The year was filled with memorable experiences with family and friends. My dad visited
us for the first three weeks of the year.
With him, we went to Lodi to view the migrating sand hill cranes in the
wetlands. We spent a couple days in San
Francisco, where we toured Alcatraz. He
and I went to Lake Tahoe one day so that he could play the slot machines in
Nevada (He lost money!) and we spent an afternoon at the California Automobile
Museum in Sacramento, an attraction I had neglected to see for 22 years. It was well worth a visit as it has a large
and wonderful collection of vintage cars and had a special exhibit of tear-drop
trailers from the middle of the last century.
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| Dad at the Automobile Museum |
When Matthew was
home for spring break in mid-March, the three of us went to the mountains to
ski; there was sufficient snow last year!
And it looks promising for the upcoming ski season, as I sit here by the
hearth, not playing tennis because it’s raining today.
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| Peter and Matthew on the slopes |
In late March,
my good friend Paula and I went to Washington, D.C. to stay with my friend
Lori, who now lives there. We really
enjoyed visiting with her and her two children and exploring Washington. We walked around the National Mall to see
various monuments and enjoy the cherry blossoms, magnolias and early spring
flowers in bloom, visited various museums and the Botanic Gardens, and saw
performances at the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center. Paula left before Easter Sunday, and on my
own I attended services at the Washington National Cathedral and then toured
the building.
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| Blossoms in front of Smithsonian Castle |
I stopped on my
way home in Ohio to visit one of my sisters, her family and my dad. Beth Ann, Dad and I went to the Pro Football
Hall of Fame in Canton one day and the rest of the time we just relaxed
together and played games.
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| Dad with protective padding at the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
A few days after
my return, Peter and I spent a weekend in early April with our friends Mary and
Bill and their friends Steve and Sandy at Mary’s vacation house in Bodega
Bay. We enjoyed good food and
camaraderie, watching Pacific harbor seals at Goat Rock, walking along the
bluffs, and playing games as the fog rolled in.
The three women indulged in an afternoon massage at a nearby spa where
we walked through lush gardens to individual pagodas for our sessions as the
rain pattered on the tin roofs. It was
heaven!
At the end of
April, we shared a cliff side rental house further north on the coast at Ft.
Bragg for a week with our great friends Patty and Shalako. We enjoyed walking through the beautiful,
colorful Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden, where the rhododendrons were in
bloom in various shades of red, pink, purple, yellow and white. We explored Glass Beach, where colorful,
ocean-tumbled pieces of glass are interspersed with the pebbles on the beach
below the cliff. Ft. Bragg used to dump its
trash, discarded appliances and even vehicles in this cove, and the topography
and currents have kept the glass and the remains of some of these items there
to be slowly eroded by the sea. The wet glass
sparkles like jewels on the beach.
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| Glass Beach |
We
spent time in the lovely little arts community of Mendocino, poking around in
shops, walking along the headlands and enjoying great meals. We hiked in the State parks through lush
wooded areas and through the stunted growth of the Pygmy Forest; took our canoe
and two-person kayak on a paddle up the Big River (with their pet, Ruby, the
Adventure Dog), where we saw many seals sunning themselves; visited the Point
Cabrillo Lighthouse; and tried mushroom ice cream—unbelievably delicious!
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| Pregnant seal |
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| Peter, Ruby and Patty near the mouth of the Big River |
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| Shalako being watched by a seal |
Escaping the cold winds, we returned to the
warm and cozy house late each afternoon, where we relaxed, read books and played
games in the evenings. On the way back
to Sacramento, Peter and I stopped at Bale Grist Mill State Park. Fortunately for us, it was one of the rare
days when the park staff and volunteers operate the mill, so we were able to
take a tour where the guide provided us with lots of historical information
about the area, see grain being refined and buy freshly made polenta.
Our spring
adventures continued with a trip to Arizona to pick up Matthew at the end of
his freshman year at ASU. Peter and I
stopped en route to hike in Joshua Tree National Park, and we also stopped with
Matthew on the way home. The spring
wildflowers, particularly the variety of cacti, were stunning. We spent a night camping by Lone Pine Creek
thousands of feet below the peak of Mt. Whitney. Arriving and setting up in the dark is always
a challenge, and we managed to get the undercarriage of our Honda Pilot stuck
on a large rock. We were too tired and
we did not have enough light to deal with it.
In the morning, Peter and Matthew unloaded everything from the car,
which allowed just enough clearance, and, fortunately, the oil pan was
intact. While Peter and I would have
been happy to take our time and stop to hike and explore on the way back,
Matthew was eager to get home, so we only stopped briefly at Mono Lake for
lunch and a short hike.
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| Prickly Pear Cactus |
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| Peter relaxing in the desert |
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| Matthew and all his stuff tightly packed in the back of the Honda Pilot |
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| Mono Lake |
My old friend
Joan Casey, whom I hiked and backpacked with many times, died in
mid-April. Matthew, Peter and I attended
a memorial service for her in Sausalito in May.
After the service, we hiked in the warm afternoon sunshine in the Marin
Headlands, one of her favorite places, to Tennessee Valley Beach.
Katya returned
from her year of study abroad in Kobe, Japan, near the end of May. We missed seeing her for nine months! Although Peter and I thoroughly enjoy our
empty nest, it’s great when both kids are home from university.
At a fundraising
gala in the spring, Peter and I had placed the highest bid for two four-day
passes to the Sacramento Music Festival in Old Town Sacramento. Over the Memorial Day weekend, we enjoyed
great jazz, zydeco and rock music at various venues. Some of the performances were truly amazing.
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| Clint Baker and His Hot Five on the Delta King |
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| Sherri and Peter dancing to zydeco music |
The four of us
spent four weeks in June and July in England and Scotland, visiting family and
friends. Although the weather was often
dreary (and I complained and was depressed by the lack of sunshine), we had a
great time and were pleased to be able to spend time with so many dear
people. Complete details of our summer
trip can be found on my blog at: http://brownsummertravels2016.blogspot.com.
Many of the places in England we had visited before, but new delights
included Blenheim Palace, the Lake District, Glasgow and the Isle of
Arran.
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| Matthew and Katya at Stirling Castle in Scotland |
I always love exploring and
visiting museums in London and never seem to have enough time there. This year, however, the kids got to spend a
week and a half there, staying at Peter’s cousin Wendy Sykes’ home, while Peter
and I joined our friends Andrew and Paula for a week on the canal boat they had
rented for four months of leisurely travel in Great Britain. We rendezvoused with them in Market Drayton
to travel at maximum speed of 4 miles per hour westward on the Shropshire Union
Canal and then turned into the Llangollen Canal to visit Wales, crossing the
Ceiriog River and the River Dee on high, historic aqueducts. Serendipitously, the famous 70th annual Eisteddfod music festival was occurring in Llangollen on the dates we
were there. Phenomenal concerts, amateur
competitions, dancing and casual street performances filled the parks, churches
and fair grounds of the quaint, lovely town of Llangollen, where the River Dee
churns between the main part of town on one side and the railroad and canal on
the other.
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| Andrew and Paula operating a lock while Peter steers the canal boat |
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| Peter, Paula, Andrew and Sherri enjoying some sunshine in Llangollen |
Peter and I
returned to London after this jaunt and enjoyed exploring London with the kids
before stopping to stay with one more family of friends in the country prior to
flying out of Heathrow for Pittsburgh.
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| Katya and Matthew with the one of the Queen's Horse Guards |
We had a couple of days to pack up the beach stuff kept at Mom and Dad’s
house before starting off for the annual Rodgers beach vacation in Ocean City,
Maryland, with Dad. We had a great week,
as usual, and were lucky to have my friend Lori, her two children Michael and
Elizabeth and one of Elizabeth’s friends join us.
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| Part of the Rodgers family and Lori's gang in the ocean |
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| Family T-Shirt |
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| The Rodgers family (minus two) |
In addition to
walking along the beach in Waikiki and in Ala Moana Park, we visited the Byodo-In
Temple, went scuba diving on the west side of Oahu with Brian, and walked in
the blistering heat along the Kaena Point trail to reach the western-most part
of the island to see the protected nesting grounds for black noddies and
shearwaters. After Katya started classes
the second week, Peter and I went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay; drove to the north
coast through the center of the island and stopped at the Wahiawa Botanical
Garden; rented a kayak for a day and paddled to islands off the coast from
Kailua, where we walked around shearwater nesting grounds and observed the
birds and rode the waves onto the leeward beach of another island, Moko Nui,
where a large Hawaiian monk seal was resting on the soft, cream-colored
sand.
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| Katya with a frog she caught at the temple |
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| Peter, Brian and Katya on the dive boat |
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| Peter, Sherri, Brian and Kaye at an Indian restaurant in Waikiki |
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| Hawaiian monk seal |
Peter is still a
Boy Scout assistant scoutmaster with Troop 380, and I have been volunteering at
the public library as a tutor and with a Girl Scout troop, doing activities and
hikes with them. One enjoyable trip was
to Angel Island, which at one time was an immigration station where many
Chinese immigrants were kept for up to two years waiting for approval due to
the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The
museum in the former barracks is fascinating, with remnants of Chinese poetry
carved into the paneling of most of the rooms.
We have made
several day trips to San Francisco. One
time, Paula and I went on an exclusive tour of the Pacific Stock Exchange Lunch
Club (now the private City Club) to view a stunning Diego Rivera Mural that
graces the stairwell and to admire the rooms’ Art Deco style. On another day, Peter and I went out to lunch
with Paula and Andrew in Noe Valley and then, on Andrew’s advice, Peter and I
visited the little known private (but free) photography museum at Pier 24 by
the Oakland Bay Bridge. We spent two
hours there, which was not nearly enough time to appreciate all the art at this
amazing place.
At the beginning
of November, I flew back to West Virginia for my dad’s 90th
birthday. He was a bit dismayed that,
other than my older sister and her husband and her daughter and her family,
none of his other children or grandchildren seemed to be making any effort to
acknowledge or celebrate this milestone.
Little did he know that, through covert planning and outright lying, the
whole family (with the exception of my gang) was converging on New Cumberland
for a surprise party at the church. He
was truly amazed and gratified at the gathering of family and members of the
community.
After visiting
with him for a few days, I caught a short flight to Washington, D.C. (one of my
favorite destinations), since my friend Lori graciously provides me with lovely
accommodations at her home there whenever I want to visit. The weather was pleasant. Winter had not yet arrived, so there were
still flowers blooming and autumn leaves on the trees. Either on my own or with Lori, I visited Smithsonian
museums; went to an evening performance event at the East Wing of the National
Gallery (great dance and live music); attended a memorial service at the US
Navy Memorial Plaza (which I just happened upon) on Veteran’s Day; enjoyed
three evening performances at the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center; toured
the reading room and other areas of the Folger Shakespeare Library; toured the
Larz Anderson House near Dupont Circle, the headquarters of the Society of
Cincinnati; and explored neighborhoods such as Georgetown.
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| Veteran's Day Ceremony at Navy Plaza |
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| Illuminated glass art in the reflecting pond in front of the Kennedy Center |
Matthew flew
home for Thanksgiving, and the three of us enjoyed a quiet four-day holiday
weekend. Since then, the holiday season
has been in full swing, and Peter and I have attended many parties and some
concerts, with more to come. Matthew
arrives home for winter break on Dec. 11 and Katya gets here on Dec. 17. The four of us fly to Ohio on Dec. 21 to stay
with my younger sister and her family for a week as they host most of the
Rodgers clan for Christmas.
We will end the
year, probably quietly, at home and reflect on all the wonderful opportunities,
adventures, and blessings we have enjoyed this past year. We hope that you are enjoying a merry holiday
season and wish you peace, love and happiness in the new year.
With love,
Sherri, Peter,
Katya and Matthew
11913 Sailor Creek Court, Gold River, CA 95670
USA
sherribro3@pacbell.net and peterbro3@icloud.com
916-989-5184 (home); 916-205-5184 (Sherri); 916-207-5184
(Peter)
