Ok.. I have not written a thing since April??? That is ridiculous. I just don't have the words and thoughts flowing out of my brain at a constant rate these days. None of the turmoil, stress, depression, etc... that leads to great writing, or thinking. Well that's not exactly true. Oh well,whatever nevermind... Here we are in Mammoth today, July 20th, 2006. They just closed the lifts on July 4th, 16 days ago, and today is Kalie's 16th Birthday. SIXTEEN!!! No way... Sixteen!!! Man, I was already a complete nightmare screw up, for my parents by age 16.
Well anyway... 16 years ago I watched, as Theresa gave birth to Kalie Anne Jayne, pretty early in the morning I remember. After a long, long, long, labor. Kalie came out with a great big lump on the side of her head from the long journey. A bunch of blood settle in there during the hard push into this world, my first of many scares as a parent. Juandice set in and... I am sure all you parents know the feeling of... Oh my god, I have a little brand new baby here, now what. There really aren't any lessons in being a parent, but all of the sudden, you are, and eventually everything comes together quite naturally... Well obviously there is a hell of a lot more to it than that. Colds, Gymnastics, Dance, School, Open Houses, More Dance, More, School, More Colds, Joy, Sadness, Family Vacations, Birthdays, More Joy, Divorce.... Arrrrggrgg.. Probably the hardest thing for any kid, or parent for that matter to go through. But it really hard on the kids. Just ask them...
But today we are winding down our latest family vacation. Kalie’s sweet sixteen tour. It has been great trip, with Kalie, Julia, Jenny, the love of my life, Curtis the Dog, and myself. Unfortunately, Sara didn't join us on this trip due to being the tender age of THIRTEEN!!! We are all huge Michael Franti & Spearhead fans. So we planned this little trip around the World Music Festival in Grass Valley. (yes it was hot!) But, pretty nicely laid out, with lots of grass, tall pines, and shade. Plenty of good music flowing from 6 stages, but we all came for Spearhead, who were closing on Saturday night.
More than ten years have past since I first saw Spearhead at the Mangey Moose in Jackson Hole. They were great then, and I still have the original "Home" CD from my Ride Care Package. They are even better now. On the second song Kalie looks over at me and say's this is the coolest. It was... We had great seats but, no one sat the whole time anyway. Michael Franti, and Spearhead, probably make the most thoughtful, important music, that you can dance to period, and they definitely connected with the audience on this night! If you haven't heard of them.. You are not alone... They played a bunch of new songs off the new album, "Yell Fire!" the rest seemed to be off "Everyone deserves music" The album and his DVD, "I am not alone" - A musician's search for the cost of war, in war torn Iraq. Both will be released on the 25th. Check the permanent link on my sidebar... I haven’t seen the movie yet... Unfortunately we missed the LA screening, and a solo acoustic performance on the 18th while lurking somewhere near Yosemite... BTW, Michael Franti is one of the nicest performers I have met, staying way late to sign autographs, and take pictures for his fans. Incredible show!
The rest of the trip has been great. After an extremely hot, I mean, eye ball popping heat, drive through the gold country. My beloved Westy and crew arrived safely at Rainbow Pools. One on the top ten swimming holes in California. Number one on my list. I was here once before, and completely wimped out on the large jump. This year was my redemption. Hey, it even looks big in the picture! In fact, everyone pushed thier limits at the hole, with Jenny matching me on the big jump, and the Kids hitting the big water slide drop. Ahhoowooowooo! We camped nearby at the Sweetwater Camp, and would wake every morning, and run over for some eye opening 25' plus leaps into the crystal clear water of the Tuolumne River, before heading into Yosemite.
Yosemite was awesome as always... Water is still running strong this season and all the falls were firing. I forced everyone on the hike to Vernal Falls for a serious uphill work out, up many stairs and on through the mist. Next day we headed out through Yosemite's high country, through he great domes and meadows, and up an over Tioga Pass. This is a really beautiful part of Yosemite you don't want to miss. We didn't see our bear though, until we hit the town of Mammoth Lakes... Well that's it from Mammoth Lakes where we are just, plain relaxing. Happy Birthday Kalie!!!
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