Mom~Son Vacation, forest style and city style

My son arranged some vacation time for the two of us to have a 'Mom/Son mini-vacation'. He spent four days with me, the 'forest' vacation, and I spent four days with him, the 'city' vacation. It's been a very long time since we've been able to spend quality time together, just the two of us. Our time together went too fast but we had some very kick-ass times. Sean arrived here in the forest late on a friday night, and before he even got to my house he called and told me to 'get the sauna ready'. My son is a true Finn when it comes to sauna. When he spends time here ~ he and the sauna are inseparable. This trip we had that poor sauna so hot that it actually shut down due to the safety feature. My son very rarely gets to sleep in due to his job and being the father of two young children so of course my mission was to let him sleep in to his heart's content. Ahhh, that's what Mommie's are for - to totally spoil the child, no matter what age. Right?
Our first day together was to get on the ATV's and hit the trails. Normally we have his children with us when we go quadding, and have to monitor our 'craziness' while on the trails. This time we loaded up the .22 rifles and Sean's 9mm Beretta and got a little shooting in.

After shooting we hit some new and old quadding trails. How I kept up with his 'racing' quad (it's a fast ATV) is still a mystery to me, seeing how I have a utility ATV that weighs about 800 pounds but I did. The trails we ride on are a part of Sierra Pacific logging roads and the logging trucks make deep puddles. Sean and I love puddles. We usually return from a ride with our faces covered with mud. This time was certainly no exception. So I have to admit, this is the first time that my Polaris, nicknamed Pasi ( "Pasi" stems from the Finnish name "panssari-Sisu" (English: armoured Sisu) decided to dump me right smack in a very cold mud puddle. All I really remember is I was going waaaay too fast and Pasi and I were leaning to the right - then I landed in the puddle watching my ATV flying by me. (still very happy Pasi decided to continue on his own way and not lay down on me!) When Sean returned after realizing I was no longer behind him I was still in the puddle. I hit hard and was wet from helmet to boots. My entire right side of my body was hurting, but my philosophy was seeing this as though I had been riding a horse. You get dumped, you get back on. From the looks of this photo one would think "that doesn't look too deep', but I'm here to tell ya, that puddle was deep and cold! These puddles have deep hidden ruts from the logging trucks. It's times like this that I am glad my son demands that I wear a helmet when out on the trails. I don't like wearing helmets and always argue about it, but he always wins.

Not one minute later I am watching my son go through the next puddle and all of a sudden I am seeing him do some very finely executed gymnastics moves as his ATV dumps him! From an x-gymnast I have to say I was very proud to see his excellent moves, his body flipping over and over only to land on his two feet! I was so intent on watching him that I nearly ran into a tree. Unfortunately for his wife he decided to ride her ATV this trip. (sorry Tammi)

About this time we both decided it might be a good idea to return to my house before we actually killed ourselves. I was wet, cold and sore so the thought of a sauna seemed more than inviting, it was a neccessity at this point. But....we did manage to get the 'craziness' out of our systems and we had soooo much fun.
I love it when my son visits. He always manages to fix things around my house. This trip I got a new ceiling fan installed, I got a dimmer switch put in, I got my 1800's two-man Crosscut Log Saw placed in a much better (and impossible for me to do) location, I got my highest smoke alarm battery changed over (it absolutely freaks me out to do that particular one)- gotta just love my son!
On Tuesday we packed up and headed to his house for the remainder of our Mom/Son mini-vacation. I got to attend my grandson Shad's Kindergarten play on Tuesday night which was awesome. Sean had made some secretive plans for us to spend even more time together. On Thursday we got in his car headed for destinations unbeknownst to me. Since we were headed for San Francisco I thought maybe we'd be doing a Cable Car ride or maybe walking the Golden Gate Bridge. I was pretty thrilled when we pulled into the AT&T Park (home of the World Series San Francisco Giants) parking lot! Sean had arranged a tour of the AT&T Park. Now this is something I've always wanted to do - see a real MLB ballpark up close, see the areas that are off limits to the general public ~ like the Field, the Dugouts, the indoor Batting Cages, the Media/Press Room, and the visiting player's locker room.

I certainly learned a lot about this ball park. I had no idea it was designed and privately financed by the Giant's owner himself. No cost to the City of San Francisco itself. I loved the nine foot statue of Willie Mays, the 80 foot Coca-Cola bottle with playground slides and miniature AT&T Park for the kids behind left field, and the 'perfection' of the field itself.

It is a beautiful ball park with an old-time feel to it. What I learned later on after the tour was what I thought should have been mentioned in the tour ~ that Portuguese water dogs fetch the home runs that splash into McCovey Cove (named after Hall of Fame Willie McCovey). Oh Laura, your dogs could very well earn their keep by doing this awesome canine job!
After the tour Sean and I headed to our next secretive location. I have to say my son is very good at time management, as we arrived at the Pier just in time for the next tour of Alcatraz.

I have experienced a tour of Alcatraz before, but back in the early 1980's when I first moved to California. When I did that tour I had my children with me, Sean and Sharon both being very young. Sean was possibly 3 or 4 and Sharon was 8 or 9 and it was pretty difficult trying to keep a constant eye on the kids. The tour has changed considerably since my first trip. There is no longer an actual tour guide, which makes it even better because you can take your time.
For those of you who don't know of Alcatraz, it was once a world-famous federal penitentiary, set on an island that provides a view of San Francisco.

There is a lot of history before and after it was a federal penitentiary. It was also the site of the first American lighthouse on the West Coast and the island served as a huge harbor defense fort during the Civil War. After the fort became obsolete, the U.S. Army turned the island into a military prison. When the penitentiary closed, Alcatraz became the site of a American Indian protest movement who held the island for 18 or 19 months. While a penitentiary, it held some of America's most hardened criminals....Al Capone, Doc Barker (the last surviving son from the famous Ma Barker Gang), "Machine Gun" Kelly, Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud, Floyd Hamilton (a gang member and driver for Bonnie and Clyde), and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis. Sean and I both thought "Creepy" was a very fitting nickname for Alvin Karpis. Talk about a face that you couldn't forget.
This photo I am adding for the benefit of my x-Deputy Sheriff partner Marie Torres - and here's where I want to say "Damn woman, where are you? I'm waiting for you to show up for our next shift - new job, new location...."

From Alcatraz we went to our next secretive place. As I said before my son has excellent time management skills as we arrived there at 5pm and our reservation was at 5pm.

Ruth's Chris Steak House on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. I do believe this was the best steak dinner I have ever had in my life! The service was excellent and the food was excellent. I've never had a steak brought to me on a 500 degree plate before. My meal was still hot when I realized I was full!
February 10, 2011 was a very fast paced and totally awesome day for me! Thank you Sean!
I planned on returning home on Saturday but waited until I could accompany my granddaughter Kaihla to her first ever gymnastics class. For those of you who know me and my past, gymnastics was an important factor in my life. I lived for gymnastics. I could not have been a prouder Nana as when I was watching my granddaughter's enthusiasm for this new endeavor of hers.

I think she is going to be a natural!

Kaihla's older brother Shad even got in on some of the gymnastics action. If he wasn't already signed up for baseball I think I could talk him into gymnastics also.
My son and daughter-in-law are always telling me that Kaihla has my laugh, you know - the laugh that comes straight from the belly. That hearty Finn laugh. I'm hoping that eventually they will say she also has my love for gymnastics.

It saddens me to know that I cannot attend each and every one of her classes, as it also does to not attend Shad's baseball games - living so far away from my grandkids really sucks.
A week of Mom/Son vacation was awesome. Total awesomeness! I hated to leave and return home but I had committments back home. (My son talked me into switching from Dish to DirecTV, with high def....so had an appointment)
Sooo, on the way home, I thought of you Doug Leppik. I am posting this little photo to let you know I was thinking of you while driving past your old Tehama County stomping grounds! Now that you've been in cold rainy Oregon for so long, tell me, does this not make you miss over-taxed, over-crowded, totally expensive and waaaay too liberal California?

As you can see by the following photos, my one little pup Kesä truly travels in total comfort, while my other dogs are a wee bit cramped in the back seat. In fact Shadow-Man is actually lying on the floorboards. Poor dog.

And when I see this..................

I know that my 4 hour drive is nearly over. She is a comforting sight....for sure.
Thank you Sean for a wonderful memory making Mom/Son mini vacation! I needed it and I will treasure it forever!