Jackie Robinson Statue

A great man who easily transcended baseball, In Jackie Robinson''s statue looms large at Dodger Stadium.

Meeting Their Mascot

Even though I was wearing Mariner gear, the Dodger mascot was happy to pose with me.

Sandy Koufax Enshrined

Sandy Koufax statue at Dodger Stadium.  Go Mariners!

View Of A Queen

At Parker's Lighthouse Restaurant in Long Beach, you get a great view of the British Ship Queen Mary, which is permanently docked in the harbor.

Morrison Mural At Venice Beach

At a beach side cafe at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, this mural of Doors lead singer, Jim Morrison, caught my attention.

Dinner At The Quiet Woman

The Quiet Woman, a restaurant in Corona Del Mar, is famous for being featured in the Real Housewives Of Orange County.

Enjoying The California Coast

We enjoyed the sunset at Corona Del Mar.

Tragedy In Seattle

Three people are dead and four injured at the Bite Of Seattle Festival at the Seattle Center yesterday (Sunday, July 26th, 2026).

Nixon 3--The Oval Office

The Nixon Library has a scale mock up of the oval office.  Visitors like myself can get behind the president desk and either pose or dream.

Since our tour of the real White House didn't include access to that section,  this adds more knowledge of the presidential residence 

Nixon 2--Watergate Scandal

While the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum was built to honor the 37th president, it does give space to the scandal that ended his presidency.

Because it pays honest homage to his legacy, even people on the opposite side of the fence like myself can appreciate the project 

Nixon Library In Yorba Linda

I was never a fan of Richard M Nixon, who became president while I was in grade school. However, while driving down in Southern California, after landing in Ontario, CA, we "stumbled across" his library.  

As a fan of history and the American presidency, as well having time on our hands, we did the tour.

Ristretto Performance

 After a year and a half of voice lessons (one of my retirement projects), I was able to join other students and do a second Maple Valley performance.  This one was at Ristretto's Coffee and Wine.

Great Music At The Market

 I didn't get the name of this ensemble, but I enjoyed their playing at today's (Saturday July 25th, 2026) Maple Valley Farmers Market.  

The market runs 9am-2pm every Saturday until October 31st.

Calabro Leaves The Blazers

 The Media Maven blog is reporting that Kevin Calabro will no longer be play by play man for the Portland Trail Blazers.  

This raises much speculation. Some good and some bad

  Calabro was the announcer for the Seattle Super Sonics until they moved to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder. With the new owner, Tom Dundon taking over with his cost cutting measures, the team's future in the Rose City seems cloudy at best.  

The good is that it seems all but certain that the Sonics will return to Seattle shortly, (fingers crossed) and no doubt Calabro would be the top choice to do the play-by-play duties for the new version. 

It would indeed be sad if Portland lost its only major sports franchise, especially with the proposed new Seattle team on the horizon.