Poker and Field Day; Point Loma; The Pack is Back (together)

One of the few benefits of your wife being away is that you get to play poker with the guys and smoke stinky cigars. I’ve been trying to teach Rudy the finer points of poker, but we both agree that cigars are not for us. Suzanne and Gretchen keep complaining about the smell, and we are both New Age kinda guys in tune with our feminine sides - we’re sensitive, and we want to keep our Ladies happy. Rudy wanted to invite some neighbors over last night, but the two beagles down the block are too loud for my ears, and the 17 year old dog next door keeps falling asleep in the middle of a hand. Sigh...

 I found out today that Chris Lavelle, the filmmaker of Messages of Hope, has invited me to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) with him in Rochester, NY, on September 23. (That’s guy talk for “challenged me”...). I got out my running shoes, and after a 3 mile hill workout, I got serious: today was “Field Day”, which is Navy lingo for “clean up The Bus before Suzanne gets home and whoops up on me”. Do laundry and get out the vacuum cleaner, Windex, paper towels, Soft Scrub, deodorizer, etc. Thank goodness I had a couple of hours to repair the damage of the past week. After we finished (Rudy and Gretchen supervised), we went for a drive out to Point Loma, one of the older but nicer areas of San Diego. Here are some of my favorite homes (I should have invested better...). 

Point Loma is a long finger of land that lies west of San Diego Bay. The tip is several hundred feet high, so you stand on the hill looking down on the city and Coronado, the site of North Island Naval Air Station, the Naval Amphibious Base and Navy SEAL training. Point Loma is also the location of Cabrillo National Monument and a lighthouse. It is one of the most popular attractions here because of the spectacular panoramic view and its history.

In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo became the first European to set foot on the west coast of what is now the United States. He commanded three Spanish ships, and died a few months later as the Spaniards continued their voyage to Oregon.

One of the most beautiful, serene places on Point Loma is the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. There are 23 Medal of Honor recipients buried here (from the Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, Indian Wars, Haiti, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korean War, and Iraq), as well as thousands of other veterans. There are also memorials to ships lost during WWII at the battle of Leyte Gulf.

On the drive to the airport, we were passed by a motorcycle with a young couple (in their 20’s) aboard. I have seen several crude tee-shirts worn by young women on the backs of Harleys, but this girl had a very unusual tee shirt logo that surprised me so much I almost ran off the road.  Her shirt read, “PLINY THE ELDER”. As a history major, I knew that he was a famous Roman author, naturalist and soldier; he died while trying to rescue a friend who lived in Pompeii when that city was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. I had to give that girl a lot of credit for her classical tastes. Where did this girl come from? The Vassar School of Motorcycle Maintenance?

Finally, at 1630 Suzanne arrived at the airport. As we drove up, Gretchen and Rudy went ballistic when they heard me say, "Where's Mom?" The Pack was back together. Yay! Rudy gave Suzanne lots of kisses when we got back to The Bus, while Gretchen patiently waited her turn. (Suzanne won't need to wash her face for days...). And I am one happy camper!