It was 1977 when I married Nancy and took responsibility of raising her children Tony(7)and Tina(6). Tony was a challenge so we butted heads often. He had to do things his way and would not listen to reason most of the time. I thought, well, I was like that sometimes too.
Tony loved sports, especially football and quickly fell in love with the Dallas Cowboys. His all time favorite was Emmett Smith. Tony wear the number 80 all through Pop Warner and high school football. He was a tough competitor playing offense and defense in many games.
After high school, Tony tried to get on the Phoenix Fire Department, but no luck. He took a job at a small family owned production company and met his future wife Gail.
They got married in our backyard in 1999. A few years later in 2004, they adopted and baby daughter and named her Nicole. All was well except Tony's beer drinking habit.
We all warned him that excess would cause him a lot of problems, but Tony did not listen. Over the following years, his health started deteriorating.
Tony passed away Sunday the 22nd at 11:02AM after fighting a hard battle that was staked against him.
It is said, "Children are not suppose to die before their parents". I never realized how true that is. Our hearts are broke, but his humor and joking will live on in our memories forever. Tony loved to joke around with you. He made me laugh and proud of him for his love for his daughter and ever faithful wife. They made him a man, father and husband.
Rest in peace son...I love you deeply... sleep now... you are in good company with Uncle John and Charlie. I'll be there later and we'll play catch.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Our oldest son
It was 1977 when I married Nancy and took responsibility of raising her children Tony(7)and Tina(6). Tony was a challenge so we butted heads often. He had to do things his way and would not listen to reason most of the time. I thought, well, I was like that sometimes too.
Tony loved sports, especially football and quickly fell in love with the Dallas Cowboys. His all time favorite was Emmett Smith. Tony wear the number 80 all through Pop Warner and high school football. He was a tough competitor playing offense and defense in many games.
After high school, Tony tried to get on the Phoenix Fire Department, but no luck. He took a job at a small family owned production company and met his future wife Gail.
They got married in our backyard in 1999. A few years later in 2004, they adopted and baby daughter and named her Nicole. All was well except Tony's beer drinking habit.
We all warned him that excess would cause him a lot of problems, but Tony did not listen. Over the following years, his health started deteriorating.
Tony passed away Sunday the 22nd at 11:02AM after fighting a hard battle that was staked against him.
It is said, "Children are not suppose to die before their parents". I never realized how true that is. Our hearts are broke, but his humor and joking will live on in our memories forever. Tony loved to joke around with you. He made me laugh and proud of him for his love for his daughter and ever faithful wife. They made him a man, father and husband.
Rest in peace son...I love you deeply... sleep now... you are in good company with Uncle John and Charlie. I'll be there later and we'll play catch.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
The First Trip of 2015
Nancy and I both love whales. We have gone on "whale watching" cruises before. MAYBE we would see one whale about 2 miles away in an eight hour cruise. VERY disappointing! So when she showed me an ad about a whale watching trip, I was not really excited... but I was wrong. WOW! This was more than we could have ever imagined.
On the Pacific side of Baja California there three bays/lagoons that gray whale swim down from Alaska each year to give birth to their calves or mate. They have been doing this for centuries. We would see two of the three bays which are halfway from the tip of Baja.
The bays are shallow and warm waters. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of whales in the bays during this short time in the first months of the year, each year. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Nancy and I drove to San Diego from Phoenix to join the tour. Our first day was in San Diego to the Scripps Institution and Aquarium in La Jolla and starting to get a feel of the Chicano community around San Diego.
The next day we crossed the border at Tijuana and began our adventure. We were 24 people (from all over the US and one from Canada) on a good sized bus with our female guide Luka, her female assistant Mimiam and our male driver Manual. Down Hwy 1 we went, stopping at several places to see plants, museums, eating, and stopping for potty breaks. Our hosts did a great job telling us about Baja California, the people, customs, foods, traditions and making sure there was NO lack of food. 
OK, now I am rushing to get to the best part. After a couple days of traveling, and our butts flat from seating, we arrived at our hotel close to the bay. We were anixous and hoping we would not be disappointed. WELL, we were not! 
There we were ten miles out into the bays and whales all around us. They were SO gentle with an occasional bump of our 20 feet boats. They would stick their heads right up to us so we could scratch their nose, or as some did, lean over and give them a kiss. They were curious and most of the Moms would push their calves to us. Trusting Moms.
We did this for three days, going from one bays to the other. We were all on a "Whale High". Looking into a whale's eye is an experience you can not explain. These monmouth animals could easily crush us, or at least toss our boat, but they were so gentle and curious of us small little humans, compared to a female whale bigger than a school bus.
The couple days drive back to San Diego were anti-climatic, as we were all bragged about our encounters and became closer to each other.
Our crew did a great job keeping occupied with different things, like movies about the region, food, songs,food, visiting a middle school, food and just joking. Did I mention FOOD. Just kidding. They were great.
All in all, I am glad Nancy convinced me to go on this trip. I totally enjoyed the experience, the people, the region and the whales. NEXT? A couple RV trips, stay tuned.
There we were ten miles out into the bays and whales all around us. They were SO gentle with an occasional bump of our 20 feet boats. They would stick their heads right up to us so we could scratch their nose, or as some did, lean over and give them a kiss. They were curious and most of the Moms would push their calves to us. Trusting Moms.
We did this for three days, going from one bays to the other. We were all on a "Whale High". Looking into a whale's eye is an experience you can not explain. These monmouth animals could easily crush us, or at least toss our boat, but they were so gentle and curious of us small little humans, compared to a female whale bigger than a school bus.
The couple days drive back to San Diego were anti-climatic, as we were all bragged about our encounters and became closer to each other.
Our crew did a great job keeping occupied with different things, like movies about the region, food, songs,food, visiting a middle school, food and just joking. Did I mention FOOD. Just kidding. They were great.
All in all, I am glad Nancy convinced me to go on this trip. I totally enjoyed the experience, the people, the region and the whales. NEXT? A couple RV trips, stay tuned.
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