At the end of March we went to see Janet's long time friend Judy at her home in Nevada City. We were amazed at the suburban atmosphere - not the boondocks at all! While there, we got to hear a concert by Holly Near - it was excellent!

We seem to be getting too old to celebrate New Year's. Neither one of us remembers seeing the ball drop if we did. Oh well. In February Janet's niece, Laura, and her husband came out for a visit. We hadn't seen them since our trip east in 2000 so it was great to have them come here. Jeanne and Jerry, Laura's parents, also came up for the week.

April brought Janet's birthday which we celebrated with a night at the Mill Casino. June had won a free night at the Mill Hotel back before Christmas. We couldn't use it on Janet's birthday because this year, for the first time since she was a little girl, her birthday was on Easter Sunday. So we went the week before and stretched her birthday celebration a little longer!!!!

Some time in late March or early April we went to a Mardi Gras party hosted by the same folks who do this wild Halloween party at their house. This was held at the Coos Bay Convention Center and we went to check it out.

Spring rolled on through and our landscaping is getting quite mature now. Much to June's surprise, her tulips and daffodils got enough cold weather to blossom again.

School ended in June and the fun began. We took some day trips both north to Newport and the aquarium and south to Gold Beach to go on the Rogue River Mailboat Trip. We also made our annual pilgrimmage to the game park south of Bandon to see what baby animals there were to pet this year.

We also got our sail boat out one day. It was the first time we've sailed it since we got it. It was a beautiful, sunny day with a light breeze and we took it down to the boat launch area near where we walk Buddy. We have to take turns in it, it's too small for both of us, but we had a fun afternoon.

In July, we also went on the final voyage of the Rendezvous, a little cruise boat that had been active in the bay area. She was sold to a firm in Portland. We went for the 4th of July cruise and watched the fireworks from the front of the boat. This was about the fifth time we had been out on her, and the second time for the Fourth of July.

We also made a whirlwind trip to San Jose to see the musical, Aida. That was crazy - over 1000 miles in a three day weekend. But, while we were down there, we also got to go to a baby shower for Janet's goddaughter, Marnie. That was an unexpected treat for all concerned since it was only by accident that we were there the same weekend. We also got a preview of brother Jim's new digs. He wasn't there when we stopped by, but we checked out the backyard and deck anyway.

Since Labor Day we haven't strayed too far from home. We spent an afternoon at Shore Acres working in the gift shop. The dahlias were out and June tried out the new digital camera we got from Ebay.

We went to the local big Halloween bash. Last year, Janet went with her friend from Hearst Castle, John Melvin. This year, we went together. It is pretty interesting. Everyone dresses up. There were over 200 people there while we were there, and more were still coming when we left. June is on the right, Janet the left. We heard that later there were 400 people there and it got out of hand so they are not going to have it any longer. It was really something - too bad to lose it.

Thanksgiving was quiet - we went out to dinner and then June cooked a turkey breast for sandwiches. The college term ended on December 5th and the next week we took off for our trip to NY City. (Click on the link to get the blow by blow of that trip.)

For Christmas this year, we were invited to Danville. We drove down on Tuesday so we could spend Christmas Eve in San Francisco and play tourist. We spent Tuesday night in Petaluma, north of SF and drove in over the Golden Gate bridge on Wednesday. It was a rainy day and the upper portion of the bridge was shrouded in fog. The first stop was Ghiradelli Square - famous for their chocolate and ice cream. If you know anything about June, you know she loves chocolate and especially chocolate ice cream!!! So what if it was only 10:30 in the morning, doesn't everyone like a hot fudge sundae for breakfast?

Our day in SF was cut short because June wasn't feeling well - no, it wasn't the breakfast!! So we headed for our motel in Walnut Creek. Christmas Day we got up and opened our gifts to each other in the motel. It was a low key year because our big gift to each other was our trip. In the afternoon we headed down the road to Jim's house where we surprised them by arriving a little earlier than they had counted on. Oops.

As you can see from the pictures, we took Buddy with us. He was a perfect gentleman at for most of the day. There were even times we forgot he was with us, he was being so quiet. Most everyone loved him and he was really good about letting people make a fuss over him. Later in the day some new folks arrived and he was a little snappish at them so we put him in the car. We wonder if he was feeling so at home that he figured it was his home and decided to guard it? With him, anything is possible.

We headed for home on Friday after having breakfast with Jeanne and Jerry and 10 1/2 hours later, we were pulling into our driveway - another 1100 mile trip behind us.

We don't have big plans for New Year's Eve - just some bridge with friends but that is a really great way to bring in the New Year. And so ends 2003.