Merry Happy Ho Ho – Winter 2009/2010

Dear Family, Friends and Fellow Weirdoes,

Wow. Could another year have passed already? We have been busy, filled this year with lots of wonderful adventures, spending every minute we could together, and wasted too much time doing none of the above.

This year started out with us celebrating New Years Eve onboard the Holland America’s Ryndam in Mazatlan, Mexico. On New Year’s Day we were in Loreto and they had a harbor full of pelicans. Watching them dive head first into the water was spectacular… and a little frightening! We had most of the Jones family with us, celebrating Christmas 2008 in Acapulco, Mexico, where Tim & I swam with the dolphins!

  Swimming with the dolphins!

In February Tim and I had the awesome experience of going behind the scenes at the San Diego Zoo’s Big Cat Show. We got a chance to meet all sorts of critters, some of which I had never heard of. The highlight was meeting Karroo the cheetah and her buddy Sven Olaf the dog.

At the Zoo with the critters

This summer we once more boarded a cruise ship, but not until we had traveled for 26 hours from San Diego to get to Stockholm, Sweden. Our ship was the Oceania Regatta, a much smaller ship than we had ever been on was and all the better for it! I think Oceania is the best cruise line we have ever sailed on and hope our next trip will be with them as well. If you ever get a chance, they are the ticket!
For the next 18 days we traveled aboard ship, but our first full day was spent in Stockholm where we went to the Vasa museum. The Vasa is an intact 17^th century ship that sunk less than one mile from where its maiden voyage began in Stockholm.

The rear of the Vasa looking forward.

Vasa from the front side.

In Tallinn, Estonia we cruised the cobbled streets and poked our heads in an ancient church, spent what seemed like hours looking for a bathroom as we wondered about the Blackhead Society and balanced on unusual playground toys. Tim and others sat on the pier with their jackets over their heads so they could see their computer screens while they checked e-mail.

Outside a church in Tallinn. Great little town.

For three days in St Petersburg, Russia we saw Catherine’s Winter Palace, spent a day at the Hermitage (including a room filled with taxiderimied horses with full coats of armor in the saddle) and wished we had another week there. We saw Saint Isaac’s Cathedral and the Church of the Spilled Blood which is beyond belief in its many details and decoration. There is even a section of the original street in the church where the father of the son who commissioned the church died. We even celebrated 4^th of July with our ship moored right in the thick of things in downtown St Petersburg.

Government building with statue of Stalin.

Armored horses and knights.

Jen and Dad taking photos at Catherine’s Palace.

Beautiful arched hall at the Hermitage.

Church of the Spilled Blood. A true sight to see.

Church of the Spilled Blood interior.

Church of the Spilled Blood interior.

Just a little gold in Catherine’s Palace!

The inside of St Isaac’s Cathedral is a wonder to see.

St Isaac’s was just fabulous.

Jen outside another palace – the wedding palace I think.

Fun garden designs at Catherine’s Palace.

In Helsinki, Finland we ate reindeer, visited the many stalls set out by the water filled with handmade crafts, purchased a reindeer pelt which we learned from the seller is raised like cattle is in the US for food, and walked to a nearby church. In Gdansk, Poland we took a taxi into the historic area with a cabbie that spoke a little English and dropped us off next to the world’s largest brick church. Here we found an interesting statue of a boy with an erect penis in his pants (what we’d have given to have had the plaque written in English!), visited the many shops and watched the traffic on the river. In Copenhagen, Denmark we visited a fabulous museum, ate $20 hamburgers as well as visiting the shopping district. In Warnemunde, Germany we walked down to the Baltic Sea and I waded in the water as the sand blew in our faces just so we could say we had done it. Tim enjoyed seeing all the stands cold smoking fish.

Quick break in Helsinki before heading to the outdoor market.

An indoor market in Helsinki that had lots of interesting meats and veggies.

 Tim’s reindeer lunch in Helsinki – very good. Good local beer too.

Inside one of the church’s in Helsinki.

Downtown Gdansk, Poland

 “interesting” statue…

Not sure what this tree was for, but it was very unique.

Lunch in Gdansk, Poland.

Warnemunde, Germany is a lovely little seaside town.

Jen dips her feet in the Baltic Sea.

  Warnemunde, Germany – lots of cool fish smokers.

For one day we got up before dawn as the ship entered the first lock of the Kiel Canal. Many of us sat in the bar on the highest deck so we could see each lock as we came to it. It was a day of beautiful countryside and heavy mist. Out of the canal, we had rough weather as the ship cruised into the North Sea and most of the family suffered badly from sea sickness. The ship rose and fell so much we were afraid to walk the stairs for fear we might break our necks.

Breakfast on an upper deck after just entering Kiel Canal.

 The countryside was fantastic all day long.

 Some of the many, many windmills we saw throughout Europe.

 And the last locks before heading into the North Sea.

In Amsterdam we took the streetcar into town and then Tim & I departed from the main group to visit the Red Light District. We “window” shopped, visited a small brewery where in addition to their own beer they also made gin. In Bruges, Belgium (check out the panoramas at the bottom of the linked page, they really show off the city) we visited Zot Brewery and as many chocolate shops as we could.

Saw more bikes in Amsterdam than anywhere else.

Lovely city with canals here and there.

Jen with the local cow – saw a number of these, not sure what the cow story is.

Bruges is a fantastic city. If you get to Belgium, be sure to visit Bruges!

Tim & Jen along a Bruges canal.

At long last, and with mixed emotions we made our last port of call in Dover, UK. From the white cliffs we took a van into London where we stayed in Kensington and made it our home for 4 days while we visited as many places as possible. We went to museum, after museum going back to some of them more than once. We saw the Rosetta stone, the transplanted wonders of Egypt, walked through parks, drove by parks, stood by the Thames and watched the water traffic. We ate lunch in Trafalgar Square and walked around the lions. We stood outside of Parliament, visited the Abbey and left when we saw the price of admission! We took a day trip to Windsor Castle and Stonehenge where it rained and we rejoiced because the sky was filled with thick black clouds and the stones looked even more magnificent because of it. The day ended in the college town of Oxford were we took a walking tour and admired all there was to admire.

Trafalgar Square, London with Big Ben in the distance.

Trafalgar Square, London – Jen and the Lion.

The Parliament Building, London. Fantastic building, lots of detail.

Stonehenge – fantastic!

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Oxford

 Jen & her dad in “the tube”.

We came home at last, after another 26 hours of travel during which we flew over Greenland which was quite a sight to see! We drove home the next day and went straight to pick up Mojo and Wallace from Doggy Camp. They had a marvelous time at the boarding kennel but were thrilled to come home with us. It was great to watch them so excited to see us they spun in circles and ran back and forth too happy to pause for even an instant. Then we went home and slept for hours.

What else did we do? I started working at Windermere Exclusive Properties in Escondido as a real estate agent. I took an Accounting Class that focused on sole propertorship so that I could keep the books for the apartments I now manage for my parents. Tim kept working at ESRI, but now instead of working from home he travels down to La Jolla and works out of the office there. He has rekindled his passion for BBQ (& me about eating it!). He continues with the Valley Center Lions where he is Vice President and enjoys helping with the pancake breakfast fundraisers.

I am still teaching Puppy Class at Hidden Valley Obedience Club (HVOC) and I must be doing something right there. I was President this last year for a second term and will continue in the same capacity for 2010. I gave up the Newfoundland Rescue and resigned from the Newfoundland Club of San Diego (NCSD) Board of Directors. We had a wonderful time at the NCSD Halloween party where Tim, Mojo and I won first prize for best costumes! Tim went as God, I came as the Devil and Mojo was our “little” 175 pound angel! Tim’s costume consisted of a name tag that said, “Hello! My Name Is GOD”. What can I say, men always get it easy! This year Tim’s father and his step-mother moved to Texas and we were sorry to see them go.

This Christmas we celebrated in San Diego with family. I hope that you have the opportunity to celebrate the season with your family. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Yule, or Hanukkah, none of the above or some compilation of them all, we hope that you enjoy yourself. We wish you the very best this year and into the next. We hope that we will meet up with you in 2010 and have the opportunity to share a meal and visit. And if 2010 isn’t the year to meet up we hope it is the year we make a firm date to meet in the next year.

Best wishes for a joyful and safe Holiday Season and prosperous New Year

Jen & Tim – and Mojo, Wallace, Luna, Sam, Little & Calamity Jane

 

View this letter online for more photos and

More photos are available if you should care to view them:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021556&id=1083285440&l=6b5cb5e0de (lots here)
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-ranch/sets/72157623098948062/ (not so many here – but other photos to view too)
Photoshop: https://www.photoshop.com/user/timcraig (quite a few here – plug in to load site)

HVOC October Trial – well, the Food at least

Another year of the Hidden Valley Obedience Club’s October Trial has come and gone. This is a two-day obedience trial held each year in October on our private field in Escondido.

As usual I was on the Hospitality crew. If you have ever entered in a dog show you might not think this is much of a big deal – so you grab some day-old donuts and coffee, what’s the big deal?? Well, we do things a little differently at HVOC – especially when it comes to our big show.

We do hospitality right! We have people coming to us and saying that they come to this show just for the food! What’s the secret? Nothing major – just some planning, a good crew, and a real desire to do things right and have a quality event all around.

So what does that mean? Well, in our little world of Hospitality that means serving 5 full meals. And these are real meals.

Two breakfasts – did I mention that these are complimentary??! This is a hot breakfast folks. Fresh made pancakes while you wait. Hot syrup. Cooked to order eggs – real eggs, cracked right after you order. Fresh brewed coffee.

Two lunches. Hot lunch, not some soggy cold sandwich. Hamburger/cheese burger. Shredded chicken breast sandwich. Or if you are a vegetarian (or if it just sounds good), a cheese Panini sandwich – with cooked peppers if you like. Yes, of course the peppers are hand cut right there…you don’t even have to ask. Did someone say Brat sandwich? Oh ya baby – hot Bratwurst cooking in veggies and beer. And drinks of course – water, soda, all you can drink, ice cold.

One dinner. But not just any dinner – the Judge’s Dinner. This is a special meal we have to thank the judges for coming out and doing their thing. We start with a happy hour with specialty beers and wines, some cheese and crackers and other appetizers. Then step up for your choice of Tri-Tip, Salmon or a veggie option. Yes, the Tri-Tip and salmon are cooked fresh on location – but even better, they are smoked! Oh ya, nothing makes Tri-Tip and salmon better than smoking. Always fantastic! Rolls, salad – and I almost forgot – Erin’s famous homemade apple sauce. Well, it isn’t really homemade – it is made right there on the field just hours before dinner! The apples are fresh from Julian and skinned and cut after lunch and cooked up just in time for dinner. Oh, and dessert too!

Are you getting the idea? This is real food, real good.

Oh ya – we have fun too. This is the same crew pretty much from year to year, so we have it all down to a science. It is a well oiled machine. Marsha is great at planning out the details. She and Robin do a lot (all?) of the shopping. Set up Friday, have dinner. Cook, cook, cook on Saturday. Clean up. Cook, cook, cook on Sunday, clean up & tear down.

I was only able to help out Friday and Saturday this year as business travel took me away Sunday. Bummer – but a guy has to work! Sounds like the crew survived without me somehow. Plus Robin showed up to take my place – so it all worked out.

See below for some photos, click each to see the full photo – or go here to see a short slide show of them.

Hope to see you there next year!

Friday set-up – Gary takes a break and relaxes with his mandolin. I’ve never heard him play before – he’s good! He even plays in a band.

While the field is being set up for dog show stuff and the great raffle, we are in the fenced off puppy yard area converting it to the a kitchen and diner. Once the work is done we let the dogs in, get some dinner and relax.

Mojo and Hurley love to run and play and don’t get to do so often enough. They were very happy to see each other…

Darla jumped in to have some fun too!

Bob grabbed a guitar and joined Gary in making some great dinner music.

Custom orders don’t upset us. We cook eggs to order each morning. Here Gary makes a Mickey Mouse pancake!

Bob expertly sharpened up that knife, then sat down and went to work on a ton of red and green peppers and some onions and he did a great job!

People like to eat at different times at shows. Some like to eat as early as possible, others want to show first and then eat – guess they get those butterflies in the tummy too! Here’s Ed watching over the griddle cooking up some eggs, while Gary starts to prep for lunch.

Ed doesn’t do things half way – especially with good food. I’ve seen him make a mean breakfast sandwich at some of our Lions breakfasts, and he came through here for lunch! Let’s see…that is two hamburger patties (one with cheddar and one with Swiss), a Bratwurst, chicken breast and veggies to tie it all together. Now that’s a meal!

It takes a team of folks to feed these hungry dog folks right. Here we see Gary working the chicken on the grill, Chris doing anything that anyone needs (great support man!) and new comer to the club and the Hospitality crew, Clint. Clint jumped right in and helped out with lunch both days. Thanks Clint!

Eric and Marsha kept watch over the rest of Hospitality – not an easy task. There’s all the drinks, all the questions, keeping things full and clean and safe – and always keeping a smile on your face. The cooking and serving is easy next to all that! As you can see, Eric manages to keep a smile on her face! (or did Ed just tell some off color joke…???)

Yes – homemade apple sauce. It is fantastic! Fresh apples skinned and sliced just before going into the big pot to be cooked down with brown sugar and cinnamon. What’s the recipe? Well, that’s the kicker – there isn’t one. It is made to taste each year as the apples and the mix of apple types is always different. Our recipe is Erin and her taste buds!

Thanks to new member Christy for jumping right in and helping out with the apple skinning and cutting duties. Before I got this shot her son Austen was helping out too.

We have to eat when we can, and it also gives us a chance to preview the food to be sure things are tasting as we expect them to. We do have standards to live up to here! Here we see Marsha doing a little Quality Control work with a Panini sandwich and sharing a laugh with daughter Erin. Also seen here is Rhonda who came by to get a group photo of us all (2nd photo below – nice shot Rhonda).

Group shot:

Here is what it’s all about – feeding folks! This is our shaded eating area.

It is all worthwhile when people come through the line and gush about how great the food is every year! We hear horror stories of the “food” at other events – some scary stuff. Nice to see all those smiling faces enjoying the work we put into making all that food. And we have a bit of fun doing it too.

Oh – and people enjoy the obedience trial too!