This past school year was a little more crazy than usual. I'd compare it to distance learning in regards to level of enjoyment, but for very different reasons. Distance learning was hard, because the students weren't present. This year I had two periods that on any given day would inspire me to count the days until retirement. I'm just thankful, my three other periods were so much fun... because they truly kept me sane during the second semester.
So the first week of summer break, I packed my bags and headed up to Ashland, Oregon to see my close friend and her two daughters. It was five days of eating delicious food, hanging out, catching up, and doing fun activities like shopping, hiking, scavenger hunts, and escape rooms.
Downtown Ashland has a gorgeous park that we liked getting our steps in at and one day we hit up the Japanese Garden that's right next to it. Here's a couple of wallet card shots I took while there:
The first one, it's pretty easy to spot Mr. Padre.
I took a few more steps back on this one, so he's a little more hidden in this photo.
Non-baseball card related posts are not everyone's cup of tea, so here's your obligatory card of the day:
2008 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius #SG-JG
Getting back to Ashland... normally I'm not the biggest fan of long drives. However the six hour drive to and from Ashland includes some amazing views of Mount Shasta. Here's a photo I took from my car while driving back on Highway 5:
Mt. Shasta is the second tallest mountain in the Cascade Range at 14,179 feet and is an active volcano that's part of the Ring of Fire.
Well that wraps up my trip to Ashland. I have one more trip planned this summer, but most of it will be spent hanging out with my dad. Speaking of Papa Fuji, here are a couple of bonus wallet card shots from Father's Day:
We celebrated Father's Day last Saturday with a delicious barbecue among family and extended family. On Sunday, I took my dad to a small park near my brother's house. He enjoyed the view... and afterwards we bought some sweet cherries at the barn adjacent to the park.
Obviously I'm a little behind in my writing. You'd think that I'd be able to catch up since I'm on summer break... but I'll be hanging out with my Pops a lot and (unlike my students during distance learning) he expects me to be present when I'm there with him.
But my goal is to write at least one post per week and thanks to Rod, John, Reader X, and some PWE's from Chris and Jon... I have plenty of cards to write about. So stay tuned.
Happy Sunday and sayonara!
Nice to see a photo of Papa Fuji, and that park is beautiful. There used to be a Japanese Village amusement park Buena Park that I went to often as a kid, mostly on field trips. I remember it being such a fascinating and peaceful place.
ReplyDeleteHappy Summer, my friend, enjoy!
ReplyDeletePapa Fuji is a cute old man (don't know if he'd appreciate that characterization). Impressive mountain!
ReplyDeleteGlad you got to enjoy Father's Day with your dad.
ReplyDeleteNice shot of your pop!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like someone had to climb that tree to get the Gwynn card up there.
It's all good, precious time. Take every minute you can. You know what....tell Pops John from Florida says hi!
ReplyDeleteSo nice when you can spend quality time with family and friends. Love the pictures/post! And I learned something about Mt. Shasta too!
ReplyDeleteNice photos! So cool that you got one of your dad with the wallet card.
ReplyDeleteNice pics, especially of your dad!
ReplyDeleteCool photos of your vacation and your father! Glad you are enjoying your summer break, mine is over next week.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your summer vacation!! Great seeing the pictures.
ReplyDeleteThat trip sounds well worth it. I always enjoy seeing Mt. Shasta on that drive. And very cool you're spending time with pops. Have a great summer.
ReplyDeleteWe use to go on school trips to the Japanese Garden in Portland nearly every year when I was in grade school. It wasn't the sort of place that young me should've liked, but I did; in fact it was probably my favorite place that we ever went to (the Franz Bakery was pretty high on that list as well).
ReplyDeletethe angels in order - just looked the amusement park up on the internet. it looked so cool. although seems like there's a sad story behind the park's deer :(
ReplyDeletejohn sharp - thank you john! it's gonna be busy, but plan on enjoying it
hackenbush - lol. papa fuji would embrace that characterization.
wax pack wonders - thanks. it was a pretty chill day. the family celebrated the day before.
night owl - lol. it must be the angle the photo was taken. b/c i assure you i didn't climb any trees and i'm hella short
johnnys trading spot - i just told him while writing these comments. he's sitting right next to me :)
bbcardz - thanks. hope you're enjoying your summer down in so cal.
bo - i'm glad i got that photo of him with the gwynn. maybe there will be more?
sean - thanks. i have at least one more post planned featuring my pops, so he'll be getting more exposure.
the snorting bull - oh man. enjoy the remaining days of your summer break buddy!
sumomenkoman - thanks buddy! enjoy your summer as well!
steve at 1975baseballcards.com - it was so cool to see lake shasta full this time around. last year it was almost empty.
jon - it's funny that you mention the japanese garden in portland. i took my parents there back in 2013. it was very beautiful. not familiar with franz bakery, but i'm going to mention it to my friend and tell her i wanna go the next time i'm in portland. hopefully at least one of us will remember.