96%

I am at 96% of photo capacity on this blog.
I have mildew on 96% of my boat's interior.
96% of the street corners in Ventura have homeless people with signs begging.
96% of the time I continue by without making a donation to the homeless people.
And 96% of the time this bothers me.

All of this bothers me.

A Day Late and $5,674,987.47 Short

But since we are doing our "family Christmas" today, I'm not late.
However, I am still $5,674,987.47 short.

And It Never Rains In Southern California...

I never understood that song as a child.
Still don't.
Must be missing something.

Yes, California had seven days of straight rain.
Yes, we made national news... or so I was told by friends in Texas... not watching national news, I'll have to go along with what they told me.
Yes, we had mudslides.
Full rivers.
Full creeks.
Full streets.
Flooding.




And almost self launching boats.



I didn't mind the endless rain.
The wet cockpit.
The wet walls.
The wet floor.
The puddles.
Even the driving.

What I did mind?
The endless talking about it.
The discussions.
The amateur weathermen.
"The low is here.
It will bring in more rain."
No s##t.
It's rain folks.
Water.
It falls.
It stops.
Then it does it again.

Parade of Rain Drops Lights ~ 2010!

Well Ventura was due.
Seems for years Channel Islands Harbor has been on the receiving end of rain for their parade.
Been years since we had rain on our's...
And we got it.
Non-stop.
In fact it's been raining for close to four days straight.
And we are supposed to have two more days.
Then a break.
Then two more days.
Good thing we float.

Ahh... back to the parade.I have to give these people credit.
Out there in the rain.
Generators running.
2000 wire ties on the lifelines.

Two nights of guests.
Rain.
Lasagna.
Rain.
Eggplant parmesan.
Rain.
Empty wine bottles galore.
Rain.
Fireworks.






Great fireworks!
In the rain.

Happy Birthday Alan!

Well, we won't say how old he is.
Just that we surprised him and hoped we didn't give him a heart attack while doing so.

A complete look of confusion at the door.
A few minutes of disbelief.
And a little shock.

Then all smiles!

Friends, family, fun, food and a really late night!



I think we will just continue this birthday celebration on into that Costa Rica trip.
Alan's big birthday.
My big birthday.
Susan's something or other birthday.

"Napa is for Auto Parts, Paso is for Wine"

Or so the bumper stickers and t-shirts in the one Paso Winery stated.
We'll go for that, as we didn't really need any auto parts last weekend.
So Paso it was.
With Mike and Wendy of "Bodihattsva".
I have to do a google search on the spelling of that word every time I type it.
Really.
We'll call them "Bodi" for the weekend for short.

Mr. Bill came too.Our favorite times to go are holidays.
Halloween, with cool decorations.
And now Christmas, a new favorite time.

Mike not only drove the entire time...
He also carried our wine.The views were beautiful.
The brick reds of winter vines.The dark, deep purple of late harvest grapes.The gang.The hand holding dog at Penman Springs.The traditional pose with a pirate in Cayucos. The by-passing of the tavern.
The next day:
Geocaching. Harmony. Apple picking. Mud. Wineries. Dogs. Drive home.













It was all good!
The fun.
The laughter.
The cases of wine.
The friends.
The weekend...