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23 april 1910

Thinking about these words:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

(Theodore Roosevelt)

Anza Borrego Desert

We took our first family vacation to the Anza Borrego desert. It was H’s first road trip, and he suffered some motion sickness within the first hour. We got outside and the chilly air must have been just what he needed. He was content the remainder of the day. We visited the pumpkin patch, Borrego Springs, and the Salton Sea. A very nice getaway before a long week of travel (for me).

London Night

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.

Mark Twain

The Innocents Abroad / Roughing It

firenze

In around a month there will be a baby here, so I am trying to get as organized as possible, including going through old computer storage drives. I’ve gotten through my old photos of Florence and enjoyed the textures and vibrant colors, while also missing the good food. It will probably be a while before we are able to return, but it will be one of our first stops.

Pfeiffer Beach

A work trip required me to drive to Monterey, so we took the opportunity to travel train Ranger and explore some of the California coastline on the way up. Ranger was dizzy during the windy drive through Big Sur, so we stopped at Pfeiffer Beach to give him a break from the curves. The area was stunning. We will have to visit again soon.

Big-Sur-sm

pfeiffer-beach-sm

Big Bear Retreat

Every so often a retreat is necessary. Once I saw the view, I knew the weekend would feel too short.

BigBear-1

The “farm” has been a bit exhausting lately, made a bit more difficult by hot weather and pregnancy. Especially the chickens, who have to be fed separate foods since the new six are still too young to be on layer feed. We took the short drive to Big Bear and thoroughly enjoyed the cooler temperatures and occasional rains.

BigBear-2

This was Ranger’s first trip to the lake and we had hoped to take him on a boat ride to see if he would swim. All of the boats ended up being rented out, so we settled for taking him to a nearby beach. He enjoying the water more than I thought was possible from a dog who won’t step into a kiddie pool.

BigBear-3

I’m already looking forward to the next trip.