Tuesday December 27 ~ Headed out to Oakland....

 Hello to all my loyal followers!!

 Wow ~ This morning came early!! Gayle and I are up and getting ready around 3:00 A.M. in order to get on the road by 3:45. Gayle had a flight back to Burbank at 6:00, and my flight to Oakland was at 6:30. We quickly were realizing that maybe we should have left just a little earlier. Traffic wasn't bad, but I couldn't find a gas station anywhere near the rental car place and just didn't have time to keep looking.... I guess it will be $8 a gallon for this trip! Bonus ~ The cool girl at the rental return only charged me for half of what I used, so it came out to $4 a gallon - I was okay with that.
 Onward to the airport via the shuttle... This is when we noticed that it was very crowded this morning! We both went our separate ways (different airlines) and just hoped we would get through it all in time. Luggage checked, boarding pass in hand, and I was off to check and see if Gayle made it through her line. She just got done also, so it was off to security..... WOW ~ Extremely long lines!!! Gayle went one way, and myself the other. Luckily she had the short line, and made her flight on final boarding call. I finally made it through, and only had about a ten minute wait before boarding the Green Machine.

I hate Prop planes!!

Small and crowded....

 The flight was not so much fun for me since I was still trying to beat this head cold, and the pressure was extremely intense.
 Here is a couple of shots from the plane while in flight.

Taken with my phone, so the quality isn't so good.

That's Oakland down there...

Made it to Oakland and out of the Green Monster.

Oakland....

California....


After arriving at the airport I grabbed my luggage, called my friend Terry, and went out to wait for him to pick me up.
The rest of this day was spent driving out to his house in Livermore, and getting settled in, so that I could get some more rest and try to beat this cold.
Thanks for being here to follow me today!

The New Year is right around the corner.... Do you have plans yet? Are you doing any resolutions? I would love to hear your input.

Oh yeah, we are just days away from Thailand!!!

Keep smiling and stay positive ~ Leo

Monday December 26 ~ Still trying to get well...

 Monday ~ Monday ~ Monday... Christmas is gone, I'm still fighting this cold, but life is great as always. Enjoying having my Sister still in town, even though she probably isn't really enjoying my sick grumpy attitude! Sorry Sis ~ I Love You!

 I'm sorry, but this head cold hasn't left me with much at all to blog about, but today Gayle and I did get to have lunch with a great old friend from way back in the high school days. It was really great to see you Michael Rudy...

Michael is still looking great after all of these years, and what a great active lifestyle he lives!!

We agreed upon Venti's Bento to meet up, and what a great choice.... Excellent menu of healthy food, and so many micro brews if you are down for some good beer. I probably wasn't the greatest company today since I was still fighting the cold, but it was still a great time. Due to my lack of  being any bit with it, I completely forgot to take pictures with the camera in my pocket.

 After lunch Gayle and I headed by the Urgent Care Clinic where she tried to fall down the steps, and I got my arm wrapped all the way to the elbow.... Seems a bit like overkill, but that is what the doctor wanted done. It was then a quick stop at the Mal-Wart, and back to the house for more rest and to finish packing for an early morning departure. Plus I got one of Gayle's wonderful healthy chicken breast dinners ~ She makes eating healthy so damn good!

 Thanks again to the few of you that are still hanging in there with me through the boring stuff... I'm so glad to have you here, and appreciate all of the comments! Tomorrow it is back to the airport and off to California for a few days. I can't promise a lot of excitement, but hopefully I will get over this cold an find some local Bay Area adventure to share with you.

Stay Positive No Matter What ~ Leo

Christmas Day ~ December 25....

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Real easy blog day for me considering I ended up with a terrible head cold this morning, and was really not feeling well. My guess is that all the flying, and all the smoke at the casino was just too much.
So, like I said.... This is just too easy today.
My Sister Gayle and I left only one time today, and that was to go to Safeway (only grocery store that we noticed to be open) to get some chicken, and so I could get some Orange Juice and cold medicine. The rest of the day was spent resting, and getting started packing for the next leg of my travels.
 You will get a generic photo for today...

Enjoy your time with your family and friends.... And if you can't do that ~ Fake It!!

I hope Santa was good to all of you who do celebrate this holiday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Leo

Christmas Eve ~ December 24 is here....

  Hello All  ~  I am back with Christmas Eve Day coverage, and here is how it all played out.... Oh, and tons of pictures!

 My Sister and I were both up early today and we pretty much stuck around the house through the morning, and then we decided to take Halo the little dog that lives at my house for a walk...

 We came back to the house with the happy little dog, and then I went with my friend Brad to pick up his truck ~ 10-4 Good Buddy!!

 We then opened a couple of gifts, and watched my friends that stay at my house do the big present exchange thing since they couldn't all be together on Christmas.

Jocee and Ziggy looking at gifts...

Ty, Ziggy, and the Cookie Monster...

After all of the excitement that presents bring, we decided to go do a little bit of  local sightseeing and work our way towards the nights entertainment.... First I had to stop and buy a truck from a friend ~ I needed to get a truck, and was able to help them out too.

New truck ~ It has been sitting for a couple years, but it will clean up nice.

Gayle got to see lots of places that she hadn't seen in years....

Oregon State Capitol Building

Grandpa Goldie ~ Long story... But he does look a lot like my Grandfather did as a young man.

The fountain at Willamette University 

Me looking scary in front of the fountain.

Out in front of Normandy Guitars ~ It is nice to see an old friend doing so well!

My Grandfathers farmhouse from when we were kids ~ Good memories.

Outside the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

Lots of cool stuff to see out here!

There's the Spruce Goose hiding behind that glass!!

Now that is what I call a Water Park!!

Awesome!!

 Off we go down the road to our next stop....

Glacial Erratic Rock....  Duh!

Some Geese that were talking to us on the way up to the Rock.

Mt. Hood view from the path.

The farm house where the Geese reside.

Hey ~ There's that Erratic Rock!

Myself on top of the Rock.

Two great shots of my wonderful Sister Gayle on top of the Rock....

So our sightseeing ultimately took us towards Spirit Mountain Casino where we played some machines , and my Sister  unsuccessfully tried to teach me how to play Roulette.... Finally found a machine that paid out $400!! If I remember right it was that one machine called ATM ~ That one seems to always pay out!! After tons of second hand smoke and a lot more broke (a rhyme) it was off to home for some sleep.

Wow!! The longest blog so far ~ Well, the most pictures anyway. For some reason this one has been problem after problem trying to get set up and posted. Time to end this day ~ Santa is due in tonight.
Have a Great Holiday with your family and friends everyone, and thanks for following on my adventures ~ Leo

Finally made it to Friday December 23 ~ Back to Portland...

 Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay getting the updates out, but I am going to try to get this all caught up today.

 I actually started this day out pretty early with a dental exam at 8:00 A.M. to take care of my routine maintenance and keep my teeth healthy. Once I finished up with all the wonderful x-ray crap sticking out of my mouth, and trying to have a conversation with my mouth full. You know how it is ~ They have their hands in your mouth, and then they start asking questions like "how was your weekend?". Anyway, I got done with the dental stuff and headed back to the house to pick up my friend Eva.
 Eva and I did a little bit of last minute Christmas shopping that we needed to do, and then we were on our way to Portland.

Our first stop in Portland was to meet up with our friend Patty and grab some lunch, and Sushi at Yuki was the choice of the day...

Miso soup, sushi, and the company was all great! Then we were off like a dirty shirt!!

 The subject of White Coffee came up at lunch, and Patty had never heard of it. The decision was made that we were headed to Island Espresso drive thru in North Portland. This is the only place I know in Oregon to get White Coffee. If you are in the Portland area I highly recommend you go and try it out!

 Okay.... Coffee in hand and Eva and I are off to the Portland Airport to pick up my Sister ~ She is flying in from Burbank for the Holiday Weekend  ~  Woo Hoo!

 Now we are back on the move headed towards home.... First stop was Whole Foods to pick up some healthy eats for the next few days. My Sister is very dedicated to eating healthy and staying fit, and I am trying to get back on track in those categories also, so we wanted to have good stuff while she was in town. She has some amazing healthy great tasting things that she whips up that will keep you healthy and help you lose that extra weight that you may be trying to shed. If you are interested in more info you can let me know and we can be sure that you get that info from her or myself.

Gayle and Eva shopping....

Check out line and back on the road....

 We finally made it back to Salem, went and met with some friends, and then back home to get settled in for the night.

There you go... That was a little more eventful than some of the past days.
Thanks for all of your comments and following me on my travels ~ You are the best ~ Leo

Thursday December 22 ~ Another slow day.

 Sorry my friends, but nothing great to report today... I was up early as usual drinking coffee that was brewed in my Keurig. If you are not familiar with the Keurig I strongly recommend you click on the link and check it out. It is the ultimate single cup brewing machine that does not only coffee, but also teas, hot chocolate, cider, etc... There is so much variety. You really wont be disappointed, and there is no more brewing more than you need.
I pretty much for the most part stuck around the house this morning taking care of personal things, and making preparations for my up and coming travels. Just so you know in advance ~ I did book a week volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park which is North of Chiang Mai, Thailand. This will be my second time at the park as a volunteer, and I am getting excited to return and help with such a great cause.

So, I decided that getting some lunch with friends at the local Denny's was on the agenda, and that is where we all ended up. My Lunch actually became a late breakfast that I really didn't need, but those pancakes were very tasty!

 After the lunch at Denny's a few of us went cruising around town looking at some houses that are for sale. Found a nice roomy two bedroom right on the creek that I put an offer in on, and should know more by Monday. There was then a little more shopping, back to the house early to work on some more personal issues, and off to sleep.
 Another boring day in the life of.... Tomorrow does get a little better ~  Venturing up to Portland, and picking up my Sister from the Airport.
 See you all on Friday's blog ~ Have a Great Positive Day ~ Leo