2008 Fall Baseball Game 2

Jack played in his second game of the 2008 Fall baseball season. The Yankees played the A's. The Murphy's youngest son was on the other team.

Jack struggled at the plate. He ran the count to three balls and two strikes in each of his three at-bats. With a 3-2 count, Jack struck out swinging, struck out looking and walked.

In the field, he played 3 innings in center field, 1 inning at third and 1 inning at shortstop. Playing third, he took a throw from the catcher to force a runner trying to steal third. Jack also cleanly handled one grounder at shortstop and made the force out at second.

The Yankees fell behind 0 to 2 after two innings; the runs scored on two wild pitches. They rallied to win the game by a score of 12 to 2. Their fall ball record is 2 wins and 0 losses.

2008 Lake Almanor Photo Album

You can find the photo album here!

Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week - Sonya Kitchell

The list of Starbucks iTunes picks of the week is here!

Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week - Sonya Kitchell, originally uploaded by heringermr.

Get Smart

Sharon, Morgan, Jack and I went to see Get Smart.

I grew up watching the television series. I had some mixed feelings about the movie. While the casting was almost perfect, the James Bondsque stunts seemed out of place.

Afterwards, we went to Mikuni Sushi in Elk Grove for dinner.

2008 Fall Baseball Game 1

 

Jack played in his first game of the fall baseball season. He is playing on the Yankees for one of the coaches of the 9U Laguna Youth Baseball Traveling All Stars. The Yankees played against the Braves.

At the plate, Jack went 2 for 2 with a walk. He had three stolen bases and scored two runs. In this first at-bat, Jack drove the third pitch into deep right center; the ball bounced off the fence on one hop. He stole second, stole third and then stole home. Jack walked on four pitches in his second plate appearance and ended up coming around to score. In his third plate appearance, he hammered the first pitch into center field.

I have always considered Jack's glove to be his strongest tool, but over the last three weeks he has been hitting the ball extremely well.

Jack played four innings in center field. After playing only shortstop in the spring league, I think that he is going to a lot of time in the outfield. He made some great plays in the outfield in the first week of practices and I think that the coaches are looking for outfielders for their tournament team.

The Yankees won the game by a score of 12 to 1. Their record for the fall baseball season is 1 win and 0 losses.

2008 Almanor Day 8

A couple of weeks ago, I signed Jack up to play in a fall baseball league. The league runs from this weekend to early September. I decided earlier in the week to try and get Jack back to Elk Grove this morning in time for the first game.

I got up before 6 a.m. and spent two hours packing the car and cleaning the cabin. None of the kids stirred until I was just about ready to leave. After saying a quick goodbye to Wallen and Tomasin, Jack and I rolled from the Dorado Inn about 8 a.m. We made a quick stop in Gridley for food. We ended up driving straight to the baseball field and got there about 10 minutes before the game was scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. Sharon met us with Jack's gear.

I will publish a photo album and a summary of the highlights for this year's week at Lake Almanor in the next few days.

Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week - My Morning Jacket

The list of Starbucks iTunes picks of the week is here!

Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week - My Morning Jacket, originally uploaded by heringermr.

2008 Lake Almanor Day 7

A very lazy morning; at the end of the week, no one was moving very fast. Eventually, I went for a late morning run. I spent the rest of the morning hanging out of the deck outside the Tomasin's cabin.

The plan for the day was to play golf at Almanor West. Snipes had made tee times for three foursomes. Jack and I ended up playing with Tomasin and Chris. The other groups included Nate, Danny and Craig plus Hunter, Debbie, Kyle and Jill.

In the almost 30 years that I known Tomasin, I do not think that I have ever played golf with him. Although he never plays, Tomasin is a very coordinated athlete. He ended up shooting a 58. Chris played very well and finished the nine holes with a 44, while I had a 52. Jack got a par on one of the par 3s with a great shot over the water. Overall, it was one of the most enjoyable golf outings that I have had.

For dinner, we took everyone (all 27 people!) to Plumas Pines to celebrate Robbie's birthday. On Friday night's, Plumas Pines has live music. I headed back to the cabin's a little before 10 p.m. with Drew and Jack. In a move that would become significant later, Morgan decided to stay and get a ride home with Chabrier or Hunter.

The night ended (Saturday started) on an odd note. There were some hard feelings between Hunter, Robbie and Danny. Although I walked into the middle of the end of the situation, Morgan was an observer of the events from start to finish. Her telling of the story, including a prologue and epilogue, are worth the price of admission.

Playing Golf At Almanor West

 

Jack at the Almanor West Golf Course

 

2008 Lake Almanor Day 6

For the second day in a row, Jack, Morgan and Drew slept until about 9 a.m. While they were sleeping, I went for a run along the Eastern Shore. When I got back, Jack and I took off for the Lake Almanor Recreational Trail. This trail runs for 9.5 miles along the western shore. We ended up riding our bikes a total of 12 miles. From my perspective, this ride was more difficult than Monday; although it is paved, it was a rolling trail with lots of up and downs that were steeper than the Bizz Johnson Trail.

Back at the cabin, Bachman recruited me to play horseshoes against Robby and David. We ended up getting beat two games to one. Uncharacteristically, Bachman was not throwing horseshoes very well. Robby and David went on to beat all of the old dogs, getting more cocky and bold as the day wore on. Robby has claims to the horseshoe championship until next year.

After I lost at horseshoes, I spent some time lounging on the boat dock with Hunter, Debbie, Wallen, Tomasin and Snipes trying to solve the world's problems.

While Jack and Drew played on the waverunners, I made a quick run to Chester. Rather than doing a dinner by myself, I committed to make drinks and hors d'oeuvre while the Bob Wallen's made dinner. I made fuzzy navels using Tomasin's recipe as the before dinner drink and shrimp quesadilla as the hor d'oeuvre.

The dinner ended up being very late. Kyle and Mary Rose made a great pork tenderloin for dinner, but it was after 8:30 p.m. by the time it was done.

Tomasin and I ended up splitting a couple of games of cribbage before I wandered off to get Jack to bed.

Sunset over Lake Almanor

 

Hunter's Boat

 

2008 Lake Almanor Day 5

After a late night, everyone was very, very slow getting going in the morning. Jack actually slept until almost 9:00 a.m. With the Rich Bar fire only a few miles south of Lake Almanor, the day started out pretty smokey.

Eventually, Tomasin got a boat going. Jack and I went out with out on the Snipes boat with Snipes, Joy, Craig, Keith and Chris. Chris and Keith wakeboarded. Catching up with the Tomasin boat, Craig switched to that boat and wakeskated for five or six very long runs. Only Tomasin, Chris and Bachman were in that boat.

After Craig was done, I switched over to the Tomasin boat and wakeboarded. After figuring out how to get up on the wakeboard for the first time yesterday, I had two longer runs working on getting the feel for the board. I was very satisfied with the progress I have made over the last two days trying to learn to wakeboard. While I wakeboarded, the Snipes took Jack tubing.

By the time we got the boats back to the cabins, it was almost 2 p.m. Bachman was iching to play horseshoes. Bachman and I beat Drew and David two out of three games, but then lost to Tomasin and Hunter.

I took Jack on a long run on the waverunners. With Drew on the other waverunner, we spent some time shadowing the Tomasin boat and working at splashing each other.

The Snipes made fajitas for dinner. After dinner, we celebrated Craig's birthday with cake and ice cream.

Jack and I finished the evening playing a couple of games of cribbage on the picnic tables.

Jack and I playing Cribbage

 

Bachman and Gail at Plumas Pines

 

2008 Lake Almanor Day 4

Up fairly early, I ran 4.1 miles north along the lake. The Dorado Inn has internet connectivity and I spent an hour finishing up a work project that I had not gotten done last week.

With Tomasin's boat still in the shop, Tomasin and I went out on the Snipes boat with Drew, Jack and Mikey. Drew, Mikey and Tomasin all wakeboarded. One of my goals for his year was to get up on the wakeboard; I have traditionally slalom skied. I successfully got up on the wakeboard for the first time. I made four or five short runs trying to figure out how to control the board with mixed success.

After we got back, Jack, Drew and Morgan all spent some time on the waverunners.

The work on Tomasin's boat was done and he ran down to pick it up. In addition to having to replace the main belt, the shop replaced the C-pump. It had froze and destroyed the belt. I helped Tomasin get this boat back into the water. No week at Lake Almanor would be complete without boat problems.

A group of the kids including Mikey and Jack spent part of the afternoon playing Uno on the picnic tables. Jack and I played one game of cribbage and he beat me badly.

Bachman and Gail showed up. They rode their motorcycles up from the bay area. I do not think that I have seen Gail since Connor's Wedding in 2004.

Running low on supplies, Jack and I made a run to the grocery store in Chester in the late afternoon.

Hunter and Debbie made a late dinner of ham, corn on the cob and salad. There is a large fire in the Feather River Canyon north of Belden. The views of the smoke at sunset and the fire reflecting on the smoke after dark were more than a little disconcerting.

Traditionally, a group of us has gone to Plumas Pines across the lake after dinner one night during the week to play 21 aces. As the older kids have turned 21, the size of the group has grown in recent years. The group totalled 20 people this year! It was a late night. By the time we got everyone back via boats and cars, it was almost 1:00 a.m.

View of the Rich Bar Fire from Lake Almanor

 

Tomasin on the Wakeboard

2008 Lake Almanor Day 3

Drew and Morgan drove up very late Sunday night and got here about 1 a.m. Monday morning. When I woke up, I had a text message from Morgan saying that she would see us at 2 a.m., but they were no where to be seen. Given our spotty cell phone reception at the cabin, I drove up the road and tried to call both of their phones, but got no answer. Driving back to the Dorado Inn, I walked towards the end of the cabins and was relieved to find their car parked at the end. Drew and Morgan were both sound asleep on the couch in the Tomasin's cabin.

My plan for the day was to take Jack mountain biking on the Bizz Johnson Trail. While Sharon, Janie and Joy took off to run along the trail on the Western Shore of Lake Almanor, Jack and I took off for Susanville. After last year's multiple fiascoes of trying to rent bikes, we brought bikes with us this year. The eastern trailhead is located at old Susanville Depot. Jack and I rode a little over 5 miles up the trail to the two old railroad tunnels. It was a steady climb up the old railroad grade. This section is of the trail winds along the Susan River. The ride back went very fast; it was all downhill. In total, we covered about 10.5 miles.

After a quick lunch and stops at a couple of different waymarks, Jack and I headed back to the Dorado Inn.

Morgan, Drew, Sharon and Janie spent the early afternoon on the boat with the Snipes while we were winding our way back.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing horseshoes. It has gotten more complicated in recent years. Drew, David, Robbie, Danny, Nathan and Adam are all in the mix in addition to Hunter, Snipes, Wallen, Tomasin and I.

Drew took Jack for a long ride on the waverunners.

Sharon and Janie took off about 4 p.m. and headed back towards Sacramento.

The Tomasins made a great burrito dinner.

The group finished the evening listening to an impromptu concert; Drew played the guitar and sang with Morgan around the picnic table.