probably still need sub-Q fluids and constant monitoring.  As such, we've lined up our normal dog sitter to come twice a day to feed Cal and administer the fluids.  She's a vet tech at the dogs' vet and rescues cats so she's very familiar with Cal's needs and we're very comfortable with her.

We're holding positive for Cal.  We expect him to get better, and we hope you all can stay positive for him too.  He's such a great pet and a good friend, cuddly, talkative, handsome.  It such a shame he's had a tough go at this life thing, but we want to show him the love and devotion he deserves.  My friend at work made a comment about "wow that must be expensive" when I told him about Cal's situation.  I didn't know how to respond.  Obviously money plays a role in most of life's decisions, but we're no where near that point.  Cal is 8!  He deserves a healthy, happy existence.  We owe it to him.

Please keep him in your thoughts.  When you see a cat, think a positive thought for Cal.  We can use all the support.  :-)

Weekend Trial in Santa Rosa

It's been a while since the last update, but Crystal and I have been so busy "doing stuff" it's like there's no free time to write about it (except at work - obviously! - and that's where I'm writing this from.  Dad, are you still proud???)  Anyway, last weekend we spent the three days (Monday was off for Presidents' Day) in Santa Rosa at an AKC agility trial.  It was our first time participating in a three day trial and we had a lot of fun.  The first two days, Sonoma ran three events, and on the third she ran two.  We ended up the week with three qualifying runs out of the 8, and earned the first 24 points towards her Agility Champion title (out of 750 points!).  We have a long road ahead for sure!  Unfortunately, we forgot our camera this time, but I was at least able to get this picture with my iPhone.

We keep the dogs in their crates for a lot of the trial.  They definitely get taken out for frisbee and walks around on occasion, but spend the rest of the time relaxing in their crates.  It's especially good for West since he's just a puppy and still learning how to behave at trials.  It's also good for Sonoma since the agility dogs know they are there to perform, and can have a pretty high stress level as a result.  The crate helps them stay calm and relaxed, and not to mention warm!  It was pretty cold in the mornings - Crystal's windows were even frozen shut one morning!  I know it's nothing compared to the winter everyone's been having back East... but that's cold for us (apparently I've "lost my roots")...

This weekend our good friend Renee is in town from Seattle.  We'll be spending some time in SF, as well as wine tasting and hiking.  I'll do my best to remember the camera this weekend and hopefully we'll get some fun photos to share with everyone.