Got a ride to the Hilton Head airport from Joel Magee, then I flew from HHH to Atlanta, then Denver.

Long day, they couldn't find pilots for our Denver flight - ended up only being about a 45 min. delay.

My younger brother Tom met me at the airport, and we stopped at a The Sportsbook restaurant, where they had the USA Soccer match on and the Colorado Rockies baseball game. (USA lost, Rockies won).

Tom is retired now, and had me sleep in his master bedroom upstairs, which is very comfortable. (Tom's House)

Played Pickleball with Tom's friends Mark, Paul, and John at Stoneybrook where they had two beautiful permanent courts, chairs to sit under and a big umbrella for shade.    We got Blizzards at DQ afterwards with Tom's BOGO coupon.

Tom & I drove to Eldorado Canyon State Park, near Boulder, and did a 3-hour hike up into the mountains. It was a beautiful clear day, with lots of shade along the trail, and spectacular views.  It had everything I had hoped for in a hike. Mountains, stream, shade, views, etc.  Near the top we even saw a train going by above us. We saw lots of orange butterflies out this day. After the hike we drove over to Tom's friend Mary Dellabella's house, and she made us salad and enchiladas and homemade margaritas.  We played three games of pool on her beautiful pool table.  

Tom & I played Pickleball at Heritage Hills with his friends Jim, Amos & Dale. Beautiful day out!  57 degrees to start at 8:30 am. Then we drove to Tom's long-time friend Barb's house for a 4^th of July BBQ. We had a great time with Judy, Mary, Barb, and Roger. We had turkey burgers, hamburgers, homemade pasta salad, homemade bean salad, and Gelato and cupcakes for dessert.  When it got dark we went out on Tom's back deck and watched about 45 minutes of various fireworks being shot off all around the neighborhood.

I was feeling a little flushed, and so I took my temperature and it was about 100.  Tom had a Covid test kit, so I took it, and I tested positive.  His kit was expired, so he went out and bought two new ones, and I tried a new one, and it also tested positive.  Tom felt fine, but tested himself, and it came out negative.  So we both wore masks from that point on. I didn't feel too bad, but had a nagging cough. My temperature went back down to normal pretty quickly after taking Tylenol, and stayed normal.

I stayed home, and Tom went out to a movie, and brought home Chinese for lunch. I read my bird book out on his back deck, which was very comfortable.  He has a nice big umbrella for shade.  Tom went to an 80's bands concert with his friend Mary D., who used my ticket. 

Tom and I went for a short hike along the High Line Canal, a 71-mile long trail system a very short drive from Tom's house.  It had beautiful views of a Reservoir and the mountains.  We had a Google Meet with Dave this afternoon. Tom went and got a Covid vaccination shot.  

Jim pretty much stayed home and relaxed and recovered.  Tom did a lot of outdoor activities.

We left Denver about 8am, and arrived at Utah's Goblin Valley State Park, a marvelous exhibition of hoodoos and rock formations, as well as many Buttes.  It was 102 degrees out, so we didn't hike through the trails for too long, and took lots of liquids with us. Here's a video.  We saw 2 guys hiking far into the valley, and this gave us some perspective.  Jim in the shade.  Tom by a Goblin.  The roads were very straight & long. We got to our Motel 6 in Green River (pop. 876) at 6:00pm, rested up and then went to the Tamarisk Restaurant nearby. I had a homemade Navajo Taco, and Tom had a Chicken Taco salad.  Both were good, huge and too big to eat it all.

We drove to Great Basin National Park in Nevada, and gained an hour due to the time change.  The view was much different this time, being a lot more of plains than rocky deserts.  Lots of really long, straight roads. We got to Baker, NV, where the park is, and not much else. The temperature outside was in the 90's and Tom was feeling sick, and wanted something to eat, so we had lunch at the Park Cafe and he felt a little better. They had a very scenic drive up into the mountains, so we checked in first for our Lehman Cave Tour, then drove up the mountain.  It was quite an elevation change, going from about 7,000 ft. to over 10,000 ft.  The temperature even dropped nearly 20 degrees by the time we got to the top.  The views of the basin and mountains were great. It was so high up we felt like we were in an airplane.  We got out at a few overlooks to get better views.  Then we drove back down, and lined up for our Lehman Cave Tour, which had about 20 people, was an hour and a half, and a temperature of 52 degrees in the cave. It was a very narrow path for most of the tour, with some large rooms and spaces further inside.  Spectacular formations everywhere, and a nice guided tour.  After the tour we drove about an hour to Ely, Nevada, and stayed at the Jailhouse Casino Motel, right downtown.  Things were pretty empty, being the hottest month of the year.  The Casino itself was quite smoky, but our room was in a separate building, and was very pleasant.  Much bigger than the Motel 6, and had a big, clean bathroom, and was in much better shape overall.  We saw a Stephen King star on the sidewalk, guessing he must have stopped here at some time. We kept the room very cool and slept well.

 We had about a 5-hour drive to Carson City, Nevada today.  We noticed some giant bugs in a certain area on the road, crossing over and getting run over by cars.  Tom asked about them when we stopped In Austin for a break, and they are called "Mormon Crickets".  She told us that they cause slippery spots on the road because of their high number.  This was on "The Loneliest Road in the USA" - Route 50.  We also saw a "dust devil" miniature tornado with tumbleweed go right by our car.  We got to our Days Inn by Wyndham and checked in about a half hour early. Pretty nice room with 2 queen beds.  Then we went to lunch at Red's Old 395 Grill, which had a huge amount of old western memorabilia and paintings, and old firetrucks, and a huge collection of bottles of beer.  We both had their great NE Clam Chowder, and Jim had the Petite Meat loaf (huge), and Tom had a turkey burger.  Then we headed for Lake Tahoe and our Sunset Cruise we had booked.  Driving into Lake Tahoe it looked like sprinkling rain, and we were amazed at the huge size of the Lake.  There was also a really long line of traffic backed up a long way out of town.  We were glad we had left very early to get there.  We ended up waiting by the Marina for about an hour and a half, before they started boarding the cruise boat. The sprinkling kept going on and off, and we wondered if we would even go at all. Finally, it cleared up.  We only had about 20 people on a large boat, so there was plenty of room to roam around and look for views.  Fortunately, the rain stopped, and we ended up with one the nicest sunsets the boat's Captain had ever seen.  We could tell by the number of photographs he took for himself. The Emerald Isle. Here's a video I took in the Emerald Bay.

The cruise went from 7pm to 9pm, and we drove back to Carson City by about 10:45 pm, and Tom played a few games at a couple of Casinos and broke even. The Casinos were quite empty considering it was a Friday night.  

In the morning, since we were about to see TK (my daughter, and Fiance' Didi), we tested for Covid and Jim came out negative and Tom tested positive.  So, it was masks back on in the car, and mostly for Tom the rest of the time. We drove out the north end of Lake Tahoe, it was as crowded as the east end, with hundreds of cars parked along the cliffs, and people taking beach gear down the steep embankments to the lake.  We drove on out of town to Truckee, the site of the Donner Party Memorial and Park.  Downtown Truckee was packed with shoppers and tourists, so we drove over to the Donner Memorial State Park.  We just caught the beginning of a Tour Guide telling the whole story of the Donner Party and history of the area.  It was very informative.  They also had a really nice museum there.  Afterwards, we headed west along the shore of Donner Lake, a beautiful but narrow lake, and up into the hills above that provided a nice view of Donner Lake and the valley around it.  We drove through Sacramento and Oakland on our way to TK & Didi's in Fremont, dealing with city traffic once again. We got to our Wyndham Hotel, and the whole front lobby was empty. They were doing renovations, and just had a card table for a front desk.  The room, however, was very spacious and comfortable.  We called TK and met at a restaurant called "Jack's" that had outdoor seating at a Mall that was walking distance from our Hotel, and had a pleasant dinner there. After a long dinner, we headed back to the Hotel for the night.

We had breakfast at the Hotel, and then drove over to TK & Didi's place for a tour. They have a nice balcony, large living room, and closeness to Didi's school where he teaches music.  We then went for a nice walk from their place to Central Park, which is near Didi's school and has a nice 2-mile paved walk around a lake.  We saw lots of birds and squirrels there, along with people walking, jogging, and enjoying the nice weather.  It was about in the mid 70's.  We also saw a small Chinese group of musicians playing traditional music, with Tai Chi lessons and dancing nearby.  Tom, TK, Didi and Jim. After the walk we went to a restaurant called Bill's Cafe, where we could eat outside. They had wonderful eggs Benedict dishes, and lots of fresh food choices.  We came back to the Hotel to relax, and Tom went for a swim in the Hotel pool. That evening, I went out alone to have dinner with TK & Didi at a nice Asian restaurant called Special Noodle.  It was very modern, clean, and the order via the internet came within 5 minutes.  The food was delicious.  We had good conversation and then Jim came back to the Hotel.

TK picked us up at the Hotel, and drove us to downtown San Fransisco, where we noticed lots of self-driving cars (Waymo taxis), with no one in the driver's seat.  We then parked right near Pier 39.  The weather was cloudy in the morning, with breezes and about 62 degrees. We wore long sleeves and long pants!  We walked around Pier 39 for a while, and looked at the Sea Lions on the docks.  We headed over to Pier 33 for our boat to Alcatraz Island.  There were lots of people there, but it moved along quite well and we boarded the boat on time.  It was only a 12-minute ride to the Island, and we got a map of the area.  Alcatraz is a mixture of beauty and scenery, yet stark with the 5 by 9 cells and bleak prisoner life. Prisoners were the worst of the worst, and could only have 1 visit per month, and it could only be immediate family.  No one, including Al Capone, got any special privileges.  We listened to a 45-minute talk about Al Capone, and they had an excellent free audio tour with headphones that described Alcatraz, and even had sounds of the prison in the background, that added a lot to the tour.  The sun came out when we came out of the prison, and we felt the appreciation of being free.  After Alcatraz, we took the boat back, and walked back to Pier 39 where we had a late lunch at the Wipe Out Bar & Grill.  Pier 39 was much more crowded, now that the sun was out and it was lunchtime. We walked around, and got some chocolates and took lots of pictures.  Tom got an Oero Churro, and it was ho-hum. We then headed out, we drove around the steep hills, and decided to drive down Lombard Street, the very crooked road on a steep hill.  We finally found it, and drove down it, closely avoiding all the tourists standing out in it to take photos.  We drove by Chinatown. Then TK drove us back home.  

Tom & I drove over to TK's workplace, the Humane Society of the Silicon Valley.  It is a huge, clean, beautiful facility. TK introduced us to a number of co-workers, and showed us around the whole place. All the co-workers we talked to had high praise for TK and the work TK does.  TK also walked one of the dogs while showing us around. We went to an excellent lunch at a nearby Poki Run restaurant.  Tom & I drove back to the Hotel and took a swim in the pool, and did some reading.  Didi picked us up in the late afternoon and drove us to Golf-Land, where we met TK for Mini Golf.  It was a huge facility with 3 18-hole courses.  We had a fun time playing, and then drove to a New York Pizzaria for a pizza dinner.  

Tom and I went to Coyote Hills Regional Park nearby, and did a hike. It was a beautiful hike up the hills nearby to get a great view of the East Bay.  The Nature Center had a lot of good displays of both nature and Indian history.  We could see San Fransisco, San Mateo, and other cities along the East Bay from the tops of the hills.  We saw some wildlife, including squirrels. The temperature was in the upper 60's; perfect weather for an outdoor walk.  After the hike, we stopped at an In N Out Burger restaurant, which California is known for.  We had never been to one, and found it to be just another fast food place. 

Tom took a Covid test this afternoon, and was 95% clear.  TK & Didi had ordered food, and then picked us up so we could eat dinner at Central Park, where we had a nice meal and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.  Then we said our goodbyes, and got a ride back to the Hotel.

We drove down by Monterey to Carmel-by-the-Sea on Route 1. Didi's father Mark called me while on route, and we had a nice conversation, since we didn't get to meet him due to our Covid.  He told us that Route 1 may be closed. We parked near a restaurant where we wanted to eat at, and walked down to the beach, which was beautiful turquoise water, and could see the Pebble Beach golf course from our location. On our way down the hill, we stopped in an artist's studio of Thomas Kincaid, and enjoyed looking at a large number of his beautiful paintings. Carmel-by-the-Sea is a beautiful, high-end Mecca of shopping for the wealthy. The houses were beautiful, looking like Swiss chalets and Italian Villas.  We saw lots of gift shops selling jewelry, clothing, and artwork. We ate lunch at the nice Treehouse Restaurant that had an upper deck patio.  We started our drive Down the Pacific Coast Highway, but saw a sign that construction had closed the road, and there was no detour. So, we had to drive inland to Route 101 S down to Morro Bay. When we got there, we drove up Route 1 a way, but the ocean was so fogged in we could barely see the water. Found our hotel, and walked along the pier near the big rock down by the docks, but it was too foggy to see the big rock. (here's what it normally looks like)  We found a good bar called the Morro Grill to eat dinner.

We got up early in Morro Bay and everything was still fogged in. We started to drive towards Bakersfield, California, but came across a detour with construction delays. We ended up driving around these twisty country roads with lots of ranches on them to get back to our main route. We probably took another hour of driving to get to Bakersfield, where Tom had his oil changed on his car. We went to a Jiffy Lube. We went to a Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch, and then drove towards Needles, California. The temperature this morning was 58° in Morro Bay, but 118° in Needles. Tom was driving at one point, and the car in front of us kicked up a rubber tire piece that smashed right into Jim side of the windshield and made a huge crashing sound. It left a rubber smudge, that Tom was able to wipe off at a gas station later.  It was so hot in Needles that even running the cold water in the hotel felt warm. We ate dinner at the local Wagon Wheel restaurant on Route 66, one of only two restaurants in the whole town. They had lots of Rte. 66 things to see & buy. We tried to take cold showers, but could only manage warm ones.  We found there was no cold water at all.

Even with setting the air conditioner in the hotel room at 61°, it still feels pretty warm in here.

We got up in the morning, and had finally gotten the room cold enough to sleep in, except for the bathroom, which remained very hot.  We had breakfast from the Hotel, and headed east on Rte. 40 towards the Petrified Forest National Park.  For most of the drive, the temperature remained in the high 90's.  We stopped at Holbrook, and went into a Visitor's Center that had an odd collection of old artifacts.  Long roads again. We got to the Southern entrance to the Park, and Jim showed his Lifetime Pass to get in.  The Park was gorgeous, with blue sky and big cumulus clouds in the sky.  The drive through the Park was about 28 miles long, with lots of stops at overlooks for views. We saw an old 1937 Studebaker on the old Route 66. The drive ended at the Painted Desert, which had a beautiful adobe building built by the CCC, with fantastic views of the valleys and canyons.  We saw some really old Petroglyphs. When we arrived there, a storm came in with high winds and rain, but only lasted about 20 minutes.  We then drove towards Albuquerque, NM, and saw lots of large trucks on the highway. We also drove through a rain storm, and saw a double rainbow.  We ate at a Sports Bar that had a "fight night", and they had all the TVs turned up really loud, but the food was good Mexican.  We had sizzling fajitas.  Then we found our Hotel about 9:00 pm, having lost an hour due to the time change.